Chapter 93:

After the name Timershi Stetten was mentioned, a silence fell over the poker room.

Chairman Paulo pushed back his greasy hair and let out a dry cough.

“You can't be serious, can you?”

“Is there any reason I can't be? I'm aware that you've started doing business with the Third Duke as well.”

“What benefit would there be in ordering such a thing?”

“So you don't deny that you've started doing business.”

Paulo's lips twisted as if he'd made a slip, but he quickly returned to his arrogant demeanor.

“Since you came here already knowing, I suppose there's no need to hide it. Some money did exchange hands regarding Brauder Stetten's debt, but that's all.”

“Was it really over with just money exchanging hands?”

“We've gotten off-topic. Just tell me who the mastermind is.”

His intention to change the subject was clear, but the demand itself wasn't wrong.

“I found something suspicious in Brauder's transaction records. Things like weapons, magical tools, and magic gear that a wastrel like him would never normally buy.”

“What does that have to do with our current conversation?”

“Of course, it's related. It means Brauder was asked by someone. And do you know when those suspicious transactions stopped?”

“How would I know? That's a client's private life.”

He answered bluntly, but Paulo bit his dry lips.

“It was after you all made a sudden demand for repayment from Brauder. I understand that demand caused the relationship between Brauder and the Assembly of Well-being to rupture.”

“There was a problem with liquidity, so we had no choice but to ask for repayment. I can even prove it.”

“The reason isn't very important. What's important is that Brauder's suspicious transactions also ended then. But the transactions themselves didn't disappear.”

The contract may have been made between the two of them, but it was the smugglers who actually moved the goods.

Even if the documents were laundered through the People's Medical Center, they would have needed the smugglers' help to pass the on-site inspections.

Luckily, after Cesare began to seriously expand his business in the Empire, most smugglers worked under the Borgia Liquor Guild.

Thanks to that, the job became easier.

“The deals with Brauder ended, but the smugglers still moved questionable cargo. Just as they had before.”

“Stupid bastards, getting caught and all….”

Paulo mumbled without opening his mouth.

It was a small lament that anyone but Valheit might have missed, but that made it certain.

“That someone new who came in is the mastermind I'm thinking of. It could be Timershi Stetten, or it could be a completely different person or organization.”

“…We're almost out of time, so please get to the point.”

Paulo's face, holding a pocket watch, was filled with irritation.

He probably hadn't expected things to flow this way.

If the other party gets impatient, there's no harm to me.

“The banquet will continue for a few more hours anyway, so what's the rush?”

“Unlike you, Count, I have quite a few people to meet. In any case, please be concise. What can you give, and what do you want?”

“As I informed you in the letter, I will tell you Brauder's location. In return, I would like you to tell me the person behind the Kranacht incident.”

“Kranacht? Why are you suddenly bringing that up?”

“It seems you know what happened.”

“Well it was in the papers, so of course, I know.”

It was a poor excuse, but I decided not to dig any deeper.

After clearing his throat for a moment, Chairman Paulo answered my proposal as leisurely and smoothly as when I first saw him.

“Unfortunately, it seems this meeting will end without any real benefit.”

“I understand you were quite serious about catching Brauder.”

“Of course, we are. He's a delinquent debtor. But it seems we don't need to go as far as disclosing our internal information to find him.”

“That's a shame.”

It was an expected refusal, so I stood up from my seat without any lingering feelings.

For now, just knowing that they had dealt with Timershi Stetten and that it was the Assembly of Well-being that had commissioned the smugglers was enough.

After an awkward handshake, I left the dark poker room.

Normally, I would want to go and investigate the Assembly of Well-being right away, but….

“Ah, you're finally out, Count!”

Someone saw me and shouted with a bright smile.

No, it would be more accurate to say they yelled.

In an instant, the area around me became crowded.

It seemed it would be difficult to do anything until I dealt with all these people.

‘For now, I have no choice but to trust Til.’

I took a deep breath as I was pushed toward the center of the banquet hall.

First, let's shake off these leeches.

***

Rapel was fidgeting on the street, pacing back and forth in one spot.

All sorts of bad scenarios were appearing in his head.

Still, there was little he could do besides wait for Til, who had gone into the People's Medical Center office.

‘What if she got caught?’

He had decided to help Til after hearing that the People's Medical Center was responsible for the plague incident in Kranacht, but now that it was right in front of him, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

If it was discovered that he had told them where the People's Medical Center's data was and through what route it went to Vestol, he might not only be expelled from the medical center but could also face an expulsion order from the Assembly.

“I don't want to go back to working under the professor….”

“Have a change of heart?”

Startled, he turned his head to see Til standing there with a tilt.

Seeing her empty hands, a sigh of relief escaped him without him realizing it.

“You took a long time. Seeing as you didn't bring anything, I guess there was nothing too strange….”

“I found out your director is very suspicious. This isn't the place to talk, so let's move.”

“Is someone following us?”

“I'm not that sloppy. I'm just worried someone who knows you might see you.”

It would certainly be a disaster if he ran into someone he knew while loitering near the office.

Telling everyone he was taking the day off and then hanging around his workplace was something anyone would find strange.

“I understand. Then where are we going?”

“Follow me.”

Following Til past Schwaben Street and into a secluded back alley, a shabby appraisal shop appeared.

“Old man Strauss, I'm here.”

The old owner peeked his head out from the inner room for a moment before quickly disappearing back inside.

Til let out a deep sigh and went inside.

“Come out. I have a job for you.”

“Anyway, her damn attitude is just like her father's.”

“Say that crap one more time and I'll arrange your funeral, so shut it.”

Old man Strauss, who came out exchanging words that could be either jokes or threats, narrowed his eyes at Rapel.

“Got a new person again?”

“No, this one's a collaborator.”

“Does he know what you guys do and is collaborating doesn't look like it.”

“Hello, you can call me Rapel.”

The old man, having received the greeting, nodded a few times and found a chair in the corner to sit on.

Unable to bear the brief silence, Rapel opened his mouth.

“You have a lot of good experimental tools. They're well-managed and in a good state of preservation.”

“They are for sale, even if they're unsellable items. It's been a few years since I was asked to hold onto them for a while.”

“Who would ask you to just hold onto something this expensive? I've heard there are nobles in the Empire who have research as a hobby, but to collect this much equipment, they must be no ordinary noble.”

“There's a Count Valheit. He's this nasty girl's superior Ugh!”

The grumbling old man shut his mouth.

Because Til had punched him in the back.

“…Never mind. It's not that important. So why are you here?”

“A place has come up that needs investigating.”

“Isn't that something you can do alone?”

“Normally, yes, but the circumstances are special this time.”

Saying so, Til took out a single document.

It was a document familiar to Rapel's eyes.

A list organizing the deceased patients.

“This is a list of the patients who died in Kranacht. I found it in the director's office. He had it hidden quite well.”

“Can I take a look?”

Rapel frowned as he examined the list.

On the surface, it was an ordinary document, but its contents were vastly different from what he had seen and heard.

“According to what's written here, the disease in Kranacht was a diarrheal disease that spread through water, but that's very different from the symptoms I heard about.”

“So it was fabricated.”

“But what's the benefit in falsifying the cause of death? It's not like anyone would give them money for doing that.”

“You have to assume someone gave them money or something for them to do it. Have any ideas?”

At Til's point, Rapel fell into thought.

Was the People's Medical Center really involved in something like that?

If so, he needed to doubt everything.

“Lately, the People's Medical Center's financial situation has rapidly improved. Originally, even with donations coming in, we were always a little short on medicine or people. But these days, those worries are gone.”

“Remember since when?”

“I don't know the exact time, but I'm sure it was after we came to the Empire.”

Before that, they were so short-staffed that even the director often had to come out to the field.

Now, they were relaxed enough to have days off.

Thinking about it, it was strange.

“Is there anything strange about the document besides the signature?”

“This is the document format used for reporting to the authorities. In this case, it should have been sent to the Kranacht City Hall. In fact, it's stated here that the recipient is the Kranacht City Hall.”

The format used to handle deaths within the medical center is different from this.

Why was a document that should have been sent to the city found in the director's possession?

“The original plan was to use this, but they couldn't. Because Valh… no, my employer intervened, and the matter was resolved sooner than expected.”

“Who is this employer of yours?”

If he stopped something like this, he must be a very great person.

Thinking so, Til looked at the sparkle in Rapel's eyes and unknowingly trailed off her words.

“He's not that great of a person… no, that's not important, he said he wishes to remain anonymous.”

“That's a shame. I really wanted to meet him.”

“Ahem. Now that it's been revealed that the People's Medical Center is suspicious, an investigation will begin. My employer told me to investigate the Assembly of Well-being and Timershi Stetten, those two.”

“Why is that idiot duke's name coming up here?”

Old man Strauss, who had been listening silently, reacted to the name Timershi.

Til shrugged as if to say she didn't know either.

“Well, he must have a reason for telling me to investigate. His personality is rotten, but his instincts are good.”

“I've met that person before.”

“Still, to have time wasted by that idiot What did you say?”

“Timershi Stetten. I've met him before.”

Til and Strauss, who exchanged bewildered expressions, asked again in a tone of disbelief.

“You met the Third Duke?”

“He was a Duke?”

“No, you didn't even know that?”

“He came in looking ordinary, so I didn't know.”

The two exchanged glances once more.

If he visited while hiding the fact that he was a Duke, it was clearly not an ordinary matter.

It meant that Valheit had latched onto the right lead.

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