Chapter 33
Treasurer General
* * *
I briefly watched Jonathan walk away, then turned my gaze to the still-dim dawn sky as I headed toward the outskirts of Bennett City.
“From here on, access is prohibited.”
The place I arrived at was Cecilia’s mansion.
“I have sothing I must tell the Representative.”
At my words, the Rose Garden mber guarding the gate let out a short, scornful laugh.
“The Representative is asleep right now.”
“Even if it’s later, I’d appreciate it if you could at least let her know that I ca.”
The man looked at with an annoyed expression and let out a small sigh.
“I’m warning you for your own good, kid.”
“I understand. But still, you must tell her. My na is Kairus.”
At that, the guard finally clicked his tongue. After all, I was soone he’d never seen before today, and all he had to do was pass on my ssage to Cecilia.
Cecilia wasn’t the kind of person who would punish her subordinates just for conveying so pointless words.
Well, I would end up in a miserable state, but since I was volunteering to walk into hell myself, there was no reason to stop .
“All right.”
“Thank you.”
That was all I needed to do at the Rose Garden. Now I just needed a place to sleep.
I stood there absentmindedly for a mont, thinking about sothing, then shook my head firmly.
“Even I have so conscience.”
I wasn’t an employee anymore, so I couldn’t impose on the attic room above the restaurant again. One must be clear when ending things.
The room had been part of my compensation for working at the restaurant. Now that I wasn’t working there, I couldn’t stay any longer.
“The only good thing is...”
While working at Longwave Bistro, I’d beco fairly knowledgeable about local prices. Handling ingredients every day naturally made familiar with market rates.
At least I wouldn’t get ripped off on lodging. Still, in my head, I kept picturing that “fantastic” lodging Jonathan had described, with the chair and the rope.
“No matter what, I can’t sleep like that.”
Money was important, but it wasn’t so precious that I had to save it by sleeping like that. It would be different if there were people relying on for food and they hadn’t eaten in days.
I looked around and went into an inn that looked rather shabby.
“Fifteen Pyint, als included.”
“I don’t need the al.”
I’d already been treated to food by Jonathan.
“Yeah? Then without als, fifteen Pyint.”
“Oh dear, then I’ll just take it with als included.”
He clearly had no intention of charging different prices. Whether I ate or not didn’t matter to him. I could feel his unshakable resolve that he would get fifteen Pyint from regardless.
Naturally, it was also pointless to try to negotiate a discount just because it was dawn and I wouldn’t even be resting for a few hours. I paid the money.
On the creaky stairs of the inn, cobwebs and dust had accumulated here and there. When I unlocked the door with the key, a room with slightly damp air greeted .
Mold had grown in streaks down the wallpaper, and in one corner, mushrooms were sprouting vigorously.
“At least there don’t seem to be any bedbugs in the bed.”
In an environnt like this, it was practically a miracle there were no bedbugs. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.
From the room across the hall, thick smoke was seeping out, though I couldn’t imagine what they were burning in there.
Upstairs, a man and woman were having an earnest and intense conversation with their bodies. In a nearby room, two drunkards were asking each other about their parents’ wellbeing while screaming and clashing knives.
Even so, I was able to sleep.
‘A graduate of Carlson Labor Correctional Facility can sleep anywhere.’
There was even a bed and blanket, and it wasn’t cold. In this situation, I was confident I could sleep even if soone was stabbed right next to .
But the mont when I couldn’t sleep ca much sooner than I’d expected. Maybe about two hours had passed.
Suddenly, the door burst open.
“Get up. The Representative has called for you.”
I imdiately rose from the bed. I hadn’t thought she would summon at this absurd hour.
But in my current position, if I was called, I had to go. There was no reason to hesitate.
I followed the Rose Garden mbers straight to the mansion.
“Representative, I’ve brought him.”
Cecilia was holding a hoop, in the middle of rhythmic gymnastics practice. Perhaps because she was exercising, she simply lifted her hand a little to acknowledge us.
Her whole body looked so supple and resilient that I almost thought she must be made of rubber and cushions.
Even though I didn’t know much about rhythmic gymnastics, I could tell Cecilia was quite skilled.
After a mont, Cecilia wiped her sweat with a towel and looked at .
“You could consider going professional.”
“? My feet aren’t shaped well, and my figure isn’t exactly slim.”
I felt like I understood perfectly what she ant about her figure not being slim.
She definitely didn’t have the physique that suited gymnastics. She had a body that insisted powerfully on her femininity.
“Actually, there’s an even more important reason, if you’re curious.”
“Yes.”
Hearing my answer, Cecilia casually swung the towel around her neck and continued.
“I’m a busy person. It’s hard enough for to make ti for gymnastics as it is. And you… just disrupted the only leisure I manage to squeeze in every morning.”
Her tone was light, as if she were joking, but I understood exactly what was hidden in her words.
‘If you’ve wasted my precious personal ti with pointless nonsense, I’ll make you beg to kill you.’
It was truly a textbook example of an excellent threat.
“I found sothing interesting on the National Tax Service transport train.”
At my words, Cecilia let out a small sound of realization.
“I was thinking I’d get to hear a man screaming for once in a while. What a sha.”
Sitting down in her chair, Cecilia looked up at and continued leisurely.
“Did you know? Most n, if you clamp their testicles in a vise and slowly turn the screw, let out a really hilarious scream.”
Just monts earlier, right after finishing her gymnastics, her eyes had been sparkling with vitality. Now they looked lifeless as she stared at , then she let out a short laugh.
“Well… it must not be the day for that, I suppose. Pity.”
Every single word was basically a threat.
At any rate, it ant I would live for now. Cecilia, too, had been curious what else that tax transport train was carrying besides taxes.
If I could answer that curiosity, it more than made up for the leisure ti she’d lost.
“You do know that forgetfulness and stupidity are the fastest ways to ruin your life. I hope you’re not going to say sothing like, ‘I saw it myself, so just trust …’”
I took out the docunts I’d brought. As she looked over them, the corners of Cecilia’s lips curved upward in a cold smile.
“…because I believed you wouldn’t.”
She took the docunts and imdiately handed them to one of her subordinates.
“Check whether they’re forged. I’d appreciate it if you could report back within an hour.”
“Yes, understood.”
I hesitated a mont, then spoke.
“By any chance… am I going to be tied up again?”
Instead of answering, Cecilia tilted her chin toward the subordinate standing beside .
With a sigh, I held out my hands. The man promptly fastened handcuffs around my wrists.
They were special handcuffs made of an alloy, linked to a chain of the sa material.
At the end of that chain sat a at grinder of a truly nacing size.
“I would prefer to spend the rest of my life simply eating minced at.”
I sighed quietly as I spoke. I had never been turned into minced at. And I didn’t plan to start now.
“Let’s have lunch together in a bit.”
“I hope my place isn’t going to be set right on the dining table.”
At my words, Cecilia shook her head.
“What? If that thing gets used, of course the results go straight into the sewer. How filthy—what are you even saying? You expect to put that in my mouth?”
While she was talking to , Cecilia suddenly turned to the subordinate who had been standing by.
“Could you head to the Laskov Ballroom and tell them to pay this month’s protection money again? The accounts don’t match.”
“Should I handle the owner according to the rules, too?”
Cecilia imdiately shook her head.
“The amount is too small for it to be sothing they hid away while accepting the punishnt if caught. It must be a mistake. As a warning, just break a bone or two this ti.”
“I’ll do that.”
The subordinate gave a short bow, then imdiately stepped outside to carry out Cecilia’s orders.
“Ah, by the way, could I maybe get a drink, too?”
At my words, Cecilia replied casually, glancing at another subordinate.
“One Lambda Royal Hand-Pick, After Blend, brewed in the press. Prepare a cup for our friend here.”
Just for a mont, even I—who hadn’t so much as twitched an eyebrow until now—had to hold my breath.
That was the exact coffee I’d ordered at the Round Rhombus when I’d gone there to plan the train heist.
“Truly… an elegant way to do things.”
\[I know everything that happens in Bennett City like it’s sitting in the palm of my hand, and no matter how clever you think you are, you’re still inside my grasp.]
Cecilia had succeeded in delivering that warning without ever needing to say it out loud.
At my comnt, Cecilia flashed a bright smile as she replied.
“Thank you. If your tastes have changed, please let know.”
Soone of her stature couldn’t possibly have bothered to personally research and rember the preferences of a nobody like .
In other words, the Rose Garden’s information network was so thorough that in the brief ti it took to co from Bennett City to Cecilia’s mansion, they had already looked into the coffee I’d drunk before.
You don’t have to slice open a man’s belly and jump rope with his intestines to impress terror on him.
In a gentle tone, Cecilia asked her question.
“So, what was in it?”
“It contained records of embezzlent committed by the Treasury.”
At my answer, Cecilia let out a small exclamation.
“Oh my, in that case, the docunts themselves are far more valuable than the information.”
I agreed with her assessnt. For soone in her position—head of an organization with a well-established intelligence network—it was only natural she’d already have her own suspicions.
In other words, what I’d brought her wasn’t the knowledge that the Treasury was corrupt.
It was definitive proof that hamred a nail into the suspicions she already held.
“I looked through the docunts myself, and there was sothing worth noting.”
“I’m listening. Go on.”
To be blunt, I was nothing more than so nobody drifting around Bennett City who happened to get lucky and pick up the papers.
The odds that I possessed insights worthy of her genuine attention weren’t high.
“The amount involved is excessively large.”
“Specifically?”
I answered calmly.
“The sum embezzled over the past five years cos out to about half the Imperial defense budget.”
After I spoke, I silently watched Cecilia. Just as she was questioning whether soone like had any real discernnt, I was also questioning hers.
To be honest, Cecilia was just a gangster boss who had carved out a place for herself in an outlaw city rife with violence and intimidation.
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