novelraw Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3 : Chapter 3
Chapter 3
“No? That sounds like a completely useful idea.”
I clapped with a bright expression, but in contrast, the knights’ faces darkened.
“Your Highness. You do not need to spend time on every single remark like this.”
“I want to spend it.”
“You were busy earlier and did not even hear the introductions—”
“That is because I am not curious about that. This is what I am curious about.”
At this level of reaction, it was certain.
That volunteer was either everything or nothing.
“Your Highness. That is…….”
“Ah, move aside for a moment!”
I firmly pushed aside the knight who was trying to add something.
No matter how I looked at it, talking to the volunteer was better than dealing with those other dead-eyed knights.
“How did you know we gathered because of Baron Horn’s case?”
“I inferred it because I had just been handling work related to Baron Horn at the Knights Order Investigation Division.”
First round of reasoning—passed.
“Why do you want to take charge of Baron Horn?”
“Because I believe this will involve audit work related to Baron Horn.”
“Ohh~”
He even used the word “audit”?
Second round—passed.
That retainer earlier did not even know what “audit” meant.
Good, good.
“Why? Why do you want to do audit work?”
“Because I believe audit work is currently as necessary as maintaining public order in Yeramerian.”
I slowly scanned the volunteer’s face as he answered clearly.
A blunt expression without any sparkle in his eyes, yet serious.
But those eyes did not seem to be lying at all.
Not bad.
If anything, he gave off the strong scent of an inflexible man.
“Good. You pass. What is your name?”
At the word “pass” coming out of my mouth, all the knights standing beside me were startled.
“It is Douglas.”
Douglas slightly raised the corners of his lips as he gave his name.
At that, the knights beside him began exchanging glances and signals.
Are they openly trying to interfere?
“Y-Your Highness! Excuse me, but…….”
As if.
I am leaving.
“Douglas. Let us go to work immediately. We can ride the carriage together.”
“Your Highness, Your Highness?”
“Yes. Understood.”
The other knights urgently called out to me.
But there was no reason for me to respond.
So I kept my attention only on Douglas and spoke quickly.
Douglas seemed to think the same.
“We are doing audit work, correct?”
“Yes. So hurry up and run.”
Having reached an agreement, we immediately ran toward the carriage.
At that, the entire Knights Order Investigation Division standing in line visibly stirred.
Some even ran toward us as we headed for the carriage.
“Y-Your Highness! I want to come with you as well!”
“I also want to work!”
I firmly shut the carriage door.
I did not need indecisive fools.
“Depart immediately! This is the destination. Quickly!”
And I told only the coachman where we were headed.
BANG BANG BANG!
“Please wait a moment!”
“Your Highness! Your Highness?!”
“I-I also want to join!”
The problem was that the coachman would not depart, likely because the knights were banging on the carriage door.
Ha, right.
I was not a very authoritative prince, was I?
“Douglas.”
“Yes.”
Before shouting at the coachman, I asked Douglas just in case.
“Is there anyone among them you would like to take along?”
If they were truly capable, taking one or two more would not be a problem.
As long as they were helpful.
“They would not be helpful.”
However, Douglas was firm.
I like that.
“Hey! I just told you to depart, so why are you not moving just because some knights are saying things?!”
“Ah, ah, yes! I am sorry!”
I shouted loudly, and only then did the coachman set the carriage in motion.
The knights chased after us for a short while before quickly giving up.
“But why do you think those knights would not have been helpful?”
After staring outside the carriage for a while, Douglas and I began an awkward conversation.
I needed to understand the man named Douglas a little better as well.
“They are all people who have received bribes from Baron Horn.”
“Oh.”
The answer that came back was once again quite blunt.
“And you have not received any?”
“I do not accept such things.”
“Such things”?
Passed.
You are exactly the kind of person I need.
“Make sure you do not accept ‘such things’ in the future either.”
“Yes.”
I have acquired a stubborn but competent workhorse of a knight.
However, this was not necessarily an entirely good situation.
“Then we must hurry. We do not know how those who took bribes from Baron Horn might interfere.”
“Yes.”
“You are confident you can do better than those slick fellows, right?”
“Yes!”
Now the real time attack begins.
“Wow, anyone can tell this is a suspicious warehouse~”
The location written in Baron Horn’s note was a cabin deep in the mountains.
Though it was called a cabin, there was no sign of anyone around.
Yet it was secured with locks everywhere.
“How should we break these locks?”
As I pondered, Douglas quickly approached me.
Then he took something out of his bag.
“I will open the locks using equipment exclusive to the Knights Order.”
Even without being told, Douglas efficiently assisted with the audit work.
Perhaps conscious of my earlier remark about speeding up, his actions were swift and decisive.
He treated the evidence I had gathered earlier with waterproofing chemicals, forcefully broke the locks, and checked for other potential dangers.
That is a relief.
He is not only stubborn—he is capable as well.
“Your Highness. I have opened them all. I will open it now.”
“Yes. Let us open it.”
I swallowed dryly as I stared at the cabin door opening.
Please.
Please let it be full of suspicious things.
That way, we can firmly establish the charges.
“Wow.”
Even though I had hoped for it, the inside of the cabin far exceeded my imagination and expectations.
“This is quite something.”
The interior of the cabin was nothing less than a treasury of gold and jewels.
Gold bars, diamonds, and piles of colorful gemstones stacked like mountains.
“He uses a one-room like this.”
“Pardon?”
“No, it is nothing. These may be unfamiliar items, but record them in as much detail as possible and move them.”
“They are not unfamiliar at all. I will distinguish and record everything, from prohibited gemstones to items famous enough to have nicknames.”
Douglas, who looked like he had only ever handled a sword, quickly began recording the gemstones.
I, who had been about to assist him, instead started transporting the items that had already been sorted.
“Coachman.”
“Y-Yes?”
“We need to load all of this onto the carriage. Please help.”
“Pardon?!”
“I am asking you to help move them.”
Just how much had he embezzled?
This was an amount that even two grown men would struggle to transport with a carriage.
So I assigned the coachman additional work as well.
“These are assets obtained through embezzlement, so do not touch them. You will be compensated separately once we safely return to the royal palace.”
“Ah! Understood.”
“If you try to pocket anything, you could lose your hand and end up in prison, so stay alert.”
I made sure to give the necessary warning.
“What kind of deal did Baron Horn make with Mernia to amass such wealth?”
Douglas muttered in a voice filled with anger as he moved the gemstones.
Indeed.
What kind of deal had he made to achieve this?
“It seems the diplomats from Mernia were quite corrupt as well.”
The coachman also muttered timidly as he carried gemstones.
Yes, exactly.
They must have been in collusion with those diplomats to pull off something this bold.
“Even so, we can resolve everything. Do not worry and just move the gemstones.”
Even if the diplomats were corrupt, it was not a problem we could not solve.
After all, they were dealing with me.
Mernia.
I could not understand why the name of this nation felt so familiar.
It was not a country that existed in the world I used to live in.
But as I searched my memory, I realized the reason.
“I kept calling it the game of my life… who knew the game would become my life.”
This place I had possessed was inside a game made in Korea.
A domestic game that ranked first in the world and became a national sensation.
Because of that, I remembered playing it quite diligently when I was younger.
It was a game where Prince Ryan of Mernia, the strongest nation in the world, was the protagonist.
Ah.
More precisely, it was a game where Ryan acted as the world’s police.
The story revolved around Ryan traveling to help nations in trouble out of pure sense of justice.
At the time, the kind and powerful Ryan had seemed incredibly cool.
Because of that, my childhood dream, when I had nothing to my name, was to become a ‘prince.’
As I grew older, that dream changed to becoming the ‘president.’
“What a pity. I should have set my dream as a prince of a powerful nation from the start.”
But what was the use of regretting it?
Even in my memory as a fairly hardcore player, I had become a prince of Yeramerian—someone who did not even exist in the game.
Knock knock knock.
As I stared blankly at the ceiling, a knock sounded at the door after a while.
“Come in.”
It seemed the retainers had completed their tasks while I was lost in thought.
“Your Highness. We have included the physical assets confirmed this time in Baron Horn’s seized properties.”
“Oh.”
“The real estate assets that Baron Horn had put up for auction have also been fully seized.”
“Oh~”
I let out a small admiration at the efficient report of the retainers.
Their work efficiency had clearly improved.
“So you were all quite capable when you tried? Good work.”
At my praise, the retainers slightly blushed, appearing embarrassed.
They are quite weak to direct praise.
However, it was not all good news.
Mernia had not even accepted our letter.
That meant they did not consider us worth even minimal engagement.
“You sent the letter to Prince Ryan, right?”
“Prince Ryan has departed on an overseas expedition, so the letter could not be delivered to him. Therefore, it was delivered to an acting official.”
“Ah, I see?”
In fact, the best-case scenario here was clear.
Confirm the original contract held by Mernia, determine whether their diplomat was corrupt, and use that as evidence to bring down Horn.
“Tch. No wonder it was rejected.”
Unless it was Ryan, who was driven by justice, there was no reason for Mernia to help us.
Whether their diplomat was guilty or not, why would they care?
Why should they care if an embezzlement case occurred in a failing nation?
Yes, this was the normal response.
“It is fine. Everyone, relax your expressions.”
Still, seeing even the previously unenthusiastic retainers looking dejected did not feel good.
So they do care about their own country after all.
“I did not expect them to refuse even to receive the letter.”
“They are just busy, that is all.”
It was humiliating.
That was why I had sent the letter to Prince Ryan in the first place, fearing this exact rejection.
The timing had simply been unfortunate.
“Then how will we proceed with this matter?”
Douglas, standing beside the retainer, asked me with a disappointed expression.
How would we proceed?
“We will resolve it with the next best option.”
I answered confidently.
What else could we do?
A failed plan had to be discarded quickly.
“But without clear evidence, can the audit proceed further?”
“Why would it not be possible?”
“There is no evidence.”
“Then we can create evidence.”
At my answer about creating evidence, Douglas' brow furrowed.
Ah, what a fierce expression.
“Are you saying we will punish him through fabricated evidence?”
“No, that would not do~”
If I were being honest, I would like to.
But if such a precedent were set, it would interfere with my future plans.
“That is not what you mean?”
“No. I am not that reckless.”
At that moment, Douglas relaxed his facial muscles in relief.
Sigh, do you really want to live that uprightly?
From my perspective, it is good.
But in the politics of my time, you would never survive.
“For now, follow me. Not all of you—just Douglas.”
Still, this further confirmed that Douglas' principles were firmly in place.
“I will teach you myself.”