Otome Game Mob Villain

Chapter 552

The Santus family, a prominent fox clan and a leading figure of the old regime faction.

The territory governed by the family head, Remos, and his heir is located in the northern region, close to the horse clan.

Moreover, their grand mansion might be larger in scale than the one where Amon resides in the capital, Forneus.

As Capella and I were observing the movements of the Santus family mansion through binoculars, we were interrupted by a voice, "Lord Ridd, Lady Capella. Excuse me."

When we turned around, a mouse clan girl with short brown hair and black eyes was bowing respectfully.

"Just now, Captain Salvia reported that the audit team led by Lord Amon has departed as scheduled."

"Understood, thank you for the report, Alina."

"Yes. I will return to my post now."

After saying that, she bowed slightly and entered the tent set up at the campsite.

Alina, from the mouse  tribe , belongs to the Intelligence Bureau of the Second Knights' Frontier Special Operations Agency.

She is highly skilled in communication magic, second only to the three sisters Salvia, Silvia, and Selvia, and was selected for this mission.

The reason Salvia and her sisters couldn't be brought along is that they are currently in responsible positions and extremely busy.

Salvia, as the head of the Intelligence Bureau, is occupied with scrutinizing and organizing information gathered from across the Baldia territory and cannot be moved.

Deputy head Silvia has been dispatched as a liaison officer to the Baldia family mansion in the imperial capital, and Selvia is also stationed near our father as a liaison officer.

Communication magic cannot be handled without the 'Lightning Attribute Aptitude,' and it is difficult to master. Without the caster's skill, the quality of communication deteriorates over distance.

Therefore, the highly skilled Salvia and her sisters couldn't be moved, and we needed a new communication magic personnel to accompany us.

"Lord Ridd. It seems Remos and his people haven't noticed our intentions. They might make a move soon."

Perhaps due to being on a mission, Capella's voice was colder than usual.

By the way, the place where we set up our tent and camped is a small hill covered with deep trees, a bit away from the Santus family mansion.

"Yeah, you're right."

I nodded and put the binoculars to my eyes.

From here, I could see servants and mercenaries, who were failed adventurers, carrying books out of the mansion and burning them in the courtyard, with thick smoke rising.

It's too late now.

I muttered in my heart, feeling exasperated.

The old regime faction nobles claimed they couldn't provide 'funding' because their funds were stolen by the Golden Dawn.

They probably smirked at first, thinking they had outsmarted me and Amon, but now they must be regretting digging their own graves, with no one left to laugh.

Looking back at recent events, we've been extremely busy.

First, Amon and I conducted a land survey aimed at eradicating the Golden Dawn clan, quickly uncovering corruption.

Second, upon discovering the corruption, Amon immediately enforced a forced search of the noble mansions using his authority as clan chief.

Third, the forced search revealed illegal and malicious territory management practices.

Fourth, Amon imposed 'dismissal penalties' on the nobles for failing their responsibilities in territory management, enriching themselves, and engaging in highly malicious activities.

From the first to the fourth, it became a routine, and the old regime faction nobles rapidly lost their centripetal force and influence.

Of course, many tried to destroy evidence knowing we were coming.

However, many residents harbored resentment towards the self-serving nobles and were willing to testify, so it wasn't a significant issue.

Even if evidence was destroyed, 'years of malicious and massive tax evasion' would inevitably come to light during the land survey.

However, even in such situations, conducting forced searches of noble mansions would naturally not yield any ledgers.

When questioned, the nobles all made pathetic excuses.

'The servants threw away the ledgers'... As if that could happen.

'I don't clearly remember the ledgers'... Then what do you clearly remember?

'I had no involvement at all'... That's dereliction of duty and a major issue of abandoning territory management responsibilities.

'The person in charge is absent, so I can't answer'... So what if the person in charge is absent, you're the responsible one.

There's no way we would accept such excuses.

Rather, it only added fuel to the fire.

How many times did Amon and I get so angry that veins popped on our foreheads?

Among those who were dismissed, some tried to resist with force, but of course, they failed.

Many were captured and sent to prison.

Some, realizing they couldn't escape, confessed their wrongdoings, but Amon and I dismissed them, saying, "Do you think confessing now that your position is bad will get you forgiven? Your judgment is too late," and did not lessen their severe punishments.

We captured many nobles one after another, but surprisingly, no one would talk about the connection between the Santus family and the Golden Dawn.

At that time, Capella and Dynas once offered to take on the role of torturers.

"If they are criminals, there's no need to show mercy. If you like, I can extract the information."

"No, no, Lady Capella. Let me handle this."

"Oh, so we get to see Lord Dynas's skills. How about we do it together then?"

"Oh. That sounds interesting. What do you think, Lord Ridd?"

"No, no. We have other objectives, so we won't resort to torture."

The two were full of enthusiasm, but I declined their offer.

Well, from the nobles' perspective, if their own playacting was exposed, their crimes would become even more severe, and if they betrayed Remos, any hope of revival from the 'dismissal penalty' would be completely lost, so they kept their mouths shut.

But actually, that was also part of our plan.

Amon and I strictly controlled the old regime faction nobles, filling the outer moat, while deliberately letting Remos and Galiel swim under surveillance.

The reason was to gather all the hidden funds of the old regime faction nobles to Remos.

When visiting the noble mansions, we informed them in advance.

Of course, the nobles thought they had time to destroy evidence.

And if they had the hidden funds that were supposedly stolen by the Golden Dawn, they would become 'traitors who lied for personal gain, betraying their lord's name.'

To prevent that, they entrusted their hidden funds to 'someone they could trust' during the grace period before our visit.

However, what the nobles didn't expect was that Amon and I would impose the 'dismissal penalty' one after another.

As the penalties cascaded, the hidden funds moved from one noble to another, snowballing in size.

Just the other day, with another noble dismissed, the only ones left with hidden funds supposedly stolen by the Golden Dawn were the Santus family.

Through prior intelligence and surveillance activities, we had already traced the vast hidden funds the nobles tried to hide to 'that mansion' of the Santus family.

But surely, by now, Remos must have realized our intentions and would do everything to hide the hidden funds.

Although we gained funds by dismissing and confiscating the nobles' assets, it was far from the budget needed for the 'Five-Year Plan for the Reconstruction of the Fox Clan.'

Knowing this situation, Remos probably thinks:

'Even if I'm caught, as long as I hide the hidden funds and I'm the only one who knows their location, there's still room for negotiation'... right?

But unfortunately, the audit team led by Amon this time is just a diversion.

The real deal is over here.

"Lord Ridd. May I have a moment?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

I turned around to answer and saw Ramul, a rabbit clan member of the special operations agency, standing there.

Behind him were Alice from the horse clan and Dan from the raccoon dog clan, both bowing respectfully.

"We've corroborated the information obtained from those people, and it seems correct. They plan to move the hidden funds tomorrow morning."

"I see. Then, the next move will be checkmate."

I smiled at Ramul's report and smirked inwardly.