WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Reluctant Imperialist

Chapter 118

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The Meaning of Politics (4)

──October 31, 00:00

Adria's outer office.

Not only the high-ranking and senior knights under Vice Commander Anton, but also nearly every staff officer they trusted, had gathered there and were buried in ledger analysis.

"Looks like we need to bring in accountants."

But the money trail was too tangled. It was split and mixed through dozens of shell companies, then disguised as consulting fees, art consignment management fees, and countless other transactions dressed up as legal.

"We don't have time for that. Goebel will be released soon."

"We don't have time either."

The bribes were obvious, but they still could not prove Goebel was at the center. At this rate, they would not leave so much as a scratch on him, let alone put him to death.

"......"

Adria stood with her arms folded, deep in thought.

Goebel was clearly a cartel pipeline.

An old fox who manipulated the Imperial Guard, met with the cartel, sucked in dirty money, and expanded his own faction inside the Imperial Guard.

'If I were the cartel.'

She switched perspectives.

She imagined herself as the cartel boss, making deals with imperial power players.

'I would never trust imperial bastards.'

That was rule number one.

They could pocket the money and wash their hands of it, or sell the cartel out instead.

'A ledger like this could never be enough insurance.'

That was rule number two.

Goebel was the kind of monster always ready to cut off his tail and run. The moment things went bad, he could betray them and have them killed.

Then what should the cartel do?

"......Jerome. Tiana."

Adria called the two of them over. She pointed to a certain "mass" in the money flow.

"Large sums formed by gathering all those tiny split payments."

Art auctions.

More precisely, paintings.

Goebel owned many famous canvases and bragged about them openly. It fit his vanity and need to show off.

"If..."

Adria's eyes sharpened.

"If the cartel hid something in those paintings......"

You could manipulate the money trail or deny it, but you could not erase traces left on the physical objects themselves.

"What if they hid evidence to blackmail Goebel, or as insurance in case he betrayed them?"

Adria looked back at them. Tiana and Jerome had the same look in their eyes.

"We move. Right now."

At this point, they had to do something. Even a theory that sounded absurd had to be turned into action.

If they stayed frozen, all that awaited them was being quietly put down.

......

──October 31, 03:00

Tick. Tick.

Past three in the morning, Leutern II flicked ink from his quill and set it down neatly.

The list was complete.

"Ah...... I'm exhausted."

He stretched, then looked across the table. Leutern, his father, sat there with a pleased smile.

"What are you staring at?"

"......A father looking at his son. What else?"

"It's making me uncomfortable."

His father shook his head proudly.

This list was, in truth, a lifeline.

A lifeline of pleas personally entrusted to Leutern II by Leutern and his close friends.

"I'm going to get busy too. I have to go outside the palace and deal with Max again. Do you know how scary that guy is?"

Leutern II grumbled.

"I'll buy you anything. If this is resolved well, even that villa you wanted."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Leutern looked at his only son with pure affection and pride, but Leutern II deliberately put on a serious face.

"Then be clear on this. Even I might not get through. That bastard Maximilian is insanely strict."

"I know."

"I'll really try. I'm only doing this because it's you, Dad."

"Thank you."

Leutern II felt tense for the first time in a while. This was a request from his father and his father's close friends. Even if he had to return the bearer bonds Maximilian had gifted him, he would make it happen.

Was this strange resolve what people called a sense of duty?

"Go on. I'll be cheering for you."

"Yeah."

Leutern II stood with a resolute face.

At least in this cartel case, despite having no guilt at all, he would voluntarily report to the Order......!

......

──October 31, 04:00

A dawn buried in heavy darkness.

Adria and the knights under her moved in silence. Knights thoroughly trained in concealment at Empire Point were practically assassins.

They slipped into Goebel's mansion with trained quiet and searched the artworks inside while avoiding the servants' eyes.

Ceramics, statues, landscapes, still lifes, and countless other pieces.

They swept through those objects, reeking of black money, with mana detectors, checking for anything suspicious as they advanced.

"......Knight Adria."

Tiana pointed at a frame hung with unusual care. It was a portrait in the hallway, protected by strict mana security.

Krrrsh!

Adria thrust out her sword and broke the device. No alarm sounded. That was because of the nature of her mana.

"Open it."

They opened the security casing and scanned the canvas top to bottom with the detector they had brought.

Pssss.

The detector needle shook violently.

On the surface, it was just an oil painting of a beautiful woman, but foreign mana was hidden inside.

"Rip it."

Without hesitation, Adria slashed with a dagger and split the frame open. A masterpiece worth millions of dollars was torn apart.

As she examined the canvas front and back in detail...

"......Found it."

A phrase engraved in bluish particles. It worked on a logic similar to activated residue, invisible unless illuminated by the detector.

[Pellier of Benikia-]

[To Goebel, leader of the Imperial Guard]

A token of affection directly left by cartel boss Pellier, one Goebel had likely never imagined existed.

"Ha......"

The feeling rising inside Adria came out through Tiana's mouth instead.

"Got you, you fucking bastard."

......

──October 31, 05:00

I organized the name list in my office. Based on Pellier's ledger, Dieter and the geniuses under him had carefully sorted everyone involved in this cartel scandal.

Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4.

The grades were based on the severity of the offense and the amount of bribes.

Grade 4, those who would only get ordinary criminal punishment or a warning, were people who had only picked up scraps.

Grade 3 were idiots who took the money as easy cash without even understanding that cartel money was circulating through the palace.

From Grade 2 onward, there was clear intent.

Grade 1 was practically direct cartel involvement.

......Grrrrrr.

I heard snoring somewhere. It was Kairon. He was asleep on the sofa.

Outwardly, we were in the middle of fierce negotiations, and thankfully there were no palace wiretaps in my office.

Knock knock-

Kairon flinched awake. I signaled him toward the door, and he cleared his throat.

"......Then I hope you'll make a careful decision."

Kairon put on a grave expression and stepped out. The man who came in as if swapping places with him was Leutern II.

"......Max."

I tilted my head. Unusually for him, Leutern II looked tense.

"Knight Maximilian."

Calling me that, he put down a document.

"......There are things I want to say about these people."

It was a sheet packed with names. My brows tightened.

"Did Duke Leutern come because of favors too?"

"No, no. Not exactly favors...... more like a request. A request for consideration and generosity."

"......"

I stared at him in silence.

Leutern avoided my gaze and scratched the back of his neck.

"J-just read it once."

Expressionless, I picked up the document. I compared the names on Leutern's list with the ones on Dieter's hit list.

"Hm."

Leutern's side was mostly Grade 3, with only two Grade 2s.

It was a level I could willingly show leniency on. To be honest, issuing summons for most of them was a waste in itself. The nobles must have panicked on their own.

"......Haa."

But politics was never that simple.

Politics was grandstanding in the end, so I quietly tightened my brow. Even something I could do willingly had to be made to look difficult.

Still, it was not a lie. The two Grade 2 names on Leutern's list were worth summoning and investigating.

Leutern swallowed hard.

"......Yeah, I figured."

"Yes. They could be referred to Knight Court-"

"That's exactly why I came to you!"

As if he had made a huge decision, Leutern pulled something out from his coat.

He slapped down the bearer bonds I had gifted him before.

"It's my responsibility for failing to control the people around me. So I'll take responsibility. Can't this solve it somehow?"

I was dumbfounded.

Could even a mongrel like Leutern grow? Or was this just one more of his endless stupid acts?

"......"

I picked up the bonds. Leutern's eyes rolled after them. His face said it pained him to lose them.

"Duke Leutern."

"Uh, yeah?"

Leutern II was an idiot, but that made him useful in another way. His bloodline and connections had value. If this case raised Leutern's standing in the palace, that would benefit me too.

"I remember you gave me major help at the last Emperor's National Support Council."

I floated it casually.

Leutern's eyes sparkled.

"R-right! Do you know how hard I went around talking for you!"

"Was it because of something like this?"

"Never! Absolutely not! No way! I didn't even know this was happening! I swear!"

Leutern was clean in the cartel matter. Cartel money was still split among insiders who knew. Leutern had expensive tastes, so he would never pick up pocket change or spoiled scraps.

"I'll be honest. Among the offenses of the people on this list, there are parts that can be called relatively mild."

"Really?! Th-then-"

"But we cannot let this pass as if nothing happened."

I hardened my face again. Leutern froze too. A vein rose on his forehead. If I refused again, he would probably turn back into the old insane Leutern and start throwing a fit.

That meant we were at a threshold.

"I'll adjust it so they receive only ordinary criminal punishment, not Knight Court."

At my sigh-like words, Leutern's face brightened.

"......R-really?"

"Yes. And I won't reclaim these bonds. I gave them to you as a personal gift."

Leutern's face lit up at once.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, Max! You're the only one!"

He got up and spun around like he was dancing. Leutern II still looked as if he were standing in a flower field.

That man really did have flowers blooming in his skull.

......

──October 31, 05:30

"Yes. Kairon just left Maximilian's office."

Imperial Guard personnel moved busily inside and outside the Order, reporting various facts to somewhere.

"Five hours...... maybe six hours together, we estimate. Yes."

I could hear every word they were saying, because my staff officers were walking around wearing listening devices.

"Knight Kairon also looked very tired and haggard. Not sure whether there was physical conflict during the persuasion, but his hair and clothes were quite disheveled......"

Of course he was tired. We had drunk heavily. Of course his hair was messy. He had just woken up.

The Imperial Guard men misread our conversation however they pleased based on Kairon's appearance.

"I can hear all of it......"

I stepped out into the corridor.

Step. Step.

I walked down the long hallway and stopped in front of Goebel's interrogation room.

-Bang!

I opened the door.

A dark interrogation room with dim light.

Goebel was still seated there. The lines of his face and wrinkles stood out in a strange way.

He was ugly.

No, he was hideous. Looking at him, I fully understood what Johann meant when he said my looks were a talent.

"......"

Goebel hid his anticipation, and I stood there looking at him quietly. He looked back at me in silence.

A long silence.

The one who spoke first would be the one at a disadvantage.

"You know it too."

Naturally, Goebel spoke first.

"There are far too many tails, and no one can even tell whose they are, if you want to step on mine."

He continued with a slippery smile.

"It can't be helped. That is politics. Cover each other's dirty secrets and compromise at a point both sides can accept."

"......"

"I understand how you feel. I can even understand, to a point, the bad blood the Order has toward the Imperial Guard. Young blood can be like that."

Tap. Tap.

Goebel tapped the steel table with his finger.

"But in the end, we're all public servants serving the Empire. That means we're in the same boat."

Serving the Empire.

The Empire had fallen into this rotten state because there were so many men like him, but for now I only suppressed my nausea.

"What did Kairon tell you?"

Goebel asked.

Instead of answering, I smiled.

"More than those words,"

Goebel's brow twitched.

"I made my decision."

I had already secured evidence that could kill Goebel whenever I wanted.

"Commander Goebel of the Imperial Guard must remain in the Imperial Guard for the balance of power. That side needs balance too, so one side cannot dominate......"

That side. Goebel seemed to take my wording as contempt toward the Imperial Guard, and he clenched his teeth. He was right.

"So listen carefully."

I leaned back into the chair and angled my gaze at him.

"An imperial knight is choosing to keep you alive."

Goebel said nothing for a while. He pressed his lips tight, as if he were drying them out. His heart seemed to boil with resentment too.

"I won't reject your view, but I have repeatedly said that I knew nothing about cartel money."

He neatly folded away his personal feelings and set them aside. He understood politics well. Right now, he knew he was in a weaker position.

"Good. Then."

I held out a blank sheet of paper.

"Since Commander Goebel cannot take responsibility, write down other appropriate names. You'll have to cut off at least one finger."

When he understood what I meant, Goebel finally laughed.

"Haha. Yes. Responsibility is needed. Very regrettably, it seems one of my subordinates took cartel money......"

He looked satisfied with this situation. Maybe he was even intoxicated by his own coldness in abandoning subordinates.

But betrayals like this would pile up and collapse the ground beneath him. An organization where trust cracked and loyalty evaporated was no different from a sandcastle.

"......That said, I don't know the outside situation well, so I think we need some discussion. Could you call my comrades in?"

I stood and answered.

"Yes. Understood. Make yourself comfortable."

Goebel nodded with satisfaction.

"Now we're finally speaking the same language."

Of course, he wore the face of a man certain of victory.

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