Chapter 20
The slum was more cruel than I had imagined, and in some ways, a rational place.
In fantasy novels, when you come to the slums for a mission, you always get caught up in incidents.
Although they didn't even dare to pick fights with me, who was obviously a noble.
Knife fights broke out in the middle of the street.
"You can wait inside here."
"Can the knights who came as escorts come in too?"
The low-ranking guy from the slum who guided me here was silent for a moment.
"Even if they're knights, they can't enter inside here."
"Even knights who have served our family for generations?"
They said not to judge a book by its cover, but that's a very unrealistic saying.
Because our instinct judges others by their appearance and arbitrarily evaluates them.
Therefore, the guards wearing plate armor, which is difficult even for knights to casually wear, would look real if they just kept their mouths shut.
"If confidential information leaks, it would be troublesome for us too."
I gestured for the guards to wait outside for a while.
Unless I threaten these gangster-like guys or a disaster occurs where I can't pay them properly, I should be safe in most cases.
No matter how much of a thug they are, if they screw over a client who's trying to hire them, they won't get any more requests.
Those who can't distinguish even this much wouldn't have survived here.
"Instead, we can guarantee the quality of the information. Of course, if you want women, we can provide women, if you want people to do dirty work, we have skilled and tight-lipped guys... we'll help you with whatever you want."
To openly offer to kill people and even arrange human trafficking.
This was unimaginable in 21st century Korea.
While I was talking with the low-ranking guy for a while, suddenly he bowed his head deeply.
"Hello, boss."
The man called boss deliberately kicked the low-ranking guy.
The kicked guy was slammed into the corner of the wall.
"You damn bastard, do you think Young Master Fabio of the Medici baron family would do something like buying women? How long have you been here that you still can't get your act together?!"
The boss shouted at the low-ranking guy in a loud voice.
While scolding, his hand naturally went up and down.
It's exactly the same as the gangsters I knew.
"Consider yourself lucky today, you bastard."
With those words, the low-ranking guy ran away like a mouse with its tail cut off.
Everything from the scene of the boss shouting to the reaction of the scolded low-ranking guy was too natural.
'They staged this.'
Did they try to intimidate me because I'm young to gain the upper hand?
Unlike the low-ranking guy who seemed to have no dignity, the boss greeted me with a posture and voice that exuded some dignity.
"Hello, Young Master Medici. I'm Kobo, responsible for the Spider's Tears in this slum."
"You know me well without me even revealing who I am."
"I might not recognize other young nobles, but how could I not recognize someone who will become great in the future?"
When people use words like that, ten out of ten times it's flattery, but…
Judging by the expression of the boss using the alias Kobo, it seems to be sincere.
"One of our low-ranking guys greatly disrespected you when you came all this way. Please forgive us."
"There's no need for you, the boss, to apologize for a subordinate's transgression."
"Thank you for your generous forgiveness."
Kobo slightly raised one corner of his mouth and grinned.
"However, if you ever feel lonely at night, please let us know anytime. We'll prepare the best quality. Unlike other gangsters, we don't deceive our customers."
Well, such business is everyday life for those guys.
It's marketing to secure future customers by buying pretty girls from rural areas or urban slums and selling them to young masters suffering from men's worries.
It's something I don't want to touch from the point of selling people.
"What I want to request this time is a background investigation."
"Whose background do you want us to investigate?"
"The 4th Director of the Commercial Law Department, Viscount Raviole."
Viscount, and a director of the Commercial Law Department who has quite strong influence in the imperial administration.
When I said I wanted a background investigation on such a man, Kobo's brow furrowed.
"Investigating a viscount without territory who just lives on a pension isn't a very difficult task. But if it's a director of the Commercial Law Department, that's a different story."
Even though our empire was run on titles and status, it doesn't mean that positions or circumstances aren't important.
A baron with a truly wealthy territory can be called a 'grand baron' and exercise political influence at the level of a count.
Those who held key positions like directors in core administrative departments such as the Judicial Department, Commercial Law Department, and Finance Department can exercise enormous power given by their official positions.
'Enormous power is equivalent to that person's social status and strength.'
"He must be closely intertwined with various trading companies. We'll have to think about this..."
Are you telling me to propose how much I'll pay first?
Of course, I should do that.
"20 gold coins as an advance. Up to 30 gold coins depending on the success and results."
I took out a pouch containing 20 gold coins from my breast pocket.
Kobo, who looked inside the pouch, smiled wickedly.
"You're quite generous."
I didn't know the exact market price for how much I should pay when requesting such guys.
However, 50 gold coins to investigate one director of the Commercial Law Department is honestly an excessive amount.
"Since I'm in a position to target the rice bowls of merchants, I thought there would definitely be big merchants involved behind the scenes. It's a risk premium. Is it not enough?"
"It's rather more than enough."
"I like your honesty."
Kobo immediately took out paper and a pen.
"Is there any specific content you want?"
"Which big merchants he's colluding with, and what he was promised in return. I'd like you to find out these two things for certain."
The most important thing to win in war was this.
Who are the internal enemies, and who are the external enemies.
You need to figure this out to be able to make a plan.
If you go out to fight without being able to identify friend from foe, you might end up being manipulated by the enemy and shooting at your own allies.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And the viscount's weaknesses. What kind of corruption he's committed, what personal flaws he has."
When fighting an opponent in armor, you must always aim for the gaps in the armor.
Otherwise, you can never win.
It's the same when engaging in political battles.
"Are rumors okay too?"
"Even trivial ones are fine."
Even in the advanced courts of 21st century South Korea, which have adopted the principle of legal evidence, it's an everyday practice to bring down politicians with rumors.
The news talks about prosecutors' investigations, parliamentary hearings, and so on...
Just this can significantly lower the opponent's support.
Let alone in the Tuscan Empire where it's difficult to trace who spread the rumors?
You'd be a fool not to engage in such petty tactics.
"Is there anything else you'd like us to investigate?"
"Problems caused by family members, corruption by lovers, and so on. I'd like to know if you find anything significant."
"Yes, understood."
When I stopped speaking, Kobo put down his pen.
"But what exactly did that viscount do to you, young master? If we could know this, we might be able to help you more."
It's not like I was caught doing something shameful.
There's nothing bad about this becoming a rumor. No, it's rather good.
"That bastard viscount rejected my trading company establishment permit using a law from over 500 years ago. Even after taking a bribe."
"If he was going to reject it, he shouldn't have accepted the gift. That's too much."
Kobo also chuckled.
"In a week, send someone disguised as a hunter to my mansion. I'll consider giving additional requests based on the quality and quantity of information received then."
"We'll definitely achieve results that will satisfy you."
**
When I returned to the mansion, Chloe immediately came out to greet me.
I had told her she could go to bed first since I'd probably return late at night, but still.
"Welcome back, young master."
Today, I was upset because of that damn viscount.
But seeing Chloe made me feel better.
I heard that fathers gain strength to live another day just by being greeted when their children return from work.
I think I understand why now.
"I'm back."
"The butler specially prepared delicious food because you were going to establish a trading company..."
Setting up a trading company just ends with submitting one document, why go to such lengths?
"Yeah. It's really a shame."
If I didn't eat the food, the servants working in the mansion would have eaten it all deliciously.
So the food isn't wasted, but…
I'm angry that the sincerity of people trying to congratulate me has gone to waste.
"It's okay though. We can celebrate again later."
I put my hand on Chloe's head and stroked it.
"How can everything in the world always be good?"
That's how all things in life are.
A life where 90% of things are bad or hard, and moments of feeling happy don't even reach 10%.
Still, living with gratitude for that 10% or so of happiness is what life is about.
"When it's all over, let's go on a picnic to the suburbs later. We'll bring lots of cake that Chloe likes."
Was it because she lived in poverty all her life?
Chloe liked sweet things unusually more than other women around me.
And she eats them really deliciously.
I ate to the point of being sick of it just to see that sight.
'In severe cases, three times in two days...'
"But you shouldn't eat too much."
For some reason, I felt like teasing her and lightly stroked her belly.
Chloe, who understood what I meant by touching her, turned her head.
"You're too much."
She didn't forgive me for upsetting her until the next day.
And a week later, an informant came to our house and delivered the information.
It was a bigger catch than I had thought.