Eradicating Corruption (2)

#4. Eradicating Corruption (2)

Late at night.

The Finance Bureau's administrative office in the Grand Duke's castle was bustling with corrupt nobles trying to return their embezzled funds.

It was practically a battlefield.

"Hurry! I don't care how much interest you'll have to pay—just find a way to raise the money! Son! Do you really want to be dragged off to a labor camp!?"

Baron Benjamin was drenched in sweat as he badgered his family through a crystal ball.

But not everyone had surrendered so meekly.

"Tsk, tsk, you fools. To think you'd surrender your family fortunes after being frightened by some youngster's threats."

A mocking voice came from outside the office.

It was Viscount Vargo, the man in charge of military-supply procurement. He leisurely smoked a premium cigar and looked down disdainfully at Benjamin, who was stamping his feet.

"V-Viscount Vargo! You're only saying that because you didn't attend the meeting! Don't you know Baron Klein's head was cut off!?"

Benjamin asked with a horrified expression, but Vargo merely snorted.

He had been away from the territory on a military-supply procurement assignment and had been unable to attend the meeting.

Even now, despite being summoned by the Grand Duke, he was leisurely strolling around the castle.

"Heh heh. What does a brute who knows only how to use his strength know about ledgers? Do you really think the Grand Duke would have turned a blind eye to my corruption for the past three years?"

The girl must have egged the Grand Duke on with a few words, making him act like the chief auditor, but the actual chief auditor had long since taken bribes and become Vargo's dog.

Could a bastard princess ignorant of how the world worked really uncover the ledgers Vargo had laundered two or three times over in collusion with the southern merchant guilds?

Vargo was certain that was absolutely impossible.

"Did he think I'd bow my head just because he tried to scare me? Not a chance."

Who was he? Viscount Vargo. He was the man who held the entire military-supply network in his hands.

No matter how powerful the Grand Duke was, he couldn't simply cast Vargo aside.

Even a Sword Master could not wage war against monsters without military supplies.

"If anything, this is a good opportunity to assert my innocence and win the Grand Duke's trust. His Grace knows perfectly well that if he touches me, the defense force's supplies will be cut off."

Viscount Vargo walked toward the lord's office with arrogant, leisurely steps.

***

Kylan rotated his stiff neck and yawned silently.

He had worked more overtime recently than ever since transmigrating, but the sense of accomplishment outweighed his fatigue.

The nobles' voluntary payments had already come to nearly 200,000 gold!

Considering that he had earned only around 1,500 gold by spending an entire day skinning monster hides and selling magic stones, this was a truly revolutionary result.

'I only got back what had originally belonged to the territory.'

Even recovering all the embezzled funds would only buy him about a year's breathing room; it was not a fundamental solution.

But even a year was something.

He felt as though a little of the heavy burden in his heart had been lifted.

'This is all thanks to Princess Eleanor.'

His gaze turned toward the desk across from him. Eleanor was there, eating a sandwich in one hand while diligently checking documents.

'I really did pick an excellent treasurer.'

Kylan marveled inwardly.

She had collapsed from overwork that morning, so he had given her a top-grade potion and put her to bed. But at lunchtime, she had popped her eyes open and gone right back to work.

"Your Grace."

As Kylan admired her, Eleanor swallowed her sandwich and spoke.

"It is nearly midnight, but Viscount Vargo's faction has not offered even a single silver coin. I suspect he mistakenly believes his double-entry books are perfect."

She said this while pushing up the new glasses she had recently had fitted with one finger.

"His method of embezzlement is the vilest of the vile. The documents state that he delivered the finest dwarven iron swords, but in reality, he supplied cheap iron swords made with impure metal. Fortunately, experienced knights used them, but if they had fought monsters without coating the swords in aura, they would have broken after only two or three strikes. This is not merely a matter of embezzlement; it is an act of murder that put the lives of the northern knights at stake."

Kylan's blue eyes turned cold for the first time.

'Cheap iron swords? Was this why so many casualties were recorded last year?'

Viscount Vargo was exactly the kind of person Kylan had hated most even in his previous life.

Those scumbags used shoddy materials to skim money, endangering workers in the field and taking lives. They were nuclear waste beyond mere human garbage.

"Treasurer Eleanor. How much were the condolence payments for the knights and soldiers who died in last year's campaign?"

"Fifteen experienced Expert knights alone. One hundred ninety ordinary soldiers also died. Including compensation for the bereaved families, recruitment of new troops, and training costs, the sunk cost comes to approximately 20,000 gold."

"How much did that bastard Vargo—no, that viscount—skim?"

"It is estimated at approximately 5,000 gold."

Kylan clenched his fist tightly and furrowed his brow.

"He threw away 20,000 gold in territory assets just to stuff 5,000 gold into his own pocket? He sent soldiers whom we'd raised through blood and sweat at the training camp into the jaws of death?!"

Knock, knock, knock.

Just then, the office door opened with a polite knock.

"Your Grace! I apologize for intruding at this late hour, but I respectfully request an audience."

Speak of the devil.

It was Viscount Vargo. He bowed deeply, pretending to be a loyal retainer.

"I hear that several fools, including Benjamin, tampered with the territory's budget? What shameless wretches, exploiting the territory's people who toil in the North's harsh conditions... As the man responsible for supplies, I cannot express how appalled I am."

Vargo continued with a sly smile.

"I was afraid Her Highness the young princess might misunderstand after looking only at the numbers in the documents, so I hurried here. Your Grace, I have devoted my entire life to supplying the North. My loyalty is so spotless that not a speck of dust would come off if you shook me, so please..."

"What a truly moving display of loyalty, Viscount."

While the Grand Duke watched in silence, Princess Eleanor interrupted the viscount in a low voice.

She tossed the bundle of documents she was holding at the viscount's feet.

"According to the ledger you submitted, you clearly sent payment for the weapons to a dwarven workshop in the capital."

"Th-that is correct, but...?"

Eleanor tapped one of the documents with a finger and sneered.

"And yet, something is strange. I traced the movement of the funds through the Imperial Bank, and the money went not to a dwarven workshop but to a scrap-processing facility in the South. Did you buy scrap metal and pass it off as dwarven steel swords?"

"……!"

A subtle crack appeared in Vargo's formerly relaxed expression.

But he forced himself to keep smiling and tried to wriggle out of it.

"Th-that can't be true! Her Highness must have made some mistake in her investigation! How could I possibly do such a thing...!"

"First Knight Commander Cedric has also brought a confession from Taren, the manager of the First Supply Warehouse. Fortunately, he confessed before his head was cut off."

Eleanor thrust the evidence forward.

"This is a statement and thumbprint attesting that you transferred the difference left over after supplying defective weapons into your personal vault. You may claim that you are being framed if you wish, but you will also have to let us inspect the contents of your vault."

The auditing skills of a public-administration valedictorian were astounding!

Thick beads of sweat kept rolling down Vargo's forehead.

A search of his estate would only reveal more evidence; there was no chance it would prove his innocence.

His face turning ashen, he finally bared his hidden fangs. When excuses failed, he decided to hold the North hostage.

"Y-Your Grace! It is true that I... that I could not resist the North's longstanding corruption! But this was a necessary evil required to maintain the supply network in the harsh North!"

Vargo shouted at Kylan, veins standing out on his neck.

"If you punish me, the First Supply Depot will be paralyzed starting tomorrow! The southern weapons merchants and smithies operate solely on the credit of Viscount Vargo! Are you planning to catch monsters with your bare hands because you have no weapons?!"

Still shouting at Kylan, Vargo was cut off by Eleanor, who could no longer stand listening to him.

"The rotten supply network that merely divides dirty money among itself is not needed in the North. You needn't worry; I intend to end all dealings with them."

"W-what...! Are you insane?! Then what weapons will we use tomorrow?!"

"Chapter 11, Article 1 of the Imperial Wartime Administration Act. 'A frontier territory facing an imminent monster wave has the right to compel the Imperial Merchant Guild Alliance to conduct [Emergency Wartime Procurement].' As the minister of supply, in name if nothing else, you must know this provision, don't you?"

"Y-you would rely on some law that's barely still alive...!"

"Even a law that's barely still alive is sufficient to hold out until the North establishes a new supply network. It seems there is no place in Winterwald for your paltry connections anymore, Viscount Vargo."

Kylan grinned and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Do I have any reason left to let you live? If so, tell me."

He was nearly 190 centimeters tall, with a massive build.

The Sword Master's overwhelming presence froze the air in the office in an instant.

"Don't misunderstand me, Vargo. I never had the slightest intention of letting you live in the first place."

Kylan stepped right up to Vargo's face.

"More than two hundred of my men died last winter because of those worthless swords you supplied."

Kylan had been in this world for only three months and had never actually seen or spoken to those people.

Even so, their lives were not worthless.

"Y-Your Grace! With all due respect, blaming all of that on me is...!"

"Take your excuses to hell and tell them to my soldiers."

Shhk!

No one could see Frost Fang, Kylan's greatsword, being drawn or the moment it was returned to its sheath.

Only a blue flash sliced through the air.

Viscount Vargo's head rolled across the floor.

The severed neck froze solid, and not a single drop of blood flowed out.

Kylan sheathed his sword with a grimace, as if he had bitten into a bug.

Only then did he remember Eleanor's presence.

'Damn it, you idiot. I just showed a hothouse-flower princess a beheading twice. What if she quits as treasurer now!'

Kylan hurriedly turned around and tried to explain.

"Eleanor…"

But something was strange.

Eleanor simply rose from her seat and stood demurely, like a proper wife.

In a way, her expression looked utterly peaceful.

She removed her glasses and spoke in a calm voice.

"Chapter 8, Article 2 of the Imperial Tax Code. The property of a traitor who diverts military supplies and threatens the safety of a territory shall belong 100% to the territory's lord."

Eleanor smiled brightly at Kylan.

"Your Grace. We can slowly confiscate the slush funds hidden by the Vargo family, along with their real estate in the capital, so you should rest for tonight. You should be pleased. We will be able to recover funds far greater than the amount that was embezzled."

"……."

"I will put the corpse to good use. It will be an excellent visual teaching aid showing what happens when someone refuses to return embezzled funds."

Kylan stared blankly at her.

An imperial princess who celebrated turning a beheading into extra profit and suggested using the corpse as a visual teaching aid.

Even with the Grand Duke of the North behind her, that was beyond the courage of an ordinary person.

At this point, the imperial family members who had bullied her were frightening enough to make even him afraid.

'This woman is my soulmate!'

Kylan put an arm around Eleanor's shoulders and left the office with her.

"I'll rest for a while, as you advised. While I rest, Eleanor... I would like you to join me as well..."

"I-It's an honor, Your Grace!"

That day, for the first time, the two of them spent a somewhat sweet night together.