“Hmm…”
A picture was starting to form in her mind, but it was too soon to jump to conclusions.
Yuri nodded.
“Alright, I get it for now. But how much money was taken in taxes altogether?”
She instructed Ace to check the number of former Alliance soldiers in Yuses and the amount they’d been robbed of. Ace immediately sent a comrade to gather the info.
“There’s no one good with numbers here…”
“Don’t worry. An expert will come and handle the calculations.”
“An expert?”
“One from the Elaine Trading Company. Just leave it to him.”
“You have connections with Elaine Trading?”
“Something like that.”
Ace took Yuri’s hand.
“Thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, Prince, I’d have died on the battlefield. And now, even here…”
Yuri smiled softly and patted his shoulder.
“I’m alive because of you all, too.”
“Prince…”
“Pull yourself together. Now’s the time to be strong.”
“Yes.”
Yuri rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“Getting the money back itself won’t be hard.”
If it came out that the compensation from the Alliance Veterans’ Association was actually a gift from the Third Prince, all those forced taxes would vanish.
But the real challenge was what came after.
“We have to make sure this never happens again.”
Yuri had come to Yuses partly as an inspection.
While helping the Veterans’ Association, she wanted to gauge the public mood in Briole and check if there were any other corrupt dealings.
She tapped the table.
“There are some former Alliance soldiers who haven’t settled down and are wandering around, right?”
“There are.”
“Good. Make a list of them, too. We need to build people up. If we don’t train them properly now, they’ll end up as bandits later.”
“No way.”
“Way. It’ll happen for real.”
Just before coming to Yuses, Yuri had seen the proof.
“We need to give them vocational training.”
“You’re really going that far?”
“That’s what the Veterans’ Association was made for.”
As they talked, Yuri suddenly wondered about Raymond’s reputation.
She personally thought highly of him, but she wanted to know what others thought.
“What do people think of Raymond?”
“He’s an excellent knight.”
“Do they all follow him?”
“Of course.”
“I see.”
Yuri nodded. That was the answer she wanted.
The Veterans’ Association still had a long way to go. To run an organization like this, you needed a leader with solid character.
“There are fewer decent people in the world than you’d think.”
“That’s true.”
“And Raymond is one of the few.”
Yuri decided to appoint Raymond as the head of the Veterans’ Association.
After wrapping up the main discussion, she looked at Ace, who was sitting there blankly, and grinned.
“Ace.”
“Yes?”
“Looks like we’re done here…”
She rubbed her fingers together and gave him a sly look.
“Wanna show me what you’ve got for once?”
“Ah, yes. Haha, of course.”
Ace immediately pulled out a deck of cards from the drawer and began shuffling with practiced ease.
“I thought I was going to die waiting for this…”
Yuri snatched the deck away.
“You’re hopeless.”
“Prince?”
“You said you’d quit.”
“Huh? I really did.”
“Then why are the cards out?”
“Just for nostalgia…”
“I was going to test you again this time.”
“I thought so too, so I was only going to play one game…”
“You little…”
Yuri stood up and called toward the door.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Your husband is…”
“No way!”
Morning came.
Yuri sat in the dining room on the first floor of the inn she was staying at, waiting for someone.
Soon the door opened, and a small boy came in, clutching a bundle and looking around nervously.
Yuri jingled some coins.
“Here.”
The boy handed over the package, took the money, and quickly left the inn.
Yuri sipped her coffee as she unwrapped the bundle.
It was full of documents that Asana had seized from Genard’s estate.
“Hmm…”
She skimmed through and pieced together the outline.
There was evidence that Genard had persuaded other nobles to collect money from former Alliance soldiers.
Just as she’d suspected, it was a plan hatched by Genard.
But why he had started this in the first place—the real motive—remained unclear.
“Was I jealous?”
After finishing her meal and wiping her mouth, Yuri stood up.
Before leaving, she spoke to the innkeeper on behalf of Laurent and Jared, who were still asleep.
“When my group arrives, please tell them I went out alone.”
“Yes, of course. Have a good day.”
The innkeeper was kind, probably because it was an expensive place. Yuri tipped him and stepped out into the cool dawn air.
“Where was it again…”
She headed toward the Yuses branch of her uncle’s organization.
Soon she came upon a shabby gambling den.
These guys always seemed to set up shop in similar places.
Even at this hour, there were plenty of customers—probably addicts who’d stayed up all night gambling.
Yuri pushed through the noisy interior and knocked on the door of the office where money could be borrowed.
A burly man opened it and greeted her.
“Here to borrow money?”
“No.”
“Then get lost.”
“No.”
There was a brief commotion, but it settled quickly.
As the manager rushed over, he found a boy perched atop a pile of fallen gang members.
Yuri waved her hand.
“Hey.”
“Wow, Prince?”
“Look at you, moving up in the world.”
Yuri recognized the manager from the castle. He’d worked directly under Gorio.
“Good to see you. I was worried you might be someone I didn’t know.”
Only the higher-ups among Gorio’s men knew about Yuri’s connection to him.
She recalled the manager’s name.
“Was it Atman?”
“Yes.”
“Long time no see.”
Atman was missing a finger.
He’d always seemed terrified of Gorio, but after years of loyalty, he’d been put in charge of a branch.
“How’s Gorio doing?”
“He’s fine. Though he does get annoyed sometimes.”
“That’s the empire for you. It’s a huge country.”
“Hahaha…”
“I came to ask you something.”
“Yes, yes.”
Atman found Yuri intimidating because this prince was the one who really controlled the fearsome Gorio.
“Just say what you need.”
“Are you guys being forced to beg on the streets?”
“Begging?”
Atman shook his head.
“No, that’s something third-rate gangs do. We’re running a legitimate business.”
“Good. Get rid of all the begging as soon as possible.”
“What?”
“Send those kids to orphanages.”
“Ah, understood.”
“If any orphanage says it’s too hard, tell me which one. I’ll donate.”
“Yes.”
Atman nodded, understanding the situation.
Before he got into debt with Gorio, he’d been a decent young man, so Yuri sympathized with him.
“Got it. I’ll do that.”
“Also, do you know why Genard suddenly started harassing former Alliance soldiers?”
“That matter…”
Atman fell silent, thinking hard. He wanted to help and impress Yuri but couldn’t come up with anything.
“Sorry, I don’t have any…”
Then he suddenly remembered how Gorio worked.
A ruthless but clever man, he often found connections between seemingly unrelated information.
“Hmm…”
Atman hesitated, then spoke.
“It might be unrelated, but there’s something that’s been bothering me…”
“Tell me.”
“There’s a branch of Sujeongru in Yuses. The city officials visit there often.”
Sujeongru was a gambling house run by Gorio’s faction.
“So?”
“Not long ago, a noble from the empire came there.”
“A noble from the empire?”
“Yes. The official from Genard’s side accompanied him. That person introduced the noble to Sujeongru. Several empire people came together.”
“When was this?”
“Right after the Alliance disbanded and things got noisy.”
“Hmm…”
Yuri rubbed her chin. The keyword “empire” made her uneasy.
In her past life, Genard had immediately sided with the empire after Briole’s fall to keep his noble status.
The process had been too smooth, making her suspicious. Could there already be a connection?
Her mind raced.
“Excuse me…”
Suddenly, one of the big guys beneath her raised his hand.
“What is it?”
“Well, hearing this, something came to mind…”
“Want me to move?”
“No, no, I’m fine.”
“No, I’ll move. If Gorio’s been pushing you this hard, no wonder you’re all so tense…”
Yuri stood up, and the three men piled beneath her rolled aside one by one.
The biggest one, who’d been at the bottom, jumped up and bowed.
“Sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier.”
“Understandable. Sorry for hitting you.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Alright, tell me what you’ve got.”
“Well, someone came to me asking if I could ‘work’ on someone.”
“Work?”
“To drag them into gambling or get them into debt. I refused, saying I don’t do that anymore, but it’s been bothering me.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know. The guy wore a hood…”
The big man licked his lips and continued in a firm voice.
“But the target was a former Alliance soldier.”
“A former Alliance soldier?”
“Yes. Someone named Ace, who used to play a lot of cards. They wanted me to get him hooked on gambling again…”
“Tell me everything you remember.”
The big man didn’t recall much—just that a suspicious person had come with a request.
Yuri nodded.
“Got it.”
By now, it was clear someone was deliberately sabotaging the Veterans’ Association.
“Anything else you need me to do?”
“No. Thanks for your help.”
Yuri left the gambling den.
He took a deep breath of the cool wind, letting it wash away the stale, smoky air of the gambling hall.
It was about time to meet Genard in person.
“Damn Genard…”
In his past life, Yuri had been close to Genard.
Genard had coaxed Yuri with sweet words, pushing him into all sorts of mischief. And Yuri, falling for it, had hung around Genard, seeing him as a loyal lord.
It was a pathetic relationship, but at least there was some semblance of friendship.
“I want to cut him some slack, but I just can’t.”
Yuri headed to a fruit stand near the gambling hall, grabbed an apple, wiped it roughly on his sleeve, and took a bite.
“How much is this?”
“One copper.”
“Alright.”
He handed over a copper coin.
“You’re up early.”
“Gotta make a living.”
“Any interesting news lately?”
“They say banana prices are going up. There’s some kind of blight affecting them.”
“That sounds serious.”
“Soon, fruits from the East will be imported. I’m curious what they’ll taste like.”
“Wow, that sounds exciting.”
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged woman who chatted away busily while arranging her fruit.
Yuri asked, “So, the Eastern fruits arriving—this is thanks to the Alliance troops, right?”
“That’s right. But, young man, are you not from around here?”
“No, I’m from the castle.”
“I see.”
She looked at Yuri playfully, pressing her index finger to her lips.
“Be careful. The local lord here doesn’t like the Alliance troops much.”
“Why’s that?”
“Who knows? He’s a grumpy lord, always unpredictable. People like us just have to live quietly, watching our backs.”
“I see. I wish someone would come and teach that lord a lesson.”
The woman laughed.
“Yeah, wouldn’t it be great if the famous Third Prince showed up?”
Yuri smiled warmly. His reputation had clearly reached this far.
“That kind-hearted knight is supposed to have a trial soon. I wonder if the real Third Prince will come.”
“Who’s that?”
“Sir Raymond. A fine knight, but he’s gotten into trouble for some reason and now faces trial. Yuse is getting harsher by the day.”
“That’s terrible…”
Considering Genard’s temperament, Yuri expected the verdict on Raymond would come swiftly.
Feigning ignorance, Yuri asked, “I should go see it. When’s the trial?”
“Tomorrow? Or the day after?”
“If lots of townsfolk show up, maybe the judge will be pressured to go easy.”
“That judge only cares about the lord’s opinion.”
“What a cruel man.”
The apple was surprisingly good. Yuri bought a basketful more and paid the woman.
“Maybe I’ll go watch the trial. Who knows? Maybe that handsome, noble Third Prince will suddenly appear and put that nasty judge and lord in their place.”
“That’d be wonderful. Here, take another banana with you.”
“Thank you.”