Chapter 29.

In my room, there was an illusion of me preparing for the civil service exam -- sitting in front of the desk and studying. Meanwhile, under the setting red sun, I was standing atop the temple spire wearing a half black and half white mask. Emotions from second grade in middle school were surging.

It was currently close to 8 p.m., and the time I was supposed to visit Count Druval was 2 a.m. In several dozen minutes, the sun would set completely shrouding the capital in utter darkness with the exception of several buildings. Street lights installed on every road brightened up the roads. However, I felt sorry that the lights did not reach the inside of the buildings.

The sun eventually went down and the street lights lit up. I jumped down from the temple spire; my body merged with the darkness and disappeared.

-o-

The White Deer Knights in charge of capital security were all standing guard at Count Druval's mansion. Normally, the knights should have gone home and left the night watchman in charge around this time. Unfortunately, everyone was still on their guard duty due to a mysterious man who called himself Lupin.

"What kind of situation is this? We can't even go home because of some freak." The vice-captain of the White Deer Knights grumbled before the captain.

This captain exuded a strong presence. In response to his subordinates gripe, he simply brought his index finger to his lips as a warning to be silent. "This is not the barrack. Count Druval is a giant in the business world, so you'd better be careful about what you say."

"Well, that's true. By the way, do you really think that guy called Lupin is coming?" The vice-captain felt that all of this was a waste of time.

But his boss shook his head. "We must protect this place whether he comes or not. If we leave the place because we think it's a waste of time, he could take advantage of the situation and break into the mansion. On the other hand, if we maintain tight security, he might get scared and not come at all. The necklace in the vault called the Crystal of Perfection will be safe then.

Right then, the door opened with a round of applause.

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

"Excellent! As expected from the captain of the prestigious White Deer Knights. An attitude to never slack off? I'd like to learn this attitude from you."

The man stepping in was Count Druval. With his untrimmed beard, he gave off a magnanimous disposition.

The captain and the vice-captain withdrew the swords they had drawn in surprise and bowed.

"Not at all. You are known for being an immovable mountain in the business world and have a high reputation. It is I that should learn from you."

Count Druval burst into laughter as if the captain's comment made him happy. "Bahahaha! Is that so? It's an honor to hear that from a knight famous for his uprightness. By the way, how is the situation?"

When asked by Count Druval, the captain nodded and replied, "Everything is under control."

"It makes me relieved to hear that. The Crystal of Perfection inside the vault behind you is a precious item worth five platinum coins."

The vice-captain standing next to the captain dropped his jaw when he heard the value of the crystal. The captain slightly moved the sword hanging on his waist to lightly tap his adjutant. The vice-captain finally realized that he had exposed his emotions and closed his mouth while slightly bowing his head.

"I apologize. My subordinate has erred."

It was considered taboo for a knight to carelessly reveal his emotions in the presence of outsiders, not to mention when they were alone with other knights. Due to the nature of their works, high-ranking knights had many opportunities to access confidential military information. Revealing their feelings in the presence of outsiders could potentially provide clues regarding military secrets. Therefore, controlling their emotions was a vital part of their training.

"Not at all. The Crystal of Perfection is indeed expensive. You could use it to buy a small territory."

"Thank you for understanding."

Count Druval accepted the captain's apology and said it was all right before leaving the room.

"I'm sorry."

When the vice-captain apologized, the captain put his index finger on his lips and said, "It's all right. Anyone can make mistakes."

The vice-captain was puzzled at the captain's sudden signal to be quiet, but he kept his mouth shut as instructed.

The captain also went silent after giving solace. Unlike his mouth, his hands were not silent. The vice-captain interpreted the hand signal.

'This, place, ear, eavesdropping.' This place is being eavesdropped?!

The surprised vice-captain sent back a hand signal.

'Who?'

'Conversation, earlier.'

The person they talked with just now... Count Druval!

The captain sent more signals with a break at each tempo.

'This, place, and, before, know, our, conversation.'

The interpretation was 'He knew our conversation even before he arrived.'

Come to think of it, Count Druval had been praising the captain's stance as he was coming into the room. This mansion wasn't built in a rush like the soldiers' lounge. There was no way their conversation could reach the outside of the room.

The vice-captain felt goosebumps all over his body and sent a signal.

'Why?'

He thought that maybe it was for listening in on military secrets.

'Unknown, maybe, us, no, believe.'

'I don't know, but maybe it's because he doesn't believe in us?'

The vice-captain went berserk at his boss' words. The count showered all sorts of praises in front of them, but he was peeling pumpkin seeds behind their back.

The captain noticed the vice captain's thought and sent a signal.

'Calm down, opponent, money, top, us, knight, no.'

'Calm down, the opponent is the business world's biggest giant. He's different from knights like us.' The signal 'No' could sometimes be interpreted as 'different.'

The vice-captain was indignant, but he couldn't do anything about it. No matter how high their positions were, it could not outshine Count Druval's title and the power of money. He gave his last nod and stopped all exchange of conversation including hand signals. This was because they could also be monitored by magic security videos.

The long silence was broken by their subordinate knight who came bursting in through the door.

"We're in trouble! Lupin appeared at Count Margaret's mansion!"

"What?!"

When the vice-captain shouted, the knight became flustered and hurriedly explained.

"At 10 p.m. today, Count Margaret's butler found the vault hanging open while he was patrolling the interior of the mansion. All the silver bars and jewels in the safe were replaced with a card bearing Lupin's name."

It was 11 p.m. now. The report was made an hour after the discovery. Usually, such discoveries would be reported in 30 minutes at the latest, but the report was delayed due to all the White Deer Knights being stationed at Count Druval's mansion except for some on duty at the base.

"The major problem is that a necklace made of thousand-year amethysts that was meant for the third princess' birthday party in three months was inside the vault."

"Dammit!"

The vice-captain swore, and his temper began to rise. This wasn't just a simple case of burglary anymore. One of the stolen items was meant for the imperial family. This was clearly a challenge to the imperial throne.

Lupin turned from a simple thief to a traitor that would end up with his entire family being wiped out if he was caught. It was possible that thieving the Goddess' Blessing, as well as the warning to Count Druval, were just a smokescreen to steal the necklace made of thousand-year amethysts.

"We must lead all the knights and head to Count Margaret's mansion.

The vice-captain shouted at the captain, but the captain shook his head with a firm look.

"No, it's not 2 a.m. yet."

"Isn't that just a smokescreen for the actual crime?"

"Well, I don't know. First, we'll divide the knights into half."

"Captain?"

"Calm down. Lupin isn't at that place now. You don't have to bring all the knights to search through Count Margaret's mansion. Half the knights will search for traces of Lupin there and the other half will stay here to catch Lupin."

The vice-captain became slightly blank at the captain's words.

"Do you think that son of a b*tch will come here?"

"I don't know. But just like how we couldn't find any traces of Lupin at Marquis Balthain's mansion, it is possible that we will not find any traces at Count Margaret's mansion either. In that case, even if it is somewhat foolish, we will keep this place guarded as planned. Protect this place and catch Lupin if he comes."

"Are you going to Count Margaret's mansion?"

The captain nodded at the vice captain's question.

"Okay, I'll guard this place."

"I will entrust you."

The captain strongly patted the vice captain's shoulder, then left the room while issuing instructions to the subordinate.

"Squads one, three, and five will follow me to Count Margaret's mansion. Gather at the front gate. Squads two, four, and six will remain here and follow the vice-captain's instructions. Pass the order."

"Yes!"

With a loud salute, the subordinate knight ran to deliver the order.

The captain then headed to Count Druval. He reckoned the man must already know the situation from wiretapping. Nevertheless, he had to officially announce that he was withdrawing some of the troops.

-o-

I raided the mansion of a count with a cookie name [1] around 9 p.m. I had so much free time that I could put the stolen items in the pocket space and organize them.

A silver ingot, a silver coin a refined silver coin, oh? Gold coins ... Amber rings, jade bracelets, pearl earrings... Is this a necklace made of amethyst?

Frankly speaking, I wasn't sure because I wasn't well versed in jewelry. Still, despite my limited knowledge, the best item amongst all these jewels was definitely this necklace made out of amethyst.

It was Hestia's birthday soon, so I decided to send it to her as a birthday present along with a letter. As such, I placed the necklace in the pocket space and made a list. It was much easier to take items out later when you had cataloged them.

I placed the silver ingots and jewels into the pocket space and took a glimpse at a book that was inside the vault.

Wow, a ledger recording all sorts of corruption scandals!

The ledger detailedly recorded all the exchange of money that had happened with Count Margaret at the center.

This is great! I'll use this ledger to determine my next targets hereon.

First, I started to look for Count Druval in the ledger. Before I found this ledger, it hurt my conscience to rob someone's house without any reason. That wasn't the case anymore.

Druval... Druval. Here it is!

There was so much information that it accounted for a third of the ledger. If he was so deep into corruption, he definitely had his own ledger hidden somewhere.

By looking at the amount of money written on the ledger, it wasn't possible to find anyone more corrupted. I wasn't trying to steal from the rich and distribute to the poor by trying was trying to target the most corrupt people first. Doing so was a fairly dangerous act. Although it was also direct treason against the empire, rapidly giving away money like this could result in inflation.

In my past life, there had been a reason why so many countries had organizations such as the tax offices and financial regulators. They were all attempts to control the flow of money and prevent inflation. As such, it was dangerous to release money to the public without the country's awareness.

1. There is indeed a cookie called Magaret cookie that is a product of Lotte in Korea. http://www.orientalsuper-mart.com/ourstore/images/LotteMargaret.jpg