109. Chairman

109. Chairman

William!

He’s the bad guy who tried to steal my transparent stone in the Arctic before. The fact that he seems to be the culprit behind the mechanical worm makes me think first impressions really don’t lie.

“William was in charge of the field operations, and all authority regarding Arctic business was delegated to him. We only received reports and rarely interfered with operations. We believed that on-site judgment was more important than headquarters.”

The Chairman wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued.

“So, although I didn’t know the details… there were suspicious points in the reports, so I was keeping a close eye on him.”

“What points?”

“As you know, we conduct bartering, right? However, the value in bartering isn’t constant. Therefore, sales naturally fluctuate, but… William’s submitted reports showed almost constant sales.”

Huk.

This is definitely falsification of records. I puffed out my tail and listened intently to Chairman Uncle. I felt like my tail was touching my sister’s face, but it was probably just my imagination.

“Also, we’ve confirmed a significant increase in the supply of magic stones appearing on the black market recently. A considerable portion of those were ice crystals, and if William was distributing the ice crystals mined by the mining machine on the black market, it would make sense. He recorded some as sales and sold the rest on the black market.”

“And,” the Chairman said.

“Before William was appointed as the field manager, he worked in a technical position. Since his rank wasn’t low, he would have been fully capable of modifying and assembling the mining machine. He would have also found it easy to steal the machine, knowing how it was managed. I don’t know if he had accomplices….”

“So, there’s a high possibility William was involved?”

“That’s correct.”

The Chairman continued.

“A while ago, William submitted his resignation. I was puzzled as to why he suddenly resigned without any particular incident. And he seemed quite rushed.”

“So?”

“If he ran away because the existence of the mining machine was discovered… then his behavior makes complete sense.”

To summarize Chairman Uncle’s words, William stole the mining machine, mined ice crystals in the Arctic, and was selling them on the black market. Then, when we destroyed the machine, he realized he was caught and ran away.

What a truly bad person….

If you’ve done wrong, you should apologize, not just run away.

I often cause big accidents too, but every time, I tell my sister the truth and ask for forgiveness. While being scolded might be scary, isn’t it the right thing to do as a person?

How can you do wrong and run away-

… Wait a minute.

Come to think of it, I did run away without apologizing after causing an accident.

When I was even younger than I am now, I gathered heavy snow outside and made a palm-sized mini snowman. I put it on my sister’s bed to show her, but the snowman melted, and I ran away in a panic.

I guess my sister’s bed was soaked with an unknown liquid that day. Along with a small twig that served as the snowman’s nose.

Fortunately, my sister didn’t seem to realize it was me, but the fact remains that I ran away without apologizing.

Wouldn’t it be hypocritical for me to scold William when I’ve done the same thing?

It’s enough for hair to grow on my ears and tail. I squeezed my eyes shut, turned my back, and said to my sister.

“Sister.”

“Yes, why?”

“I’m sorry for what I did back then!”

“Wh-what…?”

Good, I apologized.

I’m a good wolf, I apologize well. My conscience is pure and clean.

Anyway, now I can scold William as much as I want without any repercussions. It means I can curse him to my heart’s content.

However, there was one thing I needed to consider.

I said to Chairman Uncle with a very cool demeanor.

“Uncle, you’re not lying, are you?”

“Lying?”

“What if you actually ordered it, Chairman Uncle, and you’re just blaming William!”

This is professionally called cutting off the tail.

Speaking of cutting off the tail, heavens, what a terrifying term. How could anyone cut off this luscious, fluffy tail….

My dad and sister chimed in with my words.

“Seol-ah is right. How can we believe you? And if you suspected the reports, shouldn’t you have investigated sooner?”

“Isn’t it true that William was forced to resign from above?”

As we pressed the Chairman, sweat dripped from his forehead again. He was already overweight, and seeing so much sweat pour down… it was hard to watch from any angle.

“No, that’s not true. We judged it was too early to make a decision based on just one or two reports. There’s a possibility that the sales figures were a coincidence. In fact, an audit was scheduled for the end of this year. Please, look.”

The Chairman took out a document from his drawer and showed it to us.

I couldn’t read the writing, but my sister and Dad read the document fluently. It seemed to be related to the audit.

“It’s unfortunate that he resigned right before the audit, so we had no choice. We couldn’t forcibly keep someone who wanted to leave.”

The Chairman adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and continued.

“If you say that this document is also fabricated and that William was forced to leave, then there’s nothing more we can say. We can only ask you to believe us, so we are frustrated too.”

“Hmm….”

The Chairman’s words sounded like a plea, but Dad’s expression was not convinced. The Chairman patted his chest as if frustrated and said.

… Every time he patted, his belly fat jiggled, which was a bit fascinating.

“For what reason would we make an enemy of the wolf tribe? Do you know what that VIP token we gave you means? It’s not something we give to just anyone.”

“Then who do you give it to?”

I tilted my head and asked Chairman Uncle. Then he shouted back.

“Extremely important business partners! Esteemed guests who must be treated with the utmost priority! Only to such people! It’s a token we give!”

Goodness, Chairman Uncle’s face turned incredibly red. It was at a level that made me worry about his cardiovascular health.

“Hoo… Our trading company is the biggest in the Magi Republic, I assure you. As such, we don’t do business with just anyone. Even among those distinguished individuals, that token is given to signify someone of great importance. So, why would we betray such an important partner?”

I see.

It feels good to be considered important… but why have we become important figures? As Chairman Uncle said, if we are very important people, there must be a reason for it.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked Chairman Uncle once more.

“Why are we important figures?”

“Well, it’s because the Arctic is one of the few regions where magic stones are currently being produced. Since we are the only ones who can trade with the wolf tribe that controls that area, we naturally have to consider them important.”

“Huk… But why are there magic stones only in the Arctic?”

“All the magic stones that were in other places have already been mined and used. That’s why the price of magic stones is skyrocketing right now….”

“Why were they all mined and used? Shouldn’t they have been used sparingly?”

“In the past, we thought magic stones were inexhaustible, so we just mined them all indiscriminately. By the time we realized it, it was already too late….”

“Why did you use so many magic stones?”

“As magic engineering advanced, the consumption of magic stones greatly increased. Once it became possible to use magic stones, they started being used in all sorts of fields. People mined magic stones accordingly.”

“Then why-“

Just as I was about to continue speaking, my sister intervened.

After patting my head a couple of times, my sister said to me.

“We’re in the middle of an important conversation right now, so please bear with your questions for a little while. Okay?”

“Yes….”

I asked too many questions.

Normally, my sister wouldn’t have stopped my questions, but the situation seemed quite serious right now.

As I stopped asking questions, the Chairman let out a sigh of relief and adjusted his glasses. Then, he stood up and apologized to us.

“Hoo… Even so, a superior exists to take responsibility for their subordinate’s mistakes. I apologize for causing you concern. I sincerely apologize.”

The Chairman bowed his head.

It was a perfectly straight and precise 90° angle bow, unbefitting his stout physique. The Chairman even took off the silk hat he was wearing, showing his courtesy….

“Huk, he’s bald.”

“Kuhuk.”

Surprisingly, Chairman Uncle was bald. Moreover, it was a smooth, clean, and pure baldness with not a single strand of hair.

The light from the fluorescent lamp reflected off it, dazzling my eyes. It’s so… barren.

“Shall I give you some of my tail fur…?”

I gently extended my tail. Since he had no hair, he looked very unappealing. It seemed Chairman Uncle had undergone a head-shaving, not a tail-cutting.

“I, I’m fine.”

“Still… how about just one strand? If you put it on your crown, it might look a bit better….”

As I tried to pull a hair from my tail, my sister reached out and stopped me.

“… Seol-ah, you shouldn’t tease people like that.”

“I’m not teasing! I’m genuinely worried. How can a person have no hair at all….”

“Seol-ah.”

Perhaps it’s because I grew up among suin with fluffy tails that I find such baldness awkward.

Even after lowering my tail as my sister suggested, I couldn’t easily let go of my concern for Chairman Uncle’s hair.