Ch.88. Retirement

Ember Hyde had been in a state of confusion since morning.

Normally, she would have washed her face upon waking and meticulously groomed herself, but now she sat on the edge of her bed with a vacant expression, not caring about her appearance at all.

Her morning routine was relatively simple. After making herself as presentable as possible, she would spend time at a salon frequented by nobles.

Her pleasure came from ordering a cup of tea and elegantly reading a book for two or three hours while observing how the “real” nobles interacted.

Of course, she could never become one of them. She was merely the daughter of a nobleman without a title. She could only satisfy her frustrations by watching the nobles’ social interactions from afar.

But today, she didn’t have time to observe noble culture as usual.

It was because of news she had heard—or rather, overheard—at the salon yesterday.

“They released 108 at once?”

“This is the first time since the exchange opened that so many have been distributed at once. Even when the Prince bought 70 last month, people were buzzing for days.”

“The price must have plummeted, naturally?”

When such a large quantity is released at once, prices inevitably fall.

Normally, individual Cordana investors would buy or sell at most a couple at a time. If a wealthy person from a region without an exchange placed a large buy order of 30-40, it would create a buying wall that temporarily halted price movement.

“The price was adjusted three times in one hour. At one point, it fell to 340 million. Some people were worried about a short-term correction because of Erick.”

“Of course! That’s insane… Huh? But I just saw the price is at 380 million?”

“There’s a reason. When it temporarily dropped, the Arcknite ducal family started buying them up. Seems the Duke himself gave the order.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“After that, investors jumped in and it rose to 390 million, apparently.”

The Arcknite ducal family. They were a powerful family with wealth and power second only to the Emperor.

The population of their directly governed territory alone approached one million, and they owned large iron mines, salt mines, and the like, giving them considerable financial power.

Thanks to this family taking more than 30 units, Erick was able to dispose of all those Cordanas in just a few hours.

“The Arcknite ducal family wouldn’t have ordered the purchase for no reason. I guess it’s true that the Hero is temporarily returning to the capital.”

“He’s not just coming to rest, right? Is it for the expedition ceremony to the Demon Lord’s castle?”

“That’s highly likely.”

Ember listened intently to the nobles’ whispers with wide eyes.

At some point, she wasn’t secretly eavesdropping anymore but was openly glancing in their direction. It was extremely rude behavior, but fortunately, the noble youths who were engrossed in talking about Cordana didn’t care at all whether Ember was pricking up her ears nearby.

Naturally, Ember herself didn’t realize she was behaving in an undignified manner. The story they told was so shocking.

‘He disposed of that many… all at once?’

Ember could hardly believe it.

It was only a few days ago that she had begged her father to teach Erick a lesson.

Her father, who was quite capable as a prosecutor, had succeeded in digging up one of Erick’s faults and used it as a pretext to recommend disciplinary action to the Order. Though the outcome was still unknown.

‘I might have been a bit harsh.’

However, she thought it was enough to impress upon him that she wasn’t just a member of a humble, powerless family, and not a woman to be looked down upon by a knight of common birth. She also thought that once he realized this, he would no longer disrespect her.

‘I was planning to meet and reconcile with him soon…’

But the situation didn’t develop as favorably as she had hoped.

Erick, whom she thought would come to his senses after this incident, caused a major incident by disposing of 108 Cordanas at once, and in the process, didn’t say a single word to her.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. She needed to understand the circumstances of how such an irrational situation had occurred.

Of course, she didn’t have any informants. At best, all she could do was prick up her ears at the salon and gather what others were saying.

In the end, she caught her father, who was busy preparing for work, and questioned him.

“Dad.”

“…Ember.”

How strange. Her father also looked somewhat haggard. Ember barely suppressed the anxiety that rose to her chin.

“Dad. I think Erick has made a rash mistake. Since he might get caught up in a big controversy, maybe you could meet him and—”

“How could I face him? Talk sense, please.”

“Face him? Oh, because of that disciplinary recommendation? But that was just meant as a warning anyway.”

Erick might feel bad, but this wasn’t the time to worry about minor grudges.

She needed to meet Erick as soon as possible to ask why he had caused such an incident, and find a way to deal with the aftermath together. After all, every citizen in the capital was now focusing on the lucky person who had acquired the enormous wealth of 40 billion.

However, her father, whether aware of Ember’s urgency or not, only sighed.

“Sigh. Ember. You don’t understand the gravity of the situation.”

Ember belatedly realized that her father hadn’t shaved. He was someone who always maintained a neat appearance, saying that a prosecutor must maintain dignity.

“Dad…?”

“Ember. I don’t know the exact internal politics of the Order, but it seems Erick’s position isn’t good right now. I only recommended a verbal warning, but the Order imposed a severe punishment. I heard he received a retirement order.”

“Severe punishment? If you recommended a verbal warning, they should have given a verbal warning.”

“Even though I’m a high prosecutor, the Order has no reason to follow my recommendation. They can impose a heavier punishment than what I recommended, and I have no way to intervene.”

“……”

“It seems the Royal Order needed an excuse to harass Erick. My disciplinary recommendation became that excuse. I don’t think they really want him to leave the Order, but…”

With these words, her father looked into the void and let out a long sigh.

Only then did Ember understand why her father had suddenly become depressed.

Although it wasn’t his intention, he had contributed to cornering someone who could have become his son-in-law. Of course, he didn’t directly use his name and assigned it to a young prosecutor working under him, but he couldn’t deny that he had stabbed Erick in the back.

“…Retirement, retirement?”

“Yes.”

Ember’s face turned pale as she began to nibble on her lips.

“Why are you only telling me this now?”

“Do you think the Royal Order would report to me that they disciplined one of their members for such and such reasons? You may not realize it, but they are essentially outside the law. They are not entities that a prosecutor can control.”

“……”

Her father looked at his daughter with a faint trace of resentment in his eyes.

Ember was about to protest but then closed her mouth. She realized that her father wasn’t giving her that look simply because his own career was in jeopardy.

Rather, he seemed to be sympathizing with his daughter who had ruined her own prospects.

“I shouldn’t have listened to you in the first place… I was stupid.”

“…Don’t say that.”

“Just in case you’re thinking about it, don’t even dream of going to see Erick. You’ll only end up embarrassing yourself more.”

“Misunderstandings can be resolved through conversation… Dad, if you come with me—”

He calmly removed Ember’s hand that was clutching his collar. Then he left the house with drooping steps, making a self-deprecating remark about how even a prosecutor who had ended a promising knight’s career must continue to fulfill his duties.

Ember stared blankly at her father’s retreating figure.

‘His career is over…?’

Why would he say such a frightening thing?

Erick hadn’t quit being a knight yet. He said Erick had received a retirement disciplinary action, but he hadn’t actually retired. If Erick himself defended well and endured silently, he could return to normal duty.

But even as she denied reality, a question arose in her heart.

It was the question of whether someone prepared to endure silently would commit the eccentric act of disposing of 108 Cordanas at once, drawing attention to himself.

‘This isn’t what I wanted.’

Ember stared into the void with empty eyes.

She took in the interior view of the single-story house where she and her family had lived for ten years.

Clean and elegant but old furniture, a sparsely filled wine rack, a small magic refrigerator they had splurged on and had been using for ten years.

This was the typical lifestyle of a nobleman without a title. They were living this way only because Ember’s father was doing well as a prosecutor.

In contrast, Erick had the financial means to purchase a mansion with a spacious annex and garden within the capital without any burden. No, it wasn’t just about the house—he could enjoy a life of abundance that wouldn’t make even the imperial family envious for his entire life.

The thought crossed her mind that she should reconcile with him and return to a good relationship before it was too late—

But that was impossible.

Ember had never had a good relationship with Erick in the first place.

///

Early in the morning, I was heading to the Royal Order barracks.

However, my appearance was completely different from usual. I wasn’t wearing the light armor that was practically my work uniform, nor was I dressed in the formal uniform worn at social gatherings. Though I was carrying a sword, it wasn’t one issued by the Order.

‘The news has probably reached the Order by now.’

In a situation where most members were focused on Cordana, there was no way the knights wouldn’t know about the chaos that unfolded at the exchange yesterday.

They were probably gathering among themselves and cursing me right now.

Fortunately, though, I didn’t think I’d have to endure their sidelong glances for long. Soon, they and I would no longer be able to call each other “colleagues.”

“It’s Erick.”

I entered the commander’s office directly.

Selin and several other members were already in serious conversation with the commander.

‘Perfect timing.’

To execute the scenario that Bingo, the administrator and my friend, and I had devised last night, I needed the members too.

After nodding greetings to the members, I spoke respectfully to the commander.

“Commander, I accept the disciplinary action.”

“What…?”

“I forfeit my right to defend myself. I will retire from the Order immediately.”

Commander Waynelight momentarily looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, and the members’ facial expressions changed even more dramatically. There was even one who forgot the commander was present and tried to approach me with an angry face before being restrained.

‘Crazy bastards.’

Without even glancing at them, I looked straight at the commander. The key to my strategy was that gentleman.