Ch.BONUSOutside. Match Fixing (2)

The capital of the Wellesley Duchy, Wellington City.

Bingo, the mayor of this city and also the steward of the duchy, was enjoying drinks with a precious guest who had visited after a long time.

That guest was Arthur Wellesley, the eldest son born between Erick and Ember.

Though Bingo was nominally a vassal of the Grand Duke’s family and might find Arthur intimidating, there was no tension on his face when dealing with him. After all, he was friends with Arthur’s father Erick in private settings.

“What’s Erick up to? I thought he’d come with you.”

“He went to the Demonic Land with a few young knights. For reconnaissance purposes.”

“That’s unusual, taking escort knights with him. He usually just goes off alone.”

“Sometimes he takes selected personnel for training purposes. This time, my brother… Spencer went along too. After that schedule is complete, he plans to inspect the road construction site. They’ll be using the new hydraulic cement.”

“Ah, I see.”

Erick was still living a busy life, it seemed.

Unlike in the past, he now delegated minor matters to bureaucrats, but that didn’t mean Erick’s life had become easier. Even at this moment, the Empire’s national power was growing rapidly. The administrative domain was expanding as well.

“…I’m embarrassed to face Erick. Here I am, living leisurely.”

It wasn’t modesty—it was the truth. Bingo lived quite comfortably.

His daily routine consisted of getting up late, having breakfast, and arriving at his office after 9 AM to preside over meetings. He even enjoyed the luxury of taking a full day off about once a week.

“It’s fine. I know you worked hard in your younger days, Uncle… Father mentioned your joints aren’t in good shape.”

“Thanks for saying that, at least.”

His knee joints had been creaking lately.

It was probably because he had moved around so much in his youth, and also because he had relieved the stress of overwork with meat and alcohol. Or it could simply be his body naturally aging with the passage of time.

‘It’s the way of things to have body parts breaking down at this age.’

He was approaching fifty now.

Considering his origins, it was remarkable he had lived this long.

His father, a laborer from the lowest stratum of the imperial capital, had died before reaching forty, and his grandfather, who had worked in stables, had died young after being kicked by a horse’s hind legs.

A commoner’s life could vanish with depressing ease. It had been even more so before Erick reformed the country.

‘Compared to that, I’ve lived a blessed life.’

He wouldn’t say he had no regrets if he died now—he wanted to live another 20-30 years.

To live long, he would need to cut down on alcohol and manage his weight. And more than anything else, he needed to be free from work to dream of longevity. The position of being second-in-command of the duchy was too heavy a burden for Bingo, whose physical strength was gradually declining.

For that, he needed a talented successor to take over his position.

It seemed the young man before him, Arthur, would be that person.

Though he currently worked in the Foreign Affairs Department, Arthur was ultimately Erick’s eldest son. The Grand Duke title of Microssia would likely go to the second son, Spencer, and the Duke title would someday belong to Arthur.

It was Erick’s decision to make, but it wouldn’t hurt to test whether Arthur had potential.

As it happened, an incident had occurred today that he could use to sound him out.

“Arthur, actually, someone was brought in to the military police today. I’d like to hear your opinion about him, if that’s alright?”

“Please go ahead.”

“His name is Yonder, and he attempted to fix a football match. As you know, the football tournament is quite popular. The stadium is packed every weekend, so much that we’re building a new one. Lottery tickets are selling like hotcakes too.”

“I see that’s attracting flies.”

“Yes. The man caught today apparently approached a player directly with a match-fixing proposal. Thanks to the player voluntarily reporting it, it remained just an attempt.”

“I’ve heard there have been cases where players themselves were punished for match-fixing. That must have created awareness among the players.”

Of course he would know. The Grand Duke’s family was said to be particularly vigilant about gambling, probably due to Erick’s influence.

But what Bingo really wanted to ask was something else.

“Arthur. What do you think we should do to prevent match-fixing?”

“Prevent it?”

“Of course we’ve established laws, but how many people actually read legal codes? So I was thinking, what if we conducted preventive education for spectators before football games, dog races, or boxing matches? Would that work?”

Arthur pondered this question briefly. But it wasn’t long before he spoke.

“No, Uncle. I think preventive education would be a mistake. Most people probably don’t even know what match-fixing is. Publicizing it would only corrupt innocent people. And to be honest…”

“What is it?”

“No matter how hard we try, people will continue to attempt dishonest methods. They’ll appear in all events—football, dog racing, lotteries, and even the horse racing we’re preparing now.”

“…”

“While preventive education should be conducted for players, I believe we should basically maintain a policy of severe punishment.”

Rather than focusing on prevention, which might only spread awareness about the possibility of making money through match-fixing, we should focus on detection and harsh punishment.

It was a fairly good answer for a young man who had only worked in the Foreign Affairs Department for a few months.

Bingo looked at Arthur with a newly satisfied expression, thinking that Erick had raised his children well.

At that moment, Arthur asked a question in return.

“By the way, Uncle.”

“What?”

“About this attempted match-fixer who was caught. What specific punishment will he receive?”

Strange that he doesn’t know this.

Bingo answered with a smile. The man would be sent to the sulfur mine, he said. And he added that not a single person had ever come out of there alive.

It was that terrible a place.

*

Is match-fixing really that wrong?

“Fuck. This isn’t right, is it?”

Just two hours after being dragged to the sulfur mine, Yonder, once a successful leather craftsman, still couldn’t accept reality.

That his friend (a football player) whom he had proposed working together had betrayed him.

That he had received a labor sentence through summary judgment after being taken to the military police.

And that the location for his labor sentence was a sulfur mine. It was unbelievable.

What’s more, despite having just arrived, he was scheduled to be deployed to the site immediately. This was too cruel to be reality.

The only consolation was that there was someone willing to listen to his complaints.

“Oh my. That so-called friend of yours has a wicked heart. If he didn’t want to work with you, he could have just politely declined, but to report a friend? That’s utterly despicable.”

“That’s what I’m saying! And even if match-fixing is a crime, I didn’t actually do it. It was just an attempt, so they should have let me off with a warning, not sent me to a sulfur mine. What’s happening to this country, damn it.”

“No one understands your feelings better than I do. I was also caught for an attempted crime.”

The middle-aged man nodded. He said he had been caught planning real estate fraud long ago.

Honestly, the man looked quite unsightly. His skin was blotchy, more than half his teeth were missing, one eye was blind, and he limped.

Still, he was reasonably easy to talk to. He was somewhat of a support for the novice Yonder.

‘I’ll have to get out of here soon… but it’s not bad to have someone to give advice. At least I have someone to talk to.’

After venting his frustrations, Yonder felt somewhat lighter. He sighed and looked at the shabby-looking man.

“By the way, mister. I didn’t ask your name.”

“My name? Well, there’s no need for formal introductions…”

“Still, this is a connection of sorts. I’m Yonder.”

The man hesitated for a moment before introducing himself as “Keeper.”

He went on to explain his background, but the content was hard to believe. He claimed he was punished on the same day and in the same place as Iclit, one of the Tetrad. He even said the punishment level was decided by the Hero, Erick Wellesley.

“And that’s not all. Last year, our great Hero, no, our respected Grand Duke, came here for an inspection, and I confronted him. I got beaten half to death by the supervisors for arguing with him, and ended up like this. Haha!”

What the hell, is this guy crazy?

Casually mentioning the Empire’s absolute ruler like that. Yonder instinctively looked around nervously, but Keeper didn’t care. Instead, he patted Yonder’s shoulder as if telling him not to worry, grinning all the while.

“Um, Mr. Keeper.”

“We’ll have to go to work soon. Don’t worry too much. All you do is mine sulfur with an iron rod, without any safety equipment. Oh, and by the way, if you breathe in sulfur fumes directly, you’ll likely pass out, so don’t forget to cover your nose and mouth with a cloth.”

“…”

“The daily quota is 60 kilograms per person. If you slip while carrying that load on your back, it’s instant death. It won’t be easy to adapt.”

He kept grinning as if it was amusing. Yonder didn’t know how to respond and just opened and closed his mouth.

After an awkward silence:

“Enough chatting! Time to work, you vermin!”

Yonder and the other prisoners were pushed toward the mine by fierce-looking labor supervisors.

Keeper was still beside Yonder, but for some reason, he wasn’t comforting at all. Instead, he just seemed sinister.

“Yonder, was it? Hold my equipment for a moment. I’m physically impaired, you see.”

Keeper casually handed over his iron rod. Yonder felt it was unfair and reported it to a supervisor, but—

A club came flying at the same time.

Thwack!

“Argh!”

“Do I look like your nanny? You idiot.”

Severely beaten, Yonder looked around in terror, but not a single person showed any concern.

Reality was finally sinking in. Yonder moved forward hesitantly. If he didn’t move, another beating would come.

“Let’s get along well, Yonder.”

He heard Keeper’s snickering voice, but he didn’t even have the energy to get angry.

Is this really happening?

As if mocking the dazed Yonder, sulfur fumes rose thickly in the distance.