episode_0101

The three of us stood for a moment without saying anything.

When the sound of the innkeeper’s breathing and the ticking of the clock began to bore her ears, Haley opened her mouth again.

“Should we celebrate?”

“… Why is my sister here?”

“Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be here?”

Suddenly.

I ground my teeth.

“Sister. You probably know that things are different now than when we last met.”

Last spring, my sister didn’t do me any direct harm anyway.

He only encouraged me to betray the Crown Princess, and when I refused, he only remained faithful to his duties as an agent dispatched to the Intelligence Bureau and did not attempt anything more.

Of course, it was unpleasant to report the Crown Princess’s movements to the Director of Intelligence…

Since it was my sister’s job, I couldn’t help it, so I decided to tolerate that part.

So, we met at a social festival and said hello to each other.

But when Rosewater kidnapped Lilac, older sister Hayley crossed a line.

She worked with the head of the Intelligence Bureau to file false reports, and even neglected my younger brother, who went underground.

If the faculty had been a little late in moving, or if Tangaroa or Cleo hadn’t come to save us, Lilac and I would have both drunk the forgetfulness potion and ended up in the nursing home.

“Well, I don’t plan on asking you to welcome me either.

But, are you going to kick me out? By what right?”

Hayley accepts it naturally.

If it comes out like this, there is nothing more to say.

Anyway, my sister was dismissed from the Intelligence Bureau for incompetence, and that was the end of her punishment.

“… Let’s go, Chairman.”

There is no longer an atmosphere suitable for mixing.

But the chairman was also staring straight at Haley.

“It would be nice to answer Coleman’s question. Why are you here?”

“Romello Village is a good place to live. Just because you got fired from the Academy, there’s no reason to leave here, right?”

“When I looked around the village, I saw that there were a lot of empty rooms. Is there a reason to be in such a strange place?”

Hayley keeps her mouth shut.

“Petra Lynn, no Hayley Cantor. It would be better to answer straight.

Even if there are many opponents, I am the imperial princess. I can just bury you.”

“That’s right.”

My sister nodded gently.

“Because there are many academy professors who will testify that I reported falsely.

In order to protect that one person, neither the director nor the replacement team will step forward.”

“I could have bet on it last time too.

But the reason you didn’t do that is because you are Coleman’s older sister.

But now, it seems like the sibling bond between the two has ended.”

Before saying, “There is nothing to be concerned about,” the chairman glanced at me.

I nodded in agreement.

… Actually, it doesn’t really matter what happens to my sister.

If it were just my problem, it would be like that, but I still have my older brother and parents left behind.

But I don’t want to tackle Lilac’s threats here, so let’s adjust.

“… So, what do you want?”

“Your room key.”

Lilac pretends to hold out her hand.

Sister Hayley thought about it for quite some time, and finally put forward a condition.

“Good. But this is the end.

Since I did something wrong to Coleman, I’ll just end it by showing him the room.

But if you go further and start asking for strange things-”

“When you start?”

whistle.

“Well. You don’t want the news to spread that the Crown Princess and her lover came to a strange inn in broad daylight, right?”

“Everyone knows anyway.”

“It may be a rumor that you are dating Coleman, but do you want to see the revelation in the newspaper that you are already in a serious relationship?”

“Chairman.”

When I put my hand on her shoulder, Lilac took a step back.

“… okay. If you stay out of our sight, we won’t run into each other.”

A vague promise with no substance.

But at this point, this is the best.

Haley led the two of us to her room and opened the door.

“It’s here.”

There is nothing that stands out.

Clothes and some toiletries neatly arranged on top of a drawer.

The older sister shrugged her shoulders as if she was satisfied, but Lilac immediately started searching through the drawers.

“What is this?”

What she held out was a ledger full of numbers.

I received the ledger from the chairman and checked it.

“September 4, 100 gold, from Woodward.

And on September 5th, 100 gold, to him…

If it’s Woodward!”

Person in charge of the Prophecy Workshop.

I hurriedly looked at other parts as well.

Most of the same names are repeated.

Looking at their names, they are merchants residing in Romelo Village.

There was a notable exception –

“Daeb Macariel. 1,000 gold… ”

Cleo’s father’s name.

“Explain it.”

“… Is this a big enough issue that it needs explanation?

It’s not like that much money came or went.”

It’s not a lot of money?

In the Aeorid Empire, 1 gold is roughly worth about 100,000 won, although it is difficult to calculate accurately due to differences in prices.

One transaction is not a lot of money, but if you add up all the transactions listed here, it will easily exceed billions of won in Korean currency.

“Of course the person here is the Director of Intelligence, right?”

“… I’ll say it again, Coleman, don’t make a fuss.”

I looked at the president, but she also had a subtle expression on her face.

“It is a well-known fact that the Director of Intelligence is collecting funds behind the scenes.

But there is no conclusive evidence. If this document is made public-”

“Is this conclusive evidence?”

It’s shameless, but it’s not wrong anyway.

If the ledger had such fatal content, they wouldn’t have let us into the room in the first place.

Of course, if we start investigating properly, we will be able to uncover the Intelligence Director’s suspicious financial transactions.

However, if that happens, there will be strong opposition from replacement nobles.

At this point, should we be satisfied with just finding out?

“Let’s go out, Coleman.”

Neither Haley nor I said goodbye.

“… So what are you going to do now?”

“What can I do? I have to tell the nobles who support me that something like this is happening.”

“What about the merchants who sent money to the Director of Intelligence?”

“… I have no choice but to just leave it alone. Because they are just little brats.

Still, when the time comes to properly engage with the Director of Intelligence, it could be used as useful information.”

A rather depressing conclusion.

Unless there is conclusive evidence, you cannot attack first.

“What on earth are you going to do with that money?”

“… Well.”

Lilac patting my back as if telling me not to worry.

“Oh, I really have no luck. How can the atmosphere be broken the moment you enter the inn room?”

“If you feel that bad, just buy a house in the village.”

“Let’s open a new room?”

She chuckled.

Well, that’s what it means.

If the Crown Princess’s villa were here, it would be a burden for the head of the village.

There will be various stories going around.

… for a moment.

A thought flashed in my head.

This can put pressure on them.

but… There is no way the chairman would agree.

I boarded the boat back to the academy without saying a word.

When the boat arrived at the dock on the other side, I naturally screamed.

“Oops!”

“Why?”

“I think I dropped my ring.”

“What?”

Lilac looks genuinely disappointed.

“I told you to wear it.”

“It seems like it was leaking from their pockets when they were hiding that they were a couple.”

“Really… ”

Of course, the ring was safely in my pocket.

“… I’ll go back and look for it myself.”

The chairman took a deep breath and got off the boat.

But without even walking a few steps –

“Coleman.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t try too hard to find it. I told you, it’s a cheap ring I picked up when I was young.

If you can’t find it, just buy a new one.”

I felt something rising inside me.

okay. Lilac is this kind of woman.

so that… I can’t tell you what I’m going to do from now on.

When I got off at the village entrance again, I went to the village head’s house and knocked on the door.

When the door opened, Nottingham looked a little embarrassed that I had come alone.

“Ah. Looks like you’ve already decided.”

“Let’s say we take your offer.

So what can you do specifically?”

“As I mentioned a little while ago, holding your own festival or event and opening a game center within Romelo Village provides various conveniences… ”

“Not like that, how about this?”

I made a counter offer to him.

“Please make sure the prophecy workshop leaves Romelo Village.”

“If it is a prophecy workshop… ”

“Isn’t that right? You say you want to cooperate with us, but wouldn’t it be a bit unfair to just leave a company that copied our model?”

The village head frowns.

“… But to close a store that is doing well… ”

“There is no need to worry about legal issues.”

“I understand first.”

“and-”

I had no intention of ending there, so I immediately listed the names of the companies I had seen in the ledger.

“No, are you saying that those stores should also vacate their rooms?

Mr. Coleman, the owners of that store are long-established locals who have been in the village for generations.”

“Calm down. That’s not what I want either.

Just warn those people not to get involved in politics carelessly.”

Nottingham shook his head.

“… Sorry, but I’m not sure what this has to do with Funforge.”

“It has nothing to do with Funforge, but it does have something to do with Her Royal Highness.”

“… ”

The village head, who was thinking about the proposal, slowly sighed.

“I think this is a fairly dishonest request.

Instead of strongly launching Romelo, please exclude competitors and carry out political maneuvers for the Crown Princess.”

“Chief.”

I nuzzled his face.

“You suddenly act like you’re a great principled person, but wasn’t it you who made the suggestion first?

Instead of promoting the Romantic Era at the village level, please release Romelo strongly?”

“This and that are on a different level!”

“Is it different? I think it’s similar.”

“… ”

“I’m not asking you to kill people or harass innocent stores.

Requests to cut off ties with plagiarism companies and prevent Romelo Village from creating slush funds.

Is this so absurd?”

know. Lilac would never allow such a deal.

To her, the romantic era and Funforge are dreams, not tools.

Of course, it’s the same for me too. but…

If Lilac is attacked, Fernforge is over anyway.

Her dream of an academy without violence, and my dream of a world where miniature games are everyone’s hobby, are difficult to achieve without the Imperial Princess.

So this isn’t about giving up on your dreams…

That’s what I convinced myself.

Nottingham thought for a moment, then held out his hand.

A handshake follows.

“Promises, you must keep them.”

“Of course, Chief.”