92
Chapter 92
"...What do you think you're doing right now?"
The woman before his eyes.
The entrepreneur named Rubia asked Balzac just that.
She stared at him with eyes full of vigilance.
It was a completely natural reaction.
If she didn't harbor any wariness toward the man who had smashed her mansion's front gates and all sorts of security devices to barge in, it would actually be stranger.
As Rubia continued to carefully observe him, her gaze shifted to his badge....
"......!"
And soon, her face was colored with dismay.
An Imperial Guard under the direct command of the Imperial Family.
She had seen the symbol and immediately realized Balzac's identity.
"Do you still not know why I've come looking for you here?"
Balzac asked as he observed Rubia.
'The Third Princess said this woman seemed to be hiding something important.'
To confirm that, Balzac had been dispatched here.
Alone, without a single other knight.
However, that wouldn't be a problem.
When it came to exercising force, there would be no shortcomings.
A Sword Master belonging to the Empire.
One of the monsters evaluated to possess the power to rival an entire nation single-handedly.
Other troops would only be a hindrance from the very beginning.
Because he possessed enough power to resolve everything by himself.
Of course, separate from such brute force, carrying out this request seemed like it would be quite troublesome.
The Third Princess's orders were always difficult to deal with. This was because her judgments were mostly lacking a solid basis.
She was the type of person who made decisions relying on intuition rather than logic.
Still, her intuition had a high accuracy rate, so the achievements resulting from it were quite numerous.
But from the perspective of the one executing her orders, it was beyond frustrating.
And that was still the case right now.
An entrepreneur who had been hiding her identity and trying to swallow up the potion industry. I was told to dig into her because she must be hiding something important.
There was no detailed basis, nor any convincing logic.
However, he couldn't disobey the orders of a Royal.
As someone who had witnessed the Emperor's power, Balzac knew this better than anyone.
That going against the Empire's Royal Family was nothing short of suicide.
That was why he opened his mouth to speak to Rubia.
"Since you've been pulling such stunts. You should have at least been prepared for something like this to happen someday."
What those stunts actually were. Of course, Balzac had no idea.
He had only heard that desperately hiding her identity was suspicious. He hadn't received any information other than that.
But that didn't matter.
It was just a bluff to test the waters anyway.
He observed Rubia's every move.
Every tiny reaction—her expression, the shifting of her pupils—would be a clue to what she had been hiding.
But... something strange happened.
"I-I'm so sorry!"
Just a moment ago, she had been the picture of dignity and grace.
Now, all that was gone; a woman who looked ready to burst into tears was trembling and begging for forgiveness.
"I-I didn't mean to evade taxes, really!"
Rubia continued her explanation frantically.
A potion recipe she had come across by chance.
She had thought about using it to start a business.
"Selling items that people's lives depend on at a high price weighed on my conscience... but if I sold them too cheaply, I feared the established businessmen would target me..."
It seemed she had hidden her identity to avoid such trouble.
She claimed she hadn't paid her taxes out of fear that her identity might be exposed.
...Certainly.
It was an explanation that made a certain amount of sense.
It made the reason for her secrecy understandable.
And if her trembling was due to the fear of punishment for tax evasion, it was completely plausible.
However....
"Did you really think I'd fall for such a pathetic lie?"
Balzac asked, glaring intensely at Rubia.
Bloodlust emanated from him, the mark of one who had reached the level of Sword Master.
The woman's face naturally turned pale.
She trembled so violently that she collapsed helplessly onto the floor.
"Lies do not work on me."
Balzac declared this before the terrified Rubia.
Whether the threat had worked or not, Rubia trembled and confessed her crimes.
"I-I'm sorry! Actually, I did evade taxes on purpose! The Empire hasn't done anything for me, and I thought it was just too much that they took so much money..."
She went beyond sobbing and began to weep openly.
She confessed her wrongdoings in exhaustive detail.
Balzac's bluff.
He had tested her twice, and this was the result.
'...This is.'
It was hard to believe this was a lie.
Balzac had no choice but to reach that conclusion.
That terrified expression.
Even the sleazy way she secretly fiddled with the gold coins in her back pocket, debating whether to offer them as a bribe.
Unless she was an extraordinary actress, there was no way she could fake that.
"Fine, I've heard enough. Since you've realized your mistake, fix it quickly."
Considering her audacity, Balzac informed her to surrender sixty percent of her profits to the Empire. Since he hadn't brought a specially crafted Contract, he couldn't bind her by one right now.
That was something he could simply have his subordinates handle later.
'Even the Third Princess's intuition must miss the mark every now and then.'
With that thought in mind, Balzac made his way out of the mansion.
...Or rather, he tried to make his way out.
-Ring ring ring!
A sudden ringing sound echoed.
That was, until he heard the activation chime of the Communication Mana Engineering Equipment.
*****
Rubia's face turned pale.
Unlike her acting just a moment ago, this time it was real.
Her mind naturally went completely blank.
Until just now, everything had been fine.
The Empire's Sword Master who had suddenly come visiting.
He had spoken as if he knew she was Black Fang, but...
No matter how much a Sword Master was a superhuman who had reached the limits of humanity, she had lived with 'that kind of existence' for years. It would have been stranger if she cowered in front of a Sword Master.
Rubia calmly assessed the situation and realized that the man before her was simply testing her.
Acting was also one of the essential skills an entrepreneur needed to possess. Because of that, tricking him hadn't been as difficult as one might expect.
However....
-Ring ring ring!
That sound.
The situation changed instantly with the sudden ringing from the communication device.
The Empire's Sword Master, who had been about to leave, turned around.
"Wouldn't it be better to answer that? The other party must be waiting."
He said.
Asking why she wasn't answering the call already.
Cold sweat ran down Rubia's back.
It would be fine if it were a normal call.
But what if... this is purely hypothetical, but...
What if it was a call from the Revolutionary Army?
Or what if it was a call from Ian?
Everything could be ruined. The true identity of Black Fang might be exposed for all the world to see.
"......."
Balzac stared at her with suspicious eyes.
She slowly walked toward the communication device.
With the press of a single button, the face of the caller would appear right here.
"Do not do anything you'll regret."
A warning from Balzac, who had noticed something was off.
Rubia stared blankly at the communication device.
Wondering what decision she should make.
Questioning herself.
'I'm not sure if this is a call I can safely answer or not.'
As long as it wasn't a call from the Revolutionary Army, she could somehow talk her way out of it.
Considering their usual contact frequency, the chances of it being a call she shouldn't answer were around twenty percent.
Which meant that in eighty percent of cases, she would be able to get through this safely.
'But what if I don't answer this call....'
She would definitely arouse suspicion.
It was blatantly suspicious behavior. Too much so to simply explain away with lies.
If that man seriously began to suspect her and started searching through everything, this Communication Device would be confiscated as well.
If a skilled Mage took the time to investigate it, all her past communications would be exposed.
Therefore, she had to destroy the device before that could happen.
'The problem is....'
What comes after.
If she went beyond simply refusing the call and outright smashed the device, that man would surely realize.
Her true identity.
And if that happened, it was obvious what would follow.
They had finally captured a member of Black Fang.
They would use any means necessary to extract information about Black Fang from her.
'......I definitely won't meet a good end.'
Terrible torture.
Days that would make her regret being alive would unfold.
Time was running out.
She had to make a choice.
And it was obvious which choice was the rational one.
The mere thought of torture was terrifyingly brutal.
There was no way she could endure it.
Her life was more precious than anything.
If she acted just a little selfishly, she wouldn't have to take on such a risk.
That was why Rubia.......
Hurled the Communication Device to the floor with all her might.
The delicate Mana Engineering Equipment shattered into pieces from the impact alone.
In an instant, a horrifying Bloodlust spewed forth toward her. Far more intense than before.
"I believe I told you not to do anything you'd regret."
The man said as he drew his sword.
...Certainly.
His words might have been correct.
This was a foolish decision.
A choice that threw away all her advantages.
Thinking about it normally, prioritizing her own safety would have been the right move.
However.
Even knowing that.
"I couldn't help it, okay? I felt like I'd regret it if I didn't do this."