Military Supply Corruption and Bomb Terror (8)
A gulp.
Among the military leadership, General Caldren stared at something with a very tense expression.
It was, in fact, a letter.
Precisely, a letter sent by Caenderic de Lichtenhaus.
As an imperial inspector, he had brought three nobles to trial in two months.
Of them, one to death, one to imprisonment, and the last was killed in prison.
If that wasn't enough, the name "Noble Slayer" had stuck to him.
So, how could he not be tense?
Naturally, this time it would be his turn, he thought.
Sigh-
Caldren let out a breath and took a letter opener from the drawer.
Then, without the slightest wrinkle, he tore open the envelope and took out the letter from inside.
The letter was neatly folded at the edges, as befitting Caenderic's personality.
Before reading such a letter, Caldren closed his eyes and thought.
He couldn't say he had always been clean throughout his life.
As was the case with nobles, he had received bribes and even asked for promotions in exchange for money.
Surely, someone had suffered because of those acts. The one who should have been promoted fairly had been pushed back to the next turn.
If Caenderic overlooked this time without saying anything, he would no longer commit such acts and live cleanly.
Only then did Caldren open his eyes and slowly read the letter.
The content written in the letter was as follows.
I think you must be troubled by the magic tools made by the Rothman Marquisate.
If the opportunity arises, I would like to have a conversation over a cup of tea.
Of course, that wasn't exactly what was written.
Nobles' letters were always filled with various courtesies, after all.
To summarize the appropriately important content, that was it.
Whether to meet him or not.
The decision didn't take long.
Naturally, the former.
It was because he had requested a meeting not as an imperial inspector but as Caenderic personally.
But doubts still remained.
He couldn't figure out why he was coming personally.
If it had been as an imperial inspector, the reason would have been clear.
Hmm.
Caldren let out a sigh and began writing the reply.
* * * * *
"General Caldren, it is an honor to meet you like this."
"The honor is mine to meet the shining star of the Imperial Inspectorate."
"Don't call me a shining star; it's too much of a compliment."
In the military command headquarters, Caenderic's personal office.
He could meet Caldren there.
The office had a somewhat austere feel, as befitting a place where a general lived.
There was no decoration worthy of the name, nor even a flowerpot that was usually placed somewhere.
The only thing there was a single sword hanging on the wall.
We exchanged light handshakes and sat facing each other.
On the table between us, a teacup with steam rising was placed.
After sipping the tea, Caldren spoke.
"I heard that you caught the corruption of the Rothman Marquisate this time. They were all praising your excellent skill."
"Those who commit corruption are worms that eat away at the empire, are they not? It would be the path of the imperial inspector to exterminate them."
"I think the same."
Caldren laughed awkwardly with a "haha-" and sipped his tea.
Perhaps he was thinking that this might be the next turn after the Rothman Marquis.
After all, it was him who had made the contract with the Marquis.
But that was an overthinking.
There had been no problem with the contract at the time.
The initial magic tools made by the Rothman family had been flawless and excellent products.
If there was something wrong with him-.
"Don't worry too much. What I can do is only catch corruption. Even if Your Excellency had neglected your duties for a while, I couldn't do anything about it."
Surprisingly, Caldren had simply been negligent in his duties.
It wasn't that he had received money from the Rothman Marquis and turned a blind eye to the defects; he hadn't even been interested in the defects from the beginning.
It couldn't be called a positive thing, but neither could I do anything about it.
Had he realized the meaning of those words?
Caldren's expression became a little lighter.
"Then, why did Caenderic-nim want to see me?"
"As I wrote in the letter. Because defects were found in the goods supplied by the Rothman Marquisate, the military is in turmoil, isn't it?"
"As you said. Most magic tools need to be discarded, but there are no replacement goods available. The more serious issue is that there isn't even a workshop to make a new contract with. How am I supposed to procure magic tools from now on...?"
This was the predetermined course.
From the moment the Rothman Marquisate, which monopolized the magic tool market, committed such an act.
Caldren's expression was full of worry, but whether it was feigned or sincere, it was the perfect opportunity for me.
"I also have some responsibility for that part, so I will try to help you in any small way."
"Help?"
"I have recently started operating a magic tool workshop personally..."
I trailed off and took out the magic tools from the small bag at my waist.
The prototypes sent by Daemon from Kandel Viscountcy earlier.
Caldren's eyes widened at the sight of them.
"The artisan in my workshop was in charge of developing magic tools at the Rothman Marquisate. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I developed most of the items currently in use by the military."
"I wondered why they looked so similar in appearance, but that was the reason."
"The basic performance is a little better than the ones previously used. In addition, there are a few additional functions..."
I listed the explanations for the magic tools.
Although it was an explanation, it was closer to interpreting what Daemon had written in the letter in my own way and making it sound a bit more sophisticated.
Once the explanation ended, Caldren, who had been nodding his head repeatedly, said,
"Impressive items. Can they be mass-produced at this quality?"
"Yes, they were made with mass production as the standard from the beginning."
"Then, the price won't be cheap."
"Don't worry about that part. I intend to charge only about the amount the Rothman Marquis received."
"Then, we would be grateful..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Providing high-quality goods at a low price must have some hidden intention, right?
It was only natural to have such suspicions in this world.
As he said, the procurement price was a bit lower.
But that didn't mean he was making a loss, nor was it impossible.
From the beginning, this contract was close to an investment.
An investment to gradually monopolize the magic tool market.
"The empire will become strong when the military becomes strong, won't it? If there's a reason, there's no reason not to support it. Also, since it's the turmoil caused by catching the Rothman Marquis, I wanted to take some responsibility."
"I see. Understood."
"I am not suggesting to immediately sign a contract. I will provide the prototypes, so please use them sufficiently and review them. You can call in experts to appraise them."
The conversation with Caldren ended there.
After exchanging farewells with him, I got up from my seat.
It was about a week later when I met him again.
"I have actually used them and called in experts to appraise them. There was really no problem at all."
"If there are any suspicious things in the future, feel free to do so."
"How could I doubt a magic tool workshop run by an imperial inspector?"
Caldren laughed heartily with a "haha-" and placed a single document on the table.
It was, in fact, the contract.
A contract for officially supplying magic tools to the military.
* * * * *
How many days had passed since the day we signed the official contract with the military?
Dwinsen came to the mansion.
He was wearing the same shabby clothes as usual, but since he was wearing somewhat decent ones, I let him in.
I sipped the tea and said,
"Have you found Gasfield?"
"Yeah, I found him."
Right after the Rothman Marquis's trial ended, I had instructed him to find Gasfield.
It was to ask if he had really killed my father of his own volition.
If not, and it was the Third Bureau's fabrication, I would have to tear him apart thoroughly.
He was, after all, an existence not needed in the empire.
"Unfortunately, he was already dead. There were wounds as if stabbed with a knife in the neck and abdomen."
"I see..."
The plan had become a complete failure.
But it wasn't a big deal.
When catching nobles, they would be caught anyway.
After that, I checked the records of what the Third Bureau had been doing so far.
Since they remained as documents in the Imperial Inspectorate's warehouse, it wasn't difficult.
Most of the tasks handled by the Third Bureau had been overlooked without proper punishment for plausible reasons.
But not all could be that clean.
They had probably received bribes and overlooked them appropriately.
In fact, there were records about the Geneva Marquis and the Rothman Marquis, so no further explanation was needed.
Then, my gaze stopped at one document.
It was about the Morcan County, located near the border.
Count Morcan.
His name was in Lydia's diary.
The crime was enslaving immigrants from other countries as slaves.