Insurance (2)
The Toto business, which had spread across the entire empire, produced a rather peculiar side effect. It created a labor shortage in the empire’s back alleys.
Gangsters and vagrants no longer lurked in dark corners. Instead, they stood guard at taverns and plazas where Toto betting took place. The pay was far more stable and generous than the pocket change Anastasia used to scatter through endless layers of subcontractors in the underworld. It was only natural.
Her control over the underworld had always been nothing more than a flimsy spiderweb held together by money and drugs. The lowest-ranking members didn’t even know who was ultimately giving them work, so it was inevitable they would flock to an employer offering better terms.
Wherever Toto games sprang up, alcohol and snacks naturally followed. Liquor loosened tongues, and all kinds of trivial rumors floated across tables like appetizers. Nine out of ten of those whispers were worthless gossip or drunken nonsense. But occasionally, something useful slipped through.
Stories about one trading company hiring thugs to sabotage a rival’s factory and beat up its workers. Concrete methods of disguising raw opium as premium fertilizer and cocaine as baking soda. These were the drunken boasts and complaints of men who had unknowingly carried out Anastasia’s dirty work.
The sharp minds of the back alleys collected that information, and the Valeriano Trading Company bought it all up. Just like every other merchant guild.
Mikhail stared silently at the thick stack of reports on his desk. They were the miscellaneous pieces of intelligence gathered by the Valeriano Trading Company. When put together, they painted a surprisingly coherent picture.
He tapped one section of the report with his finger.
“This… is this for real?”
His voice was filled with disbelief.
“Big Jack Horner. One of Anastasia’s money men. I get that he’s been moving opium and cocaine through his own company and a bunch of shell corporations. But…”
Mikhail let out a hollow laugh, utterly dumbfounded.
“He’s disguising raw opium as fertilizer and cocaine as baking soda because the paperwork is too much of a hassle? Does this… does this even make sense?”
This was smuggling. Of course, in most regions of the empire, narcotics were perfectly legal recreational substances and medicines. Which made it even harder to understand.
“It’s because of the Administrative Act on Pharmaceuticals and Certain Luxury Goods,” Josepina explained in a dry tone as she set down her teacup. A small chocolate box rested in her hands. “Items like opium and cocaine require extremely complicated and strict administrative procedures during distribution. The cost and time involved are no joke.”
She peeled the wrapper off a chocolate on the plate and continued.
“It’s far simpler to smuggle them disguised as fertilizer or industrial raw materials.”
“Ah, seriously… how romantic,” Mikhail muttered, rubbing his forehead.
He ran a casino and sold alcohol, yet he still paid his taxes properly. Sure, he used a few loopholes with Josepina’s help, but he stayed within the law. These people, on the other hand, were openly smuggling just because the paperwork was annoying. It was like ignoring a highway toll booth because using the electronic pass was too much trouble and just blasting straight through.
“This is straight-up petty criminal behavior.”
“The sharp drop in demand for narcotics among the capital’s upper class after the Club Ortolan incident is likely one of the reasons,” Laura spoke up this time. She held her teacup and gazed out the window. “They probably chose a more dangerous and cheaper method to make up for the lost profits. Or maybe they’ve always done business like this.”
“Even so, this is ridiculous,” Mikhail grumbled.
He had more than enough circumstantial evidence. The strong suspicion that Anastasia had assassinated his mother, and the signs that she had used back-alley thugs to commit sabotage all over the place. But he had no hard proof. If he moved too hastily, he could end up on the receiving end of a counterattack.
The only tail he could grab firmly right now was this… pathetic smuggling operation.
“So, can we use this to crush them?”
“It will be difficult,” Josepina answered firmly. She bit into a chocolate with a crisp crunch and continued. “Smuggling itself is a crime, but with Her Highness Anastasia’s protection, they’ll simply post bail and be released immediately. At worst, they’ll get a fine. Big Jack Horner will probably sacrifice one of his subordinates to cut off the tail.”
“So it’s just a polite greeting and then nothing. Well, it’s not the worst outcome. But what comes after? How do we follow up?”
Mikhail tapped his fingers on the table. A brief silence fell over the office. Laura fiddled with her teacup, and Josepina peeled the wrapper off her next chocolate. Mikhail simply looked back and forth between the two women.
“Now that I think about it…”
Laura was the one who broke the silence. She rummaged through the stack of documents and pulled out a single sheet.
“The head of the Horner Trading Company has one precious daughter. Eleonora Horner. She happens to be a student at the Imperial Academy. It says she’s in the Literature Department.”
She looked up from the paper and met Mikhail’s eyes.
“I hear he dotes on her quite a bit…”
“So what? Are we supposed to kidnap her and threaten him?” Mikhail asked indifferently.
“No. There’s no need to stoop to their level. We’ll use Miss Erika Cage and Miss Victoria Mckenzie.”
Laura’s golden eyes gleamed with cunning, like a cat’s.
“Have them befriend this Eleonora girl somehow, then coax her gently and dig up at least one weakness.”
“How? What are you going to coax her with?” Mikhail asked, folding his arms.
“She’s the daughter of the Horner Trading Company’s owner. She’s probably swimming in money, and since she’s been raised with such care, there probably isn’t much she hasn’t experienced. What exactly are you going to tempt a girl like that with? Poker? Victoria might be able to pull it off, but Erika Cage…”
Another silence descended. Mikhail stared pointlessly at the report. Laura brought her teacup to her lips and took a small sip. Her ears twitched slightly. Josepina had already devoured three chocolates and was unwrapping the fourth. She seemed to like them.
By the time Josepina had opened her sixth chocolate, she spoke up.
“I have a good idea.”
She placed the unwrapped chocolate back on its wrapper and looked straight at Mikhail. He instinctively felt a sense of foreboding. Laura must have felt something similar, because her cat ears perked up sharply toward Josepina.
Josepina stared directly at Mikhail and spoke in an utterly calm tone.
“A honey trap. We should use a honey trap.”
“……”
“……”
After those words, an awkward silence filled Mikhail’s office. Her expression was completely serious, as if she were reviewing a budget proposal. She clearly liked her own idea.
“You,” Mikhail finally said after a long pause. “Have you been reading romance novels lately?”
“Yes. I’ve been reading them in my spare time.”
Josepina answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Instead of replying, Mikhail pressed hard on his temple. Laura desperately tried to hold back her laughter, covering her mouth with her teacup and lowering her head. Her ears were trembling violently.
“With money and power, most problems can be solved. But if there is something that still cannot be done at will… wouldn’t it be the human heart?”
Mikhail was genuinely impressed by Josepina’s calm statement. To think this dry, mechanical bureaucrat had such a side to her.
“I didn’t know… Josepina, you’re surprisingly quite the romantic.”
“Ah, that was a line from the novel.”
“Ugh…”
“It’s a rather famous passage, so I quoted it.”
“Ah… I see…”
Mikhail’s shoulders slumped. He leaned back deeply into the sofa. Of course. Just as he thought. There was no way this girl would say something sentimental like that.
He closed his eyes for a moment and fell into thought. A honey trap, though. At first it had sounded completely absurd. But the more he considered it, the more he realized it wasn’t entirely hopeless.
He stood up quietly and walked to the window. He examined his own blurry reflection in the wide glass. The Seventh Prince of the Empire. A grand duke who held immense wealth. And, objectively speaking, quite a handsome face. With these conditions, wouldn’t most women fall for him? No, they would practically throw themselves at him.
“Could I pull it off? Me?”
Mikhail muttered to himself without realizing it.
“Are you serious?”
Laura’s voice broke the quiet. She was staring at him with an expression that said she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
“Well, I mean…”
Mikhail cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.
“It doesn’t hurt to try, right?”
It was a perfectly rational judgment. If it succeeded, jackpot. If it failed, he’d break even. A no-lose business.
“Correct. There is no downside,” Josepina chimed in, backing him up. One of her cheeks was noticeably puffed out. She must have stuffed the latest chocolate into it.
Mikhail looked at Laura again.
“Really, now…”
She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long, deep sigh. Her tail, which had been proudly raised behind her, had probably drooped all the way to the floor. He didn’t need to look to know.