Enforcement (4)
"I say! This is not what we agreed upon!"
Count Bran bellowed at the old man standing before him.
"You said you would simply kill that Rohan fellow — Treasury be damned! So why in the world have you gone and done something this reckless?!"
The old man didn't so much as pretend to listen. He dug at his ear with a look of pure indifference.
Enraged, Count Bran shot to his feet, veins bulging in his neck.
"This is treason, I tell you! Because of you, not only I but everyone is going to die!"
"Heh heh heh. Afraid of dying, are you?"
"W-what did you just say?! Have you lost your mind? Do you honestly think you are going to survive this?!"
"Kill me if you can. I don't care."
Under the Count's relentless tirade, the old man — who had been smirking with oily amusement — suddenly went still. His face hardened. Then, as if he had become an entirely different person, he fixed Count Bran with a pair of eyes gone cold and flat, and spoke again.
"Listen here, Count. I did exactly what you asked of me. Coming at me like this after the fact is rather poor form."
"W-who asked you to sow chaos in this manner?!"
"Oh? But that loan shark Gedrick who came to find me clearly said to kill the one called Rohan and shake the Treasury so they could dodge the tax audit. Kheh heh!"
"Gedrick? Where is Gedrick now?"
"Ah. That one? Well, he told me I'd breached the contract and refused to hand over the goods he'd promised. So I burned him to ash. Didn't leave so much as a speck."
Meeting the mad old man's eyes, Count Bran swallowed hard without meaning to.
One wrong word and it wouldn't matter whether this was treason or not — he would follow Gedrick right here, right now.
Gedrick shook hands with something worse than a demon. Damn it all. If I'd known it would come to this, I should have just hired mercenaries…!
Who could have imagined he would hire a lunatic like this?
Leaving the dirty work to the loan sharks so the trail would be easy to cut had been a catastrophic mistake.
Regret came far too late. The water was already spilled.
What in the world was he supposed to do now?
"Ahh. But there's nothing to worry about, is there? They never even saw my face. Honestly, for so-called imperial civil servants, they were awfully fragile. Easier than crushing ants underfoot."
"Y-you bastard, to the very end…!"
"Boy! My ears work just fine! You think I don't shout because I can't? You're being loud — so hurry up and hand over what Gedrick promised me!"
"What?! Why are you looking for Gedrick's goods here?!"
"Kwahaha! Ah. Our dear Count still hasn't grasped the situation. Hey — you got a head on those shoulders, or is it just for show?"
Under the old man's endless insolence, Count Bran ground his teeth until they ached.
But there was nothing he could do. Even if he summoned every knight guarding his estate, subduing this old man would be impossible.
"This body shall mercifully enlighten you. The only way you survive is by joining hands with me — Kairn Brushell!"
The old man knew it perfectly well. He rolled his shoulders with an open sneer, making a show of it.
"I'm not normally the sort who does business this way. But just this once, as a special favor — hand over what Gedrick promised, and I'll personally escort our Count beyond the border."
"What? You're telling me to d-defect?!"
"Defect, flee, call it whatever you like — not my concern. I'll take you east, west, north, wherever you want to go."
"D-damn it all!"
"Tsk tsk. Surely you're not still clinging to noble pride at a time like this? Think of your family. Hmm?"
Blood began to drip from between Count Bran's tightly bitten lips.
He knew full well that time was running out. He also knew, with perfect clarity, that taking this old man's hand was his only path to survival.
And yet something about it felt deeply wrong. Too many pieces refused to fit. It almost felt as though he and everyone else were dancing on the end of this man's string.
Before long this estate will be a wasteland. Even if I escape on my own, the Intelligence Bureau will have me within days. Is this bastard truly the only answer?
Even so, he had no other option.
In the end, Count Bran squeezed his eyes shut and asked Kairn in a trembling voice,
"W-what is it you want."
Morning in the capital was always lively and loud.
But not today.
The sun rose as it always did, yet a hush hung over the city as deep and still as the dead of night. Through the blackened rubble of burned-out buildings, people gathered in twos and threes, every last one of them staring in the same direction.
Not toward the Imperial Palace. Not toward the Temple.
Their eyes were fixed on the scorched, diminished husk of the Treasury.
"People of the Empire! Last night, in an unprecedented attack by unknown assailants, the very ground beneath our lives was set ablaze in an instant, and we lost countless brothers and sisters! Their screams, torn from the heart of the flames, still ring in my ears!"
Upon a modestly raised platform, Elena — dressed in black — lifted her voice, and every head bowed as tears fell.
"But we must not give in to fear! We must rise above yesterday's sorrow and stand as one! We will rebuild what was burned, and we will fight the forces of evil that threaten this Empire!"
Grief and iron resolve threaded every word she spoke. In eyes still wet with mourning, a spark began to catch.
"Hear me, enemies of the Empire! The bricks reduced to ash shall become our shields, and the sacrifice of the fallen shall become our swords — and we will take your heads! The Empire shall be victorious! And it shall soar higher still!"
Elena's speech — short if you called it short, long if you called it long — ended, and as if on cue the rifle corps fired a salute into the sky. Bells tolled from the watchtowers of the Guard. The crowd bowed their heads in silence, and then the funeral procession began.
And at the head of that procession rode a coffin bearing my name: Rohan Blackwood.
"T-Tax Collector, sir…"
"Oh, gods above, how could this happen!"
"Those bastards! Our Tax Collector was such a fine man — how dare they!"
Was it because I'd made such a habit of preaching fire preparedness that the damage hadn't been worse, and word of it had spread? Or was it the mountain of credit I'd accumulated through pure misunderstanding?
Whatever the reason, people dropped to their knees and wailed as my coffin passed before them.
"Wow. Your popularity is really something, Tax Collector, sir."
Standing well back from the procession beside me, Rhea stuck out her tongue in amazement.
Praise or dig — hard to say. Her completely lifeless delivery drew a long sigh out of me.
"Secretariat Rhea. Put your hood on properly."
"Shhh! You can't use names! We're dead people right now!"
"You just called me Tax Collector yourself. I'm going to lose my mind."
"Ugh. I left off the 'Special' part, didn't I?"
"You just said it out loud, so that rather defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"
"Huh. You've got a point there."
She was doing this on purpose. I was fairly certain a remedial attitude session was in her near future.
I was still clicking my tongue and shaking my head when someone came up behind me and tapped my shoulder.
"Sunbae-nim. I'm here."
Marien.
Frankly, she was a junior I never wanted to see again. But what choice did I have? The situation was the situation.
"Are the agents all assembled?"
"Yes. And we've distributed wanted posters to every branch across the Empire."
"How many have fled so far?"
"Count Bran and Viscount Ferrington. Everyone else has been apprehended."
"The loan sharks as well?"
"Yes. However, among the loan sharks, the one called Gedrick was found burned to death in his office, so…"
"Tsk. Our most important witness is dead."
Marien tilted her head at that, as if she didn't follow. I sighed and shook my head at her.
"Looks like our junior doesn't have much experience in this particular line of work. What was your primary assignment again?"
"Ah. Th-that would be…"
"Infiltration and intelligence extraction? Judging by the look of you, I'd wager you charmed more than a few Coalition officers with a honey trap."
"I-it's embarrassing, but yes."
"Thought so."
"Sunbae-nim, more importantly — why did you say Gedrick was the most important witness…?"
"Did you look at the magic that mage used on the Treasury and still not understand? Gedrick was killed by that mage, which is why he burned to death. And that means Gedrick is the one who hired him."
Was she still reeling from last night's shock? Did I really have to spell out something this elementary with my own mouth?
Can I even get anything done with people like this…?
Leaving Marien behind with her face flushed scarlet and her head bowed low, I started walking.
The early bird gets the worm.
If I wanted to dig out the bugs that had gone to ground, I was going to have to move.