Chapter 21
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Crushing the Embezzler (2)
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We arrived where the knights were resting.
"Arm yourselves, everyone."
At the command, the ten escort knights drew their swords in unison.
Lize stood beside me. In her hands was a bundle of parchment.
Celine continued to follow at my heels in her cat form.
"We're heading to the supply depot."
"Yes, sir!"
The voices of ten men echoed through the corridor.
The supply depot, located in one corner of the barracks, wasn't far.
But along the way, a few soldiers spotted us.
"What's that?"
"The new legion commander leading armed knights..."
We could hear their murmurs.
I ignored them.
In fact, it was good.
The rumors would spread quickly.
We arrived at the supply depot.
A massive wooden door. It was secured with a padlock.
Two sentries stood in front of it.
They looked flustered when they saw us.
"Wh-who are you?"
"The newly appointed legion commander."
"A-a boy... Ah... We've heard the rumors."
"Open the door."
I didn't waste words.
"But without permission from the supply officer..."
Whether this guy was an accomplice or just an idiot, he was spouting pure stupidity.
One of the knights behind me stepped forward.
The aura of an Expert poured out.
The sentry's face went pale.
"W-we'll open it right now!"
With trembling hands, he pulled out the key and unlocked the padlock.
Creeeak.
The door swung open.
The interior was dark. The structure blocked out all sunlight.
"Lantern."
One knight lit a lantern.
The warehouse came into view.
Shelves lined up in rows. Grain sacks, wine barrels, dried meat...
But most of the shelves were empty.
Dust had accumulated everywhere.
"Lize."
"Yees~."
Lize stepped forward.
She sniffed around as she slowly walked through the warehouse.
She stopped in front of the first shelf.
"There should be flour sacks here~..."
The parchment read: Premium Flour - Received.
Lize opened one of the sacks.
Out came a yellowish powder.
"This... It's at least three years old~. The smell's completely off~."
Second shelf.
"Dried meat should be here~..."
Only a few empty sacks lay there.
Third shelf.
"Fresh vegetables~..."
A few wilted cabbages. Half-rotten.
Lize turned around. Her single red eye gleamed with seriousness.
"It doesn't match the ledger at all~. This is clear embezzlement~."
That was when it happened.
"Wh-what's going on here!"
A frantic voice came from behind.
A man in his early forties. Judging by his attire, the supply officer.
He was panting, as if he'd come running.
"Legion Commander, sir, you can't enter the warehouse without permission..."
"Permission? You're the supply officer?"
"Y-yes. That's me, but..."
"Your name?"
"Jo-Johnson."
"Johnson. Bring the ledger."
"The ledger?"
"The supply ledger. Right now."
Johnson's face turned white.
"I-it's... being organized right now..."
"I'm not asking for the finalized one. Bring the one you're using now."
"B-but..."
One of the knights behind me stepped forward again.
Johnson staggered back.
"A-alright! I'll get it right now!"
He dashed into the back of the warehouse.
A moment later, he returned clutching a thick ledger.
"H-here it is..."
Lize took the ledger and opened it.
She read through it page by page.
"Premium flour, 500 sacks received..."
Lize pointed to the shelf.
"There's only 150 sacks there~. And they're three years old~."
"Th-that... We ate it all."
"Three days ago. Fresh cabbage, 200 crates. Carrots, 100 crates received..."
She pointed to the shelf again.
"Nothing's there~."
"N-no... That... We ate it all."
"You ate all that in three days? Are you rabbits? Eating nothing but grass?"
"...I... That..."
"Same, three days ago. Dried meat, 300 crates received..."
Another empty shelf.
"Where are the meat crates?"
Johnson's lips trembled.
"Th-there... That..."
"Answer me."
I said.
I kept my voice as low as possible. But there was a tremor in it.
It wasn't easy to intimidate with a ten-year-old's voice.
But the ten Experts standing behind me made up for it.
"I-I'll tell you..."
Johnson dropped to his knees.
"I embezzled. I-I'm sorry..."
"You alone?"
"N-no..."
"Who with?"
Silence.
He didn't answer.
He was biting his lip.
"If you don't answer, your head rolls right here."
One knight drew his sword.
"I-I just followed orders..."
"Orders? Whose?"
Johnson bit his lip harder. Speak and die, stay silent and die now.
The blade touched his neck.
The cold feel of metal.
"Th-the staff! Deputy Legion Commander Valerius and the staff... They told me to falsify the ledger..."
"How much was diverted?"
"I don't know exactly... But about half of what's in the ledger..."
Half.
Half the rations diverted.
"Where did the diverted goods go?"
"S-sold... To merchants in nearby villages..."
"The money?"
"The staff... They split it..."
"You got some too?"
"...Yes."
Johnson hung his head.
Sweat dripped from his chin to the floor.
Murmurs rose from outside the warehouse.
It started with a few. Two, three passing soldiers.
But the noise grew louder.
Footsteps. Clanking armor. Whispers.
"Look over there! The new kid legion commander leading armed knights..."
"They say he raided the supply depot?"
"What's going on?"
Ten became twenty, twenty became fifty.
Soldiers gathered around the warehouse.
Faces full of curiosity. Eyes tinged with unease.
Good.
The more witnesses, the better.
I took a deep breath.
And stepped out of the warehouse.
The sunlight was blinding.
Over fifty soldiers stood in a semicircle.
All eyes on me.
A ten-year-old boy.
A kid who needed a chair to reach the ground with his feet.
But in this moment, their legion commander.
"Soldiers!"
I raised my voice.
A childish, cracking tone. But as clear as I could make it.
The soldiers' murmurs stopped.
"Supply Officer Johnson has embezzled our rations!"
Murmurs erupted.
The soldiers stirred.
"What?"
"Embezzlement?"
"Falsified the ledger! Diverted the flour you were supposed to eat! Diverted fresh vegetables! Diverted meat!"
Lize held up the ledger high.
Her hands trembled, but the evidence was clear.
I nodded to the knight beside me. Instead of the painfully introverted her, and since a ten-year-old's voice had its limits.
The knight bellowed in a booming voice.
"The ledger shows 500 sacks of flour! 300 crates of meat! 300 crates of vegetables received three days ago! But the warehouse is empty! Johnson claims the soldiers ate it all in three days!"
The knight caught his breath and roared even louder.
"Soldiers! Has meat or vegetables appeared in the mess hall in the last three days?!"
And then, anger exploding from all directions.
"None!"
One soldier shouted.
"Just bread mixed with sawdust!"
"Haven't seen meat in over a month!"
"Vegetables? A few wilted cabbage scraps was it!"
The rage spread.
From one to ten.
Ten to fifty.
Sixty, seventy.
New arrivals heard the story and fumed too.
"While we starved, that bastard!"
"Sold our rations!"
The air heated up. Soldiers' faces flushed red.
Fists clenched. Teeth grinding.
"Drag Johnson out."
Two knights behind me entered the warehouse.
A moment later.
"No! Let go! Let me go!"
Johnson's scream rang out.
The knights dragged him out by force.
His clothes were torn. His face smeared with sweat and tears.
His arms gripped by the knights. He thrashed, but it was useless.
The soldiers jeered.
"That son of a bitch!"
"Stole our rations!"
"Kill him! Kill the bastard!"
A stone flew. It hit Johnson's forehead.
Blood trickled down.
Johnson was thrown to the ground.
He dropped to his knees.
No, forced to.
One knight pressed down on his shoulder. An Expert's strength. Johnson couldn't even stand.
"No! Please!"
Johnson wailed.
He looked up at me. Face a mess of tears and snot.
"You can't kill just me! The staff too! Deputy Legion Commander Valerius too...!"
"Shut it."
The knight clamped Johnson's mouth.
But his words had already reached the soldiers' ears.
"The staff?"
"Even the deputy commander?"
"So it was them!"
"Fuck, the whole top brass is rotten!"
The murmurs grew louder. Rage turned toward the staff.
Good.
I stepped forward.
"7th Legion Supply Officer Johnson!"
A boyish voice, but it rang out clearly in the hush.
"For the crime of embezzlement... I sentence you to death!"
Silence.
A brief hush.
And then.
"Death!"
One soldier raised his fist in cheer.
The cheer spread like wildfire.
"Hell yeah!"
"Damn right!"
"Ration thieves deserve to die!"
"Off with his head!"
Cheers filled the area around the warehouse. Over fifty soldiers shouted in unison.
The knight behind me drew his sword.
The cold ring of steel leaving its sheath.
Shiiiing.
Sunlight reflected off the blade, dazzling brightly.
Johnson's face went ghostly white.
"No... No..."
His lips quivered. Wetness spread down his pants.
The knight slowly raised his sword.
The blade hovered over Johnson's nape.
"But."
I raised my hand.
The knight froze. The sword hung in midair.
The soldiers quieted. Cheers faded.
All eyes on me.
I looked down at Johnson.
Tear-streaked face. Snot dripping. A stench from his pants.
"If you name your accomplices properly... I might reduce it to twenty years in the deep coal mines."
Deep mine labor for twenty years.
Practically a death sentence.
Average survival was three years. Lungs gave out first, then spines bent, finally crushed in a tunnel collapse.
But to Johnson, it was a ray of hope.
You never know.
If he endured three years, five years, maybe...
He could live.
Better than losing his head.
"I'll talk!"
Johnson screamed.
"I'll talk! I'll tell everything!"
His hands scraped the ground. Nails broke.
"Please! Spare my life! Please!"
Tears streamed down his cheeks. Drool flowed.
I nodded.
"Take him away."
**
The interrogation room was cramped and dim.
Johnson was tied to a chair. His face still tear-streaked.
I stood before him.
"Name everyone involved in the embezzlement. Miss even one, lie even once... You won't be the only one executed. Your family goes down with you."
Johnson's face drained of color.
"U-understood..."
With trembling hands, he took the parchment. Gripped the quill.
Names were written one by one.
Six out of seven staff officers.
Two junior supply officers.
And at the top.
Valerius.
"...Th-that's all."
"Don't kill all the staff~. Pin most of the blame on Valerius and spare the rest~. If too many staff die at once, legion operations grind to a halt~. You can clean them up slowly later~. Keeping Johnson alive gives you leverage~. The only one you definitely need to kill is Valerius~."
I nodded.
"I see. Understood. But we need to adjust the embezzlement shares a bit."
"...Pardon?"
Johnson looked up. A confused expression.
I pointed to the number next to Valerius's name: 40%.
"Here. It says Valerius embezzled 40%... Change it to 90%."
"B-but that's... a lie..."
"If you want to live. Write 90%. Testify to 90%. Don't want to?"