Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Dealt with the Embezzler, But...
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I'd taken care of the embezzler...
When I opened the door to the conference room, the staff officers were already waiting, having been there for quite some time.
They knew I was supposed to arrive in an hour, but I was two hours late.
The raid on the supply depot and interrogating Johnson had taken longer than expected.
Neat stacks of documents covered the table. Supply ledgers, troop deployment charts, intelligence on the Kuman Tribe.
These were the materials I'd requested.
Not that there was any guarantee they were genuine.
Seven staff officers sat around the table. Their expressions were all rigid.
Valerius stared down at me, arms crossed.
"You're late, Legion Commander."
His voice carried clear dissatisfaction.
"I had urgent business."
I ignored him and took my seat. The chair was still too tall for my feet to touch the floor.
"Then let's review the materials you've prepared."
The moment Valerius reached for the documents...
The conference room door opened again.
Kiiik.
Two escort knights entered.
Johnson stood between them.
A gag filled his mouth, and his arms were bound behind his back.
The knights dragged him inside.
A few staff officers' faces stiffened instantly.
Their eyes wavered. They averted their gazes.
It was only natural.
They'd all shared in the spoils.
But Valerius was different.
"What is the meaning of this? Why are you tormenting the supply officer like that?!"
He looked every bit the furious superior.
I glanced at Johnson.
His mouth was gagged, but his eyes were alive.
Eyes filled with terror and despair.
"Remove the gag."
One knight pulled the gag from Johnson's mouth.
Johnson coughed. He spat.
"Johnson. Speak."
A trembling voice emerged.
"Deputy Legion Commander Valerius... orchestrated 90% of the embezzlement."
Silence.
The air in the conference room froze solid.
The staff officers' faces drained of color. Some looked down; others stole glances at Valerius.
Valerius's brows furrowed.
"What... did you say?"
"It was the Deputy Legion Commander who ordered us to siphon off rations, falsify the ledgers, and sell them to merchants."
Johnson's voice grew louder.
A desperate cry for survival.
"I was just following orders! I only did as the Deputy Legion Commander commanded!"
Valerius took a step forward.
"You lying bastard!"
He raised his hand as if to strike Johnson.
But an escort knight grabbed his arm.
The grip of an Expert. Valerius was an Expert too, but he was no match for the guards personally trained by the great Duke Walter.
"Legion Commander! Everything this man says is a lie! When did I ever give such orders..."
"It's true."
Another voice cut in.
One staff officer stood.
A man in his early fifties.
"We... were just following the Deputy Legion Commander's orders."
A second staff officer rose.
"The one who led the embezzlement... was Deputy Legion Commander Valerius."
The third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
The sixth.
Six out of the seven staff officers testified in unison.
Their gazes toward Valerius were cold and merciless.
They'd realized it.
That I was pinning the blame on Valerius.
And that speaking up might save them.
For now, at least.
Betrayed by his fellow embezzlers, Valerius's face flushed red.
"You traitorous scum! We all profited together! I took at most half! Ninety percent? That's an outrageous lie...!"
The conference room froze again.
The staff officers' eyes widened.
Johnson's jaw dropped.
Lize let out a small cough behind me.
"Nyaa~"
Sister Celine mocks him too.
I nodded slowly.
"I see. Half."
Valerius's face went pale.
The realization of what he'd just said dawned on him.
"Ah, no... that's not what I..."
"You've admitted to embezzling half yourself..."
I raised my hand.
One knight drew his sword.
Shiiiing.
The cold ring of metal echoed through the room.
"We'll cut off half his neck."
Valerius's lips quivered.
"W-wait..."
"Isn't half only fair?"
The knight stepped forward.
Valerius backed away until his back hit the wall.
"Hold on! This is... this is a misunderstanding! What I meant was..."
"Whether it was half the embezzled amount or all of it, the outcome is the same."
Indeed.
The crime of siphoning rations.
The crime of starving the soldiers.
The crime of falsifying ledgers.
Half or all...
His head would roll either way.
"Subdue him completely."
Two more knights grabbed Valerius's arms.
Another pulled a pair of black metal handcuffs from his pouch.
Faint runes etched the surface. A magic item that suppressed mana.
Clack.
The moment the cuffs locked around Valerius's wrists, the Expert's aura pouring from him vanished in an instant.
"Urk... urgh!"
Valerius gasped. His mana severed.
He was reduced to an ordinary middle-aged man.
"Spare me! Please!"
He dropped to his knees. Or rather, was forced down.
The knights pressed on his shoulders. He had no strength left to resist.
"Legion Commander! I... I repent my wrongs! Never again... never again will I..."
"If repentance earned forgiveness, the word 'execution' wouldn't exist."
I cut him off coldly.
Valerius's face turned ashen.
"P-please..."
"Oh, right."
I snapped my fingers.
"You smashed my bed too, didn't you?"
Silence.
Valerius's lips trembled.
"Th-that was..."
"Yes!"
One staff officer shot to his feet and shouted.
"Deputy Legion Commander Valerius ordered it himself! He said to break the new Legion Commander's spirit when he arrived!"
"I heard it too!"
Another joined in.
"Not just the bed—he ordered an oversized chair on purpose too!"
"It started after former commander Gerhardt fell in battle! He was cautious before, but once the general was gone, he changed completely!"
"That's when the embezzlement got more blatant too..."
The staff officers competed to list Valerius's crimes.
To cover their own, no doubt.
"Enough."
I raised my hand to silence them.
I looked down at Valerius.
His face was streaked with tears and snot.
"You can't kill me! My father is a renowned noble of the North! Baron Marcus! My mother is from Viscount Vincent... and my wife's family too..."
A baron.
Certainly far above commoners.
"Do you know my father? The great 'Knight Slayer' Duke Walter von Krushtein."
My father could kill his baron father or viscountess mother with a mere snort.
"H-ha! But you're just a bastard anyway! A bastard like you... y-you damned... illegitimate brat...!"
His words came out garbled.
He was in full panic.
But his mouth wouldn't stop.
In that moment, the conference room froze once more.
The staff officers held their breath.
Even Valerius realized what he'd said.
His mouth hung open, frozen.
"Ah, no... that's not what I..."
Bastard.
And worse...
Illegitimate spawn.
Said right to my face.
After an insult like that, I'd have to cut him down myself.
Normally, I could've had a knight do it.
But this was different.
It was as good as spitting in my face.
So I'd repay it with my own hand.
The sword my father had bestowed upon me.
I drew it from its scabbard.
Shiiiing.
The cold metal gleamed blindingly in the sunlight.
"Hold him steady for the cut."
Two knights grabbed Valerius by the hair, forcing his neck forward.
Another pinned his back, immobilizing him.
Perfect beheading position.
"No! No!"
Valerius wailed.
"Please! Spare me! I was wrong! I..."
I raised the sword.
It wasn't heavy.
I wasn't confident in my swordsmanship.
But I'd received basic knight training.
Enough not to miss a subdued foe's neck.
The blade hovered in the air.
Above Valerius's nape.
"A promise is a promise."
"Wait, my in-laws are just barons, but my wife's family... my wife... my wife..."
He still had something to say, but there was no reason to hear more.
Thud.
Half his neck severed.
A dull crunch of bone.
Blood sprayed like a fountain.
Valerius didn't die instantly.
Half his vertebrae were cut, his throat slashed, but an Expert's transcendent vitality kept blood flowing to his brain.
"Gack... gack..."
He convulsed, vomiting blood. He clutched his neck with both hands, but couldn't stem the gush.
It took about a minute and a half for him to stop moving entirely.
Behind me, I heard Lize trembling.
I turned. Her face was ghostly white. Her single red eye shook.
Ironic.
She was the one who'd advised me to make it as impactful and brutal as possible.
For the record, she was far stronger than me.
No wonder she failed the knight order interview with a temperament like that.
I sheathed the sword.
Then pointed at Valerius's corpse.
"Salt it and send it to the main house. Tell Father this: He confessed to half the embezzlement, so I took half his neck."
I'd read his autobiography more than ten times.
Not a huge amount for a son, but more than most retainers.
So I knew.
Father appreciated that kind of "humor."
Two weeks later.
A welcome guest arrived.
"Young master!"
It was Sir Heinrich.
He enveloped me in a bear hug. His armor was cold.
"Splendid! Truly splendid!"
"What's this all of a sudden?"
"You executed the deputy commander yourself! Finally... have you finally taken the first step in rebellion?!"
Rebellion?
I tilted my head.
"What are you talking about..."
"Valerius's wife, the one executed by extension—wasn't she Young Master Ernst's wet nurse?"
My heart stopped.
"...What?"
"One son, one daughter. Both milk siblings to Young Master Ernst."
My mind went blank.
So that's what Valerius meant, babbling about his wife to the end?
"What happened to the two children?"
Sir Heinrich beamed.
"His Lordship beheaded the wife and both children himself. Just like you, young master—only half. He called it 'a reply to my son's joke.'"