Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Using Others' Logic as Weapons (5)
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"-!"
Tyler's flushed face turned deathly pale in an instant. He unconsciously glanced to the side.
"......"
He met Carlo's icy, frozen gaze.
'Procurement corruption.'
Carlo immediately understood Abel's implication.
Tyler handled the distribution of blue pearls, Sud Territory's specialty product. Abel was subtly suggesting that he had cooked the books.
"Th-that!"
Tyler let out a shrill scream before clamping his mouth shut. If he were truly innocent, he wouldn't be this flustered.
"......Ahem, ahem."
Tyler averted Carlo's eyes and quietly took his seat.
After that, a few more lords tried to attack Abel, but he didn't budge an inch.
"Lord Benjamin runs his territory so frugally, doesn't he? The reported income and the actual expenditures don't match up, though."
Tax evasion.
"Lord Harrison, you've got stolen goods stashed all over the place. Where do you even find such precious treasures?"
Handling stolen goods.
These were all acts forbidden by the Empire.
They were on a whole different level from mere bullying in one's territory or having a foul personality.
The arsenal Abel unleashed was tremendous. The lords were all struck with fatal blows and fell one by one.
Abel's gently folded eyes seemed to ask:
'Are you really going to keep this up?'
The lords exchanged bewildered glances.
'No way, how does he know all this?'
'He just arrived in the capital, didn't he?'
'I'm scared to find out how much more he knows.'
Rather than testing what bombs might explode from Abel's mouth next, they chose silence.
"......Heh."
Emperor Theodore watched the conference hall with a faint smile. Far from stopping Abel's barrage, he was happily observing it.
'Interesting. Truly interesting.'
The sight of nobles tearing into and checking each other was enjoyable even yesterday.
And if a twenty-year-old youth attending for the first time was at the center, the fun doubled.
"......"
The conference hall fell into complete silence. No more lords raised their hands to attack Abel.
"L-Lord Carlo......"
"What do we do?"
The lords seated behind Carlo whispered anxiously.
"......Hoo."
Carlo clenched his fist under the table. He wiped the anger and panic from his face.
He calmed his boiling emotions.
'Stay calm.'
Acting on emotion would ruin everything.
He pushed aside thoughts of being backstabbed by someone he trusted and the lords who had stepped up sinking one by one.
'Just how much does that guy know?'
Truth be told, Carlo wasn't exactly clean himself. Accumulating vast wealth in a short time required more underhanded deeds than one might think.
And for some reason, Abel kept directing smiles at Carlo.
It was the smile of a hunter waiting with a trap set, intending for the excited, reason-lost prey to walk into it themselves.
'No way he knows about the Mare Guild dealings too, right?'
The situation wasn't right to test it. Betting here would be a bad move.
Carlo decided to retreat instead of probing Abel's weapons.
'We'll see.'
It wasn't because he feared Abel's playfully relaxed smile.
'This isn't the only day.'
But next time, definitely!
Carlo comforted himself that way.
Once even Carlo, who had the strongest voice, shut his mouth, the lords following him fell silent as well.
With the continued silence, the attendant stepped forward.
"It seems we've reached a rough conclusion."
"Mm."
Emperor Theodore nodded. The attendant scanned the lords one last time.
"Then, as Young Lord Abel proposed, we'll implement the new method of taxing 10% of territories' net profits after deducting expenses from income."
Mikel stroked his beard and spoke in a firm voice.
"I agree."
When the situation flowed favorably, not riding the wave would be foolish.
"I agree."
Benifer spread her hand wide, showing off her bright red nails.
"This method will benefit the Empire. It's desirable in the long term as well."
After polling most of the lords, the attendant looked to Carlo.
"I agree as well."
Carlo said with an expressionless face.
"But we need more detailed discussion on what counts as income and expenses."
The attendant nodded and proceeded with the vote.
"Understood. Then, please raise your hands if you agree."
Rustle, rustle.
Hands went up here and there. It started a bit slow at first, but soon 53 hands shot up into the air.
"Then, with no objections, I declare the tax calculation method changed to a percentage system."
The attendant picked up the gavel from the table.
"Discussions on income and expense items will be added to the next meeting's agenda."
Thud, thud, thud.
The gavel struck three times.
This was the greatest change brought by the meeting—and Abel's first step toward devouring everything amid the storm it would stir among the nobles.
❖ ❖ ❖
Clop clop.
The carriage barreled energetically down the road.
"Ugh."
The man inside, Philip, groaned incessantly.
"I'm dying......"
As always, sleepless nights plagued him because of Abel. And even now, without Abel around, it continued.
"No way, he really went to the capital?"
Even thinking about it again drove him mad, wanting to jump in frustration.
The day Abel first vanished, Philip thought he had stolen the seal and hidden somewhere in the territory. Or maybe gone to a neighboring territory for fun.
'With that frail body, how far could he have gone?'
He had enjoyed the time, thinking that way.
The castle without Abel was too peaceful. Without the one who grabbed servants like rats every day, it was paradise.
But after people scoured everywhere, and even Yonas, who had grilled him relentlessly, left.
Abel wasn't found anywhere.
'Shit.'
Only then did Philip realize the situation was serious.
The thought hit him that Abel had really taken the seal and gone to the capital.
'What do I do? What do I tell the lord?'
He had already provided crucial help in Abel stealing Yonas's seal. Even if it wasn't entirely voluntary.
Philip had always prioritized his own safety above all.
'Save myself first.'
So he didn't hesitate to embellish the truth when reporting to the returned Diego.
"What? Abel stole the seal?"
As expected, Diego flew into a rage upon hearing the story.
"This crazy bastard, does he even know what that is?!"
He slammed his fist on the desk.
"Yonas, you fool. Incense?! Falling for such a shallow trick......"
"Master Yonas couldn't have anticipated it at all."
Philip bowed deeply with a pained expression.
"It was my failure to serve properly. I apologize, my lord."
Thus, Yonas became the idiot who fell hook, line, and sinker for Abel's scheme.
"No, no."
Diego rubbed his throbbing forehead.
"How could you stop him if he was determined to cause trouble? You must have been worried sick."
"No, my apologies, my lord."
"What the hell is that kid thinking......"
Diego tore at his hair before stopping and looking at Philip.
"You, your paperwork processing has slowed down lately. Was it because of this?"
Philip's eyes darted at Diego's question.
'It's because Young Master Abel isn't here......'
He couldn't say that.
"My apologies, my lord. I have no excuses."
He could only tuck tail with a pitiful expression.
"There was so much to handle inside and outside the castle. I'll do better."
"Alright. Put in more effort."
Diego's face remained dark even as he let it pass.
It was understandable. No matter how long he sat at the desk, the work never ended.
It was the backlash from Abel, who had processed documents at tremendous speed, disappearing.
"What do we do about the next taxes? No place to raise the budget from."
Diego sighed heavily.
"I'm going mad. There's a tax-related agenda this time."
His lament soon turned to anger.
"He goes to that important meeting to do what?! If he doesn't make things worse, it'll be a miracle!"
In the end, Philip had to board the carriage to the capital, swallowing his tears.
'I trust only you. Tell Yonas he can grab that Abel punk by the collar.'
Diego's angry voice still rang in his ears.
"Ugh, if I can't bring back Young Master Abel, I might die."
His worries towered like mountains. He needed to find Yonas first once he arrived.
"Aigoo, a carriage trip to the capital at my age."
His back ached, his whole body throbbed like it would kill him. Sitting all day in the jolting carriage was torture.
"But at least I'll see my daughter."
His daughter was attending the academy in the capital. He consoled himself thinking of it as a chance to see her face after so long.
Thus, Philip arrived at the next territory amid suffering. He stopped the carriage at the checkpoint and opened the window.
"Excuse me, may I ask something?"
Two weary guards approached. One checked Philip's ID plaque and asked.
"What is it?"
"Has Lord Abel Ovest Kindriel passed through here by any chance?"
"Lord Abel Kindriel, you say?"
The guard's expression as he repeated the name was odd.
Philip's heart sank.
'He finally caused an incident.'
Abel was the type who went berserk if he didn't get blood on his hands every few days.
There was no way he had gone to the capital quietly.
'Damn, how many did he kill? If word spreads, I'm done for.'
Philip's hands trembled as he opened the carriage door.
"S-sorry! Truly sorry!"
He jumped out and bowed obsequiously to the guards.
"Uh, how many victims were there? Has word spread to other territories?"
He rummaged in his pocket for the money pouch Diego had prepared before departure.
"Take this money first, please......"
"Wait, wait."
The guards waved their hands.
"What victims are you talking about?"
"Lord Abel just did the ID check and left right away?"
Their faces showed clear confusion. They seemed utterly clueless.
'Huh?'
Only then did Philip realize he had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
'Young Master Abel didn't cause trouble?'
He quickly changed tack.
"But your expressions didn't look good at all?"
"......Truth be told, we were troubled by someone else."
"Someone else?"
"Yeah, from the Ovest Knight Order. Name was......"
"Yonas Klein, right?"
The other guard chimed in, and the first nodded.
"A real brute."
"First time in years of guard duty I've seen such a sight... Ahem, totally unreasonable."
"And he kept yelling the young master's name as he ran off. Is that how a knight should act?"
"Pardon?"
Philip's eyes widened.
'What in the world is going on?'
Unfathomable events were unfolding. He had even more reason to hurry to the capital.