Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Cost of Business
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My demand was simple.
I’d infiltrated Venderford disguised as the son of a successful merchant, but how could I pull that off without the necessary financial backing?
I couldn't very well use my own money to carry out the mission.
Receiving an operational fund from the family was a given.
Normally, I would have received it through my affiliate, the Eastern Branch, but the physical distance was too great.
So, the method I chose was to have Faceless retrieve it for me.
The Central Branch Chief had more clout than Dusk, so he should be able to secure a sufficient operational fund.
I looked at the half-masked man with eyes full of expectation.
"Hmm…"
It seemed Faceless also knew exactly what mission I was on in Venderford.
The fact that he understood immediately, even though I cut right to the chase, proved it.
After a troubled groan, the Central Branch Chief readily nodded.
"It's a direct order from the Head, so support is a given. But still…"
"What is it?"
"I can't shake the feeling I'm being robbed. And there's a set budget for operational funds, so what do you mean by asking for a lot?"
"Because my cover is a student admitted by donation. It wouldn't do for the son of a great merchant to look shabby, would it?"
"What? You're already dressed perfectly fine."
"Who on earth carries out a mission with their own money? Is that what you do, Branch Chief?"
"Of course not. I use the operational funds for everything."
"There you have it."
"…"
I subdued Faceless with the invincible logic of a valid point.
In the end, he had no choice but to accept my demand.
The Central Branch Chief then revealed the orders he'd received and asked my intentions.
"The main family didn't specify an exact amount for the operational fund. They said to use the branch's budget as needed for now and bill them later."
Yes! I knew it!
I gave Faceless a meaningful look.
If I hadn't requested the funds, he would have reported up the chain, sucking up by saying he'd saved that much money.
Claiming his foresight prevented unnecessary expenditures.
A man famous for his shrewdness wouldn't act any other way, would he?
Perhaps burdened by my stare, the Central Branch Chief cleared his throat unnecessarily and pressed for an answer.
"So, how much do you need?"
I replied with a wicked smile.
"What's the Central Branch's budget?"
"…"
Faceless must have realized it just then.
That today, I would bleed the Imperial Central Branch dry.
* * *
Someone once said.
The standard for thievery is to pull one big heist and then bolt.
If you skim a little here and there too often, you leave a trail and get caught, and the punishment is usually harsher.
But if you clean the place out in one go, the number of offenses is low, so the punishment is relatively light.
If you're going to steal anyway, it's more advantageous to be a master thief, even if you get caught.
Ah, of course, I'm not saying I plan to do that.
Committing embezzlement within a fearsome assassination guild would cost you more than just your head.
'Still, they can't say anything about legally sanctioned luxury.'
If they were worried about the money, they should have gotten me in as a recommended scholar, not a student admitted by donation.
Didn't they choose the donation route because it was easier than navigating the empire's recommendation system?
Then they should naturally pay the price.
I was able to extort a portion of the Imperial Central Branch's budget for this quarter.
It was a considerable sum, but Faceless handed it over willingly.
It seemed their financial power was greater than I thought.
As expected of a branch located in Troven, the heart of the economy.
With a promissory note of this value, I could probably receive the best treatment anywhere in Troven.
Clink! Clank!
Of course, part of it was in gold coins, so my pockets were now quite heavy.
The sound of metal clinking against metal was a pleasant melody.
"Alright, shall we get to work then?"
I hadn't ventured out this weekend just to extort operational funds.
That was secondary; the special mission for the final evaluation was more important to me.
'There must be something to it…'
The advanced class, which had trained consistently since childhood, was one thing, but the basic class was just taking its first steps.
Even if the Imperial Sound Lock Sword and the Velgart Energy Arts were ultimate techniques, a mere few months of training wouldn't be enough to unleash their full power.
To be suddenly told to fight the minions of the Seven Abominations as a final evaluation in such a state.
Even if the opponents were just lackeys, it was undeniably a dangerous task.
I intended to find out why such a mission was assigned, based on the information the Central Branch had gathered.
"But is this amount of intelligence for real?"
However, this was no easy task.
The Central Branch hadn't been operating with a set objective regarding the Venderford special mission in the first place.
In other words, I had to compile fragmented pieces of intelligence and create the final report myself.
Me, the one who needed the information.
"Wow! This is insane. How am I supposed to do this when I don't want to?"
The Central Branch was a place where all sorts of intelligence converged.
The intelligence reports on Troven alone would easily exceed a hundred million pages.
Finding only what I wanted amidst this vast flood of text was next to impossible.
But I soon came up with a solution.
Just then, I saw an agent enter the intelligence room, so I beckoned with my finger and spoke.
"Hey, you there."
"Yes?"
"You busy?"
"This is the last intelligence report I need to organize."
"So you can go home after that?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Then do a little job with me."
"What… kind of job?"
"It's simple. Just find the documents containing a few keywords. You can do that, right?"
"I haven't been feeling well lately, so I was planning to visit a clinic after this."
The sharp-looking intelligence agent bowed his head and rattled off excuses.
But was I one to be fooled by such wordplay?
I know you're just making stuff up because you don't want to work, kid.
"Do a good job, and I'll give you 100 geld."
"You can't buy me with money… Huh?"
"If the work is tough, you can bring your colleagues. I'll promise them all the same wage. Say, about ten of them?"
The agents whose main job was delivering intelligence reports were only Grade 3.
The salary of a lowest-grade intelligence agent, at best, would only be a few gold coins.
I'd offered more than ten times his monthly salary, so it was no wonder his eyes went wide.
"Is that for real?"
"I'm a special-grade agent. Do I look like I'm joking?"
"N-No, sir."
"You'd better get started as soon as possible. After midnight, I'll start docking the reward. Ten geld per hour. How about it?"
Whoosh! Clack. Thud!
The Grade 3 intelligence agent shot out of the room at an almost invisible speed and returned with a whole crowd of his colleagues.
Soon, they began sorting and compiling intelligence reports according to the keywords I'd given them.
They moved in such perfect sync that they looked like intricate machine parts.
'See? Delegating is faster and better.'
A wealthy student admitted by donation doesn't do the work himself.
He just throws his operational funds around and crushes the problem with sheer numbers.
Perhaps because ten people were on it, the results of the information search came out quickly.
"Here it is."
"Good work. Let's see."
I unfolded the new intelligence report the Grade 3 agents had compiled and read through it.
As expected of a report prepared by the well-trained agents of the Central Branch, it contained exactly the information I wanted.
'So the special mission is being carried out under the emperor's orders? I thought the Vice-Chancellor was just saying that out of habit.'
Hol Sivath hadn't been lying.
The subjugation mission was a direct order from Emperor Reynold.
However, there was still room for problems.
Voices of opposition were bound to arise from all corners, protesting that students were being sent on a dangerous task.
After all, Brezhnev, one of the Seven Abominations, was a powerful druid based in the Deser Mountains.
What could they possibly hope to accomplish by taking students to face foes the empire itself couldn't easily subdue with its mighty power?
But I soon found myself nodding.
"So this is why it's okay to send them?"
Reading through the report, I found that the empire's core forces had moved to the eastern Deser Mountains.
They would likely take care of the sect's leader and its high command, leaving the lowest of the low for the students.
Thwack!
Closing the report, I immediately reached a conclusion.
This subjugation mission was like a hunting lesson for the princes.
Like a beast of prey indirectly teaching its young…
An event born of an imperial mindset, you could say.
"This should be fun. I'll just have to play along."
And here I thought there was some kind of trap.
A dark faction trying to assassinate the princes, or some other cliché like that, you know?
Having figured out that the mission was largely without issue, I picked up a few documents about the sect.
The group that had stirred up trouble this time was called the 'Physis,' a rather large druid sect.
Having grown to a certain size, the desire for independence must have started to stir.
Honestly, there was no way to know if Brezhnev himself had approved of this expansion of power.
'But surprise, there are no absolutes. This was actually a giant trap planned by the entire druid collective.'
That could also be the case.
In any case, it seemed the emperor's side was also preparing thoroughly for the expedition.
They might not be able to eliminate Brezhnev, who was holed up in the Deser Mountains, but they intended to completely wipe out the Physis sect.
That much was necessary to keep those druid bastards from crawling out of the mountains.
As I gathered the documents and started to stand, I saw ten pairs of wide, expectant eyes.
"Why haven't these guys left… Ah, the reward?"
"Yessir!"
"Here, take it."
Ching!
When I distributed a hundred 10-geld gold coins among them, the intelligence agents answered with sharp, military-like discipline.
"Thank you!"
See? Money really is the best way to move people.
I had just handed out a thousand geld worth of gold coins, but I didn't regret it one bit.
Watching the gleeful Grade 3 agents, I smiled warmly.
'I can use this again next time. I should make use of them often.'
Changing back into the guise of Ray Carter, I strolled leisurely through the streets of Troven.
Now that I'd received a massive operational fund, wasn't it time to act the part of a student admitted by donation?
I became a god of money, sweeping through the merchant districts that handled luxury goods.
"Keke! Spending other people's money is the most fun, after all."