The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (2)

Milestone…?

What’s an Overseer supposed to be?

You keep throwing around names only you understand, and I can’t make sense of any of it.

But none of that mattered as much as the number glaring back at me.

‘98.5%.’

The crystallization threshold was almost complete.

Which meant one thing…

The moment another dungeon appeared, this territory would turn into hell.

‘A hell where people themselves became stones of ruin.’

I swallowed hard.

That’s when Alejandro asked, his voice heavy with doubt:

“How do you intend to revive our territory’s finances?”

Of course he was suspicious.

Shane, the lord’s third son, was nothing special. Just another extra. No one in their right mind would entrust him with anything serious.

‘But I’m not Shane. I’m Lee Jungwoo… a Korean, and a man who knows numbers better than anyone.’

“I’ll prove it.”

Alejandro’s eyes narrowed. “Prove it how?”

“I’m not asking for authority right away. This dungeon expedition will take time. By the time you return, I’ll show you I can manage the territory’s finances.”

Alejandro fell silent. He thought so long that the retainers began shifting anxiously, worried about delaying the send-off.

Finally, he spoke.

“I promised Beatrice I would never raise our third son on the battlefield.”

Beatrice Astrier. Shane’s mother.

“That’s why I never even taught you how to hold a sword. I wanted you far away from blood and steel. But now…”

He stepped close, placed a hand on my shoulder, and said quietly,

“You’re seeking out your own battlefield.”

“Father…”

“Two weeks. That’s how long it will take us to return. I’ll wait until then.”

With those words, he led his men out.

To war.

I clenched my fists.

For the first time in years, someone was trusting me.

‘Thank you, Shane’s father.’

Now it was my turn to fight my own war.

“Alright… let’s put on a show worth watching.”

---

Add another line to my profile: ‘‘criminal.’’

Well, “offender,” technically. I’d never been caught.

‘Offender? Like you pissed in public?’

No. Don’t insult me with something so small.

My sins were far heavier.

Back in Korea, money was worth more than blood. By that standard, I was a worse sinner than a murderer.

Embezzlement. Breach of trust. That was my specialty.

---

“The prices from Jeil Precision don’t add up. No official hike, but they’re thirty percent higher than before.”

“That’s procurement’s problem. Worry about your own work.”

The manager waved me off like I was an annoyance.

That was back when I was still a rookie.

‘Worry about my own work? Who could ignore this?!’

Even fresh out of school, I’d majored in accounting. I knew exactly what I was looking at: embezzlement.

Buy at inflated prices. Pocket the difference. The oldest trick in the book.

I tried to report it.

To my senior.

“Assistant Manager, this is fraud. We should go to audit… ”

“Shut up! You trying to get us both fired?”

He pulled me aside, whispering fast.

“They’ve been doing this forever. Don’t you know Executive Director Kim is the chairman’s son? If you report it, you’re the one who gets crushed. Got it?”

“Then we should go to the Fair Trade Commission… ”

“You idiot! Whistleblowers don’t get medals. You’ll be blacklisted everywhere. No job. No future. Keep your mouth shut.”

“…”

I should’ve spoken up.

But I didn’t.

I stayed silent through every crime after that.

And once I had seniority, I even helped cover them up.

Each time, I thought not of right and wrong… but of my debts.

‘Come on, Jungwoo. Do the right thing. Report them.’

‘And lose the apartment mortgage? The car insurance? The phone payments?’

‘If you do the right thing, maybe you’ll be rewarded…’

“What reward?”

‘…’

The little angel in me went quiet.

That was the day I became a coward for real.

And I lived like that ever since.

But not here.

Not in this world.

No debts. No loans.

‘If I die, no one comes collecting anyway.’

---

I pushed open the administrators’ office.

The clerks looked up in surprise.

“Young master?”

“I want to see the ledgers. This year’s and last year’s.”

“Why all of a sudden…?”

The one in charge stepped forward. Chief Administrator Tandel.

“It’s nothing. My father and brother are out risking their lives. Shouldn’t I at least pretend to work?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Fetch them.”

A subordinate brought the ledgers.

As soon as I opened one, the words shifted before my eyes.

Every line transformed into Korean.

Not shocking. If the system had been helping me speak, of course it would help me read.

Convenient.

What really caught my attention was the currency. I could read it as won without any trouble.

And that was how I spotted it.

“The cash doesn’t add up.”

“What?”

“Here. Yesterday’s written balance says 162.1 billion. But even accounting for pending inflows and outflows, it should be 163.9 billion.”

163.9 billion… the exact number the system had shown me.

Which meant someone was siphoning money.

‘Well, that narrows things down.’

I looked at the clerks.

‘The lord’s family wouldn’t steal from themselves. That leaves… you.’

Tandel frowned. “Why should the cash be 163.9 billion?”

Because the system told me. But of course, I couldn’t say that.

“I counted it myself.”

“You… counted the treasury?”

They didn’t believe me. Fine. Believe what you want.

But in the end, they’d still have to listen.

“It came to 163.9 billion. The ledger says 162.1. That’s 1.8 billion unaccounted for. Do you know what that means?”

“That… someone could take that exact amount without being caught?”

The answer came from Ronari, a junior administrator.

“Yes. Exactly. This discrepancy is nothing but a thief’s calling card.”

Tandel tried again. “If the money’s really there, couldn’t it just be a clerical error?”

“No. This is deliberate. Someone’s trying to create false expenditures.”

I flipped pages until I found it.

“Total defense spending. That’s where it went.”

Denabi’s defenses were expensive. With dungeons spawning constantly, no one would blink at an inflated budget.

“See? About 1.8 billion went ‘missing’ here.”

“No, if that much disappeared at once… ”

“They didn’t take it at once. They spread it out.”

Tandel’s face hardened.

“Last year, defense spending averaged 3.3 billion a month. This year, it’s 3.6 billion. A neat 300 million increase starting last November.”

“That could just be more dungeons… ”

I cut him off. “If 300 million could stop dungeons, do you think I’d have this stuck in my arm?”

I rolled up my sleeve and showed them the mana crystal lodged in my flesh.

“The increase started last November. Today is May 1st. That’s six months. Six times 300 million equals 1.8 billion.”

Ronari’s eyes widened. “The exact discrepancy…”

“Exactly.”

I turned to her. “You said you joined in March?”

“Yes…”

“And everyone else has been here since last year?”

She nodded.

“Then everyone except you is a suspect.”

Gasps erupted.

But I didn’t flinch.

“Ronari, come here. You’ll help me. Effective immediately, revoke all other staff’s access to the ledgers. Anyone caught tampering will be punished.”

“Bring the guards.”

“Wait… are you serious?”

“Dead serious.”

I held her gaze until she relented.

Because no matter how insignificant Shane was, he was still the lord’s son.

And with authority comes power.

That’s synergy.

“…Understood.”

Ronari hurried out.

And right then…

Knock, knock.

‘Guess who.’

‘The system, again.’

I sighed. But the message it brought this time was… tempting.