Episode 80

Afternoon.

As I genuinely started wandering the streets, no one recognized me.

Even if they did, they deliberately avoided my gaze.

The problem was that I also couldn’t really find anything that caught my interest.

‘This is a bit…’

Selling rotten meat slathered in seasoning?

In the empire, you could be arrested immediately for violating food sanitation laws, but here, it only led to fights about ‘Are you really trying to make money by selling this kind of food?’

Being robbed of my gold coins or Somnus Gold in the blink of an eye?

At the festival, being robbed was seen as foolish, and even that hardly happened because of the Gibraltar patrol guards wandering the streets.

If there’s a crime that happens most actively, it would be-

“Young master. It’s me, Robert.”

“…….”

“Young master. I urgently need to speak with you.”

“You, you’ve got the wrong person!”

Suddenly, a robust man approached me from behind and whispered in my ear, genuinely giving me goosebumps.

“Who, who are you?!”

“…Ah, to come into the alley?”

As I entered a less crowded alley, the man followed me in.

“This should be enough….”

“So. What is it.”

“Do you really have to act this much? It’s genuinely creepy.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

I’ve only ever whispered in a woman’s ear twice, and now unexpectedly, a man whispered to me.

“The urgent matter you mentioned?”

“Yes, that is-”

“Merchants are forging Somnus Gold? Well, that’s common.”

“……But it’s happening too much.”

Robert pointed down the street with a worried look.

“Isn’t it too easy to make? The counterfeit currency.”

“It’s the bed they made.”

“In some places, they are calling it Somnus Gold by just attaching four petals here.”

“Can’t anyone think of attaching a non-Somnus flower to a piece of wood?”

“Young master.”

“It’s alright, it’s alright.”

I took out two pieces of Somnus Gold I had.

“Look, this.”

Thud.

I exerted force on my hand and split the wood piece, making Robert’s eyes widen.

“That’s…!”

“One contains nothing inside, and the other has a Somnus stem.”

“The wood, is it layered?”

“It might look like a piece of wood from the outside, but if it has this inside, it’s a different story, isn’t it?”

“Incredible.”

Robert held the dangling Somnus stem in his hand.

“You even tied a knot around the stem.”

“Putting multiple safety measures in place is basic.”

“So, you weren’t particularly worried about the counterfeits?”

“Right. Keep it a secret. If it gets out now, it’ll dampen the festival’s spirits.”

Official Merchants Settling Accounts After the Festival Ends - Tomorrow.

“Today, they’re drunk on the thought of deceiving Earl Gibraltar.”

“Could anyone really do that…?”

“If there’s someone bold enough to scam my father, we should recruit them instead.”

A traitor excels if they’ve betrayed once.

A scammer spotted another scammer best, based on their own experiences with fraud.

As the saying goes in the empire, it takes one to know one.

“To avoid getting scammed by the empire later on.”

“…Are you planning to gather scammers to work for us?”

“Yes.”

The Kingdom of Nostrum had always recruited heroes to overcome crises.

“Like Sir Robert, loyal knights are not easily swayed.”

But I planned to gather not those heroes, but their opposites who mocked and oppressed from the other side to achieve my goals.

“Scammers and merchants are more easily exploited because they tend to side with the powerful.”

“But they could betray us, couldn’t they?”

“Since we’re aware of the possibility of betrayal, we won’t give them major roles, but we can entrust them with minor errands, like spying in enemy territory.”

I lightly shook the damaged Somnus Gold.

“Anyway, leave it be. More importantly, I had assigned you to escort two people, hadn’t I?”

“About that.”

With a frustrated sigh, Robert pointed to the opposite end of the alley.

“Young master. As someone who’s discussed the empire with you, I know a bit about it.”

“Right.”

“Ast… Miss Eli knows even more about the empire than I do, yet you told her to observe the festival as it is, no matter what people do.”

“Of course.”

“…It’s maddeningly frustrating.”

Robert exhaled a long sigh and pulled out a small fruit.

“Someone’s selling grapefruits for 20,000 gold.”

“What? I bought one for 10,000.”

“…Was it a man with a beard on his face?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn. When did you buy it?”

“I guess, an hour or two ago?”

“Ha, damn. Did he raise the price in that time?”

Here was the second sucker.

80% of those who were loyal to the past kingdom would likely fall for the merchants’ exorbitant prices.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so loyal to the kingdom.

“But still, young master. I’m not sure about other things…”

“Keep it short. I’m busy. Currently checking on those from the empire-”

“It seems someone gave Miss Eli counterfeit currency.”

“……”

Oh?

“You’re not talking about Somnus, are you?”

“Yes. Lord Hex, who overheard Miss Eli whispering to Miss Jabez, told me…”

“I’ve grasped the situation.”

It seemed that Lord Hex had dispatched Sir Robert to call me.

“Sir. The act must go on.”

I lightly raised my hand to the side of my face.

Zzzzㅡㅡack!

“Do, young…!”

“Ah.”

I lightly shook my pocket at Robert.

“The act must continue.”

A little later.

“Eek?! What’s happening?!”

“We’ve caught a pickpocket.”

Swollen cheek.

Blood dripping below the lip.

And clothes covered in dirt as if he had rolled on the ground once.

“A, a pickpocket…?”

“Yes. It seems he stole the lady’s purse of gold coins.”

“The purse of gold coins? That, that’s…”

“Here it is.”

As Robert extended the purse of gold coins, Astasia glanced at me then nodded heavily.

“You did well, Sir Robert.”

“So, I wanted to discuss the disposal of the thief…”

“Thieves should have their hands cut off.”

Lord Hex, standing behind, flicked the sword at his waist and smirked mischievously.

“Daring to steal the lady’s money? We should cut off his hands so he can’t play any tricks again.”

“…….”

“Oh? Can’t speak? Or did you once speak out of turn and got your tongue cut? Well, judging by the way you glare at nobility, it wouldn’t be surprising if it had been cut off already…ugh?!”

Lord Hex scoffed at me, then frowned.

“According to kingdom law, a thief is judged by the knights of the lord’s castle.”

Naria slid her shoe towards Lord Hex’s foot and continued.

“What will you do, Sir Robert?”

“Uh, well, I intend to follow the lady’s decision….”

“Eli. What do you want to do?”

“Uh, that, that’s….”

For now, I was keeping silent.

I might step in if necessary, but passersby were looking this way and whispering.

‘My voice must not be recognized.’

There’s no smell yet, but the scent of the empire was faintly wafting around.

Not an imperial citizen.

But not everyone born in the kingdom worked solely for the kingdom.

“Umm….”

“Then, there’s no helping it. I have a good idea.”

“A good idea?”

“Yes. Just a moment.”

Naria bought a few ornaments from a nearby store, then came to me and pulled my hand.

Click, click.

She tightly wrapped something like a rope around my wrists to restrain me.

And placed a necklace with a ring around my neck.

“Let’s take him like this.”

She attached a long line to the ring and made a large knot at the end, making it look like a leash handle, effectively turning me into a dog on a leash.

‘Looks exactly like a prisoner.’

“Since Sir Robert has asked Eli to make the judgment, it seems right to take him to Eli’s domain for judgment.”

“Is that okay…?”

“Yes. Eli. Keep a good hold of him. Don’t let him escape.”

“…Thank you, Jabez.”

Naria handed the leash handle to Astasia, who lightly nodded while holding it.

“You, you!”

Then she pointed at me and shouted.

“Stealing is a crime worthy of death, but whether you live or die will depend on your actions from now on!”

“…….”

Continue, please.

“If you try to run away, I really won’t let you off easily! I’ll break your legs, imprison you, and make sure you spend the rest of your life locked in a room!”

Not bad.

“If you don’t want to die, stay quiet. Got it?!”

Nod.

“Good. Then follow quietly.”

Astasia raised her voice and tugged on the leash, prompting me to move in sync with her motions.

The leash stretched almost 3 meters.

Even when slack, it’s hardly a short leash.

“Grey.”

“Ah, shit.”

Lord Hex called out to me.

Once again, his whisper in my ear was genuinely irritating.

“…Ahem. I called you, thinking you might recognize this.”

Shh.

I twisted my bound hands to the side, and Lord Hex slipped a gold coin from his pocket into my hand.

“This doesn’t seem real, does it?”

Lord Hex was 99% sure.

“Sir Robert says it’s not, but…”

The words certainty and 99% might not be on the same level, but he sought me out, not dismissing that 1% chance.

‘It’s a fake.’

Exactly 5cm in diameter.

The coin’s shape was perfectly round.

The engraving ‘10,000’ was also impeccably precise.

Moreover, when I slightly brushed the inside with mana at my fingertips, that distinct sensation was immediately felt.

‘Mana flows around it. If it were gold, mana wouldn’t permeate it like this.’

This wasn’t gold.

It looked like gold.

It appeared like a 10,000 gold coin on the outside, but it’s not Nostrum gold - Gold.

‘It’s a kingdom gold coin minted by the Imperial Mint.’

No need to hide it.

This was counterfeit currency.

Moreover, it’s plated currency circulated by the empire.

‘Does the empire know? That the currency they’ve been recklessly minting as counterfeit is being used so nonchalantly.’

Probably, some of the imperial gold coins that entered through Serene Harbor were passed through the hands of merchants participating in the festival, eventually making their way here.

“How is it?”

“Lord Hex. One moment.”

When I gestured, Lord Hex bowed his head deeply.

“The kingdom lacks the expertise to craft such intricate engravings.”

“…….”

Lord Hex gave a bitter smile.

“The individual in the empire who orchestrated this must be kicking themselves in regret now.”

The empire harbored an illusion, if not a fantasy, about Nostrum.

“They’ve scattered these gold-plated counterfeits, and now they’re being utilized just as effectively because they were crafted too flawlessly.”

Hearing it directly from him, there’s no doubting its accuracy.

“But how did Eli notice?”

“The weight of the gold coins was off.”

“Excuse me?”

“She received several gold coins, but some had different weights-”

“Lord Hex?”

Rustle.

“What were you mentioning just now?”

Eli had approached us, keeping the leash taut.

“What were you discussing so fervently?”

“Ahem. Nothing.”

“Please, be cautious. Truly.”

I gently held the gold-plated coin.

To discern gold coins merely by touch, without deploying mana?

‘I reckon it’s a discrepancy of less than 0.1g.’

I was incapable of it now, either.

Detecting such a minor difference in weight would necessitate at least a mid-level knight-

Snap!

“What’s occupying your thoughts so deeply? Hmph!”

“…….”

“Just follow without a word!”

I was reprimanded by Astasia and silently trailed behind where she led.

“…….”

Click, click.

“My goodness.”

An elderly woman with white hair, wielding a camera seldom seen in the kingdom, persistently pressed the button and clucked her tongue.

“I wonder what the crown prince’s reaction would be if he saw this.”

Click, click.

“Truly, his response is difficult to anticipate…. Sigh.”

The woman hesitated to make a decision.

“Seeing him so obediently follow, well….”

Click, click.

“Indeed.”

Click.

“If a man loves a woman, he might gladly surrender his leash to the woman he adores.”

Clickclickclickclick.

“Sigh. Why wasn’t such a child born in the empire during my youth.”

The woman expressed genuine regret while continuing to snap photos.

“Ah, this. It was just a brief visit.”

No one noticed the woman at the festival.

“Um….”

“What is it, Margrave?”

“Nothing. Just….”

That was until the Margrave and Margravine of Gibraltar emerged into the square from their castle.

“It seems an unexpected guest has come and gone. It’s not a big deal, but….”

No one.

“…Where did they come from?”