Volume 6, Chapter 9 – Corruption

“Eustache-dono, that is exactly what I should be asking. Why on earth is Robert appearing in a place like this?!”

Chris-san grabbed Robert by the hair and lifted him up, holding him out as if to show him off to Eustache-san.

It seemed she had sliced off his right arm with her previous strike; fresh blood dripped down.

“What!? Why is Robert there! Who let him out of the prison!”

His tone sounded panicked, but was this an act? Or was it the rogue action of some subordinates?

Either way, staying here wouldn’t get us any answers.

“Let’s head into town. I’ll cast a Barrier immediately if anything happens.”

We passed through the hole Chris-san had blasted in the city gate and entered the town.

“S-Saint-sama! Could it be that that idiot…”

The moment Eustache-san saw my face, he turned pale, though he managed to drop to his knees. Judging by that expression, it seemed Eustache-san had been kept in the dark and his subordinates had indeed gone rogue.

“Chris-san, please bring him down. I’ll stop the bleeding so he doesn’t die before we can interrogate him.”

“Understood.”

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With that, Chris-san dragged Robert down from the city wall. He bumped into things here and there as they descended the stairs, which looked quite painful. Well, the severed arm probably hurt more.

“A… ugh… a… ah…”

When Robert was brought before us, his hideous face was a smeared mess of tears, snot, drool, and mud.

“For now, just stopping the bleeding.”

I treated Robert’s arm with Healing Magic, deliberately keeping the output low.

The bleeding stopped immediately.

“Now then, Eustache-san. What is the meaning of all this? There weren’t enough monsters in the forest to trigger a Monster Stampede. In the forest, we were attacked by someone calling himself the Vice Commander of the Border Guard, and when we came back, we were attacked by that man who was supposed to be locked up.”

“What! That’s…! I-I am terribly sorry!”

He seemed shocked, but since he was kneeling, I couldn’t see his expression.

“Also, ten of the soldiers that Eustache-dono insisted on assigning to us attacked me under the orders of that Gael Bakoyannis person,” Shizuku-san added, delivering another follow-up blow.

“Eustache-dono, this is a clear violation of Article 3 of the Saint Protection Act. Were you not the mastermind behind this?”

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“What! Absurd! I-I admit there is a failure in supervision, but I gave no such foolish orders, nor do I have any reason to!”

“Then why did the Vice Commander of the Border Guard attack us? He is your adjutant. Could he possibly venture into the forest on his own without the permission of the Captain?”

“…I am sorry. This is all due to my own inadequacy.”

Eustache-san remained kneeling, head bowed low without looking up.

“For now, shall we change locations? You’ll need to repair the gate we destroyed, after all, right?”

“Yes, sir!”

And so, we moved to the Fifth Knight Order’s barracks.

◇ ◇ ◇

As a result of the interrogation, a truly ridiculous conclusion came to light.

First, the man Lu-chan had shot down was a hunter living in this town who made his living hunting monsters.

However, because the Border Guard had recently banned free entry into the forest, claiming there were signs of a Monster Stampede, he had been hired by the Border Guard to cull monsters.

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Apparently, he had fired an arrow today as instructed by the guards, only to be counterattacked by Lu-chan and knocked from his tree.

He was then stabbed in the back by a guard who had been following him as an overseer.

It seemed they were attempting to destroy evidence of the Border Guard’s involvement.

Furthermore, there had been no signs of a Monster Stampede in the forest at all; it was a staged act devised by Vice Commander Gael.

By using the authority of the Border Guard to turn the rumor of a Monster Stampede into an established fact, they reduced the number of hunters.

They then placed the forest under the Border Guard’s control under the guise of protection, skimming profits from the hunters.

Having gotten greedy from this situation, Vice Commander Gael conspired with Robert, who served as the Gate Captain, to take control of supply transportation for their own benefit and embezzle a large portion of the aid supplies sent in.

This embezzlement utilized connections from both of their families’ homes, and the full extent of it has yet to be uncovered.

However, it is said that some form of punishment may be handed down to their families as well.

In short, the reason we were almost turned away was so they could monopolize logistics, and the reason Robert was released was that Vice Commander Gael would be in trouble if he were executed.

Eustache-san, looking exhausted, questioned Vice Commander Gael.

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“Vice Commander Gael, why on earth would you do such a thing… You, who have served so long and distinguishedly in the Border Guard, why…?”

“Hmph. Someone like you, born into the privileged position of being the eldest son and heir to a Margrave, could never understand. The position of a third son, who is cast out with nothing no matter how hard he struggles.”

Vice Commander Gael spoke with pure hatred.

In the White Moon Kingdom, the family estate is inherited entirely by the eldest child.

For that reason, the second son is kept as a backup in case something happens to the eldest, but anyone beyond that is generally treated with indifference.

Thus, unless they become an adopted son-in-law for a noble without an heir, or earn a new peerage through great achievements as a knight, there is no way to survive as a noble.

But what does doing this actually achieve?

Their actions were crimes no matter how you look at it, and besides, attempting to kill me—who is technically treated as a Saint—would lead to immediate execution without question under that mysterious law called the Saint Protection Act.

“Scum.”

Lu-chan, who had been listening to the interrogation, spat out the word.

Those words, so contrary to Lu-chan’s image, left a strong impression on me.