On the morning of my second day in the estate, I was on my way to the castle dungeon.
　This morning, I heard that Gotts had been captured by the Red Golem when he entered the castle without knowing what he was doing.

'Hey!　Just get me out of here!　I'm in charge of the estate here!　What does it matter what happens?
　As we get closer to the jail, I hear voices like that.
　This voice is probably Gotts .
　I don't think it's a good idea to say that to a golem: .......

'Hey!　Get me out of here!　Yeah, you guys are ridiculous. Go get the guy upstairs!
　When I got close, I heard Gotts yelling at the top of his lungs.

"It's too loud in the morning. I need some quiet.
　I said that and stood in front of Gotts' cell.

"Oh, you're ...... who?　All right, get me out of here as soon as possible. Ten white gold pieces for now.
　You don't know my face: .......
　I mean, how come you have so much money .
　You're just an official sent by the Empire, right?

Yes. My name is Leons Forster, or rather, Leons Muldean.
　When Gotts heard my name, his eyes widened and he suddenly grew quiet.

'And my lord!　Sorry, too!　Nay, please don't mind me saying that, as those words were said in a fit of pique!
　Just when I thought he's quieted down, he starts screaming again, louder and louder .
　After the way you acted earlier, I don't trust you to be so peckish at all. .......

'Really?　But still, where do you think ten white gold coins come from?
　Let's start there.

'Well, uh, ...... it's, uh, a lie!　I lied to save my life.
　Gotts began to desperately accuse him of lying, sweat sloshing down his face.
　Well, I don't care if it's a lie or not .

Okay. So, do you know why Mr. Gotts was brought here?

Well, uh, ......, I don't know.
　Gotts was suddenly quiet again.

Okay, I'll give you some time. Do your best to remember.
　I'm a nice guy. I'll give you a minute to remember.

Well, uh, ......, I can't remember if I'm trying.
　Apparently, the kindness was unnecessary.
　Well, that's what I thought.

'Well, ...... I'm sorry. If only you'd answered honestly: ......
　With that, I decided to leave the prison.

Wait, wait!　If you don't answer honestly, what do you have?
　Gotts was frantically trying to stop me from going.

'What?　Why are you so worried about it?　Mr. Gotts was honest with me, wasn't he?
　Then you don't have to ask.

Yes. So, I guess you can't help but wonder what's in it, huh?
　Mm-hm. Because you haven't been honest.

Yeah?　Well, let me tell you something. I'm thinking of turning Mr. Gotts over to task force. And I'm going to ask you to torture Mr. Gotts for information about what he's planning to do to threaten the Empire. Something like that, huh?　Special Forces torture is so merciless that if you're not good at it, you'll probably die. Last time I was there, I was dealing with the knights of the kingdom: ......

Okay, okay!　I'll tell you everything!　Yeah, so spare me the torture!
　Oh, you talk so easy.
　Lucky for you. I was going to use mesmerizing magic if it didn't work, but I guess this ...... guy didn't need it.

That's nice to know that's not necessary. Well, it depends on how much you're willing to tell me about whether or not you're going to send it to the Special Forces. If there's not too much information I'm likely to want to know, I'll send it to the Imperial City right away.

Okay, okay!　First of all, I've been embezzling for the last decade or so.


　That's what I thought. You're under arrest for embezzlement.

Really. How long?　Honestly?　We'll find out later.

Yes. That's roughly a quarter of the tax revenue of the Myrddin territory. ......

What?
　This guy is even more impressive than I thought he would be.
　What kind of person in their right mind would do that?
　Yeah, the Empire has a problem. Watch out.

I'm sorry.
　You apologize to me: .......

Well, we can talk about that sin later. Come on, keep talking.

Yes. Actually, Mr. Filibert and his family were paying us.
　Yeah, I know you're connected to the Philibert family.

How much?

I have about ten white gold coins a month. ......
　So he's getting about $20 million a month: .......
　I mean, what was this guy doing with that much money?

And what did you do in return?

'Well, uh, ...... I changed the rules to favor the Philibert family.

Be specific.

Okay. Well, uh... ...... I have a rule that if you pay for the sigil of the House of Philibert at the security checkpoint in my district, there will be no need to check your luggage or pay taxes.
　Huh, too stupid to say anything .

'Later, I'll have to fire everyone who gets paid to do it: ....... Okay, next.

I'll be next: ......
　There's more, right?

'Look, don't you have more important things to do?　You were talking to someone yesterday. ....... I don't know what it was, ......, but I think he was telling me to go find out what his weaknesses were.
　Gotts' eyes widened when I brought up what they said yesterday.

'Well, if you won't talk to me, that's fine . I'm going to write a letter to the Imperial City now.
　So I said it and tried to get out of the cell.

Wait, wait!
　Gotts was trying very hard to stop me.
　You hate torture so much?　Maybe you'll get the death penalty whether you say any more of your crimes or not.

Hmm?　Are you going to tell me anything?

Okay. I will speak. Yesterday, I was speaking to a nobleman of the Philibert family faction, Hein Cardiff, who has a neighbouring estate in Myrddin. We were talking about a plan to assassinate Master Leons.
　Hein Cardiff: ....... So he's a nobleman.
　I don't think I'm going to be able to get my hands on this guy, so the Empire will have to do it.

I see. Now, name all the people involved in the plan. I don't know what will happen if I find out later that one of them is out.
　Well, you'll be dead either way, along with the rest of them.

Yes. ......
　Then Gotts began to say his name honestly.
　Surprisingly, Edwan's name didn't come up.
　I wonder which one she is: ....... Let the mice observe for now.

Anything else?

But as far as I can tell, that's as far as I go.

Okay. Okay, you get some rest.
　And with that, I left the prison.

Hey, hey!　Wait!
　I heard a voice behind me, but I didn't care.

. Now you know what to do.

Yeah. But by the way, Leo-kun just looked so bad.
　When I came back from the prison, Leena was teasing me.
　She and her friends had been watching me on the rat monitor while I was in the cell.

Is that so?

What's the fun in bullying a fat guy like that?

I'm not having a good time.
　Oh, that was an act, okay?



Oh, Leo-sama, you have such a taste. You don't mind if Leo-sama makes fun of me, do you?

'I wouldn't do that!　That was an act!
　I'm not much of a hobbyist.

I know that. I know Leo would never hurt us.

Leo can't do that.

Yeah, I can't.

Ummm, yeah, .......
　I'm glad you understand: .......

So, what do we do now?

For now, I'm going to report to the castle. After that, maybe I'll go over the rules of this territory. After that, I'm going to keep an eye on the territory and do various things.
　For now, we have to do something about this situation with all these enemies.

I see. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help.

Yeah. If you need anything else, just let me know.
　I just need the three of you to keep smiling.