The Princess is Going on Strike - Chapter 23
Chapter 23
“Um… Ethan?”
“Here you go.”
Right when I was about to speak, the manager returned. He brought a heavy book and placed it on the table before us.
“This is the entire ledger. The reason why there is a difference between this and the other books is because of the depreciation costs and the flow range which depends on the value of the gold coins. So please take those into consideration.”
“I’m already aware of that.”
I gave him a light reply and returned to my original posture in my seat. I picked up the ledger which was organized by the year and opened it to the middle section of the book. When Ethan instructed the manager to go back, I thought he’d argue, but he left as a knight could not disobey the commander’s order. Once the manager left, Ethan leaned over to me to look at the book.
Isn’t he too close-
“What exactly did you want to check?”
He looked up while asking me the question. I forced myself to look away from the records and met his gaze.
“It’s simple. I’ll be checking all of the transactions with the Brixia Family during the past five to ten years. If the amount recorded in the original ledger is noticeably lower in a six-month range, then that means…”
“There’s a problem, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“But if there is such a vast difference, then wouldn’t the administrator have already noticed? I’m sure they would’ve already checked and determined there were no problems.”
“As long as the military administrator isn’t blind, it can’t be helped to see that there’d be some suspicions. However, the reason he left it as is was not because he was an idiot who failed to notice it, but because he believed it not to be much of a problem at that time.”
This occurs most often during double-entry bookkeeping.
“You would record a different amount on a separate book after the trade is done. It is impossible to physically confirm the quantity of the products for typical guilds or merchant groups because the amount is extremely great. No matter how well the inventory is checked, it won’t be accurate every time. So numbers are changed like this since there’s no time to pay attention to inventory.”
Ethan looked at a section on a page that I pointed to.
“And here. These two were recorded within a three-month interval, but the inventory that came in was fewer in the earlier date. This is what the manager meant when he mentioned the fluctuation in the value of gold coins.”
“Hm…”
“I’m sure there are many other reasons besides that. Once we analyze all that, we can figure out which is due to corruption within the last 10 years.”
Ethan rubbed his chin as he squinted. What I just told him was an opinion based on accurate data. In fact, I had already found a lot of cases of corruption while checking the books in the past.
Oledin was extremely greedy despite his inability. So the only way to make more money was through embezzlement. He would bribe many officials and launder the money. They would siphon off taxes, send fewer inventories than what was recorded, or make defective products. Oledin had no affection for this Empire. He had no loyalty nor understanding of the position that he was in. The Ducal Family of Brixia was a great pillar which supported the Empire’s military. And this great pillar which had stood strong for hundreds of years was being drilled and shaken by an incompetent man named Oledin. I could’ve prevented it if I wanted to, but I already experienced what those consequences led to. And that was losing my life in their hands. This was why I needed to blow this incident out of proportion so that Oledin could never get back on his feet and have the luxury to be able to deal with me. Honestly, I wanted to end it all right now, but I had nothing to depend on if I left the family now.
Is there a place in the Empire that is safe from the influence of the Brixia Family?
This was why I had to weaken the family from the inside.
“Aerylle.”
“Yes?”
“Have you mentioned this to anyone?”
“No, not a soul.”
“Is there anyone who might be able to figure this out?”
We looked at one another. Ethan gave a serious look as he closed the ledger. He then looked at me and spoke.
“This cannot be made public right now. As you know, we’re currently in the heat of the armament race, so revealing the truth of this corruption will make it difficult to find another supplier of military equipment. Once winter approaches, the soldiers of the north will need to endure the bitter cold. If there is a shortage of equipment at that time, then problems will arise.”
“I can solve the problem of insufficient equipment.”
“…..You can?”
I smiled at him as he looked at me with a curious gaze.
“By cooperating with each guild we can make up the lack of equip-”
“If you do this, it’ll put me in a difficult situation! The-”
“Let go of me!”
Just when I was about to tell Ethan about the first part of my plan, a loud noise broke the silence of the room. The door opened after the sound of a crash. I lifted my hand up to my mask in a hurry as Oledin rushed inside and looked at me with a grin.
“So you were here.”
He approached me without confirming to see who was around. Oledin stared at me as I slowly stood from my seat, bit his lips, and spoke with an angered voice.
“Do you have any idea what you did to me yesterday, you bitch?”
Was it me that did that?
I frowned at Oledin.
It wasn’t me that did something to you, but you who did something to me.
I chuckled thinking how Oledin was always the same. Hearing my sarcastic laugh, Oledin squinted, raised his hand like he normally did, and swung. I took a step back in order to avoid his hand, but was unable to move further away as if there was a wall behind me. It was then when an arm suddenly shot out in front of me. Ethan spoke as he stood right behind me, holding Oledin’s arm.
“Not only did you do this yesterday, but today as well? You seem to think that slapping your daughter’s cheek is a natural thing to do. Isn’t it too harsh to be considered discipline? It seems that you drank so much yesterday that you haven’t sobered up yet…..”
Ethan’s words were spoken slowly and eventually faded out.
“Shall I help you to sober up?”
Oledin gave an annoyed expression. It was then that he realized that Ethan had been standing me the entire time. Since he couldn’t move an inch from Ethan holding his arm, Oledin eventually loosened his expression and stepped back. Ethan naturally released Oledin’s arm as he moved away. He glared at me while rubbing his throbbing wrist.
“Do you know what you did yesterday?”
“I did not do anything.”
“You didn’t do anything? Are you saying that you’re not at fault?”
“Yes, of course.”
Regalius Tome: Good luck to all the World Cup teams~