C76
The man who fed me with a spoon smiled mischievously.
"Your worries seem to have eased a bit. Have you finished eating? Dessert is still left."
"But there's no time for that."
"All this is to give talented individuals more work to do."
"Am I a staff member?"
"Because you have excellent intelligence."
"... I really can't help it."
I smiled and took the utensil back into my hand. It felt good to be praised.
"Mmm, it's delicious!"
In the end, it was the right choice. Maybe because my mindset was different from before, I felt the taste of the food more clearly.
"It was worth the effort to hire a talented chef."
"Did Tay do it himself?"
"Jack took care of it."
"Is that so?"
We enjoyed the food quietly, making strange jokes. It was a fun night.
The next afternoon, I entered the same restaurant as yesterday. This time, eating was not the goal.
"I wrote it in a hurry, so the content is a bit vague. Please look only at the basic essence."
Terence carefully read the various documents I handed him. After a while, he commented:
"... It's an innovative method of tax evasion."
It was a variety of tax evasion methods designed by Elliott. The Iver guild drastically reduced the taxes paid to the country using these ingenious methods.
"I don't know much about this field, but I do know that they skillfully evaded the law."
Terence, who had been absorbed in the document's content, suddenly tilted his head.
"But I don't understand this part. Does it avoid customs duties by smuggling expensive luxury items into the country using transportation magic...?"
His question was completely natural.
"Isn't the labor cost of a wizard who knows how to use transportation magic higher than the fee?"
"No need for a wizard. The Iver guild has secured a transportation device."
"Then, isn't it the greatest invention of the century?"
It was the work of a wizard and an eccentric inventor, one of the seven talents gathered by Liena.
"Although the distance is short and the target is limited to inanimate objects, compared to the existing method, it is very efficient as it only requires a magic stone without a wizard."
Unlike yesterday, I placed the map I brought on the empty table, which had no cutlery.
"Here."
My finger pointed to a small island located off the northwest coast of the empire.
"This island belongs to Liena. It's an island that Duke Cassius bought for his daughter as a birthday present a few years ago."
"I remember. It became a hot topic in public view."
"Iver's merchants were the first to gather foreign luxury items here."
"Ah, I understand. Then it spread to nearby lands."
"That's right. And they sold it disguised as domestically produced. If it's a smuggling goods storage warehouse, it must be within the transport range of this island, and the goods must also be transported to Iver's nearby branch..."
I slowly moved my finger and drew a small circle on a specific spot.
"Approximately, it will be around here."
Unfortunately, detailed location was not provided in the novel, so I had no choice but to group it all together.
Terence rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.
"This area is Cassius Territory. I think it will be difficult to conduct an official search until we have solid evidence."
"Also, if they notice that someone is looking for the contraband storage warehouse, they will quickly move the location."
"We have no choice but to proceed secretly with a small number of people."
"Is it possible?"
"Please don't worry. My subordinates are quite capable. Besides, Ethel has significantly reduced the range."
"If possible, avoid using anything belonging to the imperial palace. It's full of spies planted by Cassius."
"I'll keep that in mind. What the hell is Cassius?"
"Information from local residents can also be useful as a reference."
"As secretive as it was, it wouldn't have been possible to go unnoticed if it had been transported regularly."
"That's right."
I felt so embarrassed that I scratched my cheek.
"I guess I was worried without any reason. Tay will take care of everything."
"It's not like that. You can worry more."
"What?"
"Please continue to worry more about me and show me the way I should take. I need your guidance."
There was still a smile on his face, but his face and eyes looked extremely serious. Embarrassed, I looked away.
"How dare I guide His Highness the Prince?"
"Why do you underestimate yourself so much?"
Terence asked as if genuinely puzzled.
"Ethel is a great person. To me, you seem more like a genius than that Elliot or something."
... Isn't this an overly inflated evaluation?
"Who was the person who, at a glance, discovered the hidden circumstances of the butler, who was the confidant of Duke Cassius, and brought him to your side? Also, who solved the mystery of the time capsule that no one else could solve?"
That's all from the novel!
"I understand. It was like that."
From Terence's perspective, who didn't know the truth, I would have seemed like a genius who knew everything. Since I had nothing to say, I pretended to figure everything out on my own, and this misunderstanding occurred.
"This tax evasion method alone is confidential information from above. Even if you were a member of Cassius in the past, it wouldn't have been easy to discover."