“We received a report that Cissus Opera House has not faithfully paid its taxes. We are here to arrest Karl Winger, the owner of the opera house, on charges of tax evasion, embezzlement, and profiting from selling actors into the black market.”

“The owner is not currently in Karien. When he is absent, I, Osman Roniers, serve as the general manager handling all opera house-related matters. But before you take me away, do you have evidence to support these charges?”

“We have reports from credible sources. If there are no charges, you can be released after investigation, so there’s no need to fear if you’re innocent.”

“Are you saying that regardless of guilt or innocence, I should be taken in because of reports from higher up?”

“We have related documents, so there’s nothing to feel wronged about.”

“Since you mention documents, I should accompany you as well. I am Chris Gunther, who handles hotel operations related to Cissus Opera House and serves as Karl Winger’s personal secretary. Since you have evidence, I find this quite interesting.”

Those who stormed the opera house were tax administrators and royal police.

They brandished “reliable reports” and “evidence that couldn’t be shown” while forcibly turning the Cissus Opera House upside down.

The way they rummaged through everything suggested they intended to find evidence that didn’t exist.

Chris and Osman briefly felt anger at their behavior of overturning well-organized desks and studies, but soon calmed down.

No matter how much they searched, they wouldn’t find anything.

Unless they deliberately fabricated evidence.

Chris and Osman confidently followed them to the royal police station.

They had ransacked the office and taken all sorts of documents without context, but they became flustered when Osman countered every accusation precisely.

Moreover……

“The tax you just mentioned was already paid on the 28th of X month, 18XX. How can you see properly when you’ve turned everything upside down? Let’s see, here, in this black file, everything is organized clearly for you to see. It was paid under the name of performance tax, and I’ve attached the receipt from the administrator at that time. Just in case, I even noted down the facial features of the administrator who handled the work then. See the attachment here?”

This Chris Gunther fellow explained all the materials and circumstances related to any number immediately when a number was mentioned.

It was a monstrous memory.

It was almost creepy how accurately everything was recorded—which month and day, how much money was given to whom and how.

The tax administrators were reminded of someone when they saw Chris Gunther.

There was another person just as meticulously thorough in the royal palace.

A person who stood at the center of administrators with outstanding ability, but couldn’t rise higher because he happened to be on the king’s side.

A person who was both respected and feared by the court people.

That very man who loved work so much it seemed like a mental illness……

“……Ahem! W-well, the records are so accurate that it’s rather suspicious. Did you prepare all this deliberately?”

Someone tried to find a ridiculous fault.

Chris moved his lips again, as if mocking him.

“Deliberately? I wish that were possible. Even when I don’t want to remember, this excessively smart brain of mine memorizes everything. Plus, I have OCD, so I get irritated if I don’t organize everything neatly. Even now, seeing the desk you’ve messed up is making me nervous, though I’m trying hard to endure it. How can you find any documents when you’ve scattered everything all over the place!”

Even the way he scolded the administrators and investigators resembled someone.

Feeling a strange sense of discomfort, they found themselves unconsciously gathering the papers.

Osman, who had been watching from the side, sighed and said.

“Look here, officials. Our opera house has never once evaded taxes or shown negligence. And secretly diverting actors to do bad things? I cannot tolerate that accusation. Who exactly is this actor who claims we made them do bad things?”

“Th-that actor voluntarily confes……”

“What exactly are these bad things? Where and for whom were they done?”

“Well, we received a report……”

“So I’m asking who made that report? If you cannot reveal the informant, show us the documents that this informant provided. If you keep handling matters this way, we’ll have no choice but to appeal against this injustice!”

Osman’s appearance was fundamentally rugged.

He was also bigger than most men, and being a former soldier, his manner of speech and expressions were rigid.

When angry, his demeanor changed completely.

For civil officials who had never even exercised, let alone fought, his appearance was inherently threatening.

Why did they feel so intimidated when they were the ones who had brought him in?

The administrators’ voices naturally grew smaller as they found themselves at a disadvantage in various ways.

“Well, w-we don’t make decisions about documents or informants……”

“Then bring someone who can make decisions. What are you waiting for? Tell the police chief to come out.”

“N-no, we can’t just tell someone to come or go……”

“How can I not be upset when we’re about to be falsely accused? Damn it, the grand holiday is right around the corner and we’re already busy enough preparing for performances!”

The people in the interrogation room shrank back in surprise at Osman’s fierce demeanor.

“W-well, it’s not entirely our fault……”

“What did you say?”

“……Nothing. Please don’t get excited and sit down.”

Even after thoroughly dusting everything off, they found nothing, and the submitted documents were perfect from the first page to the last without a single number being wrong, making those who had brought them in feel even more intimidated.

They had brought them in because they were ordered to from above, but even they could see that there was nothing more to find here.

“If you’ve falsely accused us of crimes, we won’t sit quietly either. I assume you brought us here prepared for that?”

Now they were even being threatened.

The administrators flinched at Chris’s intimidating manner and whispered among themselves.

In fact, after searching this thoroughly, they should have found something, but they were surprised to find nothing.

Most officials and nobles don’t value documentation.

With power that can determine a person’s life with the flick of a finger, they don’t cherish evidence.

So far, they could pin crimes on anyone if they wanted to.

But the Cissus Opera House was different.

The more they searched, the more they only provoked them, making them feel they might end up being bitten by those they were investigating.

“What are you doing? Bring the documents you claim to have. You must have evidence that we committed crimes, right?”

“As I said before, we don’t have the authority……”

Just then,

Someone opened the door of the interrogation room and said,

“Then would my permission make it possible to view those documents?”

The moment they heard the voice, the administrators turned around in surprise.

The very person that all Levania officials trembled before!

That madman who could keep administrators up all night over a single number or word!

“C-Chief Administrator Fuego!”

Why on earth was that man here?

The administrators trembled in their shoulders with shock.

Among those who served the country, there was no one who didn’t fear him.

The object of both respect and fear among civil officials!

Why on earth had he come here?

‘Could it be that he’s come from above to help us?!’

The managers in the interrogation room thought that only Fuego could stand against the monster or genius Chris Gunther of the Cissus Opera House.

But that was their misunderstanding……

“I oversee all administrative work, so taxes are naturally under my jurisdiction, aren’t they? If there are discrepancies, they must be due to my management mistakes, so I will explain. Bring the related documents.”

“……Yes, eh?”

“Now, until we find whether it’s a discrepancy or tax evasion, no one can leave this room.”

“……!”

“Chris Gunther, was it? Your documentation is excellent. May I borrow it briefly for comparison?”

Fuego extended his hand toward Chris and spoke.

Chris smiled brightly, shook his hand, and said,

“By all means.”

……Ah, I want to run away.

The administrators who had raided the opera house without thinking, following orders from above, had to bring down all the documents Fuego requested with bitter regret.

The amount totaled thousands of pages, but they couldn’t back down with the chief administrator watching them with wide eyes.

From that day on, the administrators who had to go through the documents until their eyes nearly fell out, without even being able to scream, were only able to leave after being locked up for 4 days with overtime and all-nighters.

And at the end of that hellish overtime, they did find wrongdoing.

“Wow! There are so many cases where taxes were recorded as paid but actually weren’t. I’m glad we could catch all of these through this opportunity.”

……The wrongdoings of other nobles, that is.