“This is quite a coincidence. How a tavern came to be located on land owned by a bishop, and how Duke Schultz Tartien built a building on it and leased it to the owner of Isaac……”

“Wow, it’s church-owned land so they don’t pay taxes, but the rent alone brings in an enormous amount.”

“To think that Duke Schultz Tartien’s wealth rivals the national treasury, this alone gives some credibility to those rumors.”

They had intended to investigate the Cissus Opera House, but instead, Schultz Tartien’s financial status was being exposed.

Additionally, with a treasury investigation being conducted simultaneously, checks that Maria Tartien had used for ‘wedding preparations’ were being discovered one after another.

“Why on earth would dessert shop acquisition costs be included in…… wedding preparations?”

The investigators who had accompanied Fuego examined the expenses claimed by Maria’s side with voices full of bewilderment.

“You even charged the Cissus Hotel expenses to the national treasury.”

“Oh my, no wonder you paid so promptly.”

Chris joined their conversation, pretending not to know what was happening.

While Chris and Osman should have been released with ‘no charges,’ it seemed too wasteful to just leave in this situation.

They volunteered to thoroughly prove their innocence and stayed at the police station to sort through documents.

Because of this, the police inspectors who had brought them in also had to stay and listen to the tax administrators’ conversations.

“At this rate, tax evasion and embezzlement seem like annual events for these nobles. On top of that, they manipulate palace personnel at will and seize lands under litigation for their own use.”

The investigator who had accompanied Fuego pointed one by one at the nobles affiliated with the ‘Tartien faction.’

They held high positions in the royal palace or city council but did no actual work, simply collecting government salaries.

The nobles had high titles but no responsibilities.

Most of the work was handled by commoner staff, who received less than a quarter of the nobles’ salaries.

Moreover, if they followed orders from above incorrectly, they faced punishment or, in severe cases, lost their jobs.

Nobles could live comfortably without any occupation.

They had their lands, farms, and factories.

Even without those, they had substantial inherited wealth.

Wealth passed down from generation to generation.

But for the commoner staff, their work was their livelihood.

Those who would struggle to survive without their jobs received meager salaries, while nobles who could live well without working received generous “pocket money.”

Wealth piled upon wealth.

While poverty only added to poverty.

“Even the clearest water stagnates when left still for too long.”

Fuego spoke calmly as he pulled out the promissory note that Schultz Tartien had most recently embezzled.

It was money taken from the treasury under the pretext of investing in La Foudre’s construction facilities.

He had taken an amount equivalent to 1/3 of the capital’s operating budget to build La Foudre.

“This is too much. With this amount, we could renovate outdated city facilities or increase the police department’s equipment budget and still have money left……”

Fuego deliberately mentioned the police department.

The investigator who had accompanied Fuego as his assistant continued his words perfectly.

“Wow, with this amount, we could double the salary of every inspector in the police department and still have money left.”

The inspectors who were observing flinched and looked at each other.

They wondered just how large the amount must be for them to speak like that.

For the sake of the poor inspectors who kept glancing sideways, Fuego deliberately moved the paper to show them the number.

‘One zero, two, three, four, five, six…… Gasp, more than ten zeros?’

The inspectors’ mouths fell open at the unprecedented amount.

“H-he used this much at once?”

“Well, it could be even more.”

A sense of powerlessness crossed the inspectors’ faces.

Money they couldn’t see in their entire lifetimes, Schultz Tartien had diverted to build his own building.

Their despair gradually turned to boiling anger.

‘Why is the world so unfair?’

‘That’s treasury money, isn’t it? Royal funds, and a noble uses it freely like that?’

Their simmering feelings were plainly visible on their faces.

“It seems Duke Tartien built La Foudre to send it as a dowry to His Majesty. With this amount, it’s almost as if the royal family built it……”

Chris, who had been listening to their conversation from a distance, suddenly interjected.

“The king is incompetent, so parasites suck blood from everywhere. This clearly shows how power disproportionate to one’s merit becomes food for villains.”

Though his words put ‘the king’s incompetence’ at the forefront while casting ‘Schultz Tartien’ as the villain, no one contradicted him.

One of the administrators who had brought Chris in looked at Fuego with a bitter expression.

“Chief Administrator, what do you plan to do? Even with these documents, there’s really nothing we can do, is there?”

The other administrators and inspectors also bowed their heads with indignant expressions, their lips tightly sealed.

They knew the fearsome power of nobility.

Moreover, who was Schultz Tartien?

He was a duke, chairman of the council, and even held the position of Prime Minister at his whim.

In the end, even if they reported this to someone higher up, it would likely end up in Schultz Tartien’s hands.

‘Besides, the king has no power……’

And bluntly speaking, with the marriage between the royal family and Tartien approaching, weren’t they about to be in the same boat?

They couldn’t trust anyone.

No one.

Everyone’s expression darkened.

Except for Osman, Chris, and Fuego, who exchanged glances secretly.

“You’re right. This is a problem that cannot be solved or revealed from above.”

Fuego slowly rose from his seat.

He approached the large window of the spacious investigation room and opened it wide.

“The privileged will not relinquish their power and benefits. Who would want to give up privileges accumulated over hundreds of years?”

The west wind of a leisurely afternoon was blowing in.

At some point, Osman had opened the window on the opposite side from Fuego.

In that moment, a cross breeze swept through the previously stuffy investigation room.

“Therefore……”

The papers scattered on the desk rose up in a swirling motion.

“Oh, oh no!”

Three inspectors reached out to catch the scattering papers.

The investigators also ran around trying to collect the papers flying in all directions.

“Isn’t it time for the ‘bottom’ they’ve been suppressing to move?”

Fuego said as he threw the documents he was holding out the window.

“Oh dear. Some documents have been lost due to the wind.”

After confirming that someone below quickly received the documents, Fuego closed the window with a nonchalant expression.

“How could we stop those documents carried away by the wind? Isn’t that right?”

Fuego smiled as if nothing had happened and spoke to the dazed administrators and investigators.

“The investigation is complete. The Cissus Opera House people have been found innocent, and since noble tax evasion was revealed during the investigation, inspectors, why don’t you go report this fact to ‘higher-ups’?”

What was that? What just happened?

Neither the administrators nor the inspectors in the room could gather their wits.

‘Well, it should be…… fine?’

They had only lost a few documents to the wind.

How could anyone stop such a thing?

They nodded at each other, making eye contact.

“Pardon? ……Oh, yes. W-we’ll go right away!”

The inspectors jumped up from their seats and headed to their superiors.

For some reason, their hearts were racing. Their steps felt lighter than expected.

The ‘higher-ups’ who had ordered them to raid the Cissus Opera House and fabricate charges had to voluntarily release the opera house.

Because ‘coincidentally,’ their tax documents had been used to expose their own crimes.

Whether guilty or not, the plan to prevent the opera house from operating during the grand holiday had completely failed.

Until then, ‘they’ thought it was just a minor failure.

They didn’t realize they had earned the hatred of those being exploited because of that day’s events.

In any case, after this incident, the opera preparations proceeded smoothly.