Hearing his words, everyone immediately began looking around nervously, those with skeletons in their closets nearly feeling their hearts explode with anxiety.
"What do you mean, your Majesty?" Rehlin asked, less nervous than the others due to his position as the Minister of War.
While that wasn't the same as general, which was a role the king himself occupied, it was still a position that saw a lot of bloodshed, so he was naturally a little tougher than the rest.
"I mean as I say. Someone among you has been stealing from me, and not for a short time either."
"That's impossible! We are all loyal towards you, you're Majesty. We would never steal from the royal treasury!" Tium exclaimed anxiously.
"Who said anything about the treasury?" Minos smiled, his piercing eyes staring straight through Tium's soul.
"Umm-Uh, I meant- Uhh." Tium started muttering aimlessly.
"Silence. Tium Ninetails, for the crime of stealing from the royal treasury, I sentence you to a hundred years of imprisonment."
"As for all the money you stole, not only will it be confiscated, but all the income your estate has generated for the last hundred years will similarly be confiscated as well."
"No, you're lying! I would never do such a thing! You guys, he's lying, he's simply trying to steal my wealth for himself! Don't fall for it, we need to band together against this tyrant or else he will strip us one by one!" Tium shouted manically.
But despite his words, everyone just looked away in silence, the Forbidden Soldiers quickly entering the room and dragging the madman away.
"Sephra, call Orion in."
"Right away, your Majesty."
Almost right after, Orion entered, having seemingly been waiting outside the door this whole time, making the others realize Minos had already planned for such a thing.
Some of the more informed people in the room were already aware of Tium's thievery, which just made them even more shocked.
Minos had only been king for a week, yet in that time he had already discovered Tium's criminal behavior and prepared his replacement.
That begged the question of just how much he knew, and whether he was aware of their crimes as well, and just hadn't spoken yet because the time wasn't convenient.
Swallowing anxious, they remained silent, deciding to perform better in the future in the hopes Minos will decide to ignore these small errors.
"Your Majesty, you called?" Orion said as he entered the room, no longer as playful as he usually was.
"Orion, what do you think of becoming the new Minister of Finance?" Minos asked.
"I would carry the responsibility to my death, your Majesty."
"Good, but I don't need that much, I just need honest and devoted work. Can you do that?"
"Of course! I swear my heart and soul upon it!"
"Good, then take a seat." Minos smiled, patting the chair next to him.
Nodding, Orion soon walked up next to Minos and took a seat beside him, his spine straightened as he looked around the room at his new peers.
"You don't mind that I just imprisoned your uncle?" Minos asked, aware of Orion's relation with Tium.
"Of course not, your Majesty! For every crime comes its punishment. In fact I thank you for sparing my uncle and not executing him directly." Orion replied honestly.
"Good, then let's move on to the next discussion." Minos smiled, turning his attention back to the others in the room.
"Before anything else, let's talk money. Tell me, how much do you each cost me?"
Hearing his question, no one responded right away, after all to be completely honest, none of them really knew.
Usually, they just spent as they saw fit, and the king rarely administered any sort of budget when it came to the ministers.
In fact, that was all usually overseen by the Minister of Finance himself, and Minos knew the corruption ran deep.
"Uhh, I'm not completely sure, your Majesty…" Gemer coughed up, scratching the back of his neck anxiously as he did so.
"Not sure? That's a problem, a very big problem…" Minos said, his elbows planted on the table as he raised his interlocked fingers, covering his face completely.
Not being able to see his face just made everyone more anxious, a few noticeable gulps echoing through the room as they waited stressfully for Minos to speak again.
Putting his hands back down, he looked across the room, his pupils slitted as he stared everyone down, like a snake about to devour its prey whole.
"Orion, have you studied the finance reports like I requested you too?" Minos finally said after a moment's pause.
"Of course your Majesty."
"Then go ahead and tell everyone exactly how much they spent."
"Very well. Then starting with the Ministry of Work, they spent a total of 78.12 million Nux Stones in the last month. As of last year, they've spent a total of 958.18 million Nux Stones."
"Before you continue, tell me Orion, how much is the average salary for those employed by the Ministry of Work?"
"The average salary is between 250-500 Nux Stones a month."
"And how many people do they have employed?"
"About a hundred thousand, your Majesty."
"Then let's do some simple math here. At an average of 375 Nux Stones a month, multiplied by a hundred thousand, we only get around 37 million."
"Of course it isn't beyond me that the Ministry of Work pays for more than just employment, but even when one takes that into account, the total amount spent shouldn't come to more than 60 million."
"Odd… It's almost as if there's nearly 20 million Nux Stones completely unaccounted for."
"Yo-your Majesty, I can explain!" Gemer quickly stammered, his forehead sweating profusely.
"Gemer, do you know why I haven't already sentenced you like I did with Tium?" Minos suddenly asked.
"N-no your Majesty."
"It's because you're ever so slightly harder to replace, not to mention in terms of corruption, you are somehow near the bottom end of the list." Minos said, dropping another bomb.
"B-bottom?"
"That's right. In fact 20 million is just chump change compared to what some of you have been pulling off."
"Especially those of you who were already aware of Tium's shenanigans. Seems like you couldn't put it past you to take advantage of him, huh?" Minos said, his eyes pausing on a few people in particular, nearly causing them to faint.
"To be honest, the person here that actually surprised me most was you, Rehlin." Minos said, his eyes stopping on Rehlin.
"Me?" Rehlin said in shock.
"That's right, and it's exactly because you're the only one here who didn't give in to corruption. To hold on despite all the temptation is quite impressive. Well done"
"It's the bare minimum, your Majesty!" Rehlin quickly said, not daring let the compliment get to his head.
"You're right, it is the bare minimum, which is exactly why I'm so disappointed… Orion, go ahead and tell me exactly how much money everyone has stolen."
"Right away, your Majesty. We've already gone over Gemer, then next is Ikrum, the Minister of Law, who has 23 million Nux Stones unaccounted for."
"After that is Olum, the Minister of Internal Intelligence, who has 24 million Nux Stones unaccounted for."
"Then comes Jeylum, the Minister of External Intelligence, who has 26 million Nux Stones unaccounted for."
"After which is Plifrum, the Minister of Enforcement, at 30 million Nux Stones unaccounted for."
With nearly everyone having fallen to corruption, Orion spoke for quite a while, listing the names of another dozen ministers, the worst of which having stolen a whopping 68 million Nux Stones.
"As you can all tell by now, the problem is quite deep…" Minos said after Orion finished, everyone struck silent by his words.
"Honestly speaking, I should just replace you all, but doing so on such short notice isn't feasible."
"Which is why I am giving you all a second chance, and only a second chance. Those who betray me again can kiss goodbye to any more opportunities in this lifetime. Is that understood?"
"U-understood!"
"Thank you, your Majesty! You won't regret it!"
"May the heavens eternally bless you, my lord!"
"Silence! Pardon comes at a price." Minos spoke, gagging everyone once more.