Cain and Alec both left the royal castle.
Since they had come to the king's castle in Therese's carriage, they got a carriage from the king's castle to take them to the mansion.
Of course, it was the usual carriage of the Kingsguard.
''Thank you for everything,''
Cain thanked the knights of the Kingsguard and got out of the carriage with Alec.
The knight waved to Cain and left.
'Does Cain always get a lift from the Kingsguard knights?'
'When I'm not going in my own carriage, you always give me a lift. Sometimes you have to go with me for training, though.
''Cain, normally, no nobleman can use the Kingsguard for transportation. The Kingsguard is responsible for guarding the royal castle and guarding the royal family. I'm not surprised you're using it for transportation: ...
Alec held his forehead in his hand and sighed.
After they returned to the mansion, they immediately started a meeting in the reception room.
As for Cain, he wanted to create a registry of the residents of Drintle. To dismantle the slums and put them to work. He explains to Alec that he wants to create an institution for orphans. Cain has never managed a fiefdom, even with the knowledge of his previous life, so he has to rely on Alec to help him.
''I suppose it's possible if there aren't that many residents in Drintoll. When I was first briefed, I heard that there were 3,000 people. We'll do the rest when we get there. I'll see if I can get to Drintrudle today.
Cain nodded in response to Alec's question.
''You may use the substitute residence as it is. I'll attend the school on weekdays, so I'll make sure I go to the territory every day after I finish.''
Yeah. That's fine. I'll take care of it during the day.
After their meeting was over, he told his butler, Coran, that he was going to Drintle and transitioned straight to it.
Their vision changed in an instant. They arrived at the office of the lord's mansion in Drintru in an instant.
''It really does arrive in a flash, doesn't it? With this, it's no problem to go back and forth between the royal capital and Drintru?''
'I'd like to introduce you to some of the people in Lord Drintle's mansion.
As he said this, there was a knock on the door of the office.
It was Dalmatia who came into the room.
'Master Cain, I had a feeling you had returned,'
As expected of a former general of the Demon King's Army, he had an excellent sense of presence.
''Ah, Dalmatia. I just got back. I'd like to introduce you to brother Alec, who is about to take over as deputy.
Alec stepped forward as Cain introduced him.
'I'm Cain's brother, Alec von Silford. Dalmatia, nice to meet you. By the way, you're a pretty good steward.
I'm just a retired old man, sir. Master Alec, this is Dalmatia, the steward of the house. We are almost ready for dinner, so why don't you join us? Letia-sama returned from the guild just now.
'Thanks, I'll eat with you. I'd like to introduce my brother Alec to everyone.
Well, we'll call you back when you're ready.
Dalmatia bowed and then left the room.
Then dinner was ready, and as Dalmatia came to call for her, she and Alec went to the table.
At the table, Mr. and Mrs. Dash, Enak and Letia were already seated at the table.
Enak was happy that Cain, who wasn't supposed to come until next week, had come.
''I'm brother Alec, who will be working as a deputy in this city this time. You will now live in the deputy's residence next door.''
First, I introduced everyone to Alec. I need to work with Letia to audit the city from now on.
"My name is Alec von Silford. I have been appointed as the city's deputy. Previously, I was the internal affairs officer of the Gracia territory, so I want to improve this city together with Viscount Cain here. Everyone, my regards.
After this, each of us introduced ourselves and began to eat.
''After the meal is over, may I report back to you on what I did today in auditing the guild. It's only been a day, but a lot has come out of it.
Letia, as the subguild master and inspector of the Adventurer's Guild from today, is investigating the misconduct of the former subguild master Betty.
''Yeah, when you're done, we'll have a talk in the office, including brother Alec,''
Cain and Alec nodded.
Enak seemed to be playing with Dalmatia a lot, and she seemed to miss him very much. Mr. and Mrs. Dash and his wife were watching the situation with a smile on their faces.
After the meal, Cain, Alec, Letia and Dalmatia gather in the office.
Letia reported what they had investigated today.
''First of all, the guilds in this city are supposed to pay taxes in a manner of speaking. I kept the documents that I received the stamp of receipt, signed by Elaib. But I've been getting a lot of unknown requests from the deputies. One of the most common requests was to investigate the forest for a nomination fee, but it was significant. It's also for the A-ranked adventurers who were captured this time. As for the report, it's a survey around the entrance of the forest that even a rookie can do, and it seemed like they were definitely passing money around from behind the scenes.
'As for taxes, you pay them. 'If you mean Ellaib's signature, that means you are personally pocketing them. When I arrived, the guild said they didn't pay taxes. Also, as for the subsidies from the government, he said that he's putting them back in so that we don't know about them via the Adventurer's Guild and Adventurers.
Cain crossed his arms and thought about it. It was a significant amount of money, considering the taxes and subsidies.
'Sorry to interrupt the conversation. As a matter of fact, when I was cleaning the substitute residence today, I happened to find a hidden room next to the Oval Office. So here's what I found: ...
Dalmatia brought out a ledger and a bag of white and gold coins. They were divided up and placed in the bag, and when he counted them, he found that they were a significant amount of money.
Alec looked through the ledger that Dalmatia had brought out.
Placing the read ledger on the table, Alec lets out a sigh.
'This ledger showed me the flow of money. I haven't gone into that much detail yet. Some of the money I've saved up is flowing to hire the Dark Guild, and the rest is divided between Ellaeve, Betty, Stag, and Rick. The amount of money we've embezzled so far is over five hundred in white gold coins.
Five hundred platinum coins is a sum of five billion yen. The annual subsidy from the government is 20 pieces of white gold coins. And the taxes paid by the guilds amounted to ten white gold coins per year. I could see how much money was being embezzled.
As expected, Cain and Letia were surprised to hear that amount of money. And Alec continues his story.
''It's a considerable amount of money, so in order to cover it up, even when the lords were posted, they must have been pressured from behind the scenes by the Dark Guild and the Adventurer's Guild.
Cain nodded at Alec's story.
''I'd like to ask Brother Alec-sama to start investigating the problems in this city tomorrow. I'll be coming to this city every day after the school, but I think I'll basically leave it to you. When you go out to the city, there will still be people from the Dark Guild, so please have an escort with you. Letia-san will be fine inside the guild as well, but please be very careful about getting to and from the lord's residence.
They nodded at Cain's opinion.
I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. I'll just go ahead and compare this ledger with the city's income and expenses. I'll look into it by the end of the week and we'll discuss it again.''
'I'm going to investigate some of the material that the Guildmaster has left to Betty so far on my end. I'm sure we'll find a lot more.
'With all due respect, Master Cain, I will have my messenger attached to you both. Of course, I will be standing by invisibly so that no one else can see you. If you have any problems, I'll be able to communicate with you via telepathic communication, so you should be fine. I've got some ability in my own right.
Thank you, Dalmatia. I'll take care of that. You two are very important to this city.
At Cain's words, Dalmatia straightened her posture and bowed.
''First of all, tomorrow, I will prepare to transport the four of you to King's Landing at the filling station. As for the rest of the main criminals, I believe they will be criminal slaves. Cain, will you go to King's Landing to talk to the slavers? If there's about fifty of us, you'll have to be prepared for that.
Okay, Brother Alec. I'll stop by tomorrow on my way home from school. I should be heading back to King's Landing by now.
Master Alec has already made arrangements for you to stay at the residence.
Each of them went back to their rooms with the excellent butler guiding them.
''By the way, brother Alec and Letia-san are both excellent. Now we can make this city a better place.''
Cain muttered a word and transitioned to his mansion in the royal capital.