86 – War on Crime (1)
It’s a dizzyingly chaotic situation, but the more it’s like this, the more you need to look at the whole thing calmly and as objectively as possible, just like the saying ‘the faster you hurry, the sooner you go back’.
Otherwise, there’s a good chance you’ll miss the most important context.
So I said to a soldier passing by to cool off.
“Could you bring me some hot tea and some snacks? It’s because I couldn’t eat anything.”
“Yes, I understand. dismissal.”
And after some time, the soldier brought quite a lot of snacks and two cups of tea.
I handed the soldier 5 fairy tales, put the cookie in front of me into my mouth, and sipped it with tea.
Then, as the sugar was supplied to my hair, my hair became clearer.
“Captain of the guard, are the informants trustworthy?”
“Yes, it is. Since this case is so large-scale, only trustworthy guys with a relationship of at least one year are involved in the investigation.”
First of all, the majority of informants are usually hard-boiled criminals who have been caught committing acts such as theft, assault, fraud, and gangsterism.
That’s why most of them are untrustworthy, but if they’ve worked with the same soldier for over a year, they’re trustworthy.
Because, usually, the informant’s salary is paid using the soldier’s personal expenses and the guard’s subsidy, but unless the soldiers are fools and hukou, if they are useless, there is no need to hire them while splitting money like their own blood.
“Then, the informants can be trusted. In other words, what the informants heard is certain… Do you have any members of the criminal organization captured alive?”
Hearing this, the captain of the guard said in a low voice.
“Based on the information given by the informants, I tried to infiltrate some of our soldiers, but there are not enough people to deal with the entire organization, so…”
“Currently, you are only grasping information. Well done, it’s better not to do something halfway.”
“Then can you tell me all the information you have figured out so far? There are 300 soldiers assigned to the guard, and even if all of these soldiers are mobilized, if the scale is too large to handle… I will have to step in.”
“Yes, Your Excellency. Please wait a moment.”
The captain of the guard left me for a while, got up, went to his office, and returned a moment later with a black box that was locked.
Then, he opened the box and took out the documents inside.
[About 40 people reside in 5-6 Blue Ports, and it is estimated that there are about 70-80 people. Inside the organization, one executive, presumed to be a knight, resides one by one, and the executives sometimes cook and eat Northern Union cuisine as if they are reminded of their hometown. We are currently planning kidnapping and ransom demands for nobles, sabotage of facilities owned by merchants, and kidnapping of artisans.]
Seeing that there were such a large number of people, including officers presumed to be knights, it must have been instigated by a nobleman with quite a bit of power.
And if you look at the external circumstances, the executives are the lower aristocrats of the Northern Union.
Even kidnapping of nobles, extortion of ransom, sabotage, and kidnapping of artisans are strategic criminal organizations to deal a fatal blow to our territory.
However, if these organizations are mistreated and rooted out, they will dig deeper and evolve into cancerous masses that corrupt society.
So I stopped and spat out the highest praise for my evil counterpart.
“Go crazy, you wicked satanic bastards! Mom, I learned how to eat people properly from my father!!!”
When I got angry, the captain of the guard next to me lowered his head and apologized.
“I am truly sorry for causing you concern because of my incompetence.”
“No, if you had intervened clumsily, the problem would have been worse. Thank you for figuring out the details of the problem and reporting it.”
And I said as I handed the pouch containing the reward to the guard captain in front of me.
“I was the one who taught you to figure out the context when a problem arises and report it if you think things will go wrong. And you just carried out that order. You will be a bit busy in the future, so today, if you can, let the staff leave work on time and let them spend time with their families.”
**
After returning to the office from the guard barracks, I read through all the documents the captain of the guard brought.
And what I felt was that their intentions were so impure…
because…
Read at noblemtl.com
Just as I was lost in thought, the door opened and three people entered.
“Two men under Colonel Beerman have entered upon receiving a muster order from Your Excellency.”
“It’s a lot of trouble, please sit down for now. The situation is not good.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
And I spread out a large map based on the documents the chief of the guard had prepared in front of them and said.
“Currently, a criminal group that claims to have come from the Northern Alliance has entered the Pier, District 5, District 7, District 8, and District 12, and it is difficult to respond with only the guards, so we have requested support. Also, this is not certain yet, but according to the investigation conducted by the investigators under the head of the guard, there are knights among the officers.”
Upon hearing that, the faces of the guys sitting in front of me became serious.
“No, how many times have we lost our honor and invaded our territory and committed crimes? I must have stuck the concept into my parents’ bedroom.”
“I can’t understand it at all. Breaking the oath as a knight, entering an unrighteous path, and even participating in a crime. This is unacceptable behavior as a knight.”
“Creutel has never gone to war against duty, and I think this behavior is too much.”
“However, war is originally like this. If you want to destroy the opponent, you have to release the poison and keep it in check, as long as the outward honor is not damaged. So, as nobles, they just acted as a matter of course.”
Representatively, among these actions, the most representative are assassination killing enemy lords, nobles, or their families, and spreading false rumors to lower their honor.
If you go deeper, there are things like this that release a criminal group in the other party’s territory to break the security, or mobilize a huge amount of capital to resell the food of the territory that depends on food as income.
I thought that something like this would happen to me someday, but after it happened, I felt really worse than I thought…
“Stop it. Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of knights did not move, but this was a war. No, rather, I tried to starve the citizens of my territory to death in such a sinister way… In fact, the situation can be seen as more serious than the war. So we need to get rid of these criminals ASAP. So, I will inform you of the future policy.”
After that, the three people in front of me bowed their heads.
“First of all, Colonel Biermann, command the soldiers except for the minimum required for training next to you to wipe out the criminal group. While the training center director position is vacated, trainees should receive minimum training and public support. Start training in earnest as soon as the problem is solved.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Reconnaissance Captain, Major Valentine, you disguise all personnel except for the minimum necessary reconnaissance force as poor people and infiltrate the criminal group. If there is a fee you need, do not hesitate to claim it.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“And Major Frost.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“As soon as the headquarters is confirmed, your unit and I will suppress the enemy headquarters fully armed. Tell the soldiers to alternate between rest and training for the time being, and advise them not to go to Changgwan and lose their strength. Then let’s just break up.”
**
I was lucky today.
Even though I woke up in the morning and barely went to work…
On my way to work, I accidentally stumbled upon a piece of silver coin on the road, so I picked it up, and I was able to buy the wheat and milk mixture that nobles eat at a cheap price from a bakery man I often buy from.
Oh right, I’m a second lieutenant now, so I’m an aristocrat.
Well anyway, not only that, but on the way I also arrested the murderer I’ve been looking for since yesterday.
hehehehe… I thought today would be a good day, but…
As soon as I went to the office, Staff Sergeant Long, who usually saluted me after seeing me, said in a serious voice.
“Major Valentine is looking for you. It looks like you’ve been given an important mission…”
Valentine’s important missions are always difficult and dangerous.
And I trimmed my work uniform, went into the office where the scout captain was, and said hello.
“Lieutenant Short, I have received orders from Scout Captain Ballantine!!”
“rest. and sit down Huh… it’s difficult. Oh, would you like a snack? It’s a cream puff that His Excellency the Count made, but it was subtly delicious.”
Even though he is 40 years old, he really likes sweets. Even though he buys meat and alcohol for his soldiers with his salary, he doesn’t give out snacks for himself…
We haven’t even started a conversation yet, but that cookie lover is suggesting that we first eat the new snack bestowed by His Excellency the Count…
I’ll give you an incredibly difficult task, damn I got lucky somehow today.
And I put the cream puff in my mouth and ate it while preparing my mind anyway.
The thin dough that cracks as soon as you lightly touch it with your teeth, the sweet cream that melts like snow in that thin dough… Damn it is so delicious.
Shall I buy it once with my salary?
“Is it delicious? These are sweets that His Excellency the Count made with Ella-sama. It is an honor for the family to be given sweets made by His Excellency and Ella-sama.”
While savoring the taste of the cream puffs, I vigorously shook my head in affirmation.
After I finished eating the cream puffs, Valentine put the letter with the Count’s seal on the desk and said to me in a serious voice.
“In fact, from the past few days, there have been frequent disappearances or acts of sabotage, so the guards have been investigating. And upon investigation, it turned out that they were being controlled by blue-blooded rats presumably from the Northern Alliance.”
“Then isn’t it a problem that the guards have to solve? There are plenty of well-trained guys in the guards, even though they aren’t the most elite soldiers…”
Upon hearing this, Valentine sighed and said:
“Approximately, the number of those who have been revealed is only 500, but in reality there may be more than 1,000. And if these guys burn just one more warehouse, the manor is in danger of ruin. It’s a shame because the warehouse those rats gnawed at was nothing… If it had been a warehouse with sugar or salt, your salary would have been delayed.”
In other territories, soldiers’ salaries are often delayed by several months if necessary, but in Creutel, overdue salaries…
At least thousands of people would die of starvation unless there was a famine.
In other words, if this problem is left unattended, the estate could be ruined?
“It is very serious.”
“Therefore, His Excellency entered Hellsman Castle alone, killed two knights, and directly named you, who stole the most important secret from the garrison commander, and gave an order. The letter I have on my desk right now is an order. Take it and read it.”
Then I stepped away from my seat and went to a quiet place to open the letter.
[Order to Lieutenant Short. From the time this letter is received, it will be treated as a two-week vacation under my command. I’m going to destroy the headquarters, so please investigate carefully. Instead, if you succeed, you will be promoted to lieutenant and rewarded according to the degree of achievement.]
Reading that letter, I was convinced.
If this fails, you’ll be discharged in dishonor on the spot if you’re lucky, or beheaded if you’re not lucky…
What a lucky day.