Chapter 35
“E-Excuse me!”
Saldir and I simultaneously turned our heads. Basin was fidgeting with an awkward expression. It seemed that while we had been busy celebrating, he had been waiting all that time for us.
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, but… I just wanted to thank you…!”
Then Basin bowed deeply—so deeply it made a sound.
“Thank you so much. Truly, thank you!”
The young-faced Basin kept bowing over and over, nearly planting his forehead on the ground. Then he grasped our hands tightly.
“Thank you. If you hadn’t helped, I would’ve lost all of today’s sales.”
“Oh, not at all. I should be the one apologizing… I threw those apples. Let me at least pay for the two I tossed.”
“Huh? Oh, please, no!”
Basin flailed his hands in alarm, almost jumping in place.
“Even if I gave you all the apples I have left, it wouldn’t be enough. Really! After 6 p.m., neither the city patrol nor the knights operate anymore, so I was sure I was done for. I never expected anyone to help—thank you, truly.”
“What? That can’t be.”
At that moment, Saldir frowned and cut in.
“…The city patrol and capital guard don’t operate? That’s not true. From six to ten, it’s the patrol’s jurisdiction, and from ten to four in the morning, it’s the capital guard’s. We just happened to come across the situation first.”
But Basin shook his head—firmly.
“No, sir… I live here. I know this for a fact. The patrol does operate from six to eight, but some members are in collusion with those thugs. Even if they see people getting attacked by that gang, they look the other way or just give verbal warnings.”
“…Colluding? What do you mean… That can’t be right.”
Saldir muttered to himself, repeatedly shaking and stopping his head in disbelief. It was clear he couldn’t quite accept what he was hearing.
But Basin’s words were too clear and persuasive to ignore. Eventually, Saldir looked at him with a worn-out expression.
“Is that… really true?”
“Yes. And in all the time I’ve lived here, I’ve never once seen the capital guard show up at night. Even when someone’s killed, robbed, or beaten and left on the streets, no one comes. If you’re lucky, the Sailekar knights find you and save you. Most end up found as corpses.”
“….”
I couldn’t hide the heaviness on my face. To be honest, I had expected as much. The reality Basin described matched what I already knew.
After Sailekar closed its gates, the institutions responsible for capital security didn’t completely vanish. Technically, the patrol and citizen watch still existed. But without Sailekar overseeing them, corruption had reached its peak. People had to form private organizations just to protect themselves. And ever since the Nad outbreak, the guards had turned a blind eye to anything related to it.
In that sense, the Sailekar family really was a rare exception. There are few people who use their talents for justice and the public good.
But Saldir clearly hadn’t thought that way. His face had grown increasingly pale.
“So… that’s why people keep dying at night.”
“Yes. Women and children receive almost no protection in these backstreets.”
“Dear gods…”
Saldir muttered, furrowing his brows.
* * *
That evening, at the Sailekar estate.
The entire family had gathered in the inner chambers. Everyone wore serious expressions. I sipped the milk I had been given and stole a glance at Horne beside me.
After Saldir and I returned and gave our report, the atmosphere at Sailekar had grown icy. What was meant to be a celebratory gathering quickly turned into a crisis response meeting.
“…Collusion.”
Jindel muttered grimly. Horne scowled at the word.
“Those damned bastards.”
A crude curse finally slipped from her lips.
“My lady.”
“What? I’m just calling those bastards what they are.”
Jindel gently called her attention, but Horne snapped back, face twisted.
“I knew something was off. They were so eager to keep us in check with that July Agreement, and now they’re openly colluding with thugs to the point regular citizens can tell?”
“I’m sorry. I failed to notice.”
Albrecht bowed deeply to both Horne and Jindel, his expression grave.
“We exchange daily reports for routine operations. But I didn’t think to question whether those reports might have been falsified or had key information omitted.”
“This isn’t your fault, Albrecht. The ones to blame are those who deliberately deceived us.”
Horne shook her head firmly.
“So… what happened to the guys Berdette knocked down?”
It was Theodore who asked Saldir. Saldir, having shared everything, responded.
“One with a broken shin, two with concussions. We dragged them to the basement. The one with the broken leg is being interrogated as soon as his treatment finished. The other two are locked up for now—our physician is checking on them. We’ll try to get their hideout location once they wake.”
“Good work.”
Theodore paused in thought, then looked to Jindel.
“The captain of the capital guard—is it still Count Christopher Lindale?”
“No, Lindale retired. It’s now Count Limbe.”
“Limbe… Isn’t that a noble from the capital?”
“Yes. Two years ago, just before Her Majesty the Empress passed, she temporarily left the capital to rest in southern Verante due to her illness. The Limbe family was in charge of her protection then. When she returned to the capital, he came back with her.”
“So, he must be quite skilled in martial arts.”
To this, Horne subtly shook her head.
“…It’s more that the Empress recommended him to His Majesty before she passed. His Majesty, feeling indebted to her, seems to be using this appointment to repay that favor.”
“….”
Horne didn’t say anything further, but everyone present understood what she meant: that Limbe wasn’t qualified to lead the capital guard.
“When an organization becomes corrupt, it’s almost always because its leader allows it…”
Theodore didn’t finish the sentence, but his brow twitched. The rest of the room understood what went unspoken—they all shared the same thought.
“To be fair, all of this is just speculation for now. It’s only one testimony from a citizen of Otern who almost got hurt. …We’ll need more solid proof.”
At Jindel’s words, Horne added with a frown.
“But Sailekar can’t just storm into the capital guard without restraint. If we’re not careful, it might look like we’re using our ducal title to undermine the Emperor’s favored captain.”
“Indeed. It would seem like Sailekar is flaunting its authority before His Majesty.”
Listening quietly, I then naturally chimed in.
“Then why not gather evidence without using the Sailekar name?”
Everyone immediately turned to look at me.
“What did you say?”
“Why do we need to formally protest as Sailekar? The ones being harmed aren’t us, but the people of Otern, the imperial capital. Wouldn’t it be better to investigate without putting Sailekar’s name on it?”
I lifted my head from the milk I’d been sipping and met the eyes of my family members.
Honestly… I’d been listening for a while, and I just didn’t understand. Why did everyone in this house insist on announcing their identity before they did anything?
