“The people who kidnapped me and dragged me away as a slave were wearing exactly those kinds of masks too! I do not know whether it is a design commonly used by criminals, but…”
This time, it was my turn to be shocked.
“The same? Then could it be that the two incidents were carried out by the same organization?”
“They both tried to kidnap people in the same way, so that could be the case!”
“It is also possible that they weren’t the ones behind the crimes, but merely hired hands…”
Rastan, who had been listening quietly, nodded with a serious expression.
“That could be so. However, there have not yet been any officially reported crimes involving individuals wearing such masks.”
Rastan held several official positions, among them the position of Head of the Capital’s Security Department.
He said that it was closer to a political post he held in name only as a high-ranking noble, with most of the actual work being handled by the Deputy Head.
Even so, he had authority over directing investigations into incidents that occurred in the Capital, and since he received regular reports, it was only natural that he was well aware of the latest developments regarding major crimes.
“These are people going around kidnapping others, and yet there have been no reports?”
“Either it is an organization that has only recently been formed, or they have never failed except with the two of you. One of the two. Only victims or witnesses who manage to escape their grasp can report and reveal identifying details.”
The thought that there might not have been anyone who had escaped their clutches safely until now made chills run through my entire body again.
Sally seemed to feel the same, rubbing both of her arms with her hands.
“If you had not saved me, there is no telling what might have happened to me.”
For a moment, Rastan’s brow drew together slightly.
“…I do not even want to imagine it.”
He looked at me quietly, then spoke in a warm, reassuring voice.
“You gained your freedom with great difficulty, and it has not been long since then. I will make sure that no one ever takes your freedom away from you again, so do not worry.”
‘…Freedom.’
At the unexpected word, I looked up at him blankly for a moment.
“As for organizations that use masks, we will keep all possibilities open and investigate thoroughly.”
“Thank you. That really puts me at ease.”
After accepting my thanks with a smile, Rastan brought up another topic. It was clearly something he had intended to mention earlier as well.
“Oh, and also. We have received reports regarding House Lansval. I had instructed them to report even the smallest matters related to Lansval directly to me.”
Since I hadn’t submitted any reports recently, I looked up at him with slightly widened eyes.
“A little while ago, Dona Hagen came to the Capital’s security headquarters and filed a report in person.”
“Ah.”
It was obvious that she had realized House Lansval was collapsing, quickly cut her losses, and left that mansion.
She had been rather light-fingered even in her previous life, so there was a high chance that she had taken a few valuable items with her when she left this time as well.
‘At least she was quick-witted and decisive enough to cut her losses fast.’
In the process, she had even filed a report to satisfy her small sense of revenge, and likely to aim for the crime report reward money as well, even if it would only be a small sum.
In the end, entering the Lansval household had brought her nothing but losses, but it was fortunate for her that she was clever enough to pull out before things reached the worst possible outcome.
‘Now that she got out, at least she won’t get dragged into what comes next and end up in irons as well.’
She might feel like she had lost everything right now, but before long, she would come to think that leaving House Lansval as early as she did had been a truly wise decision.
“What did she report, exactly?”
Rastan spoke with a faint sneer.
“It was about Baron Lansval habitually smoking a narcotic tobacco called Husani.”
“Ah. He always carried a cigarette case around, so it must have contained Husani.”
It was something I had subtly let slip to other nobles at the engagement party, but since Rastan wouldn’t have seen that happen, I played innocent.
“Simply smoking it is enough to warrant an investigation, but when Dona Hagen filed the report, she also said that ‘the Lansval Trading Company seems to be smuggling it in.’ Because of that, this time we will be searching not just Baron Lansval himself, but the entire Lansval Trading Company.”
At this point, it was quite a satisfactory haul. After all, it provided a pretext to launch an investigation into the trading company.
‘Just as expected.’
One of the reasons I had pushed Dona into entering the Lansval household was because she was the type who could never go down alone.
‘If she feels like her life is ruined, she’s the kind of person who will drag down whoever is next to her like a drowning ghost, just to feel satisfied.’
I had anticipated with very high probability that she would do this, but I had also prepared a Plan B just in case she didn’t. It turned out that was unnecessary.
I then recalled the contents of the materials I had previously received from Veronica.
“Husani is just the tip of the iceberg. With this investigation, the other drugs they smuggled in will come to light as well.”
Rastan, who knew the contents of those materials, nodded.
“As you know, drugs have spread quite extensively in the shadows since about twenty years ago, becoming a major headache for the Empire. Many people, ignorant of what they were using, lost their own lives or those of their family members. If it is revealed who was behind it, it will not be something that can be brushed aside lightly.”
“It could turn into a nationwide scandal.”
“You may look forward to it. I have already passed some of the materials you gave me to the investigation team.”
As expected of him, his handling of matters was swift and meticulous.
“When you say some of them, which ones did you pass on?”
“Drug smuggling and distribution, obstruction of rival trading companies’ operations, and the supply of substandard construction materials. The slave trade case has not been passed on yet.”
Because he was well versed in criminal law, it was easy to guess what his intention had been.
When a single person commits multiple crimes, a sentence is handed down for each offense, and those are combined into a final ruling.
In the process, the total punishment often ends up being lower than if each crime were punished separately.
For example, if someone committed a crime carrying a three-year sentence and another carrying a five-year sentence at the same time, being sentenced all at once wouldn’t result in eight years, but something like six or seven years.
Because of that, it seemed Rastan had deliberately chosen not to report it this time, to prevent House Lansval from being punished only for the single most severe charge among their many crimes, namely slave trading.
“You saved the biggest blow for last.”
“No matter what, there will be no rat hole for them to slip through. There will be an official investigation, of course, but my personal informants have already begun looking into it.”
I opened my mouth slightly in surprise.
“You even mobilized your personal informants?”
“Did I not tell you? Your enemies are my enemies. I am taking my revenge by helping the investigation move faster.”
Listening to him, it felt a little strange.
How could he be so certain that the people of House Lansval deserved to be punished, when he didn’t even know about my previous life?
‘It is convenient for me that he acts as if he knows everything.’
Though perhaps it wasn’t because he knew anything, but simply because he was choosing to align himself with me.
“And there is one more report.”
“Dona again? What is it?”
Rastan looked straight at me and smiled faintly.
“It was reported that the office of Baron Lansval and the former Baroness’s room are entirely decorated in purple velvet.”
At this point, I almost felt like applauding Dona for how thoroughly she had worked on my behalf.
Even in the midst of all that chaos, she hadn’t forgotten to report every important detail.
“That is a relief. It means telling Dona in advance was worth it.”
That was right. This, too, was effectively a report I had made using Dona as a mouthpiece.
Previously, when I asked Rastan for a favor and planted false expectations in Dona, I had an actress disguised as a coworker say lines like these.
“I told the Baron that if I became his Baroness, I wanted the room I would use decorated in purple. But he scolded me, saying not to say such ridiculous things.”
“Why?”
She replied casually while wiping the table, but Dona’s eyes subtly sparkled with curiosity.
She had always been curious about the lifestyle of noble families.
The actress kindly explained the reason to Dona. Or rather, she recited the prepared lines.
“Only direct members of the Imperial Family are allowed to use purple, especially purple velvet. Of course, commoners like us can’t afford velvet anyway and wouldn’t even know what it means, but nobles sometimes secretly bring it in and use it, only to get charged with treason. Once I learned that, it just made me want to try using it even more.”
Knowing about that incident, Rastan looked slightly impressed.
“If you had not told her, Dona wouldn’t have known it was a problem and would not have reported it. But may I ask why you had her file the report?”
