Chapter 76…………………………………….
The man who had personally fed me smiled shamelessly.
“It seems your worries have eased a little. Shall we finish our meal? There’s a sweet dessert waiting.”
“But do we have time for that—”
“This is all so I can assign more work to my capable strategist.”
“I’m your strategist?”
“You possess exceptional wisdom.”
“…I really can’t win against you.”
Smiling back at him, I picked up my utensils again. Being praised did feel good.
“Mm, it’s delicious!”
In the end, it was the right choice. Perhaps because my mindset had changed, the flavors felt even more vivid than before.
“It was worth the effort of searching for a skilled chef.”
“You personally went around looking?”
“Jack handled the hiring.”
“Oh, come on~”
We traded lighthearted jokes and leisurely enjoyed our meal. It was a pleasant evening.
The next afternoon, I stepped into the same restaurant as yesterday. This time, dining was not the purpose.
“I wrote it in a hurry, so it’s a bit rough. Please just look at the main points.”
Terrence carefully examined the several sheets of documents I handed him. After a moment, he commented:
“…This is an innovative tax evasion method.”
They were the various tax evasion schemes devised by Elliot. Through these ingenious methods, the Iber Company had drastically reduced the taxes it paid to the state.
“I don’t know the field in full detail, but I can clearly see how cleverly they’ve slipped through the legal net.”
As he studied the documents, Terrence suddenly tilted his head.
“But I don’t understand this part. Smuggling high-end luxury goods into the country via teleportation magic to avoid tariffs…?”
His doubt was perfectly reasonable.
“Wouldn’t the cost of hiring a mage capable of teleportation exceed the tariffs?”
“They don’t need a mage. Iber secured a teleportation device.”
“Wouldn’t that be a groundbreaking invention of the century?”
It was the creation of one of the seven talents gathered by Liena—a magician and eccentric inventor.
“The range is short and limited to inanimate objects, but compared to traditional methods, it only requires magic stones instead of a mage. It’s extremely efficient.”
Unlike yesterday, the table was bare. I spread out the map I had brought.
“Here.”
My finger pointed to a small island located slightly off the northwestern coast of the empire.
“This island belongs to Liena. The Duke of Cassius bought it for her as a birthday gift a few years ago.”
“I remember. It was quite the talk of society.”
“Iber gathered foreign luxury goods there first.”
“Ah. I see. And then teleported them to the nearby mainland.”
“Exactly. Then they disguised them as domestic products and sold them. If there’s a warehouse storing smuggled goods, it would be within teleportation range of this island. And since they’d need to transport goods to a nearby Iber branch…”
Slowly, I moved my finger and drew a small circle over a specific area.
“Roughly around here.”
Unfortunately, the novel hadn’t provided an exact location, so I could only approximate. Terrence stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“That area falls under Cassius territory. Without concrete evidence, conducting an official search will be difficult.”
“And if they realize someone is searching for the warehouse, they’ll relocate it immediately.”
“We’ll have to proceed in secret with a small group.”
“Is that possible?”
“Leave the worrying to me. My subordinates are quite competent. And you’ve already narrowed the range considerably.”
“Avoid using palace personnel if possible. Cassius has spies planted everywhere.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. That blasted Cassius…”
“Local residents’ information might also be useful.”
“If goods were transported regularly, no matter how discreetly, they couldn’t have avoided all attention.”
“Exactly.”
Embarrassed, I scratched my cheek.
“Maybe I was worrying for nothing. You’d handle it just fine, Tei.”
“That’s not true. You may worry about me even more.”
“Huh?”
“Please continue to worry about me. Continue to show me the path I must walk. I need your guidance.”
Though a trace of amusement lingered, his face and eyes were utterly serious. Flustered, I looked away.
“Who am I to guide a prince?”
“Why do you underestimate yourself so much?”
Terrence asked in genuine puzzlement.
“You’re remarkable, Idel. In my eyes, you seem more like a genius than that Elliot fellow.”
…Wasn’t that an exaggeration?
“Who discerned the hidden circumstances of the steward who had been the Duke of Cassius’s confidant and brought him to our side? And who solved the mystery of the time capsule that no one else could?”
Well, that was because it was all in the novel!
‘I see. So that’s how it looks to him.’
From Terrence’s perspective—unaware of the truth—I must have seemed like a genius who knew everything. I had pretended to figure it all out myself because I couldn’t explain otherwise, and that misunderstanding had taken root.
“Even this tax evasion scheme is classified company information. Even as a former member of Cassius, it wouldn’t have been easy for you to learn.”
“I-I happened to overhear a conversation between Liena and Elliot… Honestly, everything else was also the result of lucky information.”
“Knowing information doesn’t guarantee good results.”
Terrence shook his head firmly.
“Be confident. The one who made correct judgments based on that information, utilized it properly, and acted boldly—that was you.”
“….”
“Even these documents. You may have learned the general outline from overhearing them, but the detailed analysis underneath—didn’t you stay up all night thinking it through?”
He was right.
Since Reborn to Walk Only the Flower Path was a romance novel, not an economics textbook, it hadn’t detailed the complex tax schemes. There was only a scene where Liena admired Elliot’s explanation while he preened proudly.
After returning to the embassy residence last night, I had replayed that scene countless times using my memory of the original work. I also compared scattered mentions of Iber throughout the novel with real tax laws, deducing the specific methods Elliot must have used.
“See? I was right.”
After hearing me out, Terrence declared:
“You’re remarkable, Idel.”
“…There’s still so much I don’t know.”
“Even so.”
“I got stuck in places and asked Ambassador Leoc many questions. The tax law books were his.”
“So what?”
His fingers brushed very gently, lightly, beneath my eyes. It was so brief it almost felt like an illusion.
“You’re the one who stayed up until this area darkened from lack of sleep while preparing these documents.”
He was merely stating a fact, yet the words sank deeply into my chest.
It was the first time.
The first time someone had called me remarkable like that.
I suddenly realized something. All this time, I had unconsciously looked down on myself. I regretted how I had clung to my marriage with Leandro for two whole years out of inertia.
‘That’s why I could never truly accept others’ praise.’
Since I had read the novel, I assumed it was only natural for me to be ahead of others. But thanks to Terrence, my thinking shifted.
“Thank you. That gives me strength. And…”
“And?”
“You’re right. I am pretty remarkable.”
Terrence stared blankly for a moment before bursting into hearty laughter.
“I like that you’re not excessively humble. I’d like to officially hire you.”
“As your strategist?”
“Yes.”
“I’m quite remarkable, so my salary will be high.”
“That’s troubling. I may have to sell this building.”
We resumed serious discussion about thirty minutes later. There was still much to do to corner Elliot.
Capital City, Iber Company Headquarters.
Elliot Rood listened with a bored expression as a subordinate delivered a report in the vice director’s office prepared for him.
“So in the end, there was no particular movement yesterday either?”
The subordinate bowed his head.
“My apologies. That woman goes out every day, but aside from shopping in the bustling district, she’s shown no notable behavior.”
“How carefree, Idel Wallace.”
The man was one of Elliot’s informants, assigned to monitor Idel. For nearly a week now, he had reported her every move.
“I was certain she would act once her link, Tara, was detained… But suddenly, shopping?”
He couldn’t discern her intention from that alone. Eighty percent of his brain cells insisted she was simply acting foolishly by nature. The remaining twenty percent warned him that there was something deeper and that he should be cautious.
‘If she’s truly hiding her intentions and even deceiving the surveillance agent… she’s no ordinary opponent.’
He wasn’t satisfied with the agents assigned to her. The more capable men had been deployed to trace Tara’s movements on that night, leaving him with less skilled watchers for Idel.
‘They claim they’ve monitored her thoroughly, but they weren’t observing from close range…’
If Idel had two identical outfits, a place to change, a wig, and an accomplice of similar build, she could easily deceive that man.
“Haah.”
Elliot irritably ran a hand through his hair. The situation wasn’t unfolding as he wished.
Tara had been confined at Elliot’s strong insistence, but she kept repeating like a parrot that she had met Idel for Liena’s sake. Liena appeared conflicted over whether to believe Tara or Elliot.
“Did you really see it?”
In the midst of it all, Idel’s shout replayed in his mind.
He didn’t want to admit it. He truly didn’t.
‘I may have misjudged that woman.’
The portion of his brain issuing warnings grew to thirty percent.
“Increase the surveillance. Starting today, reassign ten of the men investigating Tara’s movements to Idel Wallace.”
“That many?!”
“Proceed as if you intend to count every strand of her hair.”
He had just finished issuing the new orders when—
“Vice Director! There’s big trouble!”
One of the company employees burst into the office, shouting urgently.
