Chapter 19
A sharp curse slipped naturally from Ariella’s lips.
“Don’t tell me he’s been stuffing himself with that? That leech.”
“Huh? A leech got into the tea?”
When Ariella slammed her teacup down, Philly blinked in confusion.
Without answering, Ariella stood up and spread the account books across the long table—longer than she was tall—arranged in order by year.
Philly, almost hypnotized by her energy, jumped in to help.
When they opened the same pages in each record book, a strange and suspicious pattern emerged.
Details and costs for repairing a certain bridge.
Found it!
Her hunch had been right.
Ariella triumphantly pointed to the documents attached as evidence for the accounts.
“Philly, remember this bridge?”
“Oh? Isn’t this the one you saw with me? The one that collapsed and had to be rebuilt again?”
It was the same bridge Ariella had passed by on her way to hunt slimes—the reason she’d had to take a detour.
Philly read the section Ariella pointed at.
“Wait a minute… last year, rebuilt. The year before that, repaired. Five years ago, rebuilt again… ten years ago too… What the heck?”
Philly vaguely remembered it, but she hadn’t realized it was this bad.
The territory had rebuilt or repaired the same bridge over and over, only for it to collapse again.
Probably shoddy construction. Ariella had guessed as much—maybe they’d been short on money or skill.
But what if that shoddy work was intentional?
Ariella tapped one line with her finger.
“Look here. It says they spent fifty thousand cell to fix this bridge last year. That’s ridiculous. I saw that site myself.”
There was no way a bridge that size should cost that much.
With that amount, Ariella could have fed the whole territory for several days.
“This fifty thousand—do we have the detailed expenses for it?”
“Yes, I’ll bring them right away.”
A little later…
As she read through the extra documents, Ariella spat out her words.
“Just as I thought. This doesn’t make any sense.”
When the butler had repaired the library recently, he had reported every purchase clearly—like buying a bundle of lumber for one cell.
But in the old official construction records, the prices had exploded.
The same bundle of lumber had been bought for ten, even twenty times that amount.
And according to Philly, wood was common in the demon realm, with stable supply and prices.
That’s impossible.
And since the bridge was a much bigger project than the library repairs, the bulk purchase price should have been cheaper, not more expensive.
Yet the Demon King’s castle had been buying materials at ridiculous prices—long before Ludwig even took the throne.
A dangerous glint lit up Ariella’s eyes.
“Someone in this territory has been skimming huge amounts of money for years.”
She went straight to see the Demon King.
She stood before him, her face full of confidence.
“What now? If it’s about the library, I already approved it. And what’s with all those scrolls in your arms?”
His bored expression sharpened.
“Did you find something?”
Ariella’s eyes shone fiercely, like the day they first met—when she had argued her case for their contract aboard the ship.
“Yes!”
She knew Ludwig’s way of surviving—burning and cutting down anyone who stood in his way with ruthless clarity.
And now, she’d found the trace of a parasite eating away at his land.
Left alone, it could destroy the Demon King’s domain.
Ludwig would never ignore that.
Her voice was firm.
“There’s a thief. A leech you need to ‘burn and cut’ right now.”
A short while later…
Ariella arrived alone at the riverside.
No skeleton guards from Richmond.
No soldiers from the castle.
“Hey! Move that carefully!”
“How many times have I said not to leave the lumber here? Who’s in charge of this?”
“Send me one more goblin worker over here!”
It was the bridge construction site.
The same one she and Philly had passed earlier while on the way to hunt slimes.
The same one that had collapsed and been rebuilt so many times.
“Hm? Who’s that?”
All the workers were goblins.
“Wait… a human?”
“No entry except for authorized personnel! Get out!”
“Hang on. That face… I’ve seen it before.”
“I know who that is! The Demon King’s contractee!”
“Oh! The one who made that amazing thing out of slimes?”
“Why’s she here alone? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Ignoring their chatter, Ariella said boldly:
“Bring the person in charge. I have something to say.”
A moment later, a goblin emerged.
Unlike the thin laborers, the overseer had a huge belly.
“…What’s this about?” he said, his tone dripping with annoyance.
He looked Ariella up and down, muttering to himself.
“Busy as it is, and now I’ve got someone ordering me around?”
He clearly knew who she was, yet showed zero respect.
Ariella’s face was cold—not just because he was rude, but because…
If my guess is right…
This goblin was the chief of the bridge construction.
Last year’s project had also been under him.
He’s definitely involved.
With that certainty, she said bluntly:
“Hey, I want to check the lumber for the bridge. Right now.”
“…What?”
The overseer’s face changed instantly—his relaxed air gone, replaced with suspicion.
“Why the lumber?”
“I told you. I need to check something.”
“First tell me whose orders you’re following—”
“Forget it. Move.”
She walked past him without another word, heading toward the pile of lumber stacked for the bridge.
From behind, the goblin yelled in alarm:
“What are you doing? Stop her!”
“But she’s the Demon King’s contractee—”
“Stop her, unless you want to lose work forever!”
Ariella’s lips curled into a small smile where he couldn’t see.
Knew it.
The rumor about her was already well known. The workers hesitated, none daring to block her.
The overseer exploded.
“You idiots! Stop her!”
Still, they stood frozen.
In the end, he chased after her himself. The difference in height slowed him down.
Just as Ariella was about to pull the cover off the lumber—
“Don’t touch that!” he shouted.
“Why?” she replied without looking back.
He faltered for a moment, then blurted:
“Because… it’s a very delicate material! You don’t know construction—”
“Bull.”
“What?!”
“Don’t make me laugh. It’s just wood, not some magical ingredient.”
She whipped off the cover, and the overseer’s face went pale.
She glanced at it and muttered:
“Knew it.”
Then she turned to a worker.
“I’m borrowing this.”
“Huh? That’s—ah!”
She snatched the axe from his hands without permission.
“Don’t—!” the overseer screamed.
CRACK!
Gasps rose from the goblins.
With one swing, Ariella had split the thick log with ease.
“Is she super strong?”
“No… look at the break!”
If it had been pure strength, the cut would’ve been clean.
But instead, the wood had shattered, leaving jagged edges.
And inside…
Ariella clicked her tongue.
“See? Looks fine outside, but it’s all rotten inside.”
She didn’t stop. Swing after swing, she hacked apart the other logs with cheerful energy.
It was a strange sight—this girl in a full dress, swinging an axe like she was having fun.
Thunk! Crack!
The results were the same: most of the lumber was rotten.
When she finished, Ariella glared at the overseer.
His mind was in chaos.
I’m done for!
The secret he’d hidden for years had just been ripped open.
No way this was random… she came here knowing everything.
If this was reported, he’d be punished. And Ludwig would hunt down whoever was really behind it—because a job this big was never done alone.
And his real master was someone who would cut him off without hesitation.
In that case…
He clenched his teeth.
Run!
And Ariella’s sharp eyes followed his every move.
