Different Departments, Different Knowledge

Faced with the warrant and Princess Tianis herself, the suspected embezzlement group's attitude shifted instantly to wariness.

Unease spread among the people around us.

But Princess Tianis showed no concern.

She had nerves of steel when it mattered.

"Princess Tianis… is she real?"

"Your Highness, please don't say such scandalous things as embezzlement. We have done no such thing."

"Is that so? Then I'll say it again. Let us inspect the cargo. That's an order."

"But…"

"If you've done nothing wrong, you should be able to comply, yes?"

Pressing further, they seemed at a loss for words.

Judging from this reaction, there was no doubt about it.

If they agreed, we'd inspect the cargo.

If they refused, suspicion would only grow.

Either way, they were in a bind.

"Hey, did you hear? Those bargain sellers were embezzling from the soup kitchen."

"Really? No wonder I thought it was cheap."

"If that's true, it's unforgivable. People who can't afford food are counting on that."

People drawn by the commotion had gathered around.

If we exposed their wrongdoing here, we'd have plenty of witnesses.

"Our business is completely legitimate. Investigating our goods would damage the kingdom's credibility, wouldn't it?"

"True. If you're actually innocent, it would. But if we overlook fraud because we don't want that, the Royal Capital Market's credibility will be destroyed. Don't underestimate me. If you truly are innocent, I'll bow my head in apology."

"Ooh," voices rose from the crowd.

Royalty bowing their head? Commoners had never heard of such a thing.

Curious eyes focused on Princess Tianis, hoping to witness something rare.

And pressure mounted on the suspects to submit to inspection already.

Having made royalty go this far, they seemed to realize there was no more talking their way out, and nodded.

"Very well. Don't forget those words."

"I don't lie on my family name. Come, let's go."

We moved with Princess Tianis toward the loaded wagon.

I had Azu's group unload every box onto the ground.

We checked all sides of each box as we did.

They didn't seem to have a manifest, so I had Orleans prepare a simple one.

Avoiding documentation was probably their way of minimizing evidence.

We counted quantities and compared them to the soup kitchen procurement list.

Despite minor discrepancies, the contents almost exactly matched the list.

These supplies were definitely embezzled soup kitchen goods.

"Princess Tianis. The contents nearly match the procurement list."

"I see. You there. Where did you procure these goods you planned to sell today?"

"W-well… we have a special sourcing channel…"

"Hmm. But that's strange. No matter how thin your margins, I heard you were selling far below market prices."

"We just want to make our customers happy, so we tend to underprice…"

Heh heh, the leader gave an ingratiating laugh.

He talked like a generous cook.

But cooks and merchants are different.

If he were delivering food to a starving village, that would be one thing. No one sells at prices that lose money in a market like this.

They were selling staple foods with no risk of remaining unsold.

There was no need to discount desperately.

I could see no reason for excessive discounting except to sell quickly.

"How noble of you. By the way, how much does a bag of this flour sell for at market?"

"About two silver coins for that amount."

People around us nodded in agreement.

Flour, a staple, had high trading volume and stable prices.

"Your asking price was… one silver coin. Incredible, what a bargain."

"Yes, well."

"And Yohane. How much is the wholesale price per bag?"

"About one silver and five copper coins. At current rates, even farmers won't sell for one silver."

"I heard your goods sell out instantly when you open shop at the market. Of course they do. It makes no sense that buying from you is cheaper than wholesale."

Honestly, if they'd sold at normal prices, they wouldn't have stood out and would have been harder to find.

Their extreme discounting to quickly convert to cash had drawn attention.

Their operations were sloppy, to say the least.

"W-we have a special channel…"

"Then tell me about this 'special channel.'"

"I can't say in a place like this. Please understand, Your Highness."

"Let me rephrase. So you're saying these were obtained through completely legitimate means?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

"You can swear on the royal house?"

"I swear. I absolutely swear."

"Then can you explain why these boxes have this mark?"

"Huh?"

They looked dumbfounded.

Princess Tianis placed her hand on the corner of a box.

Her silk-gloved right hand slowly traced a small symbol.

"Since you don't seem to know, I'll explain. Goods purchased with kingdom funds are marked like this during inspection. Without this mark, the budget committee won't approve the purchase. It's part of the manifest process."

"W-we weren't told about that."

"You stole them after that process was complete, so it's no wonder you didn't know. You probably thought you'd be safe winning over the distribution personnel…"

Actually, we'd won the moment we found the boxes.

There was a chance they'd transferred the contents to different containers, but apparently they hadn't bothered.

Besides, their accomplice in distribution had been detained last night, and we'd confirmed he didn't know about the marking.

The marking was done by the finance department while distribution was handled by the transport department, so the fact that this information wasn't shared between them worked in our favor.

A downside of departmental silos, but this time I was grateful for it.

Half a day of rushed preparation had worked out better than expected.

"I don't need to say more. These goods were definitely stolen from the soup kitchen. Therefore, you are under arrest."

"Damn it, this was supposed to be easy money."

They tried to flee all at once.

But the crowd formed a wall, blocking their escape.

In fact, the mob was beating them up.

Of course.

Stealing soup kitchen food was tantamount to picking a fight with the common people.

In no time, the battered group lay sprawled on the ground.

"Everyone, thank you for your cooperation. I do think of the kingdom's citizens. I promise that starting tomorrow, no one in the Royal Capital will go hungry."

Princess Tianis waved to the crowd.

I could feel the people becoming electrified by her beauty and her words.

This was a tremendous success as a public debut for the princess.

"What's going on here?!"

Just as cheers of "Long live the princess!" began to rise, soldiers gathered around.

Among them were the soldiers who'd tried to shake down Ann for her earnings.

They must have come after hearing the commotion.

"Those guys really might be in on it after all."

Finn whispered in my ear.

Apparently several soldiers had changed expression upon seeing the men sprawled on the ground.

"Perhaps I was a bit noisy."

"You are… Princess Tianis. What brings you to a place like this?"

"A bit of business. It's finished now, so relax. We have some questions for these men, so we'll be arresting them."

"Then we'll take them to the cells."

"No thank you."

"Excuse me? Ahem. Transporting criminals is one of our duties. Please don't trouble yourself."

"Do I need to spell out that I don't trust you?"

Princess Tianis clapped her hands, and the guard corps emerged from the crowd.

They stood before her, facing off against the soldiers.

The air immediately turned hostile, and the surrounding people scattered like spiders.