Then he frowned slightly and asked me.

“But how did the Duke manage to bring that diamond from the island to the continent without anyone knowing? If he used a ship instead of magic, he must have used an imperial port, and in that case, the officials of the Imperial Customs, which is directly under the Emperor, would have inspected all the cargo on that ship?”

I raised one corner of my mouth in a mocking smile as I answered his question.

“It’s simple. The Duke bribed the customs official at Callis Port, where his merchant ships usually dock.”

“…To dare to bribe and silence an imperial official. I didn’t think he was that brave, the Duke.”

“Fear of punishment can fade in the face of enormous profit. The Duke first filled a large sack with diamonds from the mine, then covered it with grain produced from the Roche farm. Then he bribed the customs official to loosen the inspection of the goods on the ship, and then secretly removed the diamonds from the sack of grain he had smuggled in and sold them.”

“…”

“Without paying a single coin of the tax he should have paid for importing diamonds, of course.”

As I finished speaking, the Duke let out a snort of disbelief and said:

“I can’t believe it. So the Duke put both the profits from selling the diamonds and the taxes he should have paid to the empire into his own pocket?”

“That’s right. By just giving a few gold coins to the official, he pocketed all the profits without paying a single coin in taxes.”

“…And now you want to borrow my knights to raid the Duke’s merchant ship?”

“Yes. After all, the Duke won’t be able to report it even if it’s stolen.”

I said with a shrug. The Duke stared at me for a moment, then said:

“That’s the kind of plan I’d expect from you. Novel and cunning. But what benefit do I get from this? If Duke Klein decides to reveal that his jewels were stolen, prepared to face punishment, it’s me and my knights who will suffer great losses for no gain. I’m sorry, but I can’t turn my knights into thieves.”

At those words, I nodded in understanding. Then I asked him in a meaningful voice:

“Who said anything about ‘directly’ stealing?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not the one who’s going to steal. And neither are your knights, Duke. You and I are going to catch the thief who broke into the Duke’s merchant ship.”

“…I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. I’d appreciate it if you could explain in more detail.”

The Duke said to me in a gruff voice. I answered as if I had been waiting for this:

“That official who took money in exchange for loosely inspecting the Duke’s ship. Don’t you think he might have thought at least once, ‘What on earth is the Duke trying to smuggle in that he’s willing to pay me money?'”

“You mean…”

“…Yes. I’ll quietly let him know about the true nature of those suspicious sacks of grain.”

“Huh…!”

“Then, he’ll try to steal the goods, won’t he? Being greedy enough to take bribes behind the inspector’s back, he’ll definitely try to steal it once he knows the truth. In the worst case, even if he’s caught, he can claim he was only stealing grain and just pay for the value of the grain, so the risk is low for him.”

“…So you and my knights will wait for him to steal, and then ambush him?”

“Yes. The identity of the thief is His Majesty’s official, and the ship that was robbed is none other than the Duke’s, so of course His Majesty the Emperor will personally attend the trial, right? Then, when we open the sack of grain that he stole in front of His Majesty…”

“…His Majesty will naturally learn about the Duke’s smuggling and tax evasion.”

The Duke naturally continued my words. By now, the same meaningful smile as mine was on the Duke’s lips.

I looked straight into the handsome Duke’s black eyes and said:

“Yes. And His Majesty will reward you, Duke, for uncovering all these facts. The Imperial law states that ‘Three-tenths of the amount recovered to the national treasury shall be bestowed upon the person who uncovers tax evasion.’ Then, you’ll receive that and share half of it with me.”

“…”

“What do you think? Are you willing to help me now?”

Hearing my words, the Duke let out a short laugh. Then he looked at me with a strange gaze and said:

“Alright. I’ll summon the knights right away.”

I nodded in approval.

By then, the carriage carrying the Duke and me had arrived in front of the Duke’s townhouse.

Late afternoon, as the sun was setting in the west, at Callis Port.

Baron Billius, the official in charge of port inspection, was sitting in his office chair reading a letter.

After carefully reading the letter with an ornate seal at the beginning, he soon let out an annoyed groan and crumpled it up.

“Damn it!”

It was a letter from Count Goth, one of the members of the social club he belonged to.

It contained a very aristocratic phrase saying, “If you don’t pay your gambling debts immediately, I will seize your mansion as promised.”

The Baron nervously threw the crumpled letter on the floor and jumped up from his chair. He paced back and forth in the spacious office, muttering constantly.

“I need to raise money right away. If the fact that my mansion was seized due to gambling debts reaches the ears of the inspector, I’m finished!”

So he had to raise money somehow.

The Baron desperately tried to think of ways to raise money. However, he had already squandered all the money he could use immediately on gambling, and having lost credit from those around him, there was virtually no way for him to obtain such a large sum of money right away. He continued his monologue with an anxious expression.

“…Should I write a letter to Duke Klein? I’ve been very understanding of the Duke’s family circumstances so far, so if I ask the Duke to be understanding of my situation, he might grant my request…”

The Baron’s eyes suddenly sparkled as he kept muttering to himself like a madman.

Yes, there was that method. The Baron, who had sat back down at his desk, took out a quill pen and letter paper. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

The Baron shouted irritably.

“What is it! I thought I told you not to disturb me!”

“…I’m sorry, Inspector. It’s just that, a letter has arrived for you from the Baron Repel family, so I came to deliver it…”

“Damn it!”

The one who knocked was his adjutant, Smith.

The Baron threw down the quill pen he was holding with a scream. This was because Baron Repel was also someone who had lent him money.

The Baron shouted, unable to contain his irritation, breathing roughly:

“Leave it and go!”

Then Smith hesitantly entered the office, placed the letter he was holding on the desk, and left.

The Baron glared at the letter on the desk for a moment with sharp eyes. Soon after, he picked up the letter, grumbling in an irritated voice.

“Damn them! I told them to wait a little, but they can’t even wait that long… Huh?”

At that moment, the Baron’s face, which had been reading the letter with his brows deeply furrowed, gradually changed in a strange way.

Then, after a while, he put down the letter and muttered in a sly voice.

“…So the Duke was secretly bringing in such blind money. Money that he wouldn’t dare report even if I stole it slightly.”

Then I should secretly steal that blind money.

Having made up his mind, the Baron picked up the quill pen and parchment he had thrown away earlier, chuckling. It was to write letters to his creditors asking them to postpone their debt collection for a while.

On a night when dark clouds covered the moon, at Callis Port.

After all the sailors who had finished unloading had left, and only the massive ships of the nobles and merchant guilds remained, a man appeared.

With a hood over his head and wearing an old shirt and pants, he looked around for a moment as if checking for something. After confirming that there was no one around, the man sneaked into a warship.

Using a rope and grappling hook he had prepared in advance, he climbed up onto the deck and groped his way through the inside of the ship, feeling the walls with his palms.

When he finally made his way down to the basement, he saw a huge warehouse door with a bolt and lock in front of him. He smiled triumphantly as he unlocked the bolt and lock and entered. Lighting a candle attached to the warehouse door with matches he had brought, he saw many sacks of grain filling the warehouse.

He picked up a sack of grain placed closest to the entrance, then took out a sword from his chest and tore the sack.

“…!”

Then the contents of the sack spilled onto the floor.

He picked up a small stone that was particularly shiny among the many well-dried grains. It was a diamond about the size of an adult’s fingernail. He quickly put it into his pocket, his eyes gleaming with greed.

“Don’t move.”

“What…!”

Just then, a cold male voice was heard, and a sharp blade was placed against his neck.

He felt his heart sink. Forcibly twisting his stiff body to turn his head, he identified the person pointing the sword at him.

It was a knight with ash-gray hair, silver eyes, a deep blue cloak, and silver armor engraved with a white lion on the chest. Behind him stood dozens of knights wearing the same armor and cloaks. The man immediately recognized who they were. He exclaimed in shock:

“H-how did the White Lion Order of Duke Haven get here…!”

“We received a report that someone was raiding Duke Klein’s merchant ship. What were you doing here at this late hour, Baron Billius?”

“I-I-I was just…! On the Duke’s orders… That’s right! Inspection! I came for inspection!”

He, Baron Billius, explained with cold sweat.

The man with ash-gray hair, Sir Oliver, the vice-captain of Duke Haven’s direct knight order, the ‘White Lion Order,’ snorted mockingly at him and said:

“Oh, is that so? These days, do they call it ‘inspection’ when you sneak onto someone else’s ship in the middle of the night and tamper with the cargo as you please?”