“If you have a stable source of income, there are only two cases where you fall into debt.”

Isaac counted with his fingers.

“The first is gambling, and the second is having many dependents around you.”

“Isn’t there a case where both apply?”

To Ambh’s question raised like a good student, Isaac smiled with fox-like eyes.

“If that were the case, they would have died before receiving a stable income.”

“Indeed!”
Isaac, who laughs while talking about the cold reality if not hot, and Ambh, who nods approvingly while clapping, seemed to have quite a private discussion from a third person’s perspective.

“By the way, the situation with this servant seems simple yet complicated.”

Issues of romance due to a love triangle, money, or rather debt problems.

“This seems like it won’t be resolved without tracing the disappearance.”

Isaac, who had been collecting and organizing data on the missing servant, handed the documents to Ambh, who was nodding his head in understanding.

Unconsciously, Ambh, who had attached herself to one of his arms, looked over his shoulder at the materials. She nodded vigorously and spoke.

“Don’t conclude whether it’s a disappearance or an elopement; investigate with all possibilities open! Got it?”

“Yes, something like that.”

“Good! Now that we’ve heard the stories of the servants, let’s go to the person who is most likely to know the most.”

As Ambh took the lead, Isaac skillfully hid behind her shadow.

Even when she had listened to the servants’ stories, he had blended into her shadow, adding various questions.

If he openly followed Ambh and wandered around the mansion, various constraints followed. For example, Isaac’s identity as the ‘guest who entered the next Taren Marquis’s office without going through the main entrance’…

Not long after, Ambh, who faced the butler, asked straightforwardly.

“I heard that the servant is having money troubles. Were the minor issues that happened related to money?”

“Oh, no. It wasn’t about money. But even if he was bothered by money, he wouldn’t have had the leisure to clash with people indiscriminately.”

“Gambling issues?”

“We’re strictly managing that side. Those who are addicted can’t make rational judgments.”

Whether it was gambling or drinking, noble families who were troubled by people blinded to something had never touched the servants’ private lives. However, they strictly prevented things related to ‘addiction.’

The Taren family was no exception. Before hiring a servant or periodically during their work period, they regularly checked for such things.

At the firm answer of the resolute butler, Ambh leaned his head and whispered to the shadowed Isaac.

“Then could it be the second option?”

“What?”

“No, if it’s not gambling, how about family relationships?”

“I know that he doesn’t have other family members.”

“What? That can’t be true.”

Although the butler was momentarily surprised by Ambh’s strong denial, he calmly added.

“While considering and taking care of the servant’s family as much as possible, we don’t dig into the circumstances of those who try to hide everything. If he tried not to reveal his family, I might not know.”

Even with the very sensible words of the butler, Ambh couldn’t hide his disappointment. Despite her demeanor, the butler added with a determined face, trying to be helpful somehow.
“Still, who am I? If it’s about the servants of the family, wouldn’t I be the person who knows the best, as the young lady mentioned? Please wait a moment. I should be able to find anything.”

As Isaac gazed down at the slightly rugged hair of the busy butler in the darkness, he felt a bit awkward.

It was because he felt a sense of camaraderie with the butler, who seemed to be running around for Ambh’s sake, whether willingly or unwillingly.

Wasn’t he also involved, without realizing, in the investigation with Ambh during his brief distraction?

The innocent face and straightforward voice of the lady were truly unmatched in roughness.

Indeed, birds of a feather flock together…

As Isaac’s fox-like eyes recalled Cryer, it became blurry.

“Ah!”

With an exclamation that seemed like he found something, the butler dragged a thick and heavy book that looked difficult to carry with both arms.

“Do you see this?”

“Yeah. Is this a payroll statement?”

“Yes. It’s a book that records the salaries and other payments to the servants. If you look here, it seems the salary has been paid in advance. The reason for that time.”

Ambh’s gaze, following the butler’s fingertips, gleamed as she moved.

“It’s family circumstances. And that servant was a noble?”

With the distinctly written surname ‘Levir’ echoing in the head of Ambh, the heir of the Taren Marquis, one side of his head spun fiercely.

“Oh, it was a place in our family that owed debts.”

It’s difficult to find a family without debt in the Taren, known as the Empire’s purse strings. However, among them, there were certainly cases where too much debt made it impossible to maintain the family.

Perhaps, instead of the family disintegrating in the air due to such circumstances, Levir was probably repaying the debt by providing labor to the Taren for a certain period, leaving only the shell of the family.

Ambh memorized everything related to ‘Levir’ in the ledger for a moment, straightened his bent body, and shouted.

“As expected, something completely unexpected is popping up! Let’s go!”

“Yeah?”

With Ambh’s sudden words, the butler’s face was puzzled, but she looked somewhere with a sunny face and shouted again.

“Although the residence is not clearly written, I remember the base of that family, so if we go there, it should be fine. Let’s go!”

With Ambh speaking to the empty air without knowing who she was talking to, Isaac, who had suddenly disappeared, smiled brightly towards the butler.

“As expected of the butler! Reliable indeed.”

The butler, who had straightened her waist while regulating the tail of her mouth that reflexively rose with a straightforward compliment, looked up. Ambh was already gone.

“Miss… Who on earth are you suggesting we go to?”

Left alone, the butler, with a face filled with confusion and worry about whether Ambh was talking to herself or someone unknown, stared at the wide-open door for a long time.