Chapter 62

‘Eh, what’s wrong? A cold?’

I was concerned about Rei, but from what I could see as he hurried to the table with Leon, he didn’t seem to be feeling unwell.

Leon sat directly across from me, and Rei sat next to Leon, diagonally across from me. Then, Rei called the waitress over and ordered two servings of the same lemon water that I had. A simple drink with just lemons and fruits cut into bite-sized pieces soaked in water, but on a slightly sweaty day like today, it was refreshingly good.

Seeing the two lemon waters being brought to their table, I took a bite of my sandwich. It was a chilled chicken and cucumber sandwich. The crispy cucumbers and tender breast meat made a delicious combination.

“Speaking of which, Leon, you’re personally doing the investigation? Is it a significant case?” I asked.

“Well, it’s significant in a way…” Leon replied with a wry smile on his handsome face. But even that expression was still elegant and dazzling. I couldn’t help but admire it.

“This time, the White-winged Knights have been assigned an investigation mission, but the victims are all nobles. Some of them treat people of lower rank disdainfully, even if they are members of the knights, so I came in person,” Leon continued. “Normally, there would be no need for me, the commander, to come, but…”

Rei, too, wore a similar wry smile.

“Well, it’s nice to do something like this once in a while. So, since we’ve come all the way to the castle town, let’s gather information from the sketch artists around here before we head back,” Leon said.

“Is that so? Sounds tough.”

Hmm.

In other words—this is an incident that doesn’t normally require the commander’s direct involvement. But since the victims are nobles, and some of them may say, “Just because you’re a member of the knights, doesn’t mean you should speak to a noble of lower rank like me!” the knights can’t respond strongly due to their position.

Thus, Leon, one of the most prominent nobles of the Dorme family, came to personally ask the nobles… and now he’s on his way back. I see.

How nice, Leon is such a good person! Our commander Gazelle is light-footed too, but Leon is no less impressive. Thinking about his subordinates’ position and personally making the effort…

“Leon, you really care for your subordinates, don’t you?” I commented.

“You think so? It’s only natural for a commander,” Leon responded, casually and handsomely!

Such a handsome noble, inside and out! Even Gazelle would be flustered by him. From the content of a previous conversation, it seemed that Leon hadn’t yet confessed to Gazelle…

“If you’re a commander, it doesn’t mean anyone can do this. You agree, right, Rei?”

“Yes… Commander Leon is indeed an extraordinary person,” Rei said.

“Oh? It’s nice to hear you both say such things. Thank you,” Leon said with a warm smile.

He accepted our praise without modesty, with the attitude of someone accustomed to admiration. Truly a noble.

“But it’s strange that the victims are all nobles,” I said.

“Not just nobles… there are also merchants among the victims, but it seems to be an incident targeting the wealthy,” Leon explained. “… Say, would you mind sharing your thoughts?”

“Me?” I almost dropped my sandwich in surprise.

“No… I mean, I probably won’t say anything useful. Are you sure it’s okay to talk to an outsider like me?” I asked.

“It’s fine. You’re a member of the Black-winged Knights, and the details of the incident will probably reach your ears by tomorrow. Felix is in your group, after all,” Leon reassured.

“Is that so?” I said, now unable to refuse.

Reluctantly, I listened to Leon’s account with a strained smile.

The incident Leon described—one example of a victim—was a lone noblewoman whose husband had passed away, and her children had all left her care.

A friend, another noblewoman, visited her, bringing a man she had never seen before.

The man looked neat, his manners didn’t seem suspicious, and he seemed even more courteous than modern young nobles.

He introduced himself as a merchant of Baratt Trading Company in Menonu City, involved in potion transportation, and said that his father was currently the head of the company, but he was planning to take over in the future.

“Recently, the potions developed in this country are more valuable than anything else. No matter how many are made, the supply cannot keep up with the demand.”

“Yes, just as you say, the potions are marvelous. It’s thanks to the ‘Black Twin Pillars’ of the Black-winged Knights.”

“Indeed, it is so. …I have a proposal for you, madam… I came here today to discuss a joint investment.”

“A joint investment, you say?”

In front of the woman, who blinked in surprise, the man continued to speak. “The reason the supply of potions can’t keep up with the demand is not because we can’t produce enough, but because we lack the carriages, horses, and personnel to handle the logistics. The development of potions has caused a sudden increase in intercity logistics in Menuenu City. Hence, if we can secure the capital for logistics, we can distribute the potions more widely!”

With grand gestures, the man spoke as his female friend smiled in agreement.

“It’s not a bad deal, right? Since you’re my precious friend, I’m offering this to you especially.”

“We can surely make a profit, so won’t you please cooperate? If we can just purchase the horses and carriages in the royal capital, we will return 20% of the investment within a month.”

“In these times, potions will definitely sell. No matter how much you invest, it won’t go negative.”

“This is confidential, but we’ve already spoken to the Dorme family and received a favorable response. With your cooperation, we’ve purchased three carriages and six horses at the Asandra Trading Company. Also, thankfully, the Quondra and Gomirua families have also invested in our trading company…”

——And thus, under the fervent persuasion of her friend and the man, the lady offered the investment money. She felt somewhat skeptical but was swayed by promises like “you’ll never lose” and “I guarantee you’ll make a profit,” and invested. A week later, the friend and man returned to the mansion. The man brought the promised 20% of the investment and around a hundred thousand extra as a profit. “She probably let her guard down at that point.”

Leon let out a bitter smile.

As he said, the lady was completely reassured that “this person kept their promise.” She believed that “the talk of guaranteed profit was true” and provided additional investment money as the man asked. By the time she realized, the investment had grown to an enormous amount. However, the amount and frequency of the man’s returns gradually decreased, and one day he suddenly disappeared.

“There are heaps of people who were deceived like this. That’s why the White-winged Knights are investigating,” said Rei, slightly exasperated.

“Why would anyone fall for such a thing? If such great deals existed, there would be no unemployment in this country.”

Well, it’s true that “you’ll never lose” and “I guarantee you’ll make a profit” are the number one and two words you should never believe.

But that’s because I know of such fraud cases from my previous world. In this world, investment scams might be rare events.

In that case, I can somewhat understand why the nobles of this country, represented by the lady, fell for it.

“What do you think, Takumi? Did you notice anything?”

Asked by Leon, I snapped back to reality.

Right, I was supposed to give my opinion on this incident.

But I have nothing to say.

I probably would have fallen for it too without the knowledge from my previous world.

And it was introduced by a friend, right? That makes it even harder to refuse.

“Hmm… Saying ‘How could you fall for such a suspicious story?’ would end the discussion. Personally, I think it’s a story that cleverly plays on human psychology.”

“Really?”

“If it was introduced by a friend, the lady would find it hard to refuse outright. And since the initial requested amount was not a large sum, all the more so. Being seen as stingy over a small amount would be a matter of pride.”

“Oh… That’s true. Nobles do care about appearances.”

Rei nodded solemnly.

“Plus, the man specifically mentioning individual names and families, and bringing the money as promised, was clever maneuvering. Clearly, the lady’s guard was lowered at that point, right?”

“So it means, all of it was calculated by the criminal? Start by squeezing out a small amount, then later wring out a large sum…”

“To put it simply, yes.”

“Heh… I see. I wondered why such an obvious trick, but it’s well thought out.”

“Indeed… I learned about similar scams in my previous world, so this doesn’t surprise me. But in this world, investment fraud might be rare, so it’s somewhat understandable why the nobles fell for it.”

Rei nodded in admiration. Surprisingly, he seemed to have a straightforward nature. In complete contrast to Rei, Leon suddenly wore a serious expression and crossed his arms.

“Hmm. It’s a despicable crime, but the method of exploiting people’s emotional weaknesses is exquisite,” he said.

“Indeed.”

“I initially thought it was a scam targeting nobles… But hearing Takumi’s story, it seems to be a much deeper incident.”

“Yes. As Leon said, the criminal seems quite accustomed to this kind of crime. And it’s unlikely to be the work of a lone perpetrator. Although only one man has appeared, there must be many more behind the scenes pulling the strings. Also, about the victims we were talking about earlier…”

“Is there something else?”

“Remember how the victims were mostly nobles without family around? If the family had been there, they would have stopped the funding early on.”

“Hmm…”

“They must have investigated the target’s family structure in advance. Speaking of which, where is the woman who came with the man initially?”

“She’s disappeared with the man. By the way, Baratt Trading Company does exist in Menonu City, but the man wasn’t there.”

“A real company, then. They must have planned this very carefully. Knowing the family structures of the nobles and the names of the existing companies in Menueunu City, they must have been gathering information for quite some time.”

… Although these conclusions sound plausible, they are all based on knowledge from my original world. It would be too embarrassing if discovered, but well, if it helps catch the criminal, that’s good! 

“I see. Thank you, Takumi. Your insights have been very helpful.” With a beautiful smile, Leon responded.

Even if it’s flattery, it feels good to hear it from such a beautiful person.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad if I could be of any help to Leon.”

“…”

Returning a smile to Leon, I found Leon suddenly stiffening, blushing slightly, and glancing at my face.

“Ahem. It’s a pity, but we must be going, Rei. I have thought of something with the valuable information you gave me.”

“I see. Work hard for the victims’ sake.”

“Yes. … I invited you for tea, but I’m afraid it turned into mostly work talk today. If you don’t mind, next time let me hear your story.”

“My story?”

Surprised, I blinked at Leon’s words.

I’ve been thinking about having a more personal conversation with Leon, but the idea of Leon wanting to talk to me is strange… Could it be?

“My story isn’t interesting. I can talk about the Knights, though.”

“As long as it’s with you, anything will do.”

Saying this, Leon looked at me with expectant eyes.

I’m not so dull as to miss the warmth in those ice-blue eyes. I fully understood Leon’s hidden thoughts.

There’s an old saying, “To shoot the general, first shoot his horse.” In other words — Leon plans to get Gazelle’s story out of me!

Damn it, this is a tough one. I don’t want Leon dating Gazelle. But then again, I’m not Gazelle’s official lover, so I don’t have the right to say that… Just thinking about it makes my chest tighten.

But Leon is a pretty nice guy. He’s friendly even with a commoner like me.

“Then I’ll look forward to that time. If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear Leon’s story as well.”

“Of course! I’ll invite you to my residence again.”

I gently replied, meaning, “Not just my story about Gazelle, but I want to hear various things from Leon as well.”

I was afraid that if Leon’s only purpose was to hear about Gazelle, he might look displeased, but that wasn’t the case.

On the contrary, he wore a bright, happy smile.

Maybe Leon is surprisingly talkative?

“We should go now, Rei. Takumi, thank you so much for today.”

“Yes, see you again.”

I didn’t get to talk much with Rei, but I suppose that can’t be helped since they’re on duty. Next time, I want to have a leisurely private chat.

With those thoughts, I smiled at Rei once more as we parted. Rei’s face turned bright red again, and she looked away from me.

Although I wondered about Rei’s behavior, the two of them promptly left the store, so I quietly saw them off.

After making sure the two had left the store, I ate the sandwich left on my plate and finished the lemon water in my cup, ready to pay the bill.

It should be about time for the carriage to the Knights’ headquarters, so it should be just right.

“——Oh, dear customer. The White-winged Knights have already paid your bill earlier.”

“What?”

But the words from the waitress were unexpected.

“Is that true? The two of them, they, paid for all my share?”

“Yes, that’s right! My goodness, that silver-haired man was quite a sight to behold…”

The waitress is entranced, her eyes melting.

I’m no longer in her sight as she is in a daze.

I thank her and stagger out of the shop.

“…I didn’t notice at all. But this is troublesome. If I had noticed, I would have at least thanked them… If I chase after them now, will I make it in time?”

Fortunately, not much time has passed since Rei and Leon left the store.

By asking the adventurers sitting outside, I found out which direction the two had gone.

“Alright! Let’s look for them a little, and if I don’t find them, I’ll head back right away.”