Chapter 86

As the banquet was in full swing at a colleague's house, the Chief Financial Officer rushed in, his face pale. One of the colleagues, already quite drunk, welcomed him with a wine cup in hand.

"You're late. Well, let's have a drink first, shall we?"

The Chief Financial Officer angrily brushed off the hand offering him wine.

None of the colleagues, who had never expected such treatment, could do anything but gape in astonishment.

After scanning the banquet hall with a cold stare, the Chief Financial Officer announced in a heavy tone,

"Tell me honestly. Is there anyone here who has meddled with the wheat?"

Instantly, several people averted their eyes, looking guilty. The Chief Financial Officer, spotting this, became enraged.

"It's you guys! I had decided that the wheat was under my jurisdiction!"

"Don't get so angry. We just had some unexpected expenses and borrowed a bit. We'll return it soon."

"Yeah, it's give and take, right?"

The Chief Financial Officer's face first turned red with anger, then pale with shock, as he realized he had no retort.

Looking back, he had only been careful at first to avoid being caught for embezzlement. The tension of being discovered had gradually faded, especially since Prince Vritas, who was only interested in wine and women, had never shown any interest in state affairs. The Chief Financial Officer had even meddled with taxes under others' jurisdiction, thinking he could get away with it.

"What a mess...!"

The Chief Financial Officer's face changed as if it had been repainted, and he finally collapsed onto the floor, his legs giving out.

Only then did the colleagues realize something was seriously wrong and began to murmur.

"What's going on?"

The Chief Financial Officer muttered,

"...It's been found out."

"Found out?"

Echoing the question, the Chief Financial Officer shouted,

"Yes! It's been found out! The new lord has realized we were embezzling!"

The Chief Financial Officer then recounted everything that had happened. As he finished, a bubbling anger rose within him.

"Damn it! I had pushed everything onto Vritas, but you guys acted on your own! Because of you! Because of you!"

The colleagues, finally grasping the situation, also turned pale.

"Did he see the accounts this morning? How could the embezzlement be found out so quickly?"

"How should I know! They say the new lord can spot embezzlement at a glance!"

"Wh-what, at a glance...?"

"Yes! Without an abacus, he can spot embezzlement in an instant!"

The Chief Financial Officer's outburst left the banquet hall in stunned silence.

After a while, one of the officials tentatively suggested,

"But, couldn't we just claim it was a calculation error? We could say the animals broke into the warehouse and took everything..."

A relieved atmosphere spread among the officials, but it was quickly dispelled by a whispered remark.

"Maybe... he knew from the start?"

It was a completely unfounded speculation, but to them, it made more sense than the idea that the new lord had instantly discovered the embezzlement from unfamiliar records.

"Knew? But why now...?"

"Come to think of it—"

The official swallowed hard.

"—when he first gathered us and said, 'I will not tolerate corruption,' he meant it was happening now, didn't he?"

The officials sobered up instantly.

"So, his threat to behead us was about this?"

"But, how did he uncover our corruption?"

"Didn't I hear that the new lord is the son of the goddess of death and destruction?"

"Could it be by the power of the son...?"

A chill ran through the air.

"I've heard that General Darius' army was wiped out by some strange power..."

"That's not all. General Darius is said to be on the brink of death from a terrible curse, hiding in his mansion..."

Rumors and speculations spread, and the officials began to create their own reasons for the discovery of the embezzlement.

One of the officials suddenly stood up.

"I just remembered an urgent matter. I must take my leave!"

Saying this, he hastily left the mansion.

The thought, "He's running away," simultaneously crossed the minds of the other officials.

One by one, they began to leave.

"I have something I need to do. I must take my leave!"

"I have plans later. I must go!"

"My wife is unwell. I must leave as well."

In no time, all the guests had left, leaving the host alone, who muttered an excuse to no one in particular.

"My mother is critically ill, so I must go..."

◆◇◆◇◆

The next morning, after finishing the breakfast prepared by Shemul, Soma was reviewing his notes from the previous day when Misha burst in, her hair disheveled.

"Lord, something terrible has happened!"

Soma, sensing the seriousness of the situation, asked earnestly,

"What's going on?"

Misha, pale-faced, hesitantly replied,

"The officials have not come to work this morning. Worried, I went to their homes—"

She hesitated.

"—and found them empty. No one was there!"

For a moment, Soma couldn't understand what she was saying. After a stunned silence, he tried to grasp the situation.

"Empty, you mean no family members either?"

"Yes! And the houses were in disarray, as if they had been burglarized!"

Soma and Shemul exchanged glances, bewildered by the unexpected turn of events.

"...What's going on, Soma?"

"I don't know. —We need to find out where the officials are."

Soma ordered an investigation, and soon a report came from the gate guards at the city entrance.

This morning, as soon as the city gates opened, the officials had left the city with their families in heavily loaded carriages. The guards, remembering Soma's announcement that he would not detain anyone who wished to leave the city, had neither stopped them nor reported it.

Soma understood that if they had left the city because they couldn't follow him, it was inevitable.

However, the fact that people who had shown no signs of leaving the day before had all fled the city together was suspicious. It was as if they had all decided to run away in a group.

"Shemul! Contact Garam and his team. They need to catch the ones who fled!"

"Got it!"

Garam, upon receiving the message, organized a pursuit team and went to Harpyian Pippi Tot Gigi.

"Can you lend me a hand?"

"Of course, Garam!"

Pippi agreed, puffing out her chest.

Although several hours had passed since the officials fled, it was no problem for the Harpyians, who could fly through the sky. Moreover, the carriages, loaded with belongings, would be slow.

The seven Harpyians who took off from the city of Borinis quickly found the officials' carriages slowly moving along the road, led the Zoan pursuit team, and captured them all.

The captured officials were brought before Soma by Garam and his team that same day. Bound with ropes, the officials seemed to have given up, and they readily explained why they had fled.

After hearing their story, Soma said, half in surprise and half in exasperation,

"So, you thought the embezzlement was discovered and fled the city?"

The officials murmured among themselves.

"Perhaps... you didn't know...?"

The Chief Financial Officer, speaking on behalf of the group, hesitantly asked.

Soma nodded and replied matter-of-factly,

"Yes. I noticed the accounts didn't add up, but I never thought you were embezzling."

The officials were taken aback.

"But you noticed the accounts were off! That means you knew about the embezzlement! But you didn't? Impossible! You can't calculate without an abacus! You must have investigated beforehand!"

Realizing they had made a huge mistake, the Chief Financial Officer became confused and started babbling.

Soma, not understanding their shock, answered honestly, though intimidated by the Chief Financial Officer's outburst.

"I just looked at the accounts and did the calculations..."

"You can calculate...?!"

The Chief Financial Officer's jaw dropped.

Just because Soma couldn't read or write, the Chief Financial Officer had assumed he couldn't calculate. However, it was unreasonable to expect the Chief Financial Officer to realize that Soma, a child from another world, simply didn't know the local script and numbers.

Soma, unaware of this, added,

"It's not like I use equations or functions. Addition and subtraction are enough, right? Multiplication and division, maybe. But that's all..."

"J-just... that...?!"

The Chief Financial Officer was on the verge of fainting.

In this world, arithmetic, including geometry and algebra, existed, but it was limited to a few scholars and wise men.

Among the officials, who relied on calculations for their livelihood, many could only do addition and subtraction, and even multiplication and division were challenging.

In the Heian period of Japan, multiplication was considered a noble's education, and similarly, in this world, multiplication and division were advanced knowledge limited to a few nobles and officials.

Soma's casual mention of "that's all" left the Chief Financial Officer speechless.

Still, the Chief Financial Officer tried to argue,

"But even if you can calculate, without an abacus...!"

Soma, not knowing what the "abacus" was, assumed it was similar to a counting frame and replied,

"With paper and a pen, it's enough, right?"

The Chief Financial Officer was stunned again.

For them, an abacus was essential for large calculations in accounts. Soma's claim that "paper and pen are enough" and his ability to spot discrepancies quickly left the Chief Financial Officer in awe.

"That's... impossible... You can't calculate with just paper and pen..."

The Chief Financial Officer's disbelief stemmed from the difference in the number systems used by Soma and the officials.

In this world, numbers only had symbols for units, tens, hundreds, etc., with no symbols for two to nine. To write numbers from two to nine, the symbols had to be repeated.

For example, the number 15468, which can be written with five characters in Arabic numerals, would be written as follows in the number system of the Seldias continent:

§＠＠＠＠＠＊＊＊＊＋＋＋＋＋＋||||||||

It's clear how complex this is.

Furthermore, dividing this number by four would require counting the symbols for each place value and then performing the division, which is a tedious process.

However, using Arabic numerals, 15468 ÷ 4 is a simple calculation that even a primary school student could solve with a piece of paper and a pen.

Soma's high school-level math knowledge and use of Arabic numerals were so advanced that even the officials, who dealt with numbers for a living, were astonished.

Soma, unaware of this, was puzzled by their shock. Shemul then asked,

"So, what do you want to do with them?"

The officials, who had been in a daze, suddenly remembered that Soma had the power over their lives and trembled.

"Hmm... What should I do?"

Soma, troubled by their state, gave a vague smile.

As mentioned in the story, the multiplication tables we learn in primary school today were once considered noble education in the Heian period.

In the Nibu-no-mori ruins in Hidaka, Hyogo Prefecture, a wooden tablet with a calculation error in the multiplication table, "3 x 9 = 24," was found, which is quite relatable.

Another surprising fact is that in Europe, the concept of negative numbers was not understood until the 17th century.

For example, 10 - 20 = -10 was incomprehensible.

If we use apples as an analogy, 10 apples and 20 apples are understandable, but taking 20 apples from 10 apples is impossible! There are no apples left! What is -10 apples? It doesn't exist! It must be a calculation error!

The numbers and calculations we take for granted today have a rich history full of interesting stories.

P.S. The example of 15468 in Seldias numerals had a missing symbol for the tens place, which was pointed out in a review. I corrected it and tried to reply, but the review was deleted. I would like to thank the person who pointed it out, though I don't know their name.

As the author, I realized how complex the Seldias number system is. orz