Chapter 76

"Is there a guest for me?"

"Yes."

"Who is it?"

"It's... well..."

In the office of the Minister of Finance within the royal castle of the Kingdom of Helmut, Minister of Finance Rukner, who was currently diligently signing the piles of documents, was suddenly informed by his secretary about a visitor.

"You seem unusually hesitant, Konrad."

"Well, it's actually 'that person'... I didn't expect them to come here at all..."

When Minister of Finance Rukner, with a tone of reproach, pursued the young male secretary, who was still in his early twenties and had not clearly reported, the secretary stammered and revealed that 'that person' had come.

Konrad, the secretary of Minister of Finance Rukner, was a promising elite, rumored to have the potential to become a Minister of Finance in the future.

That such a man was flustered and could not even reveal the name of the visitor made Rukner think that 'that person' was undoubtedly his wayward younger brother.

Rukner, the Auditor General, was the real younger brother of Minister of Finance Rukner.

They were not half-siblings.

They were full siblings, born a year apart, and had a good relationship when they were children.

The Rukner Dukedom was a hereditary noble family that held key financial positions, with the head of the family always serving a five-year term as Minister of Finance.

The only exception was if the head of the family died unexpectedly during their term.

There were about four other ducal or baronial families in the kingdom that could inherit the position of Minister of Finance.

Including the Rukner Dukedom, there were five families, and they negotiated behind the scenes to ensure that each family held the position of Minister of Finance for roughly the same amount of time.

Whether this should be called evil or whether it contributed to the stability of the kingdom's governance is not a topic for discussion here.

The Rukner brothers had a good relationship when they were children, but as they grew older, the younger brother learned that he could not inherit the family, leading to conflicts with his older brother.

Children can share sweets, but the position of the head of the ducal family and the hereditary position of Minister of Finance cannot be shared like sweets.

To be honest, such a situation is not uncommon.

Noble brothers who were close as children but hated each other as adults were not particularly rare.

As adults, the older brother pursued a career in finance, while the younger brother, after coming of age, left home and started his career as a mid-level official.

Starting at a mid-level position was a form of support from his family and older brother.

However, to the younger brother, such support seemed like a matter of course or a condescending gesture.

As a result, the younger brother harbored even more resentment towards his older brother.

Despite this, through relentless effort, he obtained the title of Baron and the position of Auditor General.

The older brother was surprised that the younger brother had achieved this position, even if he used less admirable means.

However, the younger brother, upon learning that his older brother had already become Minister of Finance, harbored even more resentment.

The older brother had no intention of giving up his position, and it was impossible to do so.

Moreover, he understood that apologizing to his younger brother over this matter would only further damage his pride.

Additionally, the younger brother began to team up with other financial nobles who were hostile to him, leading to natural antagonism.

As a result, the younger brother, who had become Auditor General, had never entered this office.

Was it out of stubbornness?

Or was he afraid of assassination? He didn't know.

It was unnatural, but the fact that the Auditor General did not need to enter this office for official business was not a problem.

Official matters could be discussed at regular meetings.

However, the older brother felt guilty towards his subordinates, who had become tense due to the business-like atmosphere he had tried to maintain.

"Let him in if he has business."

"Um... Is it really okay?"

Until now, the younger brother had stubbornly refused to visit, but now he claimed to have business.

Konrad must have thought something was amiss.

"Assassination is out of the question. If he did that, he would be finished. However, I doubt he has any good reason. I'll hear it out early."

"Understood."

"Oh, and no tea for that fool."

"...Understood."

A few minutes later, Konrad led Rukner, the Auditor General, into the office.

Though he was the younger brother, it no longer mattered.

While thinking that it was troublesome to be related by blood, Rukner, the Minister of Finance, urged his brother to speak quickly if he had business.

"Actually, I have information from a certain source..."

Though he had urged him to speak quickly, he hadn't expected the younger brother to start without any greeting.

Rukner, the Minister of Finance, was surprised but encouraged him to continue.

"The southern undeveloped land that the Minister of Finance is currently investing in..."

It was more of a development project with a large investment.

If no one managed it, the project could fail due to infighting among greedy nobles.

Some nobles might just take the money from the Baumeister Baron and not care about the success or failure of the undeveloped land development.

Therefore, he and the Minister of War, Edgar, along with the Margrave of Breichreiter, who was a patron of the Baumeister Baron, were supposed to monitor the nearby foolish nobles.

Of course, they intended to receive a success fee commensurate with their efforts.

"This is not related to you, Minister."

If this project had involved the national budget, the Auditor General would have had a significant role.

However, this project was 100% funded by the Baumeister Baron.

Naturally, there was no role for the Auditor General.

The kingdom had planned to provide subsidies, but it would only involve a routine check.

There was no way for the Auditor General to gain any benefits from this project.

He had even considered using any minor issues as an excuse to remove the Auditor General from his position.

"I believe there was a suspicion that you tried to eliminate the Baumeister Baron."

During the ancient ruins exploration by the Baumeister Baron, pressure was put on the Adventurer's Guild to reduce the number of guides.

The truth was that the Adventurer's Guild, despite being a guild, would not yield to the pressure of a mere baron.

However, only a few commoners understood this, and the rumor was still widely believed.

Moreover, the rumor was spread by a son of the younger brother who was not recognized by him.

Rukner, the Minister of Finance, struggled to suppress his laughter.

He thought he was a despicable person, but he had endured countless provocations.

He felt that mocking his self-destructive younger brother was somewhat justified.

"That suspicion is a complete misunderstanding. However, there is information that I should have shared earlier..."

In formal settings, the two were the Minister of Finance and the Auditor General.

Naturally, the Minister of Finance held a higher position.

Therefore, the younger brother spoke to him in a respectful tone.

He must have been criticized behind his back, but as someone who had become Auditor General, he seemed to understand the situation.

Personally, Rukner wished he would make a slip of the tongue in a public setting.

"What information do you want to share?"

"Yes. The information is about a plan to assassinate the Baumeister Baron."

"Hmm, have you finally made your decision?"

When the younger brother revealed the plan to assassinate the Baumeister Baron, a key figure in the undeveloped land development project, the older brother asked sarcastically if he had come to report his own plan.

Rukner, the Minister of Finance, thought that their relationship was indeed twisted.

"Are you joking? A certain freelance adventurer has provided an ancient magical artifact to the next head of the Baumeister Knightly Estate."

"I see."

Rukner, the Minister of Finance, swallowed the words, "Of course, you must have prepared both the adventurer and the magical artifact," knowing that he had no evidence and would be at fault if he accused without proof.

"I don't know how you obtained this important information..."

Rukner, the Minister of Finance, understood that it was clearly a self-staged, ridiculous farce.

However, asking a noble about their source of information would only invite ridicule.

It was common sense that nobles would not reveal their sources for free, as they were their means of advancement and livelihood.

"Why did you come to report this now? What are you thinking?"

Noble children killing each other was a common occurrence, but the responses varied.

Some cases were passed off as natural deaths or accidents, causing no problems.

Others were suspected but lacked evidence, leading to no punishment.

Some were discovered and punished severely.

The outcome depended on various conditions, which were difficult for a layperson to determine.

However, in this case,

The kingdom was eagerly waiting to punish the culprit.

Naturally, the culprit would face severe punishment.

"If they act rashly, punishment will be easy. However..."

The man in front of him was undoubtedly the one who had provided the magical artifact to the eldest son of the Baumeister family.

Considering the difficulty of communication and movement to the Baumeister territory, the eldest son might have already used it.

If something happened to the Baumeister Baron, this man would not be safe.

Yet, he came to report it calmly and condescendingly.

He wondered what this man was thinking.

"If something happens to the Baumeister Baron..."

As he was about to say, "You will be destroyed," the man in front of him interrupted.

"I, too, serve the kingdom. I will not hinder the development of the southern undeveloped land."

"Is that not a bit too hypocritical?"

"Although I had some disagreements with the Baumeister Baron in the past, I do not find them favorable."

Currently, the benefits of the undeveloped land development would not go to this man and his faction.

It was natural for a noble to try to mend relations, regardless of whether it was possible.

However, Rukner, the Minister of Finance, thought, "I will never recognize it as long as I am in charge."

"So, what do you want?"

"The freelance adventurer seems to have obtained the magical artifact from the black market at the request of the eldest son."

"Indeed, that seems likely."

Magical artifacts discovered in ruins generally belong to the adventurers who found them.

Convenient items like refrigerators and stoves were fine, but some had troublesome functions.

In some cases, they were cursed and could cause significant harm upon contact.

Therefore, such items were forcibly purchased by the Adventurer's Guild and rigorously managed by the kingdom.

However, some items still made their way to the black market.

Adventurers who did not report these dangerous magical artifacts and sold them on the black market for criminal or conspiratorial purposes.

No matter how strict the regulations, it was impossible to completely eliminate this problem.

"The freelance adventurer seems to have heard