Published: January 4, 2026
At night, I stood quietly a little away from the riverbank, at a spot where I could overlook everything.
Having parted ways with Zoe and acting alone, I no longer needed to be considerate or hold back; I was using all my strength to conceal my presence.
Though it’s common to hide in the grass or bushes, when alone, I wouldn't be detected unless I stood directly in front.
That’s how I watched what those guys were doing.
The pier on the riverbank was lit up with numerous bonfires, making it as bright as daytime.
They had lit it up that much for the loading work.
A large number of ships were docked at the pier, and a crowd of laborers was tightly packed, loading sacks filled with something onto the ships.
Ships would depart fully loaded, and new ships would arrive to be loaded again.
The sacks contained salt.
Since I started watching, enough salt to supply tens of thousands of people had been loaded and transported.
“They must have been really impatient,” I said with a wry smile.
The smuggling that couldn’t happen while I was around, immediately resumed once I was “dead” (…).
I had expected they might wait a day or two to see how things went, so I couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.
“Leviathan.”
(――)
The reply from Leviathan was a strong, “Leave it to me” type of determination.
With this, I could say the evidence was secured.
Duselle’s salt sales and transportation were taxed, so detailed reports with numbers were always submitted.
Those numbers, including the latest, were reported to me from the Imperial Capital.
From what I saw now, there was no need for a detailed comparison.
It was well beyond ten times the usual sales and transport.
This situation itself was already enough evidence.
To gather even more proof, I headed toward a pleasure boat anchored a little further away.
Among the many cargo ships, only that pleasure boat kept a distance, not too close or too far, and, carried by the wind, I could hear the sounds of revelry.
Approaching the boat, I tied Fuwawa’s thread directly to the boat itself.
Then, through the boat and the thread, voices came to me.
“That's three hundred thousand Lien worth. They say it’ll reach five hundred thousand by tomorrow morning.”
“Is that safe? Shipping that much all at once?”
“Don’t worry, we have the darkness authorization from Orcott; there’s almost no chance it’ll get stopped midway.”
“Hmm…”
“It’ll be fine.”
Two men were talking.
One seemed thoughtful, considering many things, while the other was more reckless and pushy.
“The emperor might send a new guy. We have to get as much done as we can before the current one dies and the replacement arrives.”
“…That’s true.”
The calm man was persuaded.
I see, it makes sense.
If I consider myself as a royal envoy sent to investigate rather than the emperor, it’s very possible that a new person will be dispatched upon my sudden death.
Until that person arrives, considering communication delays, the emperor’s decisions, and the new envoy’s travel, twenty days would be a reasonable estimate.
Twenty days is both long and short.
Using this time to do as much as possible before the next opponent arrives is a sound decision.
“Don’t worry, I’ll let you know immediately if anything happens. The tenth your highness is very fond of the women we sent last time.”
A third man’s voice was heard.
People’s tone and choice of words change depending on their position.
This third man’s voice clearly indicated he considered himself above the other two.
“Well gathered.”
“If the your highness likes them, it’s no big deal.”
“The your highness does like them. The hero favors women. We’ve gathered more, so we’ll send them by tomorrow.”
The first two men switched to a tone of flattery.
Apparently, these men belonged to the household of the tenth prince, Dustin.
Dustin was famous for his fondness for women since long ago; some even said he inherited the retired emperor your majesty’s bloodline most strongly.
During the knight selection, he once demanded a pillow—Sheryl stopped that with my intervention.