Chapter 34
Director of the Treasury (2)
* * *
I needed various forms of support, including forged identities and operational funds.
Of course, I did have money, so if I twisted myself into knots and tried hard enough, I might be able to pull it off somehow.
But the things I could do and the things the Rose Garden could do were different in scale and quantity from the very start.
“It goes without saying, but I will forget everything we’ve discussed here today.”
I would accept the Rose Garden’s support, but if things went wrong, I intended to take all the responsibility alone.
I judged that only with this level of resolve would the Rose Garden be willing to provide assistance.
At my words, Cecilia burst out laughing.
Cecilia continued to laugh for a while, then abruptly stopped and fixed me with her dull, lusterless gaze.
“Human memory doesn’t work so conveniently.”
We were not creatures that could selectively forget whatever we wished.
Cecilia stood up from her seat, circled behind me, placed both hands on my shoulders, and whispered low.
“You just said you want to use the Rose Garden’s resources while remaining an outsider.”
Her hands gently swept down my shoulders.
“Do you think you’re permitted to let the word failure cross your lips?”
There was no need to bother with forgetting or remembering. If I failed, I would die.
“I will make absolutely sure to succeed.”
Only then did Cecilia pat my shoulders with both hands and step back.
“Indeed, you’d better. Next time, I hope you’ll give the right answer without needing to be prompted.”
It felt as if jogging wrapped in dozens of vipers would have been safer than this experience.
“Still, I’m not the sort of person who only knows how to threaten.”
Returning to her seat, Cecilia spoke with a smile much more lively than before.
If you fail, you die, no questions asked. But fear of failure alone could not drive a person to act.
To wield a vicious whip, you had to prepare an equally tempting carrot.
“I’ve heard you learned the Swift Blade. Perhaps you’re also interested in the House Featherwing’s heritage?”
For a moment, my expression nearly broke. It was almost fortunate Cecilia had just threatened me.
If I hadn’t been on edge…
There was no way I could have maintained my composure as I did now.
The harrowing experience had left my wariness of Cecilia at its peak, and thanks to that, I barely managed to stay calm.
“Do you happen to have something in your possession?”
“I know the whereabouts of a certain book. The first volume of the Veil of Plumed Mist Exegesis written by Telthos Featherwing.”
In that instant, my heart began to pound. An exegesis was a work that supplemented the original with commentary and examples.
Because of this, its length grew, so only parts of the original would be excerpted and compiled.
Still, for me, who had no master, an exegesis would be of great help.
If it was Telthos Featherwing… he was my great-great-uncle.
He had never become the Imperial Blade, but he had made a name for himself as an outstanding swordsman.
In the first place, when it came to an exegesis, who had written the commentary and examples attached to it was extremely important.
If there were strange examples or commentary, it would only get in the way.
It would be like trying to find your way with a broken signpost. But if it was Telthos Featherwing, he was an author I could trust.
“If what I heard is true, House Featherwing never taught outsiders.”
I answered calmly.
“Everyone who bore the Featherwing name is already dead. It’s not as though a ghost is going to come and kill me.”
“That’s true enough.”
I lied as I observed Cecilia out of the corner of my eye. Contrary to my expectations, Cecilia didn’t seem to have any particular interest in Featherwing.
Or maybe not?
The only reason Cecilia had made this offer was simply because she’d learned I knew the Swift Blade.
She hadn’t even imagined that I might be a surviving Featherwing.
Honestly, expecting that would have been even more absurd.
It wasn’t an expectation; the word delusion suited it better.
It was nonsense. If she could foresee that, Cecilia wouldn’t be the boss of the Rose Garden—she’d be more like some wandering fortune-teller.
“Since the success reward has been decided, all that’s left is for you to deliver good news and receive it.”
At my words, Cecilia nodded slightly.
“All right. Now then…”
Cecilia clapped her hands with a sharp sound.
“Would you care for breakfast?”
“Thank you.”
Cecilia called someone in to prepare breakfast, and before long, the meal was ready.
“…You have a remarkable sense for choosing a menu.”
My eyes landed on steak accompanied by grilled vegetables, creamed spinach, and mashed potatoes.
After seeing the breakfast laid out, I instinctively glanced out the window to check the time.
It wasn’t the quantity that was strange—it was the menu itself. Food fit for dinner had appeared at breakfast.
“I prefer to have a hearty breakfast.”
It was indeed a very hearty breakfast. At any rate, I also picked up a fork and knife.
“The current Director of the Treasury is Simid Kellogg.”
The Kellogg family was one of the leading noble faction houses now.
Originally, it hadn’t been a house with such overwhelming power.
After the fall of Featherwing, the Kellogg family had succeeded in absorbing many of the families who had once been Featherwing’s vassals by using various clever means.
In any case, to uncover the purpose of this suspiciously massive amount of national tax siphoning, I would have to poke around the Kellogg family.
“I’ve heard they’re good at playing nobles.”
Finishing her meal, Cecilia spoke to me. Though phrased as a question, she already knew the answer.
“Yes. I’m confident.”
And I didn’t try to back away either. I’d said I would do the job, so I was asking for support.
What I needed to show now was not caution, but confidence and composure.
Cecilia took out a business card and slid it across to me.
“If you need anything, show this at the Rose Garden’s guarantee office and tell them.”
After finishing the meal and taking the card, I left the Rose Garden mansion and headed straight for Spring Parsley.
“What the hell is this, you bastard?”
Spring Parsley looked slightly bewildered by my sudden visit, but after listening to my explanation, he ended up blurting out a rough curse without meaning to.
“Do you have some grudge against the Valorn Empire or something?”
His guess came alarmingly close to the truth, but I decided not to respond to that remark.
“Is it possible? If you can’t, it’s fine to say so.”
“You’re talking about robbing the Imperial Director of the Treasury’s house.”
Spring Parsley scratched his forehead with a look of utter disbelief.
“It hasn’t been that long since you pulled off a heist on the national tax office. And now you want to go again. Normally, people like you or builders like me after finishing a job, take at least three months off.”
It was a gamble where the moment you failed, your life was over. The mental stress and pressure were no joke, and in that environment, it was easy for a culture to form where you did one big job and then rested for a long time.
“Lazy people.”
I didn’t care whether others rested for a few days or a few months.
“You have to make money while you’re young. If you work lazily, you’ll never get ahead.”
If your life’s goal wasn’t to get ahead of others, there was no need to work without rest.
But anyone who wanted to be the best could never rest when everyone else did.
“Get lost.”
Spring Parsley said that, then let out a low groan.
“The Kellogg estate takes three days to reach by train from Bennett City.”
That was a feature of the Valorn Empire. It boasted an unimaginably vast territory, but in reality, only about 30–40% of the land was actually fertile or valuable.
The land was huge, but usable land was limited, so there were plenty of areas under the Valorn Empire’s rule where hardly anyone lived.
Carlson Labor Correctional Facility was a prime example of putting such uninhabited regions to some practical use.
“So the Kellogg family still lives on the eastern outskirts of Rubens City.”
At my words, Spring Parsley nodded.
“Yeah, but how do you know that?”
“I’m from Valorn. You ought to know at least where the Director of the Treasury lives.”
Spring Parsley gave me an uncertain expression.
If it were the President’s or the Emperor’s residence, maybe, but the Treasury Director’s home was hardly common knowledge.
Of course, I had no intention of offering any excuses, so I simply ignored his doubt.
“Let’s say we put together a plan. But is there any scrap left over for me?”
Spring Parsley was not the kind of person who did charity work. If appropriate compensation wasn’t prepared, there was no way he would take the job.
I needed something enticing enough to make Spring Parsley want to work.
“Trying to lure you with money probably won’t work, right?”
At my words, Spring Parsley snorted.
“How long has it even been since we looted the Imperial Treasury? You think I’m already desperate for cash?”
There was a reason people said you had to starve the hawk before a hunt.
Until he ran out of money, no matter how much reward I promised, Spring Parsley wouldn’t feel like working.
But I needed his help.
“I’m planning to receive support from the Rose Garden.”
At that, Spring Parsley shivered all over.
“Support, my ass. That’s just a fancy way of saying that the moment you fail, you’re dead. Shit, good luck.”
Unlike me, Spring Parsley was an experienced man. The job of robbing the Empire’s national tax convoy in the first place had been one he’d handled under the Rose Garden’s brokerage.
“At least for me it was just a brokerage. You’re talking about direct support.”
The way he looked at me was like he was staring at the portrait of someone already dead.
Naturally, since I was still alive, being looked at like that didn’t feel good.
But at the same time, another thought came to me that immediately improved my mood.
“I’m planning to report to the Rose Garden that I need your support.”
A drowning man grabs another.
I couldn’t be the only one to suffer. If a thief broke into my house tonight, I’d be happy to tell him where the key to yours was.
Let’s die together.
“You’re fucking kidding, right?”
Spring Parsley looked at me as he said that.
But the steel in my gaze proved that I was not joking.
I needed Spring Parsley. Whatever else, when it came to crafting criminal plans, he was unmatched.
“If we pull it off, it’ll be huge. It won’t be just another job the Rose Garden arranged—it’ll be a job we pulled off with their direct support.”
“No, you bastard. I’m going to die!”
I ignored Spring Parsley’s wail of despair and continued.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine. If the job fails, I’ll just kill myself before the Rose Garden does it for me.”
“You’re talking so casually because it’s not your neck on the line?!”
Even though he said that, if the job went bad, I’d have no choice but to commit suicide, too.
“Just think for a minute how many things will be possible if we work with the Rose Garden’s backing.”
“I have thought about it. And I’ve imagined what happens if we fail!”
Hearing that, I answered.
“I won’t ask for anything more. Just help me with robbing the Treasury Director’s estate. After that, I’ll try to persuade you, but I won’t force you.”
Spring Parsley let out a long sigh and thought it over before answering.
“The Treasury Director… fine. But the price will be steep.”
“Thank you.”
From Spring Parsley’s perspective, if I decided to drag him down like a drowning man, he’d have no way to escape.
If we failed, the Rose Garden would kill us. If he refused, the Rose Garden would kill him anyway.
The chance of failure wasn’t 100%. But if he said no, death was certain.
Trying and hoping for success was the better option.
And so Spring Parsley, like someone forced to eat mustard while crying, ended up agreeing to take part.
“One builder will be enough. Thieving doesn’t get easier just because you have more people.”
Spring Parsley said firmly, and I agreed.
This was different from looting a train guarded by soldiers. This was theft. The difference between robbery and theft was simple: robbery meant beating someone up and taking it, while theft meant taking it quietly without being noticed.
In other words, the best outcome was to secure what we needed and escape without being caught. If we were discovered before we got what we came for, that would be instant failure.
“With the Rose Garden promising support, I won’t need to worry about supplies for the job, right? I’ll draw up the blueprints. Wait a few days.”
It was hard to say whether his tone was more like a threat or persuasion, but either way, I had succeeded in roping Spring Parsley in.
Having secured a builder, all I could do now was wait for the plans to be ready.
“Come to think of it, I’d almost forgotten about Areumdri Pawnshop.”
Jonathan, the owner of Longwave Bistro, knew where the branch of Areumdri Pawnshop in Upside was located.
By sheer luck, I had managed to learn the whereabouts of one of the Veil of Plumed Mist exegeses from the Rose Garden, but getting that alone wouldn’t be the end of it.
“There’s still plenty I have to find.”
The gold and silver we’d seized from the tax transport train had originally been meant to fund a commission to Areumdri Pawnshop.