“The loan?”
“You’re weren’t able to prepare the king’s gift, right?”
The merchant guild couldn’t make its usual arrangements this year.
“And you’re bringing that up now because?”
“That’s one of the guild’s duties, isn’t it?”
“Come to think of it, did you decide on an offering for the king?”
“Yeah, the adventurers’ guild gave me a goblin king’s sword.”
“A goblin king’s sword?”
“Yeah, that bear adventurer got it when she defeated the goblin king.”
“By bear, do you mean Yuna?”
When I mentioned Yuna, Milaine’s reaction changed for the first time.
“You know Yuna?” I asked.
“She’s the rookie who defeated a hundred goblins, overhunted the wolves, slayed tigerwolves, recently defeated the black viper, and dresses like an adorable bear.”
“You seem awfully knowledgeable about her.”
“That’s because she’s a promising rookie. Even the merchant guild has its eyes set on her. I had no idea she’d gotten a goblin king’s sword when she slayed the goblin horde. I wish she had have sold it to the merchant guild.”
“And that’s how I got an offering for the king. So maybe I’ll have you return that loan for not making good on your duty to prepare an offering for the king?”
“That’s underhanded. So it seems you already know Yuna, then.”
“More or less. She’s also caught my eye. I’ve never met an adventurer as interesting as her.”
“Well, it looks like that very same adventurer hates you.”
“…what was that?”
“Yuna is the one who is supplying eggs to the guild. She also made her deal with the merchant guild on the condition that we refuse to sell them to the Fochrosé family.”
“It was Yuna?”
That bear girl hated me? I felt unsettled.
When I first met her, I thought she was an interesting girl. I ruminated on what I knew of her—her peculiar house, her generous gifts to my family, her accomplishments in battle. She seemed personable. That Yuna hated me? It didn’t seem that way the last time we spoke.
“May I ask why she feels that way about me?”
“You’ll need to ask her yourself.”
I doubted I’d get an answer even if I kept pressing her. Milaine was that kind of woman.
“I understand. I’ll go see Yuna.”
I left the merchant guild and made my way to the notorious bear house.
I called Yuna out, waiting at her door.
“Welcome, Lord Cliff. What brings you by?”
“Yuna, I have something I want to ask you.”
“What could that be?”
“Why will you not sell eggs to the Fochrosé family?”
“What’re you talking about?”
“I pressured it out of Milaine, so don’t get mad at her.”
“I’m not really that mad. I told her that she could tell you about me if it caused trouble for the guild anyway.”
“Well, why did you tell them not to sell them to me?”
“It’s because the orphanage is producing the eggs.”
“…um?”
“So, I just had them not sell them to you to rile you up.”
“Why would you not sell eggs to me because the orphanage is producing them?”
“Are you for real? You’ve been steadily chipping away at their funding until you just cut them off in the end. Sure, the orphanage isn’t contributing to the town, but I don’t think that justifies driving kids to their death when they’ve got a future ahead of them. It’s not like the kids don’t have parents because they want to. I don’t like how you sacrificed them just because they weren’t essential.”
Yuna didn’t give me any time to process.
“The children were so hungry,” she went on, “they were scavenging for people’s leftovers. The orphanage’s instructors were begging for the shops and inns’ scraps. They wore the same clothes every single day. The house they sleep in is drafty. They don’t have warm blankets for their beds. Why should those kids feed you with the eggs from chickens they worked so hard to raise?”
“…”
“Besides, I’m sure you could survive without eggs—you’re a lord, after all.”
I didn’t understand what Yuna was saying. Every new detail of her account baffled me afresh.
“I figured they earned a little retribution on their behalf, even if the headmistress already seemed grateful enough just getting a place to live.”
As I started assembling the pieces of Yuna’s account, I understood why Milaine had sided with her—but I hadn’t cut off the orphanage’s funding. Why did she think I had?
“Yuna, you probably won’t believe me, but I didn’t cut off the orphanage. I’m going to go home and confirm that. Once I understand what’s going on, I’ll come back.”
I quickly returned to my residence. I didn’t walk—I ran. I needed answers.
Once I returned to my office, I called for Rondo.
“Are you back, Master Cliff?”
“Rondo! This is urgent—I need you to find out what happened to the orphanage’s funding.”
“The orphanage’s funding, you say?”
“That’s right, find the person who made me look like a heartless lord!”
“I understand.”
Rondo bowed his head and left. I was so worked up, I didn’t get any of the afternoon’s work done.
Rondo came back to my office that evening.
“May I, Master Cliff?”
“Did you find something?”
“Yes, the person managing the orphanage’s funding is Master Enz Roland.”
“It was Enz?”
I see. So he was responsible. I wanted to punch myself for not knowing what was going on in my own domain.
“It seems Master Enz is embezzling the orphanage’s funds.”
“He did what?!”
At its core my job was to delegate work to others, yes, but also to check up on them. Every month, when the orphanage’s request for funds crossed my desk, I would sign it and release the funds without giving it another thought. Of course Yuna would be angry.
“I have yet to examine the details; however, it seems that Master Enz has falsified the records of every fiscal exchange he has been involved with to conceal his embezzlement. It appears he is also in debt.”
“Why would he need to take out loans if he’s embezzling our funds?”
“It seems he’s quite the womanizer. Furthermore, his wife seems to have a bottomless appetite for jewelry and such, and his son seems to have taken to his father’s extravagant philandering habits.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
That was the town’s money.
“Does he
