TGS - Chapter 80
Chapter 80: Ample Evidence
Several soldiers hurriedly shouted at the disaster victims, driving them back so they wouldn't disturb the Crown Prince.
Romuer looked at the victims, who stared intently at the food before turning their fearful gazes upon him. The muscles in his jaw twitched as he repeated his question, "Is this all there is for disaster relief?"
A man with small eyes and dressed in fine clothes stood beside Romuer. His features were distinctive, strongly resembling a mouse. He was one of the nobles who had been following the city lord the day before.
This noble answered the Crown Prince's question.
"It is certainly not our wish for the people to go hungry. Your Highness, as the Lord of the city said yesterday, food is scarce after the disaster. We must be frugal."
"I also said that I would arrange for more supplies to be sent. Before they arrive, you must at least ensure the victims can survive—"
"But the next shipment of grain has not yet arrived. The officials in charge of relief dare not be wasteful. We ask for Your Highness's understanding."
"I know how much relief grain my father allocated. I am only asking you now, just how severe is the food shortage?"
"Well, we are trying to supply an entire city..."
Romuer had received a royal education. Especially after his father became king, he was personally tutored by the High Priest of the God of Sky and Wind. He was no fool.
The day before, when he passed by the food distribution point, Romuer hadn't looked closely and didn't notice anything amiss.
But upon inspection today, the obvious inconsistencies were laid bare before him.
Seeing the Crown Prince's initial suspicion turn into a grim realization, the two advisors behind him exchanged a look.
One of them stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Your Highness, please calm yourself for a moment. Let us speak over here."
The group walked a short distance away.
Once they were at a slight remove, the soldiers relaxed their cordon, and the victims surged forward to snatch the food. Only a few worldly-wise elderly people glanced at the backs of the Crown Prince and his retinue with a hint of sorrow, but they too had no choice but to join the frantic scramble.
Lotus lagged a few steps behind, perfectly positioned to overhear their conversation.
The mouse-faced noble was wearing a fawning smile, feeding Romuer all sorts of excuses.
After listening, Romuer lowered his head in thought for a long while before finally saying, "I have only one question: have you touched the relief grain?"
"This..." The noble's gaze slid to the faces of the Crown Prince's advisors.
The advisors understood the cue.
"Your Highness, in situations like this, it's more or less common practice to take a little something, isn't it?" one advisor seized the opportunity to whisper in the Crown Prince's ear. "In my opinion, the situation in Disimeng is actually quite good. At the very least, they've left the people enough food to survive. They haven't let them starve to death."
"But—"
Romuer had never known hunger a day in his life. How could he know the difference between a portion of food that might not be filling and one that would lead to starvation?
The other advisor discreetly nudged his companion's arm and tried to persuade from another angle.
"Your Highness, please hear me out. Profiteering from a natural disaster is certainly a grave offense. Your visit is the perfect opportunity to put a stop to this behavior and make them spit out what they've swallowed."
"Is that all that's needed?"
"Your Highness means?"
Romuer said, "According to the law, those who embezzle money or goods must have the embezzled amount recovered and be fined an equal sum from their own assets. More serious offenders should be stripped of their official posts, and the most egregious cases are to be executed as a warning to others."
"Precisely!" The advisor clapped his hands. "You are as righteous as His Majesty. You must be bathed in the glow of the Goddess of Law's just scales."
Romuer paused, embarrassed. "Don't say that. I am still far from reaching my father's level."
At the mention of Horst, his eyes filled with admiration and reverence.
The two advisors glanced at each other, and praises seemed to flow from their mouths without a second thought. The noble also joined the chorus of flattery.
Lotus: "..."
Honestly, listening to this was a pollution to the ears.
The Crown Prince couldn't fend it off and cleared his throat with feigned seriousness. "That's enough. This matter must be thoroughly investigated. If the investigation confirms that grain was embezzled—" He remembered the city lord's kind face and hesitated, leaving the latter half of his sentence unsaid.
The advisor exclaimed, "Your Highness is wise and decisive!"
His eyes darted around as he added, seemingly offhandedly, "Speaking of which, this Lord Fenlieni seems to be the younger brother of Lord Fenduolide. Has Your Highness heard Lord Fenduolide mention him?"
Fenduolide, the current Finance Minister of Solancia.
He was also one of Romuer's tutors.
The Crown Prince asked, "What are you trying to say?"
"Just a casual mention, Your Highness."
Romuer was silent for a moment. "Regardless of whether he is a member of Teacher Fenduolide's family, I will not violate the spirit of the law for his sake."
With that, he turned and strode off in another direction.
It was the direction of the city lord's tent.
Behind the Crown Prince's back, the noble and the advisors exchanged meaningful glances. From their silent communication, it was clear this matter was far from over.
Lotus listened for a while, her expression unavoidably complex.
To carry out such a level of corruption with relief supplies in Disimeng, a city so close to the royal capital, and to do so with such impunity...
It was hard to believe there wasn't tacit approval from Akhet, or that higher-ranking officials hadn't greased the wheels.
But for now, although Romuer's attitude was more hesitant than decisive, his general direction was firm.
Why had Horst sent his son here? To uphold justice? If that were the case, he could have simply controlled things at the source and avoided all this trouble. Why go through such an unnecessary exercise?
Lotus floated along lightly, her destination also the tent where the city lord was temporarily residing.
—Strictly speaking, this act of listening in on conspiracies in her spirit form could be considered using divine power to interfere with the trajectory of mortals, potentially touching the "line."
But Lotus didn't care.
They had already done it, so why should they fear a god listening?
She would just let the Princess believe she had a subordinate, a master spy who could come and go without a trace, always managing to overhear credible intelligence.
Traditional Solancian folktales were not without stories of extraordinarily skilled thieves who specialized in robbing the rich to help the poor, spreading the secrets of nobles and wealthy merchants far and wide. They were usually bards who concealed their true talents—which wasn't surprising, as it was mostly bards who wrote these epic poems.
And what she was doing was probably just a dream come to life.
Lotus thought, feeling perfectly justified.
Meanwhile, Alyuin had already left the granary of Disimeng.
The granary was a dome-shaped building, sturdily constructed like other structures in northern Solancia, equipped with facilities to prevent dampness and freezing. Guards armed with weapons stood at the entrance, and soldiers patrolled around the building, guarding against potential raids—or riots.
Alyuin only glanced at it from a distance and did not approach.
With her abilities, she could indeed take out the guards and sneak into the warehouse to see the situation for herself, but doing so would inevitably leave traces and alert the enemy.
Next, the Princess passed by the rescue site.
It was called a rescue, but it was more like clearing rubble and searching for bodies. Several days had passed since the earthquake; few of the unfortunate souls buried beneath could have survived this long.
This was the necessary path back to the camp. At the edge of the camp, scribes responsible for tallying various figures sat in a circle, holding scrolls of paper.
Every time a laborer pulled a corpse from the ruins, they had to report it here before the body could be taken to the morgue for identification.
The scribe would then raise his hand and lightly make a mark on the paper.
When soldiers dragged the corpse of a poor person who had frozen or starved to death out of the camp, they also had to leave a number here before the body could be disposed of.
The scribe treated them all the same, with another dot of ink.
Each dot of milky-white ink on the dark brown paper represented a life.
Counting was necessary, but when victims of a natural disaster and victims who froze or starved to death in the camp were recorded on the same sheet without any special distinction, it became highly problematic.
"An unusually high number of deaths from the earthquake?"
Alyuin murmured to herself.
If they counted this way, of course the number would be higher than the actual figure.
But if they didn't, and the number of victims who died in the camp was too high, the Lord of Disimeng and the officials responsible for distributing supplies would be unable to escape the blame.
Since they were careful enough to conceal things in this manner, the undisguised skimming at the food distribution point was unlikely to be an oversight.
It was brazen, ironclad proof.
The Princess walked on, stopping here and there, gradually constructing a logical map in her mind, connecting all the pieces of the incident.
She still felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing.
Just as she was thinking this, Lotus happened to be passing by from behind.
The spirit's frost-blue eyes shifted, and she saw Alyuin's back.
Lotus paused, her fingertips unconsciously twirling a strand of her long hair. For reasons she couldn't quite explain, she floated closer and whispered softly in the Princess's ear, "I am here."
The gentle whisper carried the unique clarity and ethereal quality of her true voice. Had anyone else heard it, they might have thought they'd seen a ghost in broad daylight.
But the Princess didn't even blink.
With a calm expression, Alyuin raised an eyebrow. Her eyes remained fixed forward as her lips parted slightly. "So you're right here? I thought it was some kind of long-distance communication."
Long-distance communication?
Ever since Lotus's warning in the arena, Alyuin had never asked about the voice that had suddenly sounded in her ear that day, just as she had never asked why the people who attacked the goddess had died so bizarrely.
So this was how Alyuin understood it.
Lotus had intended to explain, but at that moment, the past three years of floating by the Princess's side as a spirit flashed before her eyes.
Hmm... explaining this would be a bit awkward.
On second thought, it was better to let the Princess believe it was a secret divine art, a form of long-distance communication, rather than having an invisible spirit in her life.
Thus, Lotus pretended not to hear Alyuin's response and continued in a calm, even tone, "I will wait for you in the tent."
No matter what else the Princess said, Lotus remained resolutely silent.
Alyuin softly called Lotus's name a few more times, then ceased her attempts and continued walking forward with a thoughtful expression.
Lotus breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as she was about to speed up and float back to the tent to be seated before Alyuin arrived, she saw the Princess suddenly stop and swiftly raise her right arm.
Lotus had just been speaking into her right ear.
The River Goddess watched as that long, supple, honey-colored arm rose, seemingly passing casually through her translucent spirit form.
There was no sensation of touching a solid object. Alyuin calmly turned, her arm sweeping around with the movement.
Still nothing.
Alyuin lowered her arm.
"Tsk."
Lotus: "..."
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