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(235)
The 'Yeongmyeong' casino seemed twice as fancy as it was during the 'Hope' days.
“Pour, empty.”
“Five chips for four!”
“Eight chips for eight.”
Masked rich young masters and ladies enjoyed drinking, gambling, and smoking cigarettes, flanked by handsome and beautiful dealers, while jewel-decorated chandeliers swayed from the ceiling.
… … That was made by the same craftsman who supplied the chandelier to the palace.
How did you get something that only nobles would sell?
“VIP. Are you here?”
As if apologizing for calling me, the red mask folded its waist in half and bowed its head.
“… … .”
Some new prayer warriors who didn't know me looked at me with puzzled eyes.
The Red Mask had been reigning as the queen of the red-light district for two years, and there weren't many people she could bow down to.
I snickered and gestured for her to get up, then adjusted my white mask and snuggled close to her.
“Don’t talk inside.”
A splendid room, a huge marble round table, expensive drinks and snacks, and beautiful men and women praying.
It was an atmosphere that really made me feel treated well.
Next to me, I could vaguely hear Rudy muttering, "Should we bring that round table into the villa too?"
The door closed, and the red mask nodded lightly towards Rudy.
“Your Majesty. Belated congratulations.”
Rumors that the maid had become a count were already rife in the capital's social circles.
“Oh. Thank you.”
Rudy waved his hand as if it was a bit burdensome.
I could also hear him panting slightly, as if the paper mask was uncomfortable.
I thought it would be better to just work and leave quickly.
An entertainment district where people can't play is just noisy.
“Red Mask. Why does the karma seem to have become more extravagant?”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. People are looking for a lot of tobacco.”
“How did you get that armor? It’s not something that’s sold outside.”
The red mask answered with a childish smile.
“That night, I sent the children of the Highness to the Ivory Tower Special Zone. I received a small reward.”
“That door wouldn’t have opened from the ivory tower side?”
“I will never tell you that I am managing a passage using an underground waterway.”
I said so, so please look at it.
I raised both hands and nodded.
Collaborators who would bend obediently were always welcome.
“Yeah. So what do you mean by spy?”
* * *
The red mask opened its mouth.
“Your Majesty, I am sure you know better, but all sorts of things have crept into the capital mixed with the winter refugees.”
The Seven Kingdoms in the East, the Amir Emirate in the South, the Kingdom of Doroisen in the Northwest, the Republic of Langsowa in the West, and the Jahan Alliance in the Southwest.
There were only five major powers that could pose a direct threat to the Empire, and countless smaller kingdoms, dominions, and principalities.
All those countries would have sent spies and agents to find out what was going on in the empire, so the capital would be teeming with spies right now.
The shooting of the merchant nobles on the street also served as a warning to them.
Stop trying to make strange excuses and let our country know that we are still strong.
“Yes. There is no better place to gather information than here.”
Merchants, nobles, adventurers, artisans, criminals.
It doesn't seem strange no matter who comes, anyone can come and chatter about anything, and aliases and masks are natural.
“But if you’re stuck among the guests, you’ll be able to tell them apart to some extent, right? Why don’t you just catch them and put them in the sewer?”
“As you said, I got rid of the ones that were too serious. But… … I want to get rid of them as naturally as possible. I want to see them leave on their own.”
I said with a faint smile.
“You’re confident. I like it. Why?”
“… … I’m just a red-light district manager to the outside world. If I start a large-scale crackdown under my leadership, it’ll become a rumor, and customers will wonder how I can do something like this.”
“I see.”
“Then it will become public knowledge that I am Your Majesty’s servant, my shop will go out of business, and the streets will suffer great damage as well.”
Then I also suffered a great loss.
“Lord Valen?”
Rudy gave me a look that said, "Wouldn't it be right to just let it go?"
I shook my head slightly.
Now the Red Mask was no longer someone who would send me a few gold coins.
He was the manager who stopped the real gangs from crawling into the rotten red-light district and selling child trafficking, hard drugs, and smoky cigarettes.
He was a collaborator who revealed the secrets and corruption of the upper echelons of the empire, including the court nobles, the metropolitan councilors, the upper house lords, and the workshop masters.
“I have to tell Congresswoman Rosa that her son is addicted to cigarettes. I’ll hide it, so she should stop opposing the Vigilante Act.”
“Did Vice-Captain Peng touch the mercenary corps’ funds? I should ask for your voluntary cooperation in maintaining public order.”
“I didn’t know that Essil’s boss had such tastes. This is horrible.”
So, it was necessary to quietly eliminate the spies without the guests here finding out.
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Of course, one could not expect such a covert role from the police chief or the Black Iron Knights.
I turned my head towards Rudy.
“Would you like to go out first? I’ll ask for support from outside.”
“… … .”
It was clear that he didn't like it even through the mask.
I hung on with an affectionate voice.
“I won’t drink or gamble here. I don’t smoke cigarettes in the first place.”
Only then did her momentum subside a little.
Even through the mask, I could see the red mask glaring in surprise.
Rudy left the room, and the red mask spoke.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a VIP treat someone like that. Is the rumor true?”
"rumor?"
“This is one of the rumors coming from spies. It’s about why the VIP appointed the maid as a count.”
“… … Tell me.”
“It is rumored that the chief maid of the palace, Rudi Consecratus, has been brainwashing Emperor Valencianus with various drugs and physical punishments since he was young. As a result, His Majesty has become her complete captive, and if she tells him to lick her feet, she will lick a footstool-.”
“I guess I can stop talking.”
I stood up, cutting off the enemy's words.
He received the list from the prayer and checked it, then grabbed the doorknob and asked.
“Red mask.”
"yes."
“Did you want to give me some motivation?”
"……yes."
“It was a success.”
* * *
“I should have definitely asked for hot iced coffee!”
Sandr, an employee of the Dawn Casino and a spy for the Kingdom of Doroisen, was on the verge of madness and delusion.
“V, VIP. There’s no such thing as hot iced coffee. Haven’t I already brought it back five times?”
A VIP who appeared out of nowhere started ordering things I had never heard of before.
“Are you ignoring me? You eat this dirty water. Right now! In front of me!”
“Yes, yes.”
'Even though I've seen everything, the prayers don't move. They're clearly top-tier VIPs. They could get cut off if they're not careful. That can't be happening.'
Sandur had already brought his fifth cup of coffee to his lips.
The VIP gestured for us to stop and gave some vague instructions.
“Who said it was okay to drink it?”
"yes?"
If you don't drink coffee with your mouth, where do you drink it?
Sandur asked back in confusion.
“Then where should I drink my coffee?”
“What good is a mouth that can’t say a single word I want to say? Let me drink it through my nose.”
Immediately afterwards, I was filled with despair at the absurdity.
“This is crazy… … .”
At 1 a.m., Sandr sat in front of the bathroom mirror, looking at the coffee dripping down his nose and thinking.
'I'm quitting. I'm quitting no matter what. There must be a better casino to find out information about.'
An unidentified VIP was seen wandering the red-light district, his fangs bared.
“Why is this wine so bitter?”
“Excuse me, the wine you ordered is the strongest wine. I’m sure I explained it to you clearly.”
“No. Does that mean I’m lying?”
Gang!
"evil!"
He swung the bottle, cracking the spy's head and shoving the bottle into his mouth.
'There's a kid like this. I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him no matter what.'
The spy was busy gnashing his teeth, but his opponent was a VIP.
“Why is the bed so hard? Bring me another mattress.”
“VIP. The seats are already touching the ceiling.”
“Are you ignoring my keen senses? Bring me more right now. Or you can lie down and feel the discomfort.”
"yes?"
The spy officer carefully climbed up and lay down, then immediately felt like jumping out the window or pushing the guy out the window.
“Your dirty back has been touched. Now take that mat out and bring me a new one. You don’t want me to sleep on the mat you’re lying on, do you?”
“?!”
Valencianus committed many atrocities during his time as a prodigy before his return, which he had seen and heard about from those around him.
The spies of each country were going crazy and delirious.
“That kid is totally crazy!”
Late at night, at the end of a secret regular meeting, a stool burst out.
“He made me drink strong alcohol through my nose, ordered a live snake as a side dish, and stuffed the snake into my pants.”
“You order the best cigarettes and then throw the ashtray because the smoke is bad. I told you my head is broken.”
“You ran away without paying. You said you were a VIP! When I chased you, you tripped me and fell. You said my ankle was hurt and you want me to pay for the treatment?”
“She ordered spaghetti with a lot of chili and pepper, and told me to eat it all because it was spicy. I cried while eating it all, and then she ordered another plate of the same thing? I ate seven plates that day!”
“I was giving a bath at a hotel, and he hit my cheek saying the water was too wet. No, I had to say something to him so he wouldn’t listen. What was I supposed to do?”
“Have you ever tried making hot iced coffee? I drank three cups of it and it went down pretty well.”
“He picked on me for something strange, and then he beat me up while offering to pay for it. He said one silver coin per hit, but since I was sold for thirty silver coins, I said, ‘Thank you.’ And at the end, he gave me a gold coin and told me to buy some bread, giggling. If I hadn’t been trained, I would have suffered the aftereffects.”
“Should we move to another store?”
“Let’s hold on a little longer. We need to submit regular reports.”
“Every day, Treasury officials come to the bar to drink and leave. We need to properly report on the deaths of the merchants and the recovery of the imperial economy.”
They came from the Kingdom of Doroisen and gnashed their teeth, vowing to one day tear that VIP to pieces.
He had already seen and heard a lot of information, had figured out the weak points of the capital's defenses, and had lined up with several members of the House of Representatives and nobles.
'Yes. Soon the country you're raving about will be burned to the ground, leaving no trace behind.'
'I'll hang you along with those twins.'
'Our restored king will behead your emperor.'
They sighed deeply and left the deserted building, which was about to be demolished, between the old slums and the red-light district.
Spoon!
No, I tried to come out.
“What? Why won’t the door open?”
“Why can’t I open this… … Huh, huh?”
“Cough! Cough! Hey. Where does that smell come from?”
* * *
Flames engulfed a three-story house.
"get out!"
Smoke rose and sparks flew every time the red tongue licked the pillars and walls.
“Window, break the window!”
The sparks that flew like that flared up again and spread, becoming bright red tongues that rose into the sky.
“Why is the smoke so bad?”
Oddly enough, the fire never spread to the house next door.
Clang!
A spy broke a second-floor window with a chair and stuck his head out.
“Get out quickly!”
“This way!”
His hair was disheveled, his clothes were stained with soot, and smoke was seeping out of his mouth.
The moment he stuck his upper body out the window.
Phew!
A single bullet blew his head off completely.
Red liquid spurted everywhere, and the headless upper body collapsed back into the building.
“What, what is it?”
"excuse me!"
The spies who had climbed up to the second floor noticed two figures standing on the roof of the building across the street.
"chambermaid?"
A woman wearing a maid's outfit was pointing something like a long stick at me, and behind her stood a man with long black hair wearing a white mask.
“VIP?”
It was the VIP who had been harassing them for the past few days.
Under the starry night sky, a black-haired man took off his cloak, revealing a white suit with ornate gold decorations.
The spies stared blankly as he pulled down his black wig to reveal his white hair, and even took off his white mask and put it away in his bosom.
“Valencianus.”
Even from this distance, the golden eyes were clear.
“… … I knew this would happen.”
“In just a few more days, we would have figured out the Imperial War Cost Plans… … Was that a trap too?”
“Ha. I got it right.”
The spies sighed and fell to the floor.
The fire burned even more fiercely.