🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 07
“Ugh, I don’t want to work!”
The next day.
I started yet another day with a stack of payment demands and looked over the ledger Sophia handed me. I slammed down a cup of coffee and focused, and the jumble of numbers swam into view.
Wow. As expected.
“It’s way more of a mess than I thought……”
If this were a company back home, someone would’ve been fired on the spot. It really shows the difference between having proper oversight and not.
“I heard Count William handles the accounting.”
Did he drop out of the academy? Or sleep through all his classes?
The more I looked at the ledger, the more I sincerely wanted to ask.
“Something felt off.”
They were supposed to be a business-minded family, yet they’d managed to lose practically all their assets. It was hard to believe Xavier did all this alone.
“There must’ve been an accomplice.”
And that accomplice was probably Count William.
The accounting records from the past three years were a disaster. Annual budgets were set absurdly high, yet money hemorrhaged into useless purchases and luxury expenses. It was the same when I’d first possessed this body—when I’d just found myself sitting atop twenty billion won in debt, the ledgers were still overflowing with luxury items.
“Something smells rotten here too.”
How is every corner a sewer party?
“This makes it hard even to drug the situation……”
Rubbing my throbbing forehead, I tugged at the bell cord.
A moment later, Sophia came in.
“Please call Count William.”
“Yes, miss.”
About five hours later, a man who hadn’t even properly arranged his clothes crossed the threshold.
“Ahem! You called for me?”
“……Have you been drinking?”
The one thing I can’t do—working while drunk—and this guy’s doing it in my place.
“This insubordination is insane.”
I was genuinely impressed by his… creative work style.
It wasn’t the first time I’d seen the count. We’d crossed paths a few times before.
I should’ve noticed the stench back then.
“Ah, my apologies. Does it smell that bad?”
“Apologize.”
“……Pardon?”
“People don’t usually ask whether they smell bad in situations like this. You apologize first.”
I didn’t care how Aria used to respond. I was about to die here.
“When would I have time to worry about that?”
What needs fixing must be fixed. Letting rotten water sit only attracts bugs.
“You should bow your head properly first.”
I bowed.
“I’m sorry.”
Like this.
“W-what! You’re joking a bit too much today.”
Count William recoiled in shock.
“I’m serious.”
If nothing else, I did graduate with a business degree. People think it’s all humanities, but you have to be pretty good with numbers to protect your GPA. Same at my first job. I’d picked a startup, of all things, and lived every day like smashing eggs against a rock.
I’m sick to death of numbers like these.
“Even a half-dead crap company wouldn’t do accounting like this!”
It was strange. If things were this bad, there should’ve been audits. And yet the imperial family hadn’t intervened—not for three whole years?
“Something smells rotten again.”
This time, is it government corruption?
My head spun.
“Yeah. Rotten water doesn’t start at the bottom.”
It flows down from the top, pools, and then rots.
“This is bad.”
The debt alone isn’t the problem. Even if money magically appeared, the inside is a bucket with the bottom gone. Pour in as much as you like—it’ll never regain its former glory.
“Everything needs to be cut out.”
Which means hiring new people. Cleaning up a failed business and salvaging what remains……
“Damn it. Please, someone save me……”
I swore I’d never do startups after watching a CEO nearly die from overwork. And here I am, exactly the same.
The seeds of burnout were already sprouting.
“Why are you looking at the ledger? There are quite a lot of numbers—can you even understand them?”
“Look at him, trying to change the subject.”
That wasn’t the skill of someone skimming once or twice. I considered calling him out again, but waved it off. I didn’t want to drag this out.
“Yes. I don’t really understand it.”
“As expected—having grown up in a greenhouse, it must be difficult……”
“It’s because the organization is terrible.”
“……Pardon?”
I opened the nearby red ink bottle, dipped the pen, and pointed at the open ledger.
“So I want to reorganize everything from scratch.”
“Reorganize…?”
“I don’t think I can do it alone.”
Ignoring his stunned response, I lifted the pen.
“I think you’ll need to help a lot, Count.”
Before he could run, I asked Sophia to bring in another chair.
“Don’t even think about going home today.”
Nine to six? I’ll trample that into the dirt.
Only after nearly pulling an all-nighter did I finally let the count go.
“D-demon……”
William staggered out without looking back. I drained the last of the coffee in my cup and shuddered.
“Ugh, seriously.”
What’s he so exhausted about?
“I did all the revisions!”
No—revision isn’t the right word. It was a reality check.
“Corporate corruption is terrifying.”
Internal enemies are always worse than external ones. They gnaw away at the inner pillars until collapse is inevitable.
This ledger was the same.
“He really stole a lot.”
After slowly grilling William, I learned several things.
The count and countess are pushovers.
And they’re far more attached to family than expected.
It’s obvious Xavier’s been spinning his web for a long time.
Every luxury item in the ledger went straight into Xavier’s pockets. I mean, how the hell is that even possible?
“For now, these four points.”
There’s more, but these are the most urgent. Each one is huge, and I can’t even tell where to start.
“Still, I’ve got a rough plan. That’ll do for now.”
Finding twenty billion right away is important, but realistically impossible. Even exploiting the original story has its limits.
So I’m not planning to pay that debt at all.
More precisely, I’ll return it to its rightful owner.
“If I can prove the guarantee was coerced, it becomes void immediately.”
Even if the count and countess signed willingly, it wouldn’t matter.
“If evidence doesn’t exist, you just make it.”
Hah. And honestly, it’s not like there’s no evidence. That bastard is dealing in slaves right now.
“He even falsified the books to skim kickbacks.”
Do you think Xavier just saved that money neatly? He definitely invested in the slave trade too. If he’s treating clients at expensive shops, he’s already spent plenty.
“He threatened the count and countess into guaranteeing the loan—and poured all that money into illegal slave trading!”
I clapped, grinning.
Anyone would find that suspicious.
“As if I’m crazy enough to pay that debt.”
I’ll give back exactly what I got……!
“Miss, it’s Sophia.”
“Yeah, come in!”
Feeling refreshed for once, I stretched. Sophia entered the office pushing a trolley. Since it was already morning, she must’ve brought water for washing up.
I stood and headed for the sofa. After placing a silver basin on the table, Sophia asked with concern,
“Are you all right? You only drank coffee all night.”
“I’m fine. My heart’s racing a bit, but it’ll calm down.”
Unless you’re an office worker used to caffeine, this body is more accustomed to milk tea or light black tea. Dumping bitter coffee into it would obviously make my heart pound.
“P-please be careful! The debt matters, but don’t overdo it.”
“Okay, okay.”
I’d probably keep this up for a few more days, but I kept quiet to avoid the nagging.
After splashing my face with cold water, I accepted a towel and asked,
“Where’s Matthias?”
