GMWB 88

chapter 88

“…Exactly.”

After a brief moment of surprise, Noah agreed with Leto’s assessment.

“They said they carry bundles of cash themselves, right?”

The car thefts that occurred along the routes the spies took meant one thing: they were transporting huge amounts of money.

“But they can’t keep stealing cars to move it forever…”

It was clearly a significant sum, enough to be used for the duke’s fund. And the place they needed to get the money to was the open sea.

Even taking the fastest passenger ship in the kingdom, it would take a week to reach the empire.

So they’d have to hide the money somehow, and there weren’t many ways to carry it without attracting attention.

• Deposit it in a bank account under a false name.

• Carry it directly themselves.

The bank was too risky. Accounts could be traced, funds could be frozen, and if a banker noticed, they could be arrested on the spot and the money confiscated.

So they’d likely carry it themselves.

That didn’t mean they’d just walk around holding the money in plain sight like idiots. They’d put it somewhere discreet.

“…So it’s a briefcase.”

Carrying a briefcase in a proper suit was common enough to go unnoticed anywhere.

“By chance, the hotel is hosting a business expo.”

To hide a briefcase, you had to blend in where briefcases congregate.

“Coincidentally, the marquis had a similar idea.”

The materials Aitra sent included predictions of the spies’ routes.

[…Given the recent arrest of the pirate gang ‘Fingers’ captain and the navy’s increased activity, it’s likely they’ll hide and regroup.]

It was uncertain how long they’d remain hidden in Sharp Territory.

But surely they would try to observe the situation and prepare to cross into the empire.

So rather than hiding outright, they probably disguised themselves as civilians and blended into everyday life.

That way, they could gather information and plan ahead.

“Leto.”

Noah asked.

“How much money do these guys have?”

“If we fill a briefcase with 100 pias each, it comes to roughly 300,000 pias.”

Leto calculated quickly.

For reference, the average monthly salary of a company employee in southern Sharp Territory was 3,000 pias, and the average monthly living expenses for a family of four were just over 2,000 pias.

So one briefcase alone was enough to cover 100 employees’ salaries, or a month’s living expenses for 400 people.

“…No wonder Tenebre went crazy.”

Noah had to admit the problem of Tenebre invading the south.

Even one briefcase contained such an enormous sum; if five people were splitting it for transport, it was a serious issue.

‘I also need to find the source of the money.’

Noah, weary, pressed his hand to his forehead. The problem was only getting bigger.

“So how do we investigate?”

They couldn’t just go to the hotel and question every businessperson.

Even though it was an order from the king, this business expo in a tourist hotel in Sharp Territory was a well-known event.

Major companies and notable business figures from across the kingdom attended, and even representatives from allied nations would be present.

They couldn’t investigate such people recklessly without evidence.

Noah fretted over this.

But Leto just smiled calmly, exuding a mischievous confidence that Noah was all too familiar with.

“Got a plan?”

“Yes.”

“Then don’t beat around the bush. Tell me.”

Annoyed, Noah lightly kicked Leto’s thigh.

“Ouch, hey!” Leto complained theatrically, even though the kick wasn’t painful.

“Noah.”

Leto asked, looking at Noah.

“Want to ride a motorcycle?”

A few days later.

It was a scorching summer afternoon.

But even that heat couldn’t stop the children of Sharp Territory.

“Ha ha ha! I’ll slaughter you all here and sell you to the boss!”

“You evil illegal butcher! A slayer who doesn’t follow the law!”

I will judge you!

Clare, with a serious expression, drew one of the twin swords on her back. The first evolved form of the knife from the Knife Bunny series (episode 58), called “Judgment of the Law.”

“No, that’s—!”

Borga, playing the role of the evil illegal butcher, backed away.

“Help us, Knife Bunny!”

“Please let us escape!”

“Go, Knife Bunny!”

The hostages Sensha, Lily, and Sereni shouted.

Clare held the toy knife high with both hands and pressed the ornament on it with her thumb.

Bling, bling!

The knife flashed with light and loud sound effects.

“Here goes! Knife Bunny’s finishing move!”

Clare shouted as she swung the knife in front of Borga’s chest.

“Article 22, Paragraph 1 of the Livestock Hygiene Management Act!”

Business license!

“Aaah!”

Borga staggered and fell, hit by the finishing move.

In that gap, Clare rescued the hostages. They all hugged her, thanking her profusely.

“Nothing serious.”

Clare strapped the knife back to her back, her voice and gaze impressively composed.

“I only hunted the illegal butcher who harassed you because he might have been an enemy of my parents.”

That’s it.

Clare flicked her fingers on her forehead and winked, then turned to leave. Dust swirled in the wind behind her.

But she quickly dashed back to her friends. The whistle necklace on her chest swung with her movement.

“How was it? Wasn’t I cool?”

Clare felt she had perfectly played Knife Bunny.

But the children were more interested in the toy knife on her back than in praising her performance.

It was the latest toy from the most eye-catching display in the toy store.

Naturally, the children’s attention was drawn since Clare had brought all of the most desirable toys.

“I want to be Knife Bunny with that toy too!”

“Then it’s my turn next! When it’s my turn, Clare, you be the illegal butcher, okay?”

“After Borga, it’s my turn!”

“Alright!”

Even if her acting wasn’t praised, Clare gladly let her friends play with her toy.

“Clare.”

But Sereni stayed by her side instead of taking a toy.

“You were really cool as Knife Bunny earlier.”

“Thanks!”

Clare smiled brightly, and Sereni smiled faintly in return.

Then Sereni handed her water.

“Here.”

“Wow, just what I needed.”

Clare took a long sip.

“You can drink more.”

“No, then you won’t have any left.”

And there was actually something she wanted even more than water.

“I want ice cream…”

Sweet, cold, soft ice cream.

“Hey everyone, do you want to go buy ice cream?”

The children agreed and followed Clare out of the park.

As As instructed, they carefully went down the hill, not playing around.

But once they reached the flat ground, they ran wildly.

“But really, the grandpa who tried to ‘kidnap’ us, he wasn’t a bad person, right?”

Lily wiped the sweat off her face.

“That grandpa was actually our relative-in-law. He was really my guest.”

“So we didn’t really make a mistake?”

“Grandma said that the grandpa who startled us was the one at fault.”

Now, the children thought the ice cream shop incident was nothing serious.

The grandpa wasn’t truly bad, and they even got a certificate at school for it.

“Hey!”

Borga pointed at the road.

“Ice cream truck!”

With a faint music box sound, a white ice cream truck appeared.

Cheaper than the shop’s prices, it visited Sharp Territory regularly every week.

“Huh?”

Lily tilted her head.

“It’s not the usual day for the ice cream truck?”

It normally came every Thursday and weekend, but today was Wednesday.

Still, the children rushed to the truck to order ice cream.

While Lily hesitated, Clare and the children ended up last in line.

“Will there still be ice cream left for us?”

Borga raised his healed ankle and looked at the truck.

Fortunately, the line moved quickly, and soon it was their turn.

“Welcome!”

The ice cream man greeted them with a bright smile.

“……”

Clare stared blankly.

“I’ll take this one.”

“I want the swirl one!”

“Do you have orange flavor?”

While her friends ordered, Clare didn’t move her lips.

She even stepped back in hesitation.

“Clare?”

Sereni called, and Clare tugged at one side of her pigtails, loosening the tied-up blonde hair.

Her hands trembled, holding the white fur pom-poms.

“Uh… who’s this little lady…?”

“Who is this man?”

Clare asked in a trembling voice.

“Not the ice cream man, right? They’re bad men!”

“Little lady, we’re just good men selling ice cream…”

“Liar! I know everything!”

Clare threw the pom-poms she was holding into the ice cream truck.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you…?”

Borga, holding his orange ice cream, tried to stop her, but Clare growled even more.

Nearby people murmured and looked over as the commotion grew.

“Look at that!”

Clare pointed at the wrist of the man handing out ice cream, where a tattoo was visible beneath his watch.

“My brother showed me in a photo!”

Because of her family’s background, Clare had experienced various training from a young age—everything from cultural education to knowledge not suitable for normal children.

Among them, Atty handled the latter.

“Brother, what’s that?”

“It’s a tattoo symbolizing a spy sent by the empire.”

“Tattoo? Spy?”

“A tattoo is a picture engraved on the body. It can’t be removed. And a spy is a rebel who endangers the country…”

“Why are you teaching this to a child!”

Noah would scold him each time, but Atty persistently gave Clare safety education in his own way.

“Adbello is a place where danger can appear anytime, anywhere.”

And today, that training finally paid off.

“It’s the tattoo of an imperial spy!”

A small square overlapped by a larger X.

The tattoo symbolized the imperial spies’ resolve to complete everything quietly without anyone noticing, and it was on the wrist of the ice cream man.