Chương 81: Magical Snooping

The next morning happened to be payday, which meant Lira had a perfectly legitimate excuse to visit the bookkeeping tower again. The moment she stepped inside, she noticed the atmosphere was different from usual. Every scribe looked exhausted as stacks of ledgers covered nearly every desk, while clerks hurried from room to room carrying bundles of documents. Several looked as though they hadn't slept properly in days. Lira immediately understood what was happening.

Hesta had recently been executed for espionage after all, and among the charges brought against her had been the possession of a royal seal. If someone had managed to counterfeit official palace documents, then every financial record in the palace was now suspect. Someone had to verify them all. Lira was glad she wasn't one of them. She accepted her wages without complaint, though one thing immediately caught her attention. Cedric wasn't among the clerks distributing salaries this time.

Which meant no mysterious bonus coin she needed to casually reject, nor was there any suspicious magical spell hidden inside her pay.

"Beny, where is Cedric?" she asked the clerk counting copper coins. Lira knew a few of the clerks by name from the time she worked with them. The tired man didn't even bother looking up.

"Master Harwin is visiting one of the nobles," he answered while stamping another receipt.

"Cedric's too busy covering his work to waste time handing out wages." Lira nodded thoughtfully. If Harwin wasn't here, then perhaps this was the safest opportunity she would ever have.

"I am going to say hi to him," Lira smiled as she continued deeper into the bookkeeping tower toward Cedric's desk. Nobody questioned her. After all, she was known to them. Once she reached one of the quieter corridors, she made certain nobody was paying attention before she whispered.

"Ladar. Linasara. Oshkan. Cognar. Turat." The world brightened as thousands of books and ledgers appeared inside her mind like stars scattered across a night sky. She narrowed her focus to a single subject. Lord Kenth Kelroth. Most of the lights faded, while several remained. One cluster shone brighter than the rest, coming from inside a nearby storage room. Lira casually poked her head inside as though looking for someone.

She merely glanced long enough to memorize the room's arrangement before quietly stepping back into the hallway. With a better visualization of her target, she cast,"Pika. Linasara. Cognar. Coopar. Nagla." Knowledge flooded into her mind as dozens of ledgers unfolded inside her memory simultaneously: purchase records, tax reports, ownership transfers, and letters of incorporation. One pattern emerged as Lira resumed her walk toward Cedric.

The Kelroth estate had been quietly purchasing leisure establishments, hundreds of them, including small roadside inns, old taverns, run-down theaters, and music halls. The properties were scattered throughout nearly every major town and city in the kingdom. Even stranger, almost none of them had been purchased directly. Harwin had traced every transaction as each acquisition passed through several proxies, people beholden to Kelroth in some way or another, before it eventually led back to him.

Lira continued walking toward Cedric's office while sorting through the information.

"... Why would any of this matter?" Buying property wasn't illegal. Even buying large amounts of property wasn't unusual for wealthy nobles. Still... something about the reports must have been important. Otherwise, her divination spell wouldn't have prioritized it. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. She slowed her pace.

"Pika. Selan. Tureth." Then another spell.

"Pika. Velar. Syneth." Finally.

"Pika. Moren. Kaldris." Meditation, enhanced perception, and perfect memory. Her thoughts accelerated as every ledger replayed inside her mind, one page after another. Purchase price... former ownership... annual revenues... tax returns... yearly expenses... and, most importantly, profit. At first glance, everything appeared perfectly ordinary. The properties changed owners, business improved, and taxes paid to the Crown increased. It was exactly what one would expect from competent management. Yet...

every establishment reported almost the exact same increase in profit: around twenty percent, give or take. Lira frowned at the realization. Different businesses should grow at different rates. Some should have failed, others should barely improve at all, and one or two might have doubled in profit. But to have every single one of them improve by exactly twenty percent was unnatural. Someone had adjusted the numbers, but the real question was why.

If they wanted to evade taxes, surely they would report lower profits. Instead, they were voluntarily paying more. That made no sense. Unless... the reported profits were still lower than the real ones. How do you make enormous amounts of money from run-down establishments? Her mind, still enhanced by magic, drifted back to the library and the conversations she had overheard between nobles.

The wife who threatened her husband, young heirs whispering about debts, and minor lords complaining about losing fortunes overnight. Gambling. The taverns and theaters weren't the main business; they were just a front. Kelroth was buying locations where people gathered after dark. He probably added exclusive back rooms filled with gambling tables, card games, and dice.

And when wealthy nobles inevitably lost more money than they possessed in his proxy establishments, Kelroth would already be waiting with loans secured against land, businesses, titles, and even family heirlooms. He was lending them back their own money with minimal interest. The plan was so devious that Lira was almost impressed. Most scammers and thieves couldn't hold a candle to one of the most respected nobles in the kingdom. She shook away her distracted thoughts as she finally reached Cedric's desk.

The man was supervising a few scribes working on tax returns.

"You are looking busy," she said to Cedric, Harwin's second-in-command.

"Lira, please sit." He placed a stack of papers in front of her.

"There are thirty missing gold coins that we couldn't account for. Please help me find them."

"Fine," she grumbled.

"I have a couple of hours before Prince Lyth shows up at the library." Lira sat down and started scanning the papers.

"So, things have been hectic here lately."

"Tell me about it," sighed Cedric.

"That mess with the supposed spy is a nightmare."

"Did you find any discrepancies?" Lira asked.

"A few, but most can be summed up as clerical errors. Nothing involving a royal seal."

"Anything interesting?" she asked.

"A few illegitimate children had a spike in income and spending this year," said Cedric.

"It smells fishy, but I've got nothing concrete." Lira blinked. That was probably because of her. Before joining the library, she had forged a few documents proving that a few bastards had a claim on inheritances. When she was working on the scheme, she thought it untraceable, but Cedric somehow managed to spot it. Pallan was right to stop me when he did.

"I also noticed a few servants having their entrance and exit interviews botched after Grand Steward Atropos' death," Cedric said.

"You know, you wouldn't have gotten your pay in time if Celene hadn't retroactively fixed your entry."

"Yeah," Lira sighed.

"Hesta was the one who welcomed me in."

"Damn woman, always causing trouble." He paused for a moment.

"Good riddance, honestly."

"Found it!" said Lira with a smile.

"Already?" He lifted his head from his slouching posture.

"What was it?"

"Someone used the same numbers for the tax return of the former Grand Steward's estate. With him being dead and all, I bet they are much lower now." Cedric blinked.

"To think I wanted you gone because I was scared you wanted my place," sighed Cedric.

"Now I would kill to have someone half as good with numbers as you."

"It's not about the numbers," Lira smiled.

"I'm just good with details." She stood up and waved the man goodbye.

"I need to go back to the library," she said.

"Good luck with the rest of your work."

"Wait!" he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a silver coin.

"Take this as a thank you." Lira almost narrowed her eyes. Was he still trying to trap her after she had helped him?

"None of that," she said instead.

"I was here to check on a friend. I can't accept your money." She turned and waved again as she walked away.

"See you around."