CH 28

[CHE] 028. BLACK PROPHETS (3)

It was late, when the sun had already set and darkness had fallen, when Sir Marthain returned to the Pearl Palace.

Seongjin had just finished dinner and was holding open a picture book he had borrowed from Amelia.

There were a lot of professional books in the library of the Pearl Palace, but when he searched to learn letters, he couldn’t find any easy books for children.

It was clear that Queen Lizabeth had not considered that Morres’ knowledge level at all when she first created the library.

It was the angelic Princess Amelia who extended a helping hand to Seongjin, who was worried about how to start studying letters.

She treasured all the picture books she read as a child, and willingly lent them to Seongjin, who said he had a fading memory of how to read.

Occasionally, on the day they had lunch together, she would open the picture book and slowly read it to Seongjin. She also listened intently to Seongjin’s voice as he stuttered and read it.

-It has been a long-time dream of mine to read books with my family.

To Seongjin, who was apologetic for making her waste time, she smiled as she was rather happy.

Thanks to this, Seongjin had reached the level of reading a simple storybook by himself, albeit at a slow pace.

Well, considering that he told the Holy Emperor that he wanted to read philosophical or religious books, there was still a long way to go.

So today, while eating dessert, he was flipping through a children’s book with cute animal pictures on it, when he heard a knocking sound, and Marthain entered the room with a very tired face.

“It is much later than expected. I’m sorry. Your Highness.”

Seongjin silently closed the book and looked at him.

Today, Seongjin made a lot of progress in his training. That’s why he desperately needed Marthain’s advice, but he didn’t feel like blaming him when he saw him walking in with a haggard face.

“Okay, you said you had something to look into. Is the job done well?”

Looking at the atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like there was much success.

Sure enough, Marthain shook his head with a gloomy face.

The Golden Truth Society, Plague Society of Adelheit, and the Blue Republican Revolutionary Front.

Suspicious organizations that Morres is said to have sponsored.

“First of all, we investigated all the ledgers of the Pearl Palace, which contain records of the use of personal funds, but no records were found about these organizations.”

From the morning, he scoured the administrative officer of the Pearl Palace and investigated every detail of sponsorship and donations within five years.

However, only one orphanage and one small theater on Rue Bertrand were the only regular sponsors, and there were only a few cases of occasional sponsorships to relief groups for the poor.

There he considered two possibilities.

First, it is possible that Queen Lizabeth sponsored these organizations in his name on behalf of Morres.

Second, there is a possibility that the imperial palace forces trying to harm Morres sent sponsorship money in his name.

So, from then on, he rushed to the main palace and investigated all the records of funds in the internal affairs department for several years. The secretary in charge and the administrative priests were frightened when they thought that a financial audit would start unexpectedly.

And the result was clean. Most donated to orphanages and poor relief organizations. Occasionally patronage of arts organizations.

At least, funds within the imperial palace had never flowed directly to those suspicious organizations.

“And……”

Seongjin made a tired face. Just by listening to it, I could clearly feel how much Marthain had to shovel today.

“Of course, it is not impossible that among the organizations in the sponsoring records, there are ghost groups that are only on the records, or that the records have been washed several times here……”

Marthain blurted out his words. Judging by the atmosphere, tomorrow he’s going to carry out each sponsor list and investigate one by one to see if the organization really exists and whether the funds are properly invested.

No, that’s it! Stop it, you stubborn man!

How are you going to investigate it all by yourself?

Seongjin waved his hand and said.

“Sir Marthain, there is no end to that. The Sir only investigated the details of donations and support, but don’t you think about the possibility that someone made a false purchase history of expensive items such as art and siphoned off the funds? Are you going to investigate all purchases made to the imperial palace within a few years?”

“……”

“What if they don’t have the goods? If it’s damaged or sent as a gift somewhere, there’s no proof, right? No, they might have just handed over the goods. Or that the artworks in the palace storage are forgeries and the real ones are in the auction house.”

Marthain’s face turned pale. He doesn’t think he’d ever thought of that possibility.

“Or how about this one? What if I listened to someone’s request and asked for support in return?”

“… Did you ask for a price!”

Sir Marthain was about to pass out.

No, this guy. It’s not that he did it, but it’s a possibility.

Well, I’m not sure if Morres really did that.

Seongjin decided to appease Marthain.

He knocks on the sofa and Marthain stumbles over to him and sits down. It was only after Edith handed over the cookies she had left for dessert that he seemed to come back to his senses a bit. That’s why he’s going to eat some rice.

“Come on, Sir Marthain. What I said is, in the end, a matter of possibility. The odds of it actually happening are extremely low. How could it be normal to siphon off the imperial palace’s funds?”

The light slowly began to return to Marthain’s eyes, which had been half-fazed.

“In addition, there is something absolutely necessary to realize the aforementioned possibilities. It is the presence of helpers outside the imperial palace.”

“That word……”

“Now we don’t have to track my money transfer history, but we have to track my social interactions from before.”

Seongjin smiled brightly and held out a large tray to Marthain. There was a tray stacked with invitations to invite the Third Prince to social gatherings.

“Now that you’re back, would you like to read invitations with me? As you read, explain who these people are.”

And he’s also studying the spelling at the same time.

Sir Marthain’s complexion began to turn black, but Seongjin had nothing to shy away from.

Wouldn’t it be enough to be thankful that you prevented the shoveling from starting again tomorrow?

So they hung on sorting invitations until late into the night.

First of all, it can’t be a temporary event, but what seems like a regular meeting.

All invitations to personal events, such as birthdays and engagements, were blown.

Gatherings in places too far from the capital were also excluded. Morres’ lady-in-waiting said that he rarely left the palace for long periods of time.

Some invitations, such as gatherings focused on noble ladies and academic conferences related to theology, that could be confirmed that they had no contact with Morres were also removed.

After culling the rest, only three invitations remained.

The first caller was Orden Siegsmund. It is a clean, white letter with an old-fashioned border.

“This is Grand Duke Siegsmund. He is the son of the current Marquis of the North, and the grandson of Sir Vincent Siegsmund, who was famous as a great general in the past. He is also famous as the disciple of Balthazar, the best knight on the continent.”

The Siegsmund family is not a central aristocrat, but they are a great aristocrat that no one can ignore because of their great power.

It is said that the Grand Duke also has a reputation throughout the continent for his outstanding martial arts. It is said that he is regarded as an idol among the young masters of Delcross, such as easily sweeping the championship in martial arts competitions held in several countries.

Every year before the birthday party, he comes to the capital and has a meeting with young masters who follow him.

“Rather than being close friends, I think it’s an invitation to all the high-ranking young people in the capital.”

Marthain added.

It’s a meeting right before the birthday party, so there’s still plenty of deadline, so let’s put this aside for now.

The second is Ricardo Scarchapino. He is an aristocrat from Ortona and the second son of a wealthy man.

Wait, Scarchapino?

That Scarchapino who is having a marriage talk with Morres?

“Probably the richest family in Delcross. Prince Ricardo is a very gregarious person, and is known for having regular meetings with the children of powerful families.”

Correspondence is also brilliant in gold and smells like money.

Discussing the situation on the continent, changes in the economy, and trends in the art world, it must be the most mainstream meeting in Delcross.

It’s doubtful that this kind of person really has anything to do with Morres.

Oh, come to think of it.

-Still, you used to go to the town house to see your friend once every two months.

He remembered what Edith had said in passing. Did Morres say that the only friend he interacted with was the young master of Scarchapino? Could it be this person?

Seongjin looked at the invitation once more.

Meeting ten days later. He’d better go here first.

The third caller’s name is Kenneth Diggory. He was the fourth son of the second son of Cardinal Digory, head of the administrations.

What? Which position is a bit delicate to say that this is important?

Marthain also tilted his head.

“He’s not a well-known figure in the social world, but I didn’t know they had regular meetings like this. I heard that he entered the theological academy, but I don’t think he made much public appearances after that.”

That is to say, he is not well known. Seongjin stroked the smooth black envelope and was lost in thought.

It seems to be a somewhat inferior meeting to invite the prince, but considering the prince’s reputation as a trash, it seems that Morres will be treated as a human being only at this level.

Most of all, the last phrase in the letter bothered him.

-The prince’s old friend, Jonathan McCalpen, is also looking forward to seeing you again.

Did Morres have any other friends besides the young master of Scarchapino?

“Does Sir know this person named Jonathan?”

At Seongjin’s question, Marthain shook his head.

“Sorry. I don’t know the details of his personal connections. At least he i not a well-known person in the social world.”

“Hmm, I mean……”

The meeting is just three days later. It’s the fastest, should he just that he’s getting some fresh air?

Until then, Seongjin thought so lightly.

Time passed smoothly after that.

Marthain, who beat the unsuitable detective role, returned to the gymnasium the next day. He looked at his disciple, who had built to the fourth layers at once while he was gone, all dumbfounded, and then sighed.

“No, why is someone who can do this well until now……”

Sir Marthain, didn’t you already say something like that before?

Well, it’s not that he can’t understand his feelings. Hunter Lee Seongjin has to be a bit amazing.

Anyway, the long-awaited introductory process of Aura practice has finally begun.

As soon as Seongjin started class, he thought that he would be able to wield a sword while freely spilling his Aura.

However, he had to revise his thoughts right away, because Sir Marthain taught meticulously, slowly pointing out each movement.

Even if you think you’ve mastered one type, you don’t immediately move on to the next one, just repeat it until it’s fully absorbed in your body.

He doesn’t know if he teaches well, but he knows that he pursues perfection in his movements to the point where there is no time to develop bad habits.

They said that it would be boring once they entered the initiation, but even Seongjin, who had a history of repeated training, progressed so slowly that it was frustrating. He practiced for two days with less meditation, but he still couldn’t get out of movement 1!

Of course, the resident knights who were using the gymnasium together had different opinions.

“Prince, the progress is really fast.”

To Seongjin, who was about to vent his anger, Sir Kurt spoke as if to soothe him.

“At this rate, movements 1 and 2 will all be finished within a week, right? Then you will graduate from the basics.”

Is that so?

Sir Kurt was one of the few high-ranking knights, and he had a serious personality who did not usually say empty words. His words are quite trustworthy.

“Me, Your Highness. I entered as a squire! I only had movement 1 in 4 months! But considering the average of the knights, it’s not even slow!”

Sir Marthain was so harsh that he almost deserted at that time.

Sir Claudia, whose round face and freckles were her charm point, pouted.

In the meantime, Seongjin has slowly made friends with other knights besides Maria and Haven. More than half of the knights who volunteered to earn money from here and there were mostly casual and cheerful.

Occasionally, as in the beginning, there were people who glared at him with contempt, but considering Morres’ reputation in the past, that might be appropriate. Seongjin decided to ignore the slight rudeness.

While he practiced in the gymnasium and occasionally read children’s books, time passed quickly, and the day of the meeting arrived.

With Sir Marthain and Sir Kurt as escorts, Seongjin left for a quiet residential area on the outskirts of the capital. Even back then, it was a light-hearted outing.

That was until five or six young men in black robes greeted him all at once.

“Welcome to the meeting of the Black Prophets.”

Seongjin involuntarily stopped breathing.

Another dubious eccentric group was here!