Ristia concocted an outlandish plan to put into action—until a girl clad in a dress came in through the entrance. Her outfit was vastly different from the last time she’d come, but her gently sloping, wavy blonde hair and cool blue eyes were unmistakable. It was the customer that asked for Ristia during her previous visit.
“I’m sorry, Big Sis. The orphanage cafeteria is closed; I’m a little busy right now.”
“Yes, so it seems. But I’ve come here on separate business today, so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“...Separate business? Oh, um... in that case, what may I help you with?” Ristia switched off her little sister waitress mode and went back to speaking normally. The moment Ristia dropped her speech, Charlotte’s face went a bit sad. At least, that was how it seemed.
“You can help me by letting me speak. I was hoping to speak to you truthfully.”
“...Truthfully? Who exactly are you...?” Ristia asked in confusion, which prompted the girl to pinch the hem of her dress and curtsy elegantly.
“My apologies for the late introduction. My name is Charlotte. I am the eldest daughter of the House of Count Warren, and I govern this area.” Once the blonde girl introduced herself as Charlotte, the general mood froze up for some reason, but Ristia was unaffected and responded normally.
“Oh, is that so? Does that mean that you are here to discuss the orphanage as well, Lady Charlotte?”
“...Oh my, you are very perceptive.”
Ristia found herself discouraged. Charlotte had a different quality from Nanami and her cuteness or Maria and her mature nature for her age; she was an elegant and attractive girl, which instilled within Ristia a strong desire to make her take the role of little sister, but she also suspected that Charlotte was in league with Jein. That was, until she spoke up...
“Ms. Ristia, I heard that you used your savings to rebuild the orphanage. I am unsure as to whether this will be of any help, but I have given an assistance grant to the mayor here.”
“Assistance grant...?” What she said was the polar opposite of what Ristia expected, so Ristia found herself extremely confused.
“Yes, in addition to a monthly grant, I’ve paid a grant to help with the costs of renovation. The sum is written on this parchment, which you can verify, if you would like.” On the parchment, there were two totals: one was thirty gold pieces for the renovation assistance grant, and the other was another thirty gold pieces for a monthly assistance grant. As Ristia scanned over the parchment, Charlotte slightly tilted her head and whispered,
“Truth is... there are rumors that the mayor has been embezzling money.”
“Embezzling?” Ristia parroted in reply, which made Jein and his men visibly shudder, but she ignored that for the time being and continued her conversation with Charlotte.
“Yes, embezzling. However, it has been hard to pin down any evidence that leads back to him. Would you mind reporting to me if the value of the grant you’re receiving is different from the one logged here?”
“Just report it to you?”
“Yes. If you can obtain any evidence, then seeing that his head will roll would be a simple task.” Charlotte continued, “But, then again, I would assume he has been paying you the proper amount once you took over as being the director of the orphanage. Otherwise, he would be found out right away. And I wouldn’t think that he would be so dumb as to do that...” She flashed a self-deprecating smile at the very thought. Ristia returned with a rather wry smile of her own, because she had finally gained a grasp on the situation.
“The monthly assistance grant written down here is supposed to be paid every month? Not all at once a year?”
“That is how it’s supposed to be, but... Don’t tell me...”
“I’m afraid so. I haven’t received an assistance grant in the past few months that I’ve been the new director.”
“...Wha?!”
Charlotte had likely never even imagined that being a possibility, as her eyes widened in disbelief.
“He is rotten beyond my imagination, I see. But if we cannot track him down, there is a chance that he might try to escape by implying that you’re lying, Ms. Ristia. And while I wish I could ascertain some evidence against him...” Charlotte whispered to herself as she began to think. That was when Jein and his men tried to sneak out of the establishment, so Ristia called out to them.
“Going home already?”
And once they heard that, Jein and his men sprung up in an amusing manner.
“—Oh my, I had almost forgotten that you had customers here. I am sorry if I am intruding on you all. Please, go ahead and talk to her; I can wait,” Charlotte said with a bow, conceding the floor to Jein and his men.
“N-No, we don’t mind talking later!” he said in a hurried pace and tried to leave, but Ristia was not about to let that happen.
“‘Later’ would be a problem. As I’ve said before, I refuse to force either the children or myself to take part in ‘volunteer services’ in exchange for our tax payments.”
“Hyaa-oh?!” Charlotte unleashed a mysterious scream.
“Ms. Ristia, what are you talking about?”
“The man over there, Mr. Jein? He told me he was the mayor.”
“...Huh?” Charlotte’s eyes went wide, and Jein looked as though the world was coming to an end.
“So he demanded that I pay one hundred gold pieces in taxes every year.”
“...Huh? O-One hundred gold, every year...?”
“He then demanded that the girls and I volunteer our ‘services’ in exchange for paying the cost.”
“By ‘volunteer services’... Y-You don’t mean...?!”
“Yes, it’s exactly how it sounds.” Whether she understood Ristia’s explanation or not, Charlotte’s beautiful face started to take an enraged turn, while Jein, in the compete opposite reaction, started to go pale. Charlotte pointed her gaze upon Jein.
“Heh. Heh heh heh. Such crass behavior toward someone who the House of Count Warren is trying to extend a warm welcome to... It would seem that you are the one who is going to be taxed around here.”
“Eek! N-No! There’s a misunderstanding!”
“Oh? And what am I misunderstanding, pray tell? If you are saying that you don’t care to provide your head in place of paying your taxes, then would you care to explain to me your reasoning so that I follow?” Charlotte asked, her wrathful eyes beating down upon Jein.
“W-Well, I was just, uh... Yeah! I was coming to pay the assistance grant!” Jein rattled off, scared like a frog getting leered down by a snake. And raising his voice like that probably caused him to shake free of his fear, so he proceeded to ride the momentum and rattle off some more. “I never said a single word about demanding her to pay any taxes! And threatening her to do things in exchange for the taxes was just her getting things confused!”
“You sure do have some gall to fabricate such atrocious lies like that.”
“I-I’m not lying! If you’re saying I’m lying, then prove to me that girl’s statements are the truth!”
“Khh, why you... How dare you so impudently suggest that...!” Charlotte said with a face full of vexation.
Hmm~ Seems like saying that I’m just a normal girl won’t serve as evidence here, huh?
Ristia came to that conclusion, but suddenly snapped her fingers, bringing all attention on her. Once her eyes met with Jein, she activated her True Blood Vampire charm ability.
“Now then... tell everyone what you came here to do—Everything,” Ristia quietly ordered, making her crimson eyes glint.