I didn’t think I’d find this much evidence this easily... This is kind of...
Zen’s thought trailed off as he heaved a sigh in the face of the large quantity of letters spread out on the desk in front of him. He was in Stoga’s study, which he’d found on the fifth floor. Most of the letters were from Emile. They still had their envelopes, complete with seals engraved with the earl’s crest.
You’re supposed to burn these after reading, but I guess he didn’t even consider doing that. Or did he keep these as physical proof so the Earl of Tus won’t betray him? You shouldn’t get so carried away trying to act smart. They say the crafty schemer drowns in his own schemes, but I can’t even give him that much credit.
He should’ve been pleased, but this was so anticlimactic, he was grumbling to himself anyway.
He had something to say about how he’d infiltrated the study too. In truth, he had struggled at first. Stoga’s chatty military officers had been roaming about in their sloppy uniforms, acting as the mansion’s defense.
But they were a dangerous bunch. When Zen saw how they centered their balance as they walked, he understood that they were capable.
He worked hard to keep out of their sight, occasionally taking cover and holding his breath, sometimes peering around the bend of a corridor, sometimes giving up and retreating. He repeated those actions over and over again.
His persistence paid off, though. He first found the bedroom that Emile had been provided. However, he decided to pass on it for the time being. There were four men who were probably Baron knights standing in front of the door. They were so serious about their boring sentry job that they were controlling how often they blinked.
He figured it’d be a long shot for him to launch a surprise attack and incapacitate all four of them before they could shout, especially while unarmed. He also determined it was too soon to try.
I’ll look for Stoga’s study first.
He once again searched the premises and discovered a room in a corner of the fifth floor that might fit the bill.
There was one of Stoga’s military officers on watch, standing—no, crouched down and fast asleep—in front of the door. A small wine bottle was tipped over next to him. He’d probably been jealous since you could hear the cheerful noise of the party from up here. It was likely he’d just succumbed to temptation. It didn’t matter how capable he was with a sword; this meant that that talent was wasted on him.
See, this is what happens when you don’t watch your subordinates and keep them in line.
Stoga was getting his just deserts.
Anyhow, Zen successfully sneaked into the study and succeeded in finding the letters of evidence. He couldn’t take them all with him or Stoga would definitely be alerted to someone uncovering their plan, so he decided to only take two or three.
He hurriedly looked for the ones whose contents most centered around the main matters. In doing so, he grasped the full picture of Stoga and Emile’s plan, including why Stoga had lowered the taxes and encouraged the surge in hunters.
You know... The Earl of Tus must be guiding him so skillfully that no matter how stupid Stoga is, he’s still moving the plan forward. I’m sure Stoga thinks he came up with it himself, though.
As he scanned the letters that were filled to the brim with flowery words and flattery, he murmured to himself about how terrifying Emile was.
While Zen was disappointed, he ultimately chose two letters and tucked them into his breast pocket with their envelopes. From his experience in the Inspection Bureau, he knew these two documents would be enough physical evidence for the Police Agency to act.
Now it was time to leave. He had to hurry before the sentry outside woke up. Zen suspected it’d be trickier to stealthily exit the room than it had been to enter it, so he checked the fifth-story window to see if he could escape that way.
The camphor tree in the side yard was just close enough that it looked like he could leap to it. Now the problem here was that he couldn’t close the window upon escaping, but he had a solution.
All right. I guess I should make them think a thief sneaked in to steal money and stuff.
He once again hunted around the study, pocketing many of the most vain items like the pure gold imperial seals, pure gold paperweights, and pure gold spare pen nibs. If a normal military officer had observed Zen’s actions from the moment he broke in, they might shudder, saying he was too used to this.
At any rate, now he was ready to escape. Zen quietly opened the window.
However, that was when something unexpected happened. It was in the side garden that the fifth floor looked down on.
The clamor of the ball was unbelievably silent on this side of the yard, and the moonlight illuminated the deserted terrace and out-of-season flower beds. In the corner of the yard was a large horse stable, and Stoga’s unruly officers were dragging a lady in a dress inside.
What’s going on?! In the dead of night, Zen managed to strain his eyes—and realized that it was Mina.