Two days later. Late morning.
Inside the government sector of the Dwarfen Kingdom, a building housing one of the country's ministries is in great hustle. Government employees with mountains of piles of papers appeared from one room to another with panic in their faces.
For an uncertain reason, the minister is hysterically giving orders to dispose of some files dusting inside the building's archive. The minister's reason was that it's taking up much space, but in truth, the archive still has seventy percent of its available space.
As inferior employees as themselves, the staff had no choice but to follow the commands of their superiors. They do not want to be kicked out of their workplace and have families to feed.
Despite the noises and clamoring that rang through the building, a room belonging to a certain official gave off a contrasted air. Only the quick, repeating footsteps of a short man echoed through his office.
The dwarf in question is the head of the Commerce Ministry of Doria, Minister Alt Furz. The man in charge of the country's trade and traffic.
A man in his century had a fifty-year-old face, long black hair, and a beard that partially covered his head. Dressed in a luxurious formal getup that surely cost a hefty amount of money. But the grumpiness and dissatisfaction on his face ruined the exquisiteness of his articles.
"The drug den was raided by the knights yesterday."
Along with the sound made by his restless feet, Alt repeatedly walked back and forth alone in his office. With both hands entwined at his back, he is thinking of how things went haywire.
"How were they able to acquire information and discover the exact location of the facility? It is possible that someone betrayed us and leaked our information to the knights. Or maybe the knights discovered it by themselves?"
Alt Furz had been the commerce minister for a long time. A man who was respected by his peers and the king himself. He gained power and influence over the other ministers to the point that he was nominated to become the next prime minister.
But during the duration of his public service, he discovered the darkness slithering below the light and was allured by its unbearable temptation. Under the mask of his job as a mere minister of a country, he has a hidden identity as one of the heads of the Five Headed Hydra.
"I cannot just sit here and do nothing. There might be something in that facility that reflects on my name. I better get rid of the evidence as soon as possible."
The first thing he did early in the morning was to dispose of the papers of illegal transactions he had discreetly signed. Smuggling, embezzlements, hoarding, graft, illegal trading, and even narcotic deliveries.
If something links his name to the organization, his reputation will tarnish and crumble. He would be accused and convicted of treason, which might lead to a death sentence.
"Ack. When it was almost time for me to become the Prime Minister, this thing happened. I'm sorry, Methis, but I have to protect my business first and foremost. This case is your problem, anyway."
By Methis, he meant the head of the drug dealing division of the syndicate. Even if the drug facility was destroyed, it would only cause slight damage to Alt's business.
The Prime Minister of Doria had gone old and weak. He has been serving since the previous administration, after all. If the current Prime Minister were to resign or pass away, Alt would undoubtedly be the one who would inherit the position.
When that happens, his power and influence will grow so large and wide that they will dwarf the power of the dwarf king. All he needed to do was Level up and evolve for a royal reason.
With the assistance of the organization, they can weaken the power of the royal family by corrupting the nobles, then have Alt usurp the monarchy afterwards. The whole nation would become a puppet of the Five Headed Hydra.
As Alt is walking around his office decorated with glistening ornaments, his ears hear a faint noise coming from the other side of the door. He knew that the hallway was currently in a hurry, but this was different from those.
"What's with those noises? Seems like there's a commotion…"
After he spoke, the door suddenly flew open, and his male dwarfen secretary went in. Apparently, what he thought was true—there's indeed a fuss in the corridor.
"Minister Furz, the knights announced an emergency meeting with all the ministers in the palace, and they are here to fetch and escort you."
(Am I getting arrested? No, I made sure I didn't leave footprints in every transaction, and the files had already been reduced to ashes. The goods are also hidden in my secret basement.)
"I understand. I'll go with them."
After his declaration, the short man left his office and accompanied the fully armored tall and short dwarf knights towards the royal palace.
(I must clean my name in case I am being accused, or else I would be silenced.)
The dwarf thought to himself, not knowing the fate he didn't see coming.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
"…Life imprisonment, huh. I thought he would receive a death sentence."
"Well, a dead man tells no tale. So they have to keep him alive to collect information." Lucy responded to Michael's statement.
At this moment, Michael and Lucy are in the living area of this dungeon base, presently keeping their deep blue eyes on a large translucent panel like watching a television. A conjuration of the Illusion Magic Level 3: Projection.
The projection broadcast a zero-latency live feed of the conference room in the Dwarfen Royal Palace. The feed visualizes the two High Dwarf knights pinning a furiously enraged Alt on the floor, who cannot accept his verdict.
((I can't accept it! You cannot just believe what an anonymous tipper is saying!))
((The images they sent are concrete enough to prove your crimes. The documents that the undercover incinerator brought us are here in this table.))
((Whah?!))
((On your way here, the knights raided your mansion and discovered all sorts of contrabands hoarded in your secret basement.))
((What? How did you know that…?))
((The images showed us the way. Look at these.))
The king then tossed the photos of the contrabands, like the controversial mithrill swords, that were hiding peacefully under his mansion. As well as the map and detailed directions on how to get there.
Alt popped out his eyes in surprise seeing the photographs. Many questions swirled around in his mind, but he shouted it off.
((How? Impossible?! My basement has been constructed with layers of enchantments surpassing that of a king's office! There's no way anyone or anything could enter the base other than myself! How can someone infiltrate those impenetrable barriers so easily and unnoticeably?!))
((I am seeking that answer, too.))
Alt is seemingly baffled by the king and looks up. ((Huh?))
The king clears his throat and continues. ((Well, no matter. Commerce Minister— no. Former Commerce Minister Alt Furz, you are arrested for multiple heinous crimes, so many that I cannot name them all. Stop resisting and atone for your sins behind the rails forever.))
((Impossible! My decades of hard work have been destroyed by just a tip?! I can't accept this! Curse you!))
((Hmph. You're ruining my mood for my lunch. Knights, send him to the inquisitors.))
((As you wish, Your Majesty!))
The knights then pulled Alt up and dragged him out of the conference room.
When the fuss subsided, the elderly High Dwarf Prime Minister turned his attention to the king. The other people want to do the same as him, too, but they will leave it to him.
((Your Majesty, like you told us before, an envelope containing sensitive information dropped out of the blue on your desk despite being covered with multiple barriers. Do you think it's the same way this anonymous tipster acquired the information from Alt?))
((I do think both cases are the same. I can't believe they are capable of passing through my office and Alt's basement, which he claimed to have better privacy than I have.))
((Even Extra Skills Clairvoyance and Telescopic Eye cannot penetrate His Majesty's office.))
((They must have a superior skill, item, or spell in their arsenal to achieve those feats. They are probably watching us now as we discuss.))
The Supreme Commander and the Intelligence Chief shared their thoughts, respectively.
Not only the king but also the other officials in the room are disturbed by the thought of someone violating their privacy, which is actually happening to them right now.
((Your Majesty, how will the nation treat these people?))
((Hmm… We haven't determined whether they are allies or enemies, let alone their identities. But if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to name the Five Headed Hydra and discover Alt's accompliceship with an underground organization.))
((What His Majesty said was true, but we cannot trust them immediately.))
((I know. For now, we should disclose this underground organization to the other countries.))
After the king's remarks, others nodded in agreement.
Michael turned off the live footage and turned to Lucy. But instead of tackling the current situation, they first discuss the king.
"…Well, I never expected the Dwarf King to be that powerful."
"Yeah. Although the king had a lower Level, I assumed he was on par with or stronger than SirBoss in terms of martial prowess."
"…Indeed. His tanned skin and robustness embodied his time and effort to attain that level of strength. He has centuries of experience in battle and has achieved multiple victories in his life after all."
"Hmm." Lucy will then go back to the topic. "But Alt seemingly wasn't alone; he mentioned something like Methis, anyway."
"That too. For now, let's see how the organization will respond to this."
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