Chapter 12: The Words of Responsibility

“Whew.”

Dien exhaled a heavy breath.

The assailant had lost consciousness, marking the end of the difficult struggle.

Catching his breath, Dien searched the man’s body. He needed to check for any connection to the Kandebara Merchant Group.

“Whew. This isn’t going to be resolved easily.”

As expected, nothing was found.

Dien furrowed his brow and muttered to himself.

“To plot such a scheme… those Kandevara bastards have crossed the line. By the way, that guitar sound…”

The guitar sound he had heard during the life-and-death moment had vanished as if it had never existed once the fierce battle ended.

The brilliantly shining musical notes were also nowhere to be seen now that the man had collapsed.

Clearly, this power had alerted him to his opponent’s movements through the sound of a guitar.

In an attempt to find the source of the sound again, Dien picked up the assailant’s fallen sword and swung it.

“Swoosh! Swoosh!”

Every time the sword cut through the air, vibrations began to ripple like the shimmering scales of water on a horizon.

“As I thought.”

Along with the gentle ripples, musical notes like starlight flowed out.

Then, the flowing notes gathered in his eardrums to become a melody.

“It responds to swordsmanship, and it responds to physical techniques as well.”

Dien took a stance that might appear in a swordsmanship manual he had briefly skimmed.

He wanted to find a harmony that suited him.

“Huff. Huff.”

The more time passed, the better the sound became, but his physical strength and endurance were ultimately the issues.

It was a performance embarrassing to even call a song. Within ten minutes, his posture broke, and a ghostly dissonance rang in his ears.

He dropped the sword and wiped the sweat away with his sleeve.

“If he had been an assassin skilled in swordsmanship, I would have been the one lying on the ground…”

The blade of the sword shone sleekly, making his eyes dizzy.

His gaze lingered on it, unable to pull away.

“Should I learn swordsmanship…?”

It was a world where assassins were easily hired.

Even if just to protect his own body, Dien felt the necessity of learning how to use a sword.

However, for now, it was time to return.

Setting aside his thoughts on swordsmanship for a moment, Dien made his way back toward the royal castle.

His steps were heavy as he thought about the investigation report that had blown away in the wind, but since he could just rewrite it, he decided not to be too anxious.

Kandevara had already committed many irregularities, and they wouldn’t have enough time to bridge those gaps themselves.

Even if they managed to erase the evidence in a single day, it didn’t matter. As a civil servant, Dien’s well-honed blade was sharp enough to excise them.

***

“Young Master! Why did you take so long?”

When he opened the office door, Vance rushed over, biting his nails in agitation.

“Things just happened… Is something the matter?”

Dien asked in return, noticing his anxious expression.

He was about to mention what had occurred, but since the other man seemed more urgent, he kept his mouth shut.

“Did you gather all the evidence? The Chancellery is in an uproar right now!”

“Why?”

“The Baron found out about the Kandebara Merchant Group’s business and flew into a great rage!”

“Yes, he was like that yesterday.”

Since he already knew, he felt no particular thrill.

“The… The Baron must have been too excited, because he reported it directly to Chancellor Persian Cherbil at today’s meeting.”

“And?”

To Dien, this was the natural order of things.

Since it was the business of the Chancellery, it was only natural for the Chancellor to know.

However, Vance looked at Dien as if he were being strange.

“You’re saying that because you don’t know Count Persian Cherbil’s personality…”

Vance couldn’t finish his sentence.

He had only just realized that it was only Dien’s second day at the palace.

“What’s wrong with the Chancellor’s personality…?”

“The… Young Master, you wouldn’t know. Count Persian Cherbil is a very fiery person. When he gets angry, he acts without looking ahead. At the Baron’s words, the Count also flew into a rage and has summoned Kuma, the head of the Kandebara Merchant Group, for interrogation. He was yelling at us to bring the evidence immediately!”

“He’s a man with a lot of fire in his body.”

Dien smiled as he thought of Count Persian Cherbil.

He felt like he knew exactly what kind of person he was.

“You must have suffered a lot, serving superiors with such short tempers.”

Pity welled up in Dien’s eyes as he looked at Vance.

To summon a merchant head for interrogation out of anger when there was no evidence yet.

Normally, an audit followed a sequence: gather clear evidence first, and then call the party involved at the very end to confirm.

Incomplete evidence gives the party involved a chance to escape.

The same applied to inspections. It was basic to create an atmosphere with minor issues from the first day until the day before the last, and then drop the big bomb on the final day.

If you dropped the big bomb on the first day, the person being inspected could find excuses until the last day and might even try to cover up their corruption.

“No matter where you go, hot-tempered superiors ruin the work.”

Regardless, the ringleader had already been summoned to the royal castle.

If that was the case, the sword had to be drawn today, not tomorrow.

“Dien! What happened with the investigation? Just give me the gist of it. I need to organize it quickly and report to the Count!”

Vance stomped his feet, his voice trembling.

Dien’s smile deepened at his uncharacteristic flightiness.

He felt like he finally understood why the man’s face had thinned so much.

“You’re talking about the investigation report?”

“Yes.”

“Well… everything we suspected was true. From the testimony of those involved to the price fluctuations of construction materials, it was perfect.”

“That’s a relief! So, where are the documents?”

Vance’s expression began to show signs of life again.

“The documents…”

“Please, give them to me.”

“Well.”

A brief silence followed.

Dien spoke while reading Vance’s reaction.

“They blew away in the wind.”

Dien scratched his cheek awkwardly.

A single second felt like an eternity.

Was his statement too shocking?

Vance couldn’t understand immediately and asked again.

“The documents… blew away in the wind?”

“Yes. Because the wind was blowing quite hard.”

“I see… because it’s autumn… Yes—”

Soon, his eyes, nose, and mouth twisted.

Completely frozen, only his lips moved.

“Hahaha, Young Master Dien, please stop joking. I’m in a hurry right now!”

“Huh.”

When Dien remained silent with an awkward smile, the man began to blame himself, banging his forehead against the wall.

“I shouldn’t have assigned this to the Young Master in the first place!”

Deceived by the veteran skill he showed while analyzing documents, he had completely forgotten that Dien was a young noble who had just arrived at the royal castle for the first time.

“To lose such important documents! You’re not a child! Wait, you are a child… That’s why you’re just standing there grinning thoughtlessly!!”

That sight of him still smiling awkwardly was frustrating beyond belief.

If the documents had blown away in the wind, he should have tried to find them. Or he should have picked up a pen right away and helped write the report, but instead, he was just standing there with his hands behind his back.

Vance beat his chest in frustration.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t blame Dien.

He was a commoner and Dien was a noble from a privileged class.

Who could he blame? He had to blame himself.

“Haa.”

He let out a long sigh and slumped to the ground.

Even without the documents, the report had to go in.

The reason Dien was smiling mischievously was probably because he was an irresponsible student undergoing successor training.

“Stand up, Assistant Vance.”

Dien, unaware of his inner thoughts, reached out to Vance with a bright smile.

“Young Master, why did you make such a mistake… To have documents blow away in the wind! You might not know, Dien, but if the Count sees this, there will be professional disadvantages! Denver and I might get kicked out to the border during the next personnel reshuffle!”

Dien continued to speak, smiling gently at Vance, who was on the verge of tears.

“We can’t have that. You need to teach me so much more, so it would be a disaster if you were kicked out.”

“Haa, really…”

Vance shook his head.

“I won’t let that happen. Don’t worry.”

Despite Dien’s words, Vance’s pout didn’t disappear.

“It’s not that simple of a problem, Young Master!”

Vance put emphasis on his last words.

Dien found Vance’s behavior purely amusing.

“I still have the evidence.”

“What?”

“Right here.”

Dien pointed to his own head.

“How could you remember every single detail? Let’s just write the report together first.”

“No, Assistant.”

“Young Master!”

At Dien’s attitude, Vance finally lost his temper.

Dien lowered the corners of his mouth at the man’s urgency. He soothed him in a calm tone.

“Calm down, Assistant. If someone has to take responsibility, I will be the one. If there are disadvantages, I will receive them, and if you receive any professional disadvantages, I will go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and protest. That is the responsibility I must shoulder on behalf of the assistant who works for me.”

Dien took a step closer to Vance, who was staring blankly at him.

“I am saying this on the name of the House of Portran. So, do not be so anxious.”

“Young Master Dien.”

The words of taking responsibility.

Who had he ever heard that from during his public service life?

Probably no one. No, there probably wouldn’t be anyone in the future either.

Because those were words that not only the assistants in the royal castle but even the nobles avoided.

Vance felt as if his thoughts had come to a halt at Dien’s words.

Only now did he realize that his composure was not the composure of someone without a plan.

He became ashamed of how he had acted so impatiently at Dien’s words.

“Assistant, please prepare a formal search cooperation request for the Audit Department regarding Kandevara. Since things have already turned out this way, let’s move quickly.”

“Eh? But that needs the Chancellor’s approval…”

“I will speak to him myself. Please trust me and follow.”

“Yes.”

Dien nodded slightly and turned to grab the doorknob.

“Young Master, where are you going?”

As Dien opened the office door, Vance asked in a trembling voice.

“I’m going to the Count’s audience room. I’ll handle the report myself. You just draft the formal request and leave for the day. You worked hard today, see you tomorrow.”

Dien, speaking in a calm tone, stepped out of the office.

Vance could only stare blankly at Dien’s back.

Was something wrong with his eyes?

His receding back looked as large as a mountain.

The image of the young Dien who used to run and play at the House of Portran was nowhere to be found.

“To say the words of taking responsibility so easily…”

It was something he had always heard while living as an assistant.

‘Can you take responsibility for those words?’

‘Can you be certain about the work?’

Those were primarily words nobles said to assistants.

Those words that always made him hesitate to answer.

Therefore, Vance knew the weight of the word ‘responsibility’ better than anyone else.

And yet.

That young master said those words so easily.

Even though he was in a position where he had much more than Vance.

Moreover, from now on, he seemed to be refusing to shrink away from difficult tasks, as if telling Vance to leave it to him.

“Identifying Kandevara’s corruption through documents alone wasn’t a coincidence.”

He could tell from Dien’s appearance. The composure he showed was not actually composure, but inner strength.

Looking at Dien’s back, Vance had a premonition that everything would turn out well.

“You’ve grown up truly wonderfully.”

As time passed, he would move from Oren’s shadow to Dien’s shadow.

At that time, how wide would Dien’s shadow have grown?

Before he knew it, his anxious heart had vanished, and he was doing the work Dien had assigned him.

***

Standing before the Count’s audience room, Dien straightened his clothes.

The head of the Chancellery and the 5th highest-ranking person in the Kingdom of Delos.

He was a top-tier knight, an Aura Expert, and held the title of the Blood-Crimson Crow.

He was also the father of his academy classmate, Young Master Zalz, and was famous for becoming the head of his family after killing all his younger siblings in a succession battle not long ago.

Dien took a deep breath, knocked, and opened the door to the audience room.

“Enter.”

“Greetings, Count.”

Dien greeted Count Persian Cherbil with steady eyes.

As expected, Oren was positioned beside him, and Kuma, the head of the Kandebara Merchant Group, sat across from them.

“Who is this?”

“He is my child.”

At Persian Cherbil’s low inquiry, Oren, who was beside him, answered boldly.

“My name is Dien Portran.”

Oren, whose eyes met Dien’s, tilted his head as if wondering what was going on.

This was a place to interrogate the Kandebara Merchant Group.

Persian Cherbil was making it clear that Dien’s visit was not welcome.

And Dien was not ignorant of that atmosphere.

“I have come to deliver the report to the Count on behalf of Assistant Vance.”

“You?”

At his words, Persian Cherbil looked at Oren.

“That is—”

Oren also wore an expression showing he didn’t know why Dien had come instead of Vance.

“I was the one who analyzed the documents and identified the corruption of the Kandebara Merchant Group. Therefore, I am the one who belongs in this place, not Assistant Vance.”

“Oho. You identified it?”

“Yes.”

“You have a good eye.”

At Dien’s words, Persian Cherbil rounded his lips in admiration.

“There is something I must tell you first.”

“What is it?”

“On my way to the royal castle, I ended up losing the documents detailing the investigation into the corruption.”

“Losing them?”

Dien, having answered thus, looked directly into Persian Cherbil’s eyes with a completely undaunted attitude.

Soon after, Persian Cherbil’s eyebrows arched like a bow.