Chapter 42. The Emperor’s Test (5)

In movies and dramas, they start with search and seizure warrants and such before beginning investigations into conglomerates, and in-depth investigations commence instantly.

However, arresting real economic criminals is not so easy.

Even if an incident occurs, harsh methods like search and seizure warrants, which are used like cheat keys, are like extreme measures, and if used carelessly, the police might end up losing their jobs one after another.

"Here, my neck would fly off physically."

Although the Emperor said he'd protect me, if I show signs of acting recklessly without basis despite instructions to move secretly?

Even if my dead body is found in an oak barrel by some river or seashore, it would be treated as a natural death.

'Even back-alley thieves can't use it carelessly, so.'

While I was lost in thought, Sebastian called me.

"Someone who says they have something urgent to tell you has come. Would you like to meet them directly?"

The fact that he's asking if I want to meet them suggests that someone who doesn't seem worth seeing has come.

With 99% probability, they'll boast about information that isn't of much help to me as if it's a treasure.

Still, since you never know in life.

"Bring them in immediately."

"Yes, understood. Their appearance isn't very good, should I have them washed before sending them up?"

Judging by what he's saying, it seems their physical condition is quite dirty…

'Last time when I said to just send them up, my nose almost rotted.'

Because of a slum beggar who hadn't bathed in a month, no, two months, I almost died from the smell.

After I chased him away, even Chloe avoided me until I washed, so that says it all.

"After washing them, feed them a proper meal before sending them off."

**

An hour after giving instructions, a man came up to my office.

He was clean from washing thoroughly, but there was a not-so-pleasant smell from his clothes.

To think it's this level after having him bathe…

When I become a public official later, I really need to make something like the Medici Public Bath and forcibly catch and wash the poor.

When I frowned because of the smell, the guy started rubbing his hands together.

"You said you have information I want, is that true? If it's a lie, I might be quite disappointed."

I don't just kill people indiscriminately because I'm disappointed.

If I did such a thing in the middle of the capital, if I'm unlucky, no, with a fairly high probability, I'd have to be investigated by the capital guard.

With appropriate gifts and defense, I'd probably end up just thinking in jail for a few days, but.

'It's not an honorable act.'

So I'll stop at giving appropriate education to teach the lesson not to covet other people's money carelessly.

The man shook his head at my words.

"How could someone as lowly as me lie to such a noble person?"

Seeing him act so servile, is this another wild goose chase?

No, I don't know yet.

It's still too early to judge this man's value.

Information often leaks from unexpected places.

Even scandals that could ruin noble families often originate from mere beggars if you trace the source.

"I used to work as a porter and odd-job worker for the Pereira Trading Company. I worked for 3 copper coins a day. It was quite lucrative."

3 copper coins, that's saying he worked for a fairly high wage even in the capital.

Unless the Pereira guys were crazy, giving so much money to a non-regular day laborer…

'It means he participated in some shady business.'

"How long did you work?"

"I worked for about half a year. In the process, I lent a hand to various unsavory activities of the Pereira Trading Company. Like smuggling, or making people half-crippled."

This is a bit ambiguous?

Smuggling or using thugs to beat people up is clearly problematic, and if this is exposed, those guys will have a hard time dealing with it.

However, it's a bit light to carry out the Emperor's order to 'teach those guys selling strategic materials to enemy countries a lesson and threaten them.'

I might throw him one or two gold coins after hearing the detailed information.

"Interesting."

"The Pereira Trading Company has been secretly importing spices like sugar and saffron from the Kingdom of Lyon and the Kingdom of Granada for a while. To avoid paying customs, they unload goods on coastal areas where ordinary people don't often go, and secretly bring them into Florence."

If this were 21st century Korea, we could make this alone an issue by conducting a search and seizure and arresting the chairman.

In our Tuscan Empire, it's at a level where at most one unlucky elite regular employee might be fired.

In human terms, it's saying it can only deal a weak blow that would cause bruising.

'Unless we engage in piracy against Pereira merchant ships.'

To directly express that I'm very interested, I put a pouch containing coins on the desk.

After shaking it a few times, the man's gaze was fixed on it.

"When bringing goods into Florence, it's always done at night. There's a night curfew, but that can all be ignored if you give enough money."

For nobles like me, or even bottom-level knights, the curfew is something we can violate without giving a single penny of bribes to the guards.

"And we gave proper lessons to those who didn't know their place and tried to handle similar items as our trading company."

Roughly speaking, it means they broke someone's limbs or made them into corpses floating in the river.

Unless they killed someone with at least a knight's title, reporting that they killed people who killed others without even giving a warning at the trading company level wouldn't amount to anything.

The guard will pretend to investigate and use 'the principle of identifying and processing the author of a letter of the heart' and 'the ability to grasp the importance of police work in cities with many large company employees'.

In other words, if I just go with this, I'll be the only one screwed.

"Is this enough to be helpful?"

It's not that it's not helpful.

After catching one big thing, if we add this, it could be fatal to those Pereira guys.

But since it's not very important.

"I'll give you 2 gold coins, no, 3 gold coins."

I handed over 3 gold coins from my pouch.

With that money, he could probably buy a small, shabby house on the outskirts of Florence.

"It's good information, but it doesn't seem to be what I really need."

The guy sighed and showed a regretful look, perhaps not satisfied with just this much money.

He couldn't bring himself to ask for more money verbally, but he looked into my eyes…

'You, living in the slums, can't earn 3 gold coins even if you work for 10 years.'

You're poor, and your sense of money has gone completely off.

In Korea too, such one-shot seekers always ruined their lives, and it's no different here.

Then I issued an order to leave.

My time is precious anyway, so I can't allocate too much time.

Hearing my words, the man pleaded desperately.

"Just a moment, just a moment! I have even better information than this!"

"It seems unlikely that I could get more helpful information than this from someone who was just an odd-job worker."

Secrets that shouldn't be leaked from companies, like embezzlement or tax evasion, can generally only be leaked by executives or department heads, or at least managers.

Lower-level employees can leak too, but…

'Detailed information that can immediately put someone in jail just with what they have doesn't often come out.'

"This is something I heard from my friend, but there's a daughter of a director who was framed and abandoned by the Pereira Trading Company a few months ago! I know the whereabouts of that woman!"

There's no way I'd believe that.

Isn't this bastard a con artist, no, a clumsy spy sent by Pereira?

Even if I'm the only one with a sense of human rights in this world, I should lightly start by pulling out this bastard's fingernails?

Just as I was about to order the guards in my office to catch this guy.

"Until yesterday, I was going to tell the Pereira Trading Company where that woman is to try to turn my life around. But I came here because I thought you might give me more money! Even lowly worms like us know how wealthy you are, Young Master Fabio de Medici!"

Although coffee hasn't spread widely among nobles yet, noble ladies staying in Florence lineup in carriages daily to come to the hospital I opened.

Seaweed is already treated as a famous medicine on the level of Korean ginseng even among commoners.

Moreover, he says he was going to tell the Pereira Trading Company her whereabouts but came to me to earn more money…

It seems slightly believable.

"Her name is Christina Modica, and she's currently hiding in the poor district section 4! Wouldn't she know something, being a lady from a family that was a director in the Pereira Trading Company?"

He's not wrong.

However, the fact that this guy knows her personal information…

'She must be leaking information bit by bit at the risk of her life to find someone who will avenge her family.'

Otherwise, there's no way such an insignificant person could grasp information about a woman who could evade pursuit from a huge trading company like Pereira for months.

Or it could be a baseless rumor.

"It's worth checking out. Guards, politely take this guy to a room in our mansion."

I'll politely confine him.

If the information is true, I'll give him a large sum of money and even help him change his identity.

If not, I'll judge him as a spy and proceed with interrogation where human rights are not guaranteed.

The man's face turned pale.

"Pl-please spare me! I definitely only told the truth!"

"If it's true, I'll give you a sum of money you couldn't even imagine. And we'll protect you politely, so don't worry, you'll be fed well."

Even if we just give him the food the servants eat, it would be a feast for this guy.

And I ordered Sebastian to search the poor district section 4 a bit.

Not long after, I was able to find the person I was looking for.