If You Are Suited for the Villain's Secretary - Chapter 57

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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If the Villain’s Secretary Suits Me
Chapter 57
6. Wine Casts a Red Shadow
“After reviewing the documents seized from La Mar,”
Oswald, the adjutant, spoke to his superior, the commander of the Holy Knight Order.
“Everything is clean.”
It was the conclusion he’d reached after spending the entire night sifting through the documents seized from La Mar’s headquarters.
There wasn’t a single flaw to find. Not even a typo, and remarkably, even the paper clips were all inserted in the same direction!
Yet Oswald’s expression as he delivered his report was quite grave.
“That’s precisely why it’s suspicious. It’s clean to an unsettling degree.”
Was it even possible for a merchant guild of this scale to have not a single ‘human’ mistake?
The knights had to maintain neutrality. Though the inspection had begun with Marquis Vito raising concerns, they couldn’t rely solely on his accusations.
Moreover, Marquis Vito was notorious among the nobility for his opportunistic nature and had many enemies.
There was indeed a possibility that La Mar had been falsely accused.
Yet looking at these inhumanly meticulous documents….
“Could they have anticipated the inspection and quickly destroyed the evidence?”
“Destroyed the evidence….”
“Yes! The confidential documents mentioned in the anonymous tip were nowhere to be found, even after we searched the entire office. They must have prepared and removed them in advance.”
An anonymous tip had arrived at the Investigation Bureau just before the inspection began.
It stated that La Mar possessed what was called the ‘Black Label Files’—separately managed, top-secret documents.
According to the tip, they contained client information, the weaknesses of nobles they’d collected, and evidence of La Mar’s hidden misconduct.
However, no such documents had been found during the search.
Ezekiel, who had been watching Oswald speak with such conviction, posed a counter-question.
“Then if those who anticipated the inspection destroyed the documentary evidence, why do you think they didn’t destroy the tangible evidence—the wine bottles from La Mar?”
Oswald clenched his fists, his face flushed with frustration.
“After thinking it over, I believe it might be a provocation against us knights and the Investigation Bureau.”
“A provocation?”
“Yes, exactly! I was puzzled by why such meticulous people would choose a method that would obviously make them suspects, but what if it’s the opposite? They deliberately left the evidence.”
“You mean it’s a ‘catch me if you can’ attitude?”
“Precisely. If they leave their trail so openly yet slip through the investigation net, it becomes free advertising for them as a competent Information Guild!”
In normal circumstances, Oswald would have dismissed such reasoning as an absurd leap and moved on.
But La Mar was an organization that operated their minds irritatingly well.
They’d quickly manipulated the newspapers to suppress news of the inspection, and before the logistics blockade could be implemented, they’d smuggled all cargo from the harbor to international waters.
None of it violated the law, so there was nothing to punish them for. The fact that they’d found a way through even in this situation was astounding.
‘And then there’s that man, Aden.’
Oswald recalled the moment he’d encountered Aden, the director of La Mar, yesterday.
It was an inspection conducted by imperial decree, with the Holy Knight Order commander personally overseeing it. An ordinary person would be intimidated even if innocent.
But that man was not ‘an ordinary person.’
His height and build were larger than most knights—that much could be overlooked. His violet eyes were so cold that even Oswald, who prided himself on having experienced much, found himself flinching when meeting his gaze—that too could be overlooked.
The problem was his demeanor. He was composed and arrogant, yet bored….
‘She wasn’t afraid. It seemed she merely regarded it as an inconvenient matter.’
I felt no emotion whatsoever.
No anger, no sense of injustice, no anxiety—despite the fact that the fate of the Trading Company hung in the balance.
It was precisely the same impression I’d received from his documents. The man called Aden didn’t seem human at all.
A Trading Company and Information Guild under the command of such a person could, it seemed, accomplish things that defied common sense without batting an eye.
‘The ‘Black Label Documents’ supposedly contain information about that man as well.’
I still hadn’t discovered which family Aden hailed from, where his Hometown was, or even how he came to establish La Mare in the first place.
Would I be able to learn these things if I found the documents?
As I pondered this, my eyes widened at Ezekiel’s next words.
“I wonder who the anonymous informant was who revealed the existence of the classified documents.”
“…Pardon?”
“If they are as meticulous as you suggest, wouldn’t they have kept the very existence of those classified documents thoroughly concealed? Yet this ‘anonymous informant’—who were they to submit a tip the moment the investigation began? I find myself quite curious.”
“Well, being truly ‘anonymous,’ we haven’t been able to identify them. Though in most cases, it’s typically an internal whistleblower…”
Oswald, who had been hesitating, asked carefully.
“Then, if I may be so bold, are you prioritizing the possibility that a third party was involved, as that female secretary claimed?”
Just as he’d pointed out that substantial evidence hadn’t been destroyed, and now viewing the anonymous informant with suspicion.
It was unlike Ezekiel, who typically dug into the primary suspects first once an investigation began.
‘Moreover, since the Regent King accepted Marquis Vito’s recommendation and ordered the investigation, I assumed he would naturally have several of La Mare’s Director’s closest associates arrested as examples, considering his position.’
Another strange thing was that Ezekiel himself seemed to have only realized this fact upon hearing Oswald’s question.
“It appears… that’s the case.”
His tone sounded oddly fresh.
“I simply thought it would be better to conduct this investigation from multiple angles.”
Ezekiel cleared his throat.
“As you say, La Mare’s operations are remarkably meticulous in ways uncharacteristic of ordinary Trading Companies or Information Guilds. Let’s continue with the additional investigation as planned, and have the Director checked for hidden funds or private safes.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Also investigate people who might harbor resentment toward Marquis Vito. There’s a possibility his political enemies commissioned La Mare for this. I’ll hear the Marquis’s statement directly.”
“Understood. I’ll inform the Marquis’s side that you wish to conduct an interview.”
“Just to be safe, we should also investigate La Mare’s own resentment connections. And…”
The trailing words went on for quite some time.
It was when Oswald was growing puzzled.
“That’s all. You may go.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Oswald left and the door closed.
Left alone, Ezekiel furrowed his brow.
His adjutant had been right. Somewhere along the way, I had begun weighing the possibility of a third party’s involvement more heavily, just as La Mare’s position suggested.
“It would be too much of a waste to lose such a place to someone’s crude scheming.”
Ever since I interrogated Iliana Grecia.
Could it be that the word ‘waste’ she had chosen overlapped with what the Regent King had said?
Or was it because her answers, delivered in rapid succession as I pressed her, carried such conviction? Or perhaps because her gaze was so utterly unwavering?
Conviction and will are the virtues of a Holy Knight. Ezekiel was not the sort to be swayed by others’ words.
Yet the sea-blue eyes of the woman before me were so intensely compelling that even I found myself momentarily swayed by their force.
‘Magic artifacts or mana… no, that couldn’t be it.’
I had conducted a thorough search for magical artifacts, and the mana detector confirmed it—Iliana Grecia was clean.
Moreover, I am the commander of the Holy Knight Order. Ordinary mana held no sway over me.
Then why? …It was an awkward admission, but had that woman’s conviction somehow moved my heart?
Ezekiel, lost in thought, nodded slowly.
‘I should meet that woman once more.’
On one corner of Ezekiel’s desk lay a white envelope.
[Resignation Letter].
It was the resignation envelope that had been shoved deep into the secretary’s desk drawer.
I had discovered it while thoroughly searching through the cabinet and desk.
The date was the very first day Iliana Grecia reported to work at La Mar.
‘When did she write a resignation letter on her first day, and what made her change her mind to work for La Mar now?’
And…
‘I need to ask if she knows anything whatsoever about the Director’s true identity.’
Aden.
For some reason, I had the distinct feeling I had met that man before.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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