The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 101】

 

Work hours resumed.

 

Everyone began working several times harder than usual.

 

While the clock hands made several rotations, they sat glued to their desks looking over documents, their pen tips moving ceaselessly to write out letters.

 

‘I can never work in a department where the Saint is Deputy Bureau Director again.’

 

Among them, Til’s determination was the strongest.

 

‘I need to do well on this task to become a ‘former’ Team Leader…!’

 

If only she could escape from this position and responsibility, she could do anything.

 

Even those whose positions wouldn’t change were equally enthusiastic.

 

‘I absolutely don’t want to live cleaning up messes.’

 

‘Who knows what kind of trouble the Saint will cause when she returns.’

 

The Saint was worse than a child left by the water’s edge.

 

At least you could threaten a child, but the Saint was an adult with a position, so there was no way to stop her even while watching her cause trouble.

 

Fortunately, the Saint was currently absent from the Special Tax Bureau.

 

Looking at Rianel who had filled the vacant position, the Tax Bureau staff were filled with a sense of stability that everything had returned to its proper place.

 

‘It’s been a while since we’ve… properly done work, hasn’t it?’

 

Even though they were just doing their original duties, somehow it brought tears to their eyes.

 

‘How long has it been since we enjoyed this kind of daily routine.’

 

‘Life is precious when you don’t have to write other people’s disciplinary reports.’

 

Til, who had been exclusively handling the Saint’s cleanup work, was even more deeply moved.

 

Anyway, the facts that were revealed were.

 

“So you’re saying the Saint intentionally omitted income tax.”

 

It was tax evasion.

 

The Saint had been encouraging donations from believers and taking 10% of the donations as performance bonuses.

 

Moreover, she hadn’t done this just once or twice, but had been receiving it regularly.

 

“She was essentially receiving employment income.”

 

The fact that she was a religious person was no excuse.

 

Furthermore, the Saint had failed to report this income and had been concealing it for a long period.

 

“She’ll be caught for tax evasion.”

 

Moreover, the Saint had one more charge.

 

‘Is this really our jurisdiction?’

 

A complaint had recently come in regarding the Temple’s scholarship foundation.

 

Because Yuna had been taking on all sorts of miscellaneous work and insisting it was achievement, Til now checked first whether complaints were actually their responsibility.

 

-Regarding the scholarship foundation’s failure to perform its stated business purposes.

 

After tilting her head at the title for a moment.

 

‘This seems like it should be passed to the Administrative Department.’

 

Til understood only after reading the content.

 

The complainant identified themselves as a professor at the National Academy, saying that talented students weren’t receiving support from the scholarship foundation and asking for an investigation into the situation.

 

It started with the story that no students had been selected as scholarship recipients by the foundation for two years.

 

But later it included evidence that the foundation’s funds were being operated privately, plus a list of commercial buildings and structures purchased under the foundation’s name, and even content about how one of the foundation’s directors had used the foundation to get inheritance tax reductions.

 

‘Ah, this is our jurisdiction after all?’

 

The fact that decisively caught Til’s attention was separate.

 

‘The chairperson is…’

 

Surprisingly, it was the Saint.

 

The Saint seemed to have used the corporate foundation to save on acquisition and registration taxes incurred when purchasing buildings.

 

Establishing foundations or overseas corporations to purchase buildings under corporate names was a common tax evasion method.

 

‘But was our troublemaker Deputy Bureau Director really this competent?’

 

Til dug deeper.

 

‘I knew this would happen.’

 

She soon realized the whole story.

 

From the board members to the administrative director and secretary – everyone was people who had personal connections with Yuna.

 

Yuna and they had been systematically evading taxes by enjoying tax exemption benefits through the foundation.

 

“If we investigate this, we’ll find a lot, won’t we?”

 

Other Tax Bureau staff agreed.

 

“Just looking at these records, it seems like they used the foundation account like personal funds. I mean, how can you pay for personal luxury goods with foundation money?”

 

“There are quite a few suspicious donations that came into the scholarship foundation too. We should consider the possibility that they received bribes indirectly in the form of donations.”

 

Meanwhile, Rianel focused on a different part.

 

Specifically, the board member list.

 

Among them, she couldn’t take her eyes off one particular name.

 

While the other people were Temple figures with no connection to Rianel.

 

‘Susan Diekells.’

 

This person was different.

 

Susan was someone who had served as Head Maid of the Empress’s palace when Rianel was Empress, and currently served as Head Maid of the Main Palace.

 

In principle, the Head Maid was a civil servant and couldn’t serve concurrently as a foundation director.

 

Therefore, she was listed not as an official executive but as an honorary director. It stated that she received no salary and her role was limited to simple consultation, but.

 

‘Even so, it’s equally suspicious.’

 

Rianel had expressed her intention to establish a scholarship foundation just before her death, and related plans had been concrete.

 

Very few people knew this fact, including the Princess, and Susan was among that small number.

 

Rianel had thought it was understandable that the foundation wasn’t established after her death.

 

‘Even the policies I created were abolished, so a foundation establishment plan could easily have fallen through.’

 

The problem was the funds she had contributed for use by the foundation.

 

Since foundations need continuous funding to operate properly, Rianel had arranged for her research paper royalties to continuously flow to that foundation.

 

But.

 

Both the timing of the foundation’s establishment and this structure were overly familiar…

 

“What are you looking at so intently?”

 

Wilbrin asked.

 

“The initial investment funds of this foundation are suspicious.”

 

As Rianel spoke, the office atmosphere became noticeably heavier.

 

The Tax Bureau staff straightened their postures or hunched their shoulders nervously.

 

Because every time Rianel acted like this, explosive truths would drop.

 

“The source of the investment funds appears to be the Former Empress’s inheritance.”

 

“?!”

 

What good did preparing do.

 

The truth bombing that followed was mercilessly brutal.

 

Everyone sat with their mouths agape, unable to speak for a long time.

 

“What?”

 

“More precisely, it seems the Temple established the foundation the Former Empress intended to create under their own name.”

 

“What?”

 

Of course, this was still suspicion. To properly confirm it, they needed to verify whether the research paper royalties were actually flowing into this foundation.

 

“Even so, how can a person be that stupid and evil? This is too…”

 

Mel muttered blankly then hurriedly closed his mouth.

 

‘No, it’s entirely possible.’

 

Having confirmed new human possibilities (in a bad way, of course) through watching Yuna, Mel decided to adopt an open mindset.

 

“Let’s start with tax collection first.”

 

“As for the scholarship foundation, well, it’ll come out if we investigate around the Deputy Bureau Director.”

 

After all, she’s the chairperson.

 

Usually with these kinds of problems, if you poke one side, everything comes bursting out.

 

Money trails tend to be complexly intertwined with each other. If you properly catch just one, it gets pulled out like unraveling thread.

 

“The foundation office location happens to be at the Temple too. It looks like they’re using an empty prayer room as the administrative office.”

 

In other words. This meant they could visit the Temple as planned to collect the income tax the Saint failed to report, and also search the scholarship foundation’s office.

 

However, they encountered one problem.

 

“But if we all visit the temple, wouldn’t anyone see it as a tax collection site?”

 

It would be a disaster if the parties involved caught wind of something and fled or hid evidence.

 

“It would be best if as few people as possible visited normally.”

 

“That’s a good idea, but then who among us should go?”

 

At that moment, everyone looked at one person.

 

The one transcendent who could achieve maximum efficiency with minimum personnel.

 

“The Former Team Leader absolutely cannot go!”

 

Wilbrin immediately objected.

 

“The Former Team Leader’s face has ‘Special Tax Bureau’ written all over it! Anyone can tell he’s someone who came for official business.”

 

“Judging people by their appearance is a narrow-minded way of thinking.”

 

Rianel was incredulous, but Mel shared the same opinion.

 

“But if someone who looks like a non-believer visits the temple, people would be curious about their intentions, well, naturally…”

 

“Ah, so who’s going to go?”

 

They glanced at each other before starting to recommend themselves to get some dopamine.

 

“Me! If you send me, I’ll dig up everything down to the color of their underwear!”

 

“I don’t need underwear, I’ll just strip their souls bare.”

 

“I’m confident I can secure statements through drunken confessions.”

 

The temple infiltration was tomorrow.

 

Even though they’d be working on a holiday, everyone wanted to volunteer, so they selected personnel by drawing lots.

 

And so, about 30 minutes later.

 

“Well then, we’ll be going.”

 

Mel adjusted his glasses.

 

“Woooooh. The Great Sloth God has not abandoned me!”

 

Til pounded the floor while letting out a strange cry.

 

However, the next day.

 

“Good day, priest. We are-”

 

“It’s the Tax Bureau! Those Special Tax Bureau guys are here!”

 

“???”

 

What is this. An auto-complete function?

 

Why was their identity revealed automatically when they hadn’t even said anything?

 

They couldn’t even deny it since they were indeed here on official business.

 

While they hesitated, the fact that they had arrived spread throughout the entire temple.

 

They hurriedly arrived at the prayer room used as an administrative office, but it was too late.

 

Beyond the closed prayer room door, they could see a man running away with ledgers.

 

“Stop right there! Interfering with legitimate official duties may be subject to sanctions under relevant laws…”

 

The two chased after him at full speed, but their stamina built from commuting between work and home was pitifully weak.

 

In less than a few minutes, the two stopped, panting heavily.

 

All they had gained from years of office work was a thickened belly and white hairs appearing one by one on their crown.

 

When they straightened their backs, their joints cracked, followed by an “Ouch” exclamation.

 

“Hah. Hey, where did that bastard go?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

Mel, who had been looking around, hunched his shoulders.

 

“What do we do now?”

 

“Still, huff, we have to find him. If we lose him here, who knows how far that guy will go?”

 

They trudged along again, even though they thought it was hopeless.

 

And then.

 

“???”

 

They stopped dead in their tracks upon witnessing an astonishing sight.

 

‘H-how?’

 

The temple official they had been chasing was already captured and bound.

 

And in front of him was a familiar face.

 

“Bureau Director?”

 

Next to Asil was Rianel.

 

She was quickly flipping through the ledger, checking something.

 

Asil wasn’t dressed in fancy formal attire, but he was quite well-dressed.

 

Moreover, the place where the two were located was a promenade outside the temple. It was one of the dating spots along the lakeside.

 

They seemed to have been on a date since it was a holiday.

 

“How did you catch this guy?”

 

“We were sitting here when evidence suddenly rolled right up to us. I thought we shouldn’t let it slip away.”

 

Rianel looked up and handed the ledger back to them.

 

“After reviewing this ledger, clear evidence of tax evasion has been confirmed, so you may proceed with collection according to procedure.”

 

To say she had verified all the evidence in that short time.

 

The two stared blankly at each other before letting out sighs.

 

‘The Great Sloth really is on a different level.’

 

How could she handle everything in that brief moment?

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