The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 132

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

【Chapter 132】

Rianel thoroughly inspected not only Martan’s business premises but also the nearby vacant lots.

“I’m telling you it wasn’t me!”

However, no evidence emerged that Martan had distributed counterfeit gold.

“I only did transportation work! I just got paid to load and carry goods.”

Having been hit with a massive tax collection for unpaid income tax, he had gained one realization.

‘You can hide crimes, but you can’t hide the flow of money.’

The moment he couldn’t explain the source of his funds, Martan’s money was reduced to hidden assets. The tax official then classified those funds as gifts or tax evasion and imposed enormous additional taxes.

Currently, Martan had changed his line of business.

To things that straddled the line between illegal and legal, like loan sharking, transportation, and waste disposal.

He hadn’t reformed. He had just become more cunning than before.

Rianel surveyed his business premises once more.

Traces of tungsten were found in only a few cargo carriages. Even then, only small amounts remained on parts of the wheels or inside the cargo compartments.

“So you’re saying you were only responsible for transporting the goods.”

“That’s right.”

Martan’s voice rose with frustration and indignation.

“And don’t ask about those guys’ identities. I never saw them either. But I can tell you where I dropped off the goods.”

Martan cooperated obediently, wanting to avoid another tax investigation at all costs.

“Where did you make the final delivery of the goods?”

Rianel’s voice was emotionless, reminiscent of a machine or inanimate object asking questions.

Martan felt an indescribable strangeness at how she only asked for necessary information selectively.

“Aren’t you concerned?”

He was also curious.

“You know what kind of person I am.”

Killed this person, tortured and drowned that person in the sea.

There were countless sinister rumors surrounding him. Some of them were even true.

Investigators burning with a sense of justice would show disgust the moment they saw him.

While being outraged that they couldn’t arrest such a heinous criminal.

‘Didn’t you also come here burning with a sense of mission to catch the culprit who distributed counterfeit gold?’

But Rianel showed a different reaction.

“Determining whether a crime has been committed is not within my jurisdiction.”

Rianel was neither a judge nor an investigator.

“Then?”

“However, the act of concealing profits generated from distributing gold constitutes tax evasion, so I intend to collect the unpaid taxes.”

‘I see.’

Only then did Martan understand the person called Rianel.

Rianel hadn’t come here out of a sense of justice or thorough law-abiding spirit.

Only whether she could collect more additional charges and more fines motivated her.

‘This person is completely insane, isn’t she?’

She had gone a full 360 degrees and only appeared normal on the outside.

Indeed, exceptionally insane people were hard to distinguish from normal people. Because they had their own established logic, their words sounded rational.

‘What kind of lunatic looks at a criminal and thinks about debt collection first?’

Definitely someone to stay away from.

Martan slowly backed away from Rianel.

Rianel, uninterested in whatever thoughts Martan harbored, examined the site again.

‘It’s certain that tungsten was transported this way.’

Traces of the cargo carriages’ passage were clearly visible on the ground.

From the depth of the wheel tracks, she could confirm that carriages loaded with cargo had stopped here once.

The problem was what happened next.

‘Where did they move the tungsten?’

If they had moved this much metal to another location, there should normally be traces left behind.

It was suspicious that they had left absolutely nothing behind.

‘Even if it had evaporated into the sky, there would probably be more traces left than this.’

That’s when it happened.

“Team Leader!”

Til came running from a distance.

He had run so urgently that even while panting, he struggled to speak.

“An anonymous tip has been received, and it seems to require verification.”

Til held out a paper. Rianel silently took it and scanned through it.

“In my opinion, it seems quite credible, but what do you think, Te-Team Leader?”

“I judge it worth investigating.”

As the two prepared to leave, Martan waved his hand as if he had been waiting.

“Get lost. I won’t see you off.”

Rianel looked back at Martan.

Even at his blatant rudeness, Rianel remained expressionless.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

She left those words and turned her back.

Cleanly, as if she was done since she had finished all the business she needed.

Martan, who had been staring at Rianel’s retreating figure, slumped down where he stood.

Though she hadn’t done anything particularly remarkable, he felt like a storm had swept through.

“Should I shoot her?”

Martan’s subordinate, Wheel, asked while fingering his bow.

“If you shoot now, you’ll be caught red-handed, you fool.”

Though not as much as Rianel, Martan had figured out that the Special Tax Bureau guys were all collectively insane about tax collection.

Attacking Rianel here would only result in being fleeced with taxes.

“By the way, did you pay your taxes?”

Martan glanced back at Wheel and asked.

Receiving his gaze, Wheel burst into hollow laughter.

“Haha, I’m a villain, Boss.”

Where in the world was there a villain who paid taxes?

“Right, we’re bad guys.”

The sound of the two men’s laughter echoing through the vast space lasted only briefly.

“But still pay them, you bastard.”

Suddenly Martan smacked the back of Wheel’s head.

“Will you take responsibility if I get a tax audit because of you? Huh?”

Though his tone was playful, it contained clear authority and warning.

Though word had been going around lately that he had become somewhat gentler, a boss was still a boss.

“Yes, Boss.”

Wheel bowed his head.

Left alone after Martan departed, he rubbed his head.

“Ow, it still hurts.”

Still, it was a relief that he had survived after touching the boss’s nerves.

He smiled quietly.

* * *

The anonymous informant introduced themselves as an ordinary citizen of the Empire. They claimed to have accidentally discovered a place where counterfeit gold was being manufactured and reported it, but.

“The paper material was identical to what’s used in the Imperial Palace.”

Items supplied to the Imperial Family had a clear difference in material from paper circulated in the market.

After returning to the Special Tax Bureau, Rianel organized her thoughts and reported.

“The informant precisely targeted the time when everyone had left the government building and left a document with an address written on it.”

Moreover, no one had noticed during this process.

“The informant is currently working at the Imperial Palace and is someone who knows all the movement patterns and working hours of the civil servants. They are also presumed to be someone who wouldn’t attract attention even when acting alone.”

“Then could it be a palace maid?”

Mel asked cautiously.

“Or it could be a servant.”

Regardless of gender, there was a high possibility it was someone who had worked there long-term and knew the inner workings of the Imperial Palace inside and out.

These people knew well that unnecessary remarks could lead to trouble.

“Based on comprehensive judgment, I believe this is reliable information.”

Having reached her conclusion, Rianel headed to the site with just Asil.

Since Til was a victim of the incident, he was in an agitated state. It was better to leave him out of such matters.

The two of them arrived at a forest where no one lived.

As they went deep into the uninhabited forest, traces of something out of place caught their eye.

Large amounts of stacked tungsten, gold bars that looked freshly cast, and equipment that appeared to be a smelting furnace.

The culprit seemed to have processed tungsten to the size of gold bars, then put them into gold bar-shaped molds and poured melted gold over them to create counterfeit gold.

With forged certificates scattered around as well, this was clearly the crime scene.

The problem was that what was guarding the scene wasn’t human, but

“A demon?”

“That appears to be the case.”

The being with long blonde hair looked like a handsome man. However, the small horns protruding from his head revealed his true identity.

But it didn’t feel real.

‘Did demons actually exist?’

No literature had ever explicitly stated that such beings existed.

-I am indeed a demon, so don’t come near me, humans.

The demon Seir glared at the two and backed away.

Behind his warning voice, anxiety coexisted.

Those two weren’t ordinary humans.

They were pillars supporting this world, beings who returned the story to its original trajectory.

The brainwashing from the sacred herb wouldn’t work on them.

Manipulating someone’s mind with such tricks wasn’t a method that existed in the original work.

‘The same goes for the existence of a demon like me not being permitted.’

Though they were human, just existing in the same space made his body feel pushed away.

He could feel this world rejecting Seir’s existence with its entire being.

Moreover.

‘Isn’t that one the female protagonist?’

Seir glared at Rianel.

He had definitely heard she was dead, but couldn’t understand why she was alive.

‘To think I’d encounter those things when the Saint isn’t here.’

The Saint was a being who created cracks in this world, just like Seir.

Only with the Saint present could Seir exist stably in this world.

Seir broke out in cold sweat and staggered, then forcibly straightened his back.

‘I can’t cower and lose face as a demon.’

-Did you come here because you found me interesting?

He deliberately sneered and acted nonchalant.

Rianel immediately stated her business.

“Are you the culprit who released counterfeit gold into the market?”

Ah, I see.

Seir chuckled.

-If so, then you’ve come to the right place. Did you come to judge me?

But how exactly do you plan to punish me?

A demon was a being that stood above the laws of this world.

Whatever Rianel brought forth would be nothing but a meaningless act.

“Do you hold Empire citizenship?”

Seir, who had been watching Rianel as if observing a child’s antics, burst into laughter.

-Would I have that? Do you perhaps not know what a demon is?

“Then you fall under illegal residence.”

It was only natural since there was no record of any demon receiving a residence permit.

-Huh?

At that moment, Seir felt something was wrong, but

“Therefore, fines will be imposed according to the duration of stay and circumstances of violation.”

Rianel’s words didn’t stop.

Her voice reciting the established procedures contained not a trace of emotion, making it sound even more resolute and chilling.

“Also, since it has been confirmed that you operated manufacturing facilities without permission, you must pay administrative fines according to relevant laws.”

The truly important part was separate.

“Furthermore, since you disrupted the market by circulating fake gold, penalty surcharges will be imposed for this. Additionally, all illegally obtained profits will be subject to full recovery measures.”

-Ha, by what means?

Seir snorted.

As a demon, he had neither bank accounts nor identification.

Being an existence outside human institutions, he had no assets to be confiscated.

‘So it has nothing to do with me-,’

It should have been that way.

“We have confirmed records of you accumulating assets through borrowed-name accounts.”

Seir’s expression hardened.

Seir had used part of his earnings at Martan’s Gambling Den, and had hidden the rest for entertainment purposes.

‘Don’t tell me they found that?’

The moment Seir flinched at the anxiety that ran down his spine,

Rianel was already writing up a tax notice.

“This constitutes a violation of the financial real-name system. Administrative fines will be imposed accordingly, and since unreported income has been confirmed, income tax collection and additional taxes will also be imposed.”

So what if you’re a demon.

What are you going to do about it.

“Please pay the corresponding amount.”

You still have to pay taxes.

-Whaaaaaat?!

The tax notice that fell with a thud.

Seir’s jaw dropped when he saw the amount with an uncountable number of zeros.

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