Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 129

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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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Had I really been calling a grandmother who was easily two hundred years old “sister” this whole time? No wonder Kim Serena always looked absolutely delighted whenever someone addressed her as such.
“But is it even possible for her to make the journey all the way to the Duchy?”
“That’s….”
“….”
“We’ll have to leave it to fate.”
Sage’s eyes grew hollow as she gazed out the window. No matter how many attendants we assigned, what were the odds that this directionally-challenged nightmare would actually reach us without losing her guide?
…I hadn’t wanted to think about this, but the moment Sage called her a grandmother, it just popped into my head—what if…, what if it wasn’t just that Kim Serena was directionally challenged, but rather….
Nooooo, no….
No, no, no! Rosalite Rocksburg, forbidden thoughts!
I suddenly decided to forget the crystal-clear answer that had surfaced and gave both my cheeks a sharp slap. Forgotten. I’d completely forgotten it. Kim Serena is a devastatingly beautiful woman with jet-black hair and the absolutely magnificent True Magic Tower Master who can cast triple spells!
“I’ll have William send an escort from our end as well. And a three-way meeting with the Duke should happen soon, so write down any grievances you have on paper.”
“You got it! I have plenty to say to that bastard!”
Right—whether we argue or do whatever else, we shouldn’t let problems fester. We need to solve them.
After offering a polite farewell and wishing her good health, I leaped over the disciples still flailing about on the floor and left the room.
When I arrived at the Office, Mrs. Brown and Glen were already working, and William—who’d arrived just before me—started nagging about whether I’d gone to see that mage, so I covered my ears and sat down at Father’s desk.
Ignore him. Ignoring is best. As I sat there with my ears covered and my head on the desk, Mrs. Brown gave William a good kick and told him to stop standing around getting in the way when there was work to be done.
Mrs. Brown is the best. That’s right. Work is what matters—not whether the Duke’s feelings are hurt right now.
Thanks to Mrs. Brown, I had a pleasant work environment, so I stretched out with a satisfying morning exercise and got down to business.
By lunchtime, we were simply finishing up yesterday’s work, so we spent the hours in blessed quiet and peace.

Then, the moment lunch break ended, the door burst open. Asterion rushed in without so much as a knock, his face bright despite the dark circles under his eyes.
“Sister! Sister, look at this! This is completely strange!”
Hmm… based on what I’m seeing right now, the one who’s completely strange is actually Asterion.
I debated whether to point that out, but the moment I examined the documents he’d brought, I clamped my mouth shut. No, this was… that was it, wasn’t it?
“Look here. This part and this part, and this person too. The income and taxes all end in perfect zeros—isn’t that completely suspicious? There’s definitely something here. We need to investigate thoroughly…!”
“Our precious Leon! Let’s go for a walk!”
“Yes! I’ll follow you anywhere, Sister!”
Goodness, the boy has sharp eyes. How did he manage to pinpoint exactly the names I used for my shell accounts?
I glanced at Glen’s expression and firmly grasped Leon’s hand before hurrying out of the office.
Along the second course of the Model Water Walking Path, now perfectly familiar to me, I led Leon through the rabbit enclosure route and stood before the fence, holding his hand tightly. Perhaps because Asterion had drawn near, Peter kept prowling around this area.
He must be restraining the urge to swallow Asterion whole in one gulp. Poor beast.
“Leon, you know that I brought Luke here by spending my personal funds, don’t you?”
“Of course, Sister. Bringing my nephew wasn’t just your doing—it was a blessing for our entire household, wasn’t it?”
“Right. So then, what do you make of the fact that after spending all that money, not a single coin accumulates in my personal accounts?”
I decided to first gauge how well our Asterion understood me. This was also connected to Glen’s assumption that after I’d been ruined, the entire household would follow suit.
“Well, Sister, you’re always so meticulous. You must be accumulating wealth in a secret safe as physical assets, or perhaps channeling your investments overseas? Your relationship with the Nimerunia Duchy has grown quite strong, after all.”
“Your reasoning is sound.”
Some of my wealth is indeed being used that way, but that’s not the whole answer. Hmm… where should I even begin explaining this?
I closed my eyes and organized my thoughts. Seeing how Asterion had readily lent me money and given Luke pocket change, I felt it was time this growing child understood.
“You know that only those who can prove their identity clearly can open accounts at Rocksburg Bank after passing the screening process, don’t you?”
“Of course. Only the person with the identification can conduct transactions, and foreigners must receive guarantees from the lord of their residence to use banking services. It’s a proper procedure.”
Yes, the real-name financial system is truly an excellent policy. Clean finance, a bright economy. For children and adults who’ve carried identification since their first bank visit, this would seem like a natural procedure. But for those old, dirty hands who’ve been in this business since before such systems existed…
“Asterion, but we’re not the owners of the bank, are we?”
“No.”
“And we’re not the owners of Rocksburg Territory either, are we?”
“…No.”
Asterion’s expression seemed to grow troubled. Was the boy starting to catch on?
“If you create fictitious people and make it appear as though they conduct social activities and financial transactions, and if there are quite a few of these people, what benefits would accrue to the Duke, myself, and Luke? Think about it.”
“…”
Asterion fell silent. He narrowed his eyes and stared at me. Peter, who had been watching only Asterion, suddenly approached me and began nipping at my hand.
Shoo, get away, shoo. People aren’t food.
“If I maintain multiple shell accounts and claim to have barely a fingernail’s worth of wealth, I pay less taxes and can appeal to both the nobility and the people of Alein Kingdom as someone of modest character. Transactions I’d rather keep hidden can be handled cleanly through shell accounts. Bribes flow in from all over the country, so why is our household entrance so spotless? Well, there must be a reason, right? Moreover, if I inflate the number of phantom residents in our territory and claim we have a large population, we can gain leverage in negotiations with other nations and cities eager to maintain good relations with Rocksburg. As a bonus, though it’s pocket change, we can extract substantial subsidies from the Royal Palace for territory management. And once the east-west railway is completed, tracks will be laid from the far south—where the Masujung Mine and various other resources lie—all the way to the Capital. Once we assign stations to resource supply, primary processing cities, and secondary processing cities, money will flow wherever stations are built. Shouldn’t we push for many stations in Rocksburg Territory? If we insist on high floating populations and build stations everywhere, the market economy thrives, and when the residents earn money, we can extract more taxes. How wonderful.”
“…”
“Will you join me?”
Asterion is the third person to discover my shell accounts, after the Duke and Luke. And the moment those two realized what I was doing, they came running with their own lists of names, demanding to be included.
At my proposal, Asterion’s eyebrows trembled ever so slightly. Perhaps it was a physiological rejection—a “what kind of person does such things?” reaction. But Leon’s face brightened immediately. He’d quickly decided that no matter what, “I love my sister” won out. Such a pitiful sister complex.
“S-Sister, you’re a genius!”
“You didn’t think, ‘Such schemes are what someone thinks of when their character is corrupted enough to become a swindler’?”
“…”
“…”
“That’s… Li, okay!”
Leon, I’ve been uneasy ever since you clashed with the Crown Prince, but this won’t do. Let’s practice acting. I don’t expect you to hide your emotions as flawlessly as Theodore does, but surely you can manage better than the Four-span Princess, can’t you?
If we put the two of you on stage side by side, you’d sound just like a cicada clinging to an oak tree, chirping away endlessly, and I’d burst out laughing.
I was telling Leon about finding him an instructor when Peter Brown suddenly brought his snout to my face and tapped it with his tongue. This rascal had been acting suspicious since earlier—he’d come to taste me.
“You beast! How many times do I have to tell you not to nibble on people!”
“Squeak!”
Startled by my scolding, Peter drummed the ground with his hind legs and rolled around me, kicking up dust. When I told him to go take a nap somewhere else if he had nothing better to do, Peter squeaked and squealed before waddling powerfully over to the napping area where dried hay was piled up and flopped down dramatically.
That creature really does resemble his master, grumbling about everything just as much.
“Ahem, so, Leon. Will you do this with me?”
“Of course! I’ll definitely earn more money than that insufferably arrogant Janet Edanelli and treat you well, Sister!”
Well… I appreciate the thought of being treated well, but did something happen between you and Janet? Why do you harbor such animosity toward her?
When I asked out of curiosity, Leon said it was something I didn’t need to know. There are many things in this world better left unknown. This was likely one of them.
Deciding not to pry further, I took Leon’s hand and decided to go look through a directory of people. And I made him promise to keep his mouth shut around Glen.
Of course, even if Glen knew about this, he couldn’t stop me, but still… Glen dislikes such things. I didn’t want to get caught and lectured for nothing. He might even say he was disappointed in me and leave home.
…Though truthfully, I had no intention of letting him leave willingly. Deliberating once more and making a vow, if the Prince tried to run away a hundred times, I would chase after him and bring him back all hundred times.
It was only natural. As long as I kept my eyes wide open, Glen would never escape my grasp, not even in death.

◇ ◆ ◇

It had been six days since I’d taken on the role of Acting Duke. I’d anticipated that continuing this work would kill me, but I adapted surprisingly quickly, and today I was able to finish my duties before sunset.
Hmm, perhaps today I should gather Luke as well and take the family out for a pleasant dinner. With that thought, I searched for Glen, but the man who’d clearly been working at that distant desk had vanished without a trace.
William and Mrs. Brown had both left work together, and the only person in the office was Jack Brown, who’d come to deliver documents on Asterion’s errand, so I had no one to ask.
“Why are you looking around so restlessly?”
“Oh, Glen has disappeared.”
“He left a while ago, didn’t he?”

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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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