Chapter 430 Audience Chamber II
"With all due respect, Your Excellency Duke Russell, the Arowz Merchant Guild will not sell wheat at ten times the price, no matter what."
"What?! Are you trying to mock the Duke Russell family?!"
"Not at all. I'm merely stating that I will not conduct business with the Arowz Merchant Guild."
"Same difference. Just as the Sophia Merchant Guild is under the protection of the Marquis Grandchester, the Arowz Merchant Guild is under our Duke Russell family's care. In fact, it's more accurate to say they support the backbone of the Russell territory. We're like a family on the same ship."
'Is this some appeal to be a good lord who cooperates with his own merchants? But it's quite disconnected from reality, isn't it? I wonder how much Duke Russell actually realizes this.'
"Would it be acceptable to interpret this as the Duke Russell family taking responsibility for the Arowz Merchant Guild's misconduct?"
"How disgraceful. The moment you're put at a disadvantage, you start looking for someone to blame."
"I'm merely inquiring. If you're so closely associated with the Arowz Merchant Guild, should we also assume you're aware of their actions?"
"Of course. The Arowz guildmaster of the merchant guild is different. He's a man who sets an example for merchants, dedicated to the territory."
Sophia felt a chill as Duke Russell spoke confidently.
She hesitated over how much of the truth she should reveal.
"Indeed, Mr. Freddy, the guildmaster of the Arowz Merchant Guild, is highly respected by many, I've heard."
"There seems to be a hint in your words. What are you trying to say?"
"I can't hide my surprise that the Arrowz Merchant Guild is so kind not just to Avalon but to merchants from other countries as well. Isn't there a secret passage in the underground of their warehouse by the sea that leads to a hidden port? Thanks to foreign sailors coming and going from there, the nearby taverns and brōtḥels have been booming. Everyone seems really grateful to the Arrowz Merchant Guild for setting up that port at their own expense, and they voluntarily pay a share of their profits to the guild. This is what being a model merchant looks like. Honestly, I could never pull that off."
"Stop spouting nonsense!"
Duke Russell flared up so much it was like steam was rising from his head.
But Sara, having gotten info from Sedrick's followers, secretly ordered the Shinobi clan hiding in Grandchester Castle to spy, and already had several key pieces of intelligence.
Sedrick's followers can hear and see info, but they never take any proof out with them.
It's not that they physically can't carry proof, but their interest is purely in the information itself──they don't care much about evidence backing it up.
Unlike fairies, the human Shinobi clan risks getting caught, injured, or even killed during their espionage missions.
Because of these dangers, Sara doesn't really want to put the Shinobi out there unless she has to.
But when the situation demands solid proof, she has no choice but to send the Shinobi.
So, whenever the Shinobi are deployed, Sara also has Sedrick's followers keep watch, ready to jump in if anything goes wrong.
The Shinobi clan under Joseph, the steward at Grandchester Castle, is so skilled that Sara has never had to step in once.
'With fairies and shinobi this talented, I wonder how much I should even reveal. Such a spoiled problem to have.'
While pretending to reach into the bottom of the wooden box she brought, Sara pulled out evidence of smuggling by the Arrowz Merchant Guild from a spatial storage.
Along with documents listing the nationalities of the merchants coming and going, what they dealt in, their trade volumes, and prices, there were also passes used to enter and exit the ports used for illegal trade.
"Here are copies of the transaction records related to the Arrowz Merchant Guild's smuggling, as well as the passes used to get in and out of the ports. Of course, you're under no obligation to trust this..."
Sophia slowly shifted her gaze to meet the eyes of Freddy, the Arrowz Guildmaster of the merchant guild, who was sitting in a much lower position, and gave a small, faint smile.
"Since he's right here, I'll hand it over to him in person."
Freddy, though a commoner, was dressed in flashy clothes and jewelry, showing off his wealth with every inch of his appearance.
Caught off guard by Sophia's stare, Freddy hurriedly tried to leave the scene.
But 2 royal guards, tracking Sophia's gaze, stepped forward to block his escape.
"W-What is this!"
"Ah, knights, please don't get rough. We have something we'd very much like the Arrowz Guildmaster, a paragon of merchants, to confirm."
Sophia lifted part of the documents, and the officials took the papers with understanding.
"I don't know anything about this. Quite an elaborate fabrication, if I do say so."
"So, you're saying this is false information, then?"
"Of course."
"That's unfortunate. You see, we copied this from the original into a Grandchester-style ledger and discovered the Arrowz Merchant Guild has been involved in fraudulent deals with the Coastal Union's Pazzi Merchant Guild... But if you insist it's all fake, then clearly this evidence is useless~."
Sara and Magi were creating a double-entry ledger based on the transaction records of the Arowz Merchant Guild.
The original documents were so convoluted that it was hard to grasp the full extent of the transactions.
Thanks to Magi's abilities, they managed to organize it all into a double-entry ledger in no time.
It was Thomas, a former palace bureaucrat and an expert in inspections, who uncovered various irregularities from this ledger.
Eager to impress Sophia, Thomas was very diligent in highlighting the inconsistencies in the ledger.
Fredy tried to maintain his composure, but he couldn't stop his lips from twitching.
"Hey, could you let me see those documents, just in case?"
'Oh, you noticed, did you? But it seems you don't have the full picture yet.'
The Pazzi Merchant Guild of the Coastal Union had been deliberately using confusing documents to fraudulently obtain money.
It was a move that mocked the Arowz Merchant Guild, but managing such intricate and bizarre ledgers was difficult, making it hard to notice such fraudulent tactics.
That's why someone skilled in accounting was a hot commodity in any merchant guild.
"It would be against etiquette to show you forged documents."
"S-so, what kind of tricks are they supposed to have used according to those forged materials?"
Sophia tilted her head slightly, as if pondering, before she began to speak slowly.
"There are several methods, but the most noticeable one seems to be the tariffs. Since it's smuggling, they should be avoiding tariff payments, but all import and export tariffs were recorded as being covered by the Arrowz merchant guild. It appears that only Avalon does smuggling, while in Lombart, the transactions seem to be legitimate. Also, I've noticed instances of double billing. Even though payments for delayed goods were settled beforehand, they were charged again upon arrival. They subtly changed the names of the items on the invoice to make them look like different products. It's bold, but it seems like a practiced method."
"What! Something like that!"
"I also found records that make it look like uncollected accounts receivable are being cleared as if they were collected. I hope it's just an accounting error, but if it's deliberate, that means some employees might be colluding with other merchant guilds. Oh, and by the way, I also prepared the income statement."
The bureaucrats, who had just received the documents, started scrutinizing the content after Sophia's statement.
"Hmm, hmm. This is indeed a rather elaborate scheme."
"Well, trade with other countries has complicated paperwork. But with smuggling, it must be hard to hire experts."
"However, you're not amateurs, so shouldn't you at least notice the double billing?"
Sophia, with a soft and gentle smile, directed words at Freddy that were the most humiliating for a merchant.
"I can't allow a good person, who is said to be a model merchant, to be deceived by such dirty tricks. No, that's not right. These are falsified documents, which means such facts don't exist. I will discard all of these records."
The paperwork is indeed complex and confusing.
Yet, even setting aside those circumstances, being a victim of fraud is tantamount to being branded as incompetent as a merchant.
In other words, Sophia is harshly criticizing Freddy as an inept fool who fell for a scam.
"Guh..."
Having heard in advance from Duke Russell that he would 'accuse Sophia in front of the king,' Freddy was convinced that the Sophia Merchant Guild would eventually give in and sell their wheat.
He figured there was no way they would openly hold back on their sales in front of the king.
But when the truth came out, it turned out that the smuggling by the Arrowz merchant guild had been exposed, and the information about their hidden accounts had ended up in the hands of Sophia Merchant Guild.
'It's hard to believe that a mere merchant, especially a newcomer like her, could conduct such detailed espionage. It's likely that a royal spy is using the Sophia Merchant Guild as a cover. I might as well assume that some kind of backdoor deal with the royal family has already been made.'
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