TMSTGH 11

Chapter 11

I thought to myself.

I’m freaking terrified…

I was wearing a confident smile on the outside, but that was how I really felt.

It wasn’t as though I’d ever spoken like this to anyone in my life before.

But I can’t back down now.

I casually glanced around.

The employees of Sterling Trading Company were staring at me with shocked expressions.

If I wanted them to follow my orders, I couldn’t afford to show even the slightest weakness here.

And it wasn’t as though I was bluffing, either.

All the men standing here had been sent by Boss Barsen.

He’d lent every single one of them to me.

“T-this can’t be happening! I’ve devoted years of my life to Sterling…!”

“Two years, actually. You haven’t even been out of university for that long.”

“Head of the company! Call the head of the company! Where’s Mr. Kevin Sterling?!”

“Don’t worry. I’ve made sure he’s being taken care of somewhere nice.”

In reality, Kevin was perfectly safe in his own room. I hadn’t laid a finger on him.

But with all these intimidating men filling the office, and the atmosphere created by an employee being forcibly restrained…

In a situation like this, saying someone was being taken care of somewhere nice would sound suspicious to anyone.

Just look at their faces. They’re not merely pale—they’ve practically turned blue!

“Take him away.”

At my command, the men immediately dragged Patrick out of the office.

So this was what the taste of power felt like…

Yeah, right.

I was practically dying trying to keep my expression under control until the very end. My mouth was about to start twitching.

Still, there was work to be done.

“Shall we continue the one-on-one interviews we left unfinished yesterday?”

When I flashed them a sweet smile, everyone’s shoulders jerked in unison.

There was something I wanted to ask them.

Have any of you ever heard of the prisoner’s dilemma?

Rashak nodded as he listened to his subordinate’s report.

“So, what happened after she began the one-on-one interviews?”

“She started with… questions about their work. She kept the ledgers they’d submitted yesterday beside her, but instead of examining them, she asked about the employees themselves. Things like when they’d joined the company and what kind of work they’d done.”

“And then?”

“Every so often, she’d point out something like, ‘You must have worked with Patrick Rohan on that, then.’ Naturally, the employees’ expressions would stiffen.”

The smile lingering on Rashak’s lips deepened.

An interesting approach.

“And? They didn’t confess everything right away, did they?”

“The first employee she interviewed did. Thinking back on it, I suspect she deliberately started with the employee who seemed the least courageous.”

“……”

“She was standing in the office, and the employee had seen Patrick Rohan being dragged away… So he spilled everything. Then she used that information to put pressure on the other employees, saying things like, ‘That’s not what the others told me.’”

By the time he’d heard that much, Rashak no longer felt the need to ask any more questions.

He could picture the entire scene clearly.

She had secured one piece of reliable information and was using it to investigate the employees one by one.

Whenever she noticed something suspicious, she would unsettle them by saying, That’s not what the others told me, then encourage them to betray one another.

In other words, Do you want to end up like Patrick Rohan?

She would use the same tactic on the next person, and the person after that. By comparing all the information she gathered, the truth would eventually come to light.

There was no need to search Patrick Rohan’s house or investigate his movements. She could secure testimony about his embezzlement directly from the employees.

She could even identify anyone deliberately feeding her false information and catch their accomplices.

“It’s a basic interrogation technique,” the subordinate added flatly.

Rashak knew that.

But seeing an ordinary woman who had been running a failing magic potion shop use it was another matter entirely.

She said she’d received knight training. Did she learn it back then?

Even so, knowing something in theory and putting it into practice were worlds apart.

She had quit her training halfway through, so she shouldn’t have had many opportunities to apply those skills in the real world.

And yet she’d done it in a single day.

Rashak had certainly given her a push in the right direction, but that didn’t make her accomplishment any less interesting.

“What would you like us to do? Should we have the intelligence squad look into the employees again?”

“Again? Why waste resources on that?”

“Pardon?”

“Hiel Caveron is doing her job well. She’s steadily gathering evidence and has correctly identified the person responsible for the embezzlement.”

“But…”

“Tell me, what do you think is the strongest motivation a person can have?”

Rashak’s lips curled into a crooked smile.

“Success.”

“……”

“Especially the first success they’ve achieved through a strategy of their own, entirely without anyone else’s help.”

“…It’s not as though she received absolutely no help.”

“Insisting on doing everything alone when you don’t have the resources is foolish, too.”

“……”

“Knowing exactly what you need is a skill in itself.”

“……”

“And Hiel Caveron is doing everything right.”

At last, the subordinate fell silent.

There was no resentment in his eyes. Instead, he nodded as though he understood.

Other organizations might have wondered why Rashak was spending so much time persuading them to acknowledge a mere subordinate. But Rashak considered this process necessary.

Only when everyone acknowledged someone’s abilities could genuine respect emerge. And only then could that person establish authority.

Without hiding his smile, Rashak asked,

“So, where is our excellent interrogator right now?”

Late that night.

I was practically half-dead from exhaustion in the head of the company’s office.

“Um, Miss Caveron… Wouldn’t it be better to have something for dinner? I brought you a sandwich.”

At Kevin’s hesitant words, I couldn’t manage a response.

I’d spent so much of the day talking that even eating felt like too much effort.

I think this is the most I’ve ever spoken in my entire life…

I struggled to rub my face and forced a smile.

“…Thank you.”

“P-please don’t cry.”

I’m smiling, actually.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know anything…”

Kevin lowered his head as he offered me the plate of sandwiches.

Honestly, he wasn’t wrong… but I didn’t feel like blaming him.

From his perspective, his father had died unexpectedly, practically overnight. How confused must he have been?

And then Patrick had sweet-talked him, claiming to have been his father’s friend, while all the employees looked to Patrick for guidance. Kevin hadn’t been in a position to get rid of him, either.

“It’s all right… You’re still young, Mr. Sterling.”

“But… if I’d known more, you wouldn’t have had to work so hard, Miss Caveron.”

“…That’s true.”

I was so exhausted that the honest response slipped out before I could stop myself.

Kevin’s expression visibly fell.

Just as an awkward silence was about to settle over us—

“Pfft.”

The sudden burst of laughter made both Kevin and me turn toward the entrance.

Rashak was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

“Your honesty is still remarkably quick.”

“B-Boss Barsen…!”

Kevin scrambled to his feet.

I was so tired that I started to rise a beat later, but before I could—

Rashak strode over to me and asked,

“Is that enough for dinner?”

“Pardon? Ah… yes, it’s fine.”

It wasn’t as though I had much of an appetite left to begin with.

He sat down on the sofa nearby and asked,

“So, did you find evidence of the embezzlement?”

“Yes. We’ve secured testimony. Mr. Kevin Sterling was also present and heard everything.”

“That couldn’t have been easy.”

“I still thought I needed to finish everything today. If I let them go home, they might get together and coordinate their stories again…”

That was why I’d spent the entire evening conducting interviews and organizing the testimonies, right up until this late hour.

If I kept them too busy to catch their breath, they wouldn’t have the time to come up with convincing lies.

“Then what will happen to Patrick Rohan?”

This time, Rashak turned his gaze toward Kevin Sterling.

Kevin hid his trembling hands behind his back before answering.

“W-well, after comparing the ledgers, we found that the amount he embezzled was substantial. So we’re planning to f-file a complaint with the Central Tribunal… and have his assets seized…? Yes, we’ll proceed with the appropriate legal measures.”

Fortunately, Kevin managed to finish his sentence with a little help from my silent prompting.

I added an explanation of my own.

“We’ll also notify the merchants’ association. Patrick Rohan will be expelled from the industry.”

After saying that, I cautiously watched Rashak’s reaction.

His earlier remark—We’re not running a public service—was still on my mind.

But if I used Rashak’s men to confiscate Patrick’s property or resorted to similar measures, it might instill excessive fear in the employees.

We weren’t running an underworld organization here. There was no particular need to govern a trading company through fear.

Besides, Kevin wasn’t going to be running the company for just a day or two.

“Handling this through official procedures would also be better for the company’s public image…”

Oops!

I hurriedly covered my mouth.

I’d only meant to think that, but I was so exhausted that the words had slipped out.

Rashak, however, smiled.

“Exactly. You made the right decision.”

“R-really…?”

“But are you sure you’re fine with that? You seem to have quite a grudge against the man. Don’t you want to break a limb or two?”

Rashak asked teasingly.

“Or have you already broken them in secret?”

“No! All his limbs are perfectly intact!”

My anger had already eased somewhat when Rashak’s men forcibly dragged Patrick away.

And if he ended up facing trial and having all his assets seized, it would be difficult for him to live a normal life afterward anyway.

“Well, if you block every possible escape route, even a rat will bite a cat.”

He smiled as though he’d read my thoughts.

“Anyway, shall we call it a day? I’ll take you home.”

“Pardon?”

“I said I’ll take you home.”

I blinked rapidly before asking,

“But I haven’t written the report yet.”

He had just begun to rise from his seat, but now he looked at me in confusion.

“Why would you do that?”

“Ah, you’re not asking for a report?”

“I do ask for reports. But why are you writing one today?”

I thought about it before answering.

“…So you can read it first thing tomorrow morning when you arrive at work?”

“Don’t tell me… that’s how things worked at your previous job?”

I had no choice but to nod.

Besides, this world didn’t even have computers.

Do you have any idea how long it takes to write a report by hand? Even if I started now, I’d have to stay up all night to finish it.

Honestly, even the time I was wasting sitting here talking was…

“Come with me.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, come on. Right now.”

When I remained still, unable to understand what he meant, he spoke firmly.

“Hiel Caveron, you’re off work as of this moment.”

Unbelievable. The mafia these days even cares about work-life balance.