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Although we used the Finance Department equipment to leak the hair-loss potion, to be honest, it didn't really cause much chaos in the academy, despite being called a leak and a hazard.
It was only natural. It wasn't like last time when we meticulously planned and ordered a large quantity; we just detonated the remaining stock in a suitable location. Moreover, since it happened outside the academy, there was no unrest among the students.
Grandis Academy boasted the size of a decent city, so covering the entire academy with the hair-loss potion was financially impossible in the first place.
Even so, a leak was a leak, and since it was a hair-loss potion, merchants and visitors who were worried about going bald voluntarily turned back. It wasn't a major crisis, but…
"It's a valid reason for the auditor to turn back…"
"…Do you think he's ignoring it because he's bald?"
"According to the information we gathered beforehand, Auditor Marcus is accompanied by an escort knight. It's unlikely that the knight is also bald."
"Then he's just pushing through? That's a bit much, even if he is principled."
"It doesn't matter if he's principled or not. The important thing is… the audit hasn't stopped."
I thought about using the Finance Department equipment again, but as expected of equipment, it fainted after one use.
What was it again? Did she say that the sample she made with all her achievements so far exploded along with the hair-loss potion in this leak?
Honestly, since we had some financial income now and weren't as desperate for the hair-loss cure research, it was best to keep the equipment at the academy for a long time, so I ignored it.
Anyway, we couldn't use it again since it fainted from the shock.
"By the way, Finance Director? Where did you go earlier? You came back looking flustered…"
"I tried grasping at a rotten lifeline, just in case."
"What?"
"It means I wasted my time."
That damn Cassandra. I was so desperate that I went to hear her bogus prophecy, and what did she say?
──Hmm… it will be resolved if you just stay still, senior!
──What will be resolved?
──Everything!
Resolved my ass. Well, it would be resolved. My head would be chopped off, the Headmistress's authority would plummet, our financial status would be revealed, and the academy would be normalized.
It was legendary enough that I went to hear it even though I knew it was bogus, but Cassandra's prophecy was even more legendary.
I would never go to her again.
"Headmistress."
"Yes, Finance Director."
"Are you alright?"
"My internal injuries are all healed. However, it will be difficult to use Aura on a large scale like before…"
"If you do that, it'll be obvious that you were the culprit. Just use a moderate amount of force."
"A moderate amount of force…?"
"Just enough."
Let's just collapse one mountain, shall we?
***
Crackle. Crackle.
As the sun began to set in the evening, Auditor Marcus and the escort knight dismounted their horses and sat around a campfire.
They had spread out their blankets and sleeping bags and were currently boiling stew with dried meat and withered vegetables.
Honestly, it was called stew, but it was more for sustenance than taste.
Auditor Marcus lifted his spoon without a change in expression.
"…Auditor Marcus, are you alright?"
"What do you mean?"
"We went through all sorts of things on the way here. A rock suddenly rolled down while we were crossing the mountain, then a landslide occurred… It's fortunate that the trees and rocks changed their trajectory; otherwise, we both would have died."
"It's a good thing we didn't die."
"But! Your leg… while trying to save me!!"
"Hmm."
As the escort knight said, one of Auditor Marcus's legs was wrapped tightly with a crudely made splint and bandages.
It wasn't broken. But it must have been badly sprained, swollen and making it impossible for him to continue without rest.
They didn't know that it wasn't the falling rocks or trees from the landslide that injured Marcus. They didn't know that the one who caused the landslide had used Aura to protect them when it seemed like they might get hurt. Of course, that was because a certain Finance Director had desperately pleaded with her not to hurt them.
Marcus was injured because he had jumped in to save the escort knight, who was flustered by the sudden landslide.
The escort knight, ashamed, gritted his teeth.
"I'm truly… sorry. For a knight escort…"
"Don't worry about it. It won't affect the audit."
"But still!"
"It's important for you, the escort, to be healthy so that I can sleep peacefully at night. Moreover, if a Rank 1 like me saved a promising knight by sacrificing a leg, it's something to be praised."
"Auditor Marcus…"
Auditor Marcus Rutel was, very unusually, a Rank 1.
This was a testament to his abilities, allowing him to reach the position of auditor despite being Rank 1, but it was also a shackle that held him back.
Originally, he could have aimed for the position of Finance Minister, not just an auditor, but…
His rigid personality, coupled with the label of Rank 1, had kept Marcus as an auditor for over a decade.
While his peers were all promoted, Marcus remained a mere auditor.
As if even that was a luxury for a Rank 1.
"Isn't that what makes you amazing? Reaching that position despite being a Rank 1…"
"If I were even Rank 2, I could have climbed higher."
"Of course!"
"Then I would have thought, 'If only I were Rank 3,' or 'If only I were Rank 4.'"
"...…"
"Greed is endless. I'm content with my current position."
There was no hesitation in Marcus's expression as he spoke. Rank was truly cruel and merciless.
Some might discuss the wall of talent and effort at Rank 3, Rank 4, or Rank 5, but the vast majority of the continent felt the gap in talent between Rank 1 and Rank 2.
It was a gap that countless geniuses and talents couldn't relate to. For them, Rank 1 and Rank 2 were levels they could reach from birth or with minimal effort.
But few could rise from Rank 1 to Rank 2. That was the absolute ratio. There were more people without talent than with it.
Auditor Marcus was also one of those without talent. He had trained in mana and swordsmanship since childhood to become Rank 2, but he remained Rank 1 all his life.
He had once resented it and felt frustrated, but…
Not anymore.
"I have a wife, a child, a job, and thankfully, someone like you who trusts me."
"Auditor Marcus…"
"I cherish these things more than mere rank or promotion."
The escort knight was Rank 4 and from a viscount family. Simply in terms of rank and status, there was an immeasurable gap between him and Auditor Marcus, but…
Auditor Marcus had something that transcended those gaps.
As the escort knight was left speechless, Auditor Marcus smiled and added something to the stew.
"Auditor Marcus? What's this?"
"It's pepper and salt. I have plenty."
"What!? How did you get such expensive things…!!"
"We might go bald, you know? I bought as many Purification Scrolls as I could with my own money, but I still feel sorry."
"But how did you get so much of something that's barely even included in the supplies?"
Salt and pepper themselves weren't impossible to obtain. But the amount Marcus took out was clearly substantial.
Usually, stew was seasoned with salty preserved meat, but adding salt crystals like this was a luxury.
It would be difficult to even afford it with an ordinary auditor's salary.
"I received it from someone I met in the past. Don't hesitate and eat."
"Auditor Marcus…"
"Well, it's just a saying, but they say eating a lot of salt prevents hair loss. Seeing how much hair I've lost, it seems like a lie, though."
The escort knight burst into laughter at Auditor Marcus's awkward chuckle.
He glanced between the stew with precious pepper floating in it and Auditor Marcus's bandaged leg.
"To be honest, I was planning to forcibly take you back to the capital after you fell asleep. The orders I received were quite serious. The hair-loss potion leak near the academy, this landslide… it felt like I was being pressured to return."
"...…"
"But… it seems I have other priorities."
"What might that be?"
"To heal your leg with my Qi, Auditor Marcus, and quickly head to the academy. I will follow you anywhere, Auditor Marcus!"
"…Thank you."
***
"That Rank 1 bastard!"
"Uh, well, the Finance Director is also…"
"Why is he working so hard when he's just a Rank 1! Tell him to rest! To just go back!"
"...…"
I truly couldn't understand. Wasn't Auditor Marcus just a Rank 1? Why was he working so hard, wearing himself down?
The Headmistress's gaze was somewhat strange, but she felt a little better after shouting… not really.
"I heard that the auditor's leg wasn't completely healed, and they had to slow down. They'll probably arrive half a day late."
"That's… likely."
"It can't be helped now."
I could use the Headmistress again, but once they crossed the mountain where that devilish auditor was currently located, it was all plains. It would be difficult to cause a landslide or sudden natural disaster using the Headmistress there.
It would be dangerous if they noticed something strange while I was needlessly intervening, whether it was the escort knight or the devilish auditor. I hadn't expected him to push through with the audit even after spraining his leg in a landslide.
It didn't take long for the Headmistress, a Rank 8, to cause the landslide and return to the academy, but those auditors must have already crossed the mountain and reached the plains by now.
If they continued along the plains, they would pass a few territories, and after that, they would reach the basin the Headmistress created a while ago. Then the academy would be practically at their doorstep.
The closer they got to the academy, the less likely they were to give up on the audit and turn back.
"First, Headmistress, please hide yourself."
"Huh? Ah, are you going to call her?"
"Yes. Please."
"Alright."
Soon, the Headmistress somehow vanished into thin air.
I immediately pressed the bell on my desk.
I pressed it, and pressed it, and pressed it again.
Burst!
"Stop, stop! You only need to press it once! Why do you have to press it so many times!?"
"It's because it's an urgent matter."
"What have you been doing since yesterday…?"
The bell was an artifact directly connected to someone's dormitory. After pressing it repeatedly, a female student hurriedly opened the office door and came in.
She looked like she hadn't even washed properly because of the urgent bell ringing, but it didn't matter.
"Student Milia, no, Bishop Milia."
"…Why are you suddenly giving me goosebumps?"
"It's time to rebuild our relationship of trust."
"What kind of bullshit—"
"The auditors are coming."
"Oh."
"Our connection with the cult could be exposed. I need the cult's help."
"…? It's just an audit, and no money was exchanged between you and me."
Ahem, sigh.
Don't you know about our relationship? Anyway, it's about trust.
And even if it wasn't,
"I'll be in a bit of trouble if the auditors come."
"Judging from your appearance, Finance Director, it does seem like you've been receiving kickbacks and bribes."
"I'm saying I'll be finished if they find out. And if I lose my head, the connection between the cult and the academy will be severed. Your chance to retrieve the sacred treasure will disappear. And more importantly…"
"…More importantly?"
"I won't die alone. I'll expose everything about the cult before I die."
"You psycho."
"What did you say?"
"I said you're a devil."
The devils were actually the auditors who were coming, but anyway.
Even if she complained, Milia couldn't refuse. Our relationship was completely one-sided. Milia was able to become the youngest bishop in the Wish Cult thanks to the academy, so she couldn't give up her connection with it.
Milia, after cursing a bit more, glared at me with a frown.
"So, what should I do? Let me tell you in advance, the cult…"
"In the end, the cult is a reactionary, terrorist organization. I'm not expecting any sophisticated work from them."
"…Should we just assassinate the auditor?"
"It's a method I've already considered, but it's truly a last resort. I don't want to create a bigger problem to solve the current one."
So, what the cult needed to do was simple.
You're a terrorist organization, aren't you?
"Just do what you do best."
"What we do best…?"
"Terrorism. There are a few territories along the auditor's route."
Alright, the hair-loss potion leak was fine since he was bald, and let's say he managed to get through the landslide.
But what if a territory suddenly restricted the entry of outsiders due to a terrorist attack?
Especially now, when everyone was already sensitive because of the recent terrorist attack on the academy?
'This time…'
There would be no way for him to come.