Chapter 143 - 143 False Accusation
Steve arrived in the Royal Capital and immediately investigated the Lumoigne Trading Company. The sun had already hidden its face beneath the city walls, making it difficult for people to distinguish each other's faces. Steve, dressed in commoner's clothes, prowled around the Lumoigne Trading Company, yet no one noticed he was the holder of the Dragon Head Medal.
As usual, he used insects and small animals to investigate inside the Lumoigne Trading Company and quickly found Jacob. He was being held under house arrest in a basement room.
"Something is different from what I expected."
Steve tilted his head at the state Jacob was left in.
He had expected Jacob to be impersonating Steve and conspiring with Lumoigne to manipulate the market prices, but judging by how Jacob was being treated, that was not the case.
If they were treating him this way, it would not be strange if he betrayed them at any moment.
Having found Jacob, Steve searched for Lumoigne. However, he could not find anyone resembling Lumoigne. Steve did not know it, but at this time, Lumoigne had returned home and was not at the trading company.
While Steve was searching for Lumoigne, a meal was brought to Jacob. Steve thought that since he was under house arrest, the treatment must be harsh, but the meal was richly seasoned like that eaten by wealthy merchants, not something meager provided to prisoners.
This was because if Jacob became thin, he would no longer look like Steve, so they were providing him with decent food.
By the time Jacob finished his meal, the Royal Capital was enveloped in the darkness of night. Steve thought the timing was right and teleported into the room where Jacob was being held under house arrest.
"Waaah!"
Jacob screamed in surprise at Steve's sudden appearance.
"Do not make such a loud noise."
Warned by Steve, Jacob hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.
Steve then questioned Jacob.
"Why did it come to this?"
"............"
Jacob did not answer Steve's question and averted his eyes.
Steve let out a sigh.
"Claire was worried about Jacob's safety and petitioned me to come here. Yet you say nothing; isn't that a betrayal of her feelings?"
Steve's words pierced Jacob's heart. There was the matter of being bound by debt, and although he had once resolved to be serious, he had succumbed to the temptation of alcohol, got drunk, and made a huge failure of it.
If he spoke honestly, he might be killed right there by Steve, so even speaking honestly gave him pause.
"I could force you to speak if you want."
Steve said that to Jacob, pressing for a confession.
Jacob had heard that Steve could do such a thing, so he decided to make a deal before being forced.
"I will speak honestly, but can you promise not to take my life?"
"Did you do something so bad? If you committed murder or arson, I cannot make that promise."
"It is not like that."
Jacob hurriedly waved both hands to deny it.
"Then why did you think you would be killed? Ah, did you pretend to be a noble?"
"Yes."
Jacob nodded weakly.
"Even if you pretended to be a noble, judging by this situation, you must have been threatened. If so, there is room for leniency."
"That was before the situation came to this —"
Saying that, Jacob resigned himself and confessed everything.
Steve heard it and grasped the situation.
"So, you were threatened by Lumoigne using the fact that you claimed to be me while drunk as leverage, and you cooperated."
"Yes."
Steve wondered if he had really said he was Archibalt during the time he was drunk and had no memory, based on Jacob's story. In the Kingdom of Cascade, the crime of impersonating a noble does not become lighter just because one was drunk.
If Jacob's story was true, Steve would not be able to spare his life. If he spared him now, it would lead to an increase in crimes of impersonating nobles with the excuse of being drunk.
However, there was room for debate on whether Jacob had truly impersonated a noble in a drunken impulse. The only evidence was circumstantial evidence and Lumoigne's testimony. Judging by Jacob's subsequent treatment, it was highly likely that it had been set up from the beginning.
"Um, am I really going to be killed?"
With a face that looked like he was about to cry, or rather, actually slightly teary-eyed, Jacob asked Steve in a voice as quiet as a mosquito buzzing.
"I don't know. I won't know until I hear Lumoigne's side of the story. Stay quiet here for a little while longer."
Steve said that and left the Lumoigne Trading Company, leaving Jacob behind. Then, he visited Daphne and was told Lumoigne's home address.
As the merchant serving His Highness Alex, Daphne knew Lumoigne's home due to the necessities of her duties.
Steve thanked Daphne and slipped into Lumoigne's house.
Lumoigne was not at home; instead, a brothel owner had come to visit. Steve had grasped this information using insects. From the content of their conversation, it was revealed that Lumoigne's counterpart was the brothel owner.
The two were in the reception room, and Steve watched and listened to their indoor conversation through insects.
The brothel owner handed over the money he had brought to Lumoigne.
"Lumoigne-sama, this is the gold coins you requested. Please check them."
"My apologies."
Next to the table were twenty cloth bags. All of them contained gold coins.
"I will check them."
"Go ahead."
Lumoigne's servant and the brothel owner's attendant moved to a separate room to begin checking the gold coins.
Steve sent insects there as well to watch the scene.
"I see. So that is the additional margin for the futures contract, is it?"
Steve muttered to himself.
It seemed that the brothel owner had appeared as Lumoigne's financier, as Lumoigne was short on funds.
However, since there was no remittance system like the current one, it would take time to deliver this to the brokers at the Western Futures Exchange.
The orders themselves could be sent relatively quickly via carrier pigeons, or by paying, one could use the optical communication network, but for the margin, there was no choice but to transport cash, so even using a steam locomotive would create a time lag.
"And what are we to do with the man held under house arrest in the basement?"
The brothel owner asked Lumoigne.
"We will dispose of him once we successfully sell this off safely."
For Lumoigne, Jacob was evidence of extreme danger, so he wanted to dispose of him as soon as possible. However, to keep cotton prices high, he still wanted to borrow some of Steve's prestige for a little while longer.
"Well, if we say we were deceived victims at worst, only that man will be disposed of, right?"
Lumoigne said that and laughed.
"Truly, you are a terrible man. You made him drink until he was drunk and threatened him into admitting to things he didn't do. The man who thought he had impersonated a noble just because he woke up wearing clothes a noble would wear is also foolish."
"There is no one easier to deceive than a fool. It would be so much easier if all business partners were like that."
Listening to the two's conversation, Steve completely grasped the situation.
Jacob was innocent, but because he did not know it, he was being used well.
Around the time the two's conversation ended, the servant who had finished checking the gold coins came back to the reception room.
"Master, there were definitely six thousand gold coins."
"Good work. Then, let's sign the IOU. If we send this to Sowell Land tomorrow and use it as additional margin, we should be able to buy even more."
"The interest rate is five percent per month. I pray no mistakes are made."
"Leave that to us. For merchants, trust is number one."
"I hope so."
Through the eyes of the insects, Lumoigne's face seemed to show a slight anxiety. A brothel owner was somewhere between a mafia and a respectable citizen; there was an atmosphere that if they became enemies, they would not hesitate to take a life.
Steve judged that he had gathered enough information up to this point to make a conclusion, so although it was late at night, he decided to teleport to Aurora's place.
When Steve visited Aurora's castle, Aurora was still awake working, so the meeting became urgent.
"Working this late is a great enemy to your health."
"I felt you might invite me tonight, so it is a special occasion. Are you going to take me somewhere with a wonderful night view?"
"As someone with a suspicious wife, I want to avoid causing unnecessary misunderstandings, even in front of a wonderful woman like Lord Sowell. Well, regarding the main topic, I was able to turn Lumoigne. He set a trap with a commoner who looks exactly like me and made him impersonate me. It seems he will send additional margin here tomorrow, so I plan to expose the evil deeds in about three days."
"So you managed to prepare additional margin?"
Aurora was not surprised by the information about Steve's double, but she was surprised by the additional margin. Steve did not notice this.
"It seems the brothel owner is the financier. They are raising funds at a monthly interest rate of five percent from there."
"Then shall we take that money for ourselves?"
"I plan to start selling tomorrow as well."
"Baronet Parker's losses seem to be recoverable."
"Yes, somehow. I want him to learn his lesson and wash his hands of the market from now on."
"I will issue a notice to the brokers. Tell them not to accept any orders from Baronet Parker from now on."
"Thank you very much. However, after tomorrow's sell order goes through."
Thus, Baronet Parker was never able to touch the market again. Steve thought he would report to Freya after everything was finished. After all, since he was currently placing sell orders under Baronet Parker's name, he would be in trouble if he could not get orders accepted.
"I understand that. Next week, I will prohibit opening new positions and only accept settlement orders for existing positions."
"I should have done this before, though."
"Well, taking such measures against the head of a noble house is quite rare. It is like publicly stamping them as incompetent."
"Even if it is self-inflicted, it is a rather severe measure."
"As for me, I am troubled if a dependent noble who is not rebellious collapses in the market."
To Aurora, it was troubling if a dependent noble in need of money had part of their domain seized by shady people or was made to carry the load of a crime. She had experienced this once with Viscount Karsh, so she could not overlook someone like Baronet Parker melting away money in the market.
"Then I will leave now."
"You could stay a bit longer if you wanted."
"I will refrain."
Saying that, Steve teleported to his home.
Aurora, left alone in the room, called Harry.
"Did you call for me, My Lady?"
"The Lord has not found out yet. So, tomorrow we finally begin the finishing touches."
"That is excellent news."
"Take advantage of the chaos at the Lumoigne Trading Company and eliminate the servant who provided us with information."
"I understand."
It was not a coincidence that Lumoigne, who was short on funds, was told that a commoner looking exactly like Steve had been found; it was orchestrated by Aurora.
Aurora, having confirmed Lumoigne's character, read that Lumoigne, who had grabbed cotton at high prices, would raise the price even by committing a crime.
She then passed information about Jacob, who looked exactly like Steve, to Lumoigne's servant and directed Lumoigne to misuse it. However, even if pursued, there was no fact where Aurora instigated the crime, so she would not be criticized.
Naturally, she did not do anything sloppy that would reveal that.
And, to be doubly sure, she intended to eliminate the servant who passed the information. This way, the source of the information could not be traced. Aurora also had a desire for Steve to reach that far, but that was dangerous play with fire.
After receiving a report from Steve, she decided to stop such things and erase all traces.
From the next day, light selling orders began to enter the cotton futures market. Since the rumor that Steve was starting a cotton business with the Lumoigne Trading Company in the Royal Capital had not disappeared, the light selling orders that appeared were immediately bought and vanished.
However, selling orders continued to appear repeatedly and in small amounts.
Since the sell orders were not coming from the Emmanuel Trading Company, the Salieri Trading Company, or the Valier Trading Company, market participants did not think there was something special going on. Actually, this was because Steve and Aurora, who disliked lanterns being lit (attracting attention), did not use the brokers they usually employed.
Thus, the cotton market finally entered its final stage.
Thank you always for your typo reports.