Everyone except the butler who had escaped was rendered unable to fight, so the soldiers bound them tightly and carried them away.
“Lock Marquis Broker in the high-security prison for serious criminals. Make sure he is kept under strict surveillance.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Mmfh! Mmfh!”
Marquis Broker was still suffering from the effects of the paralysis and could barely speak. On the Minister of Military Affairs’ orders, he was gagged as well before being carried away.
With that taken care of, the investigation began in earnest.
“Search this office thoroughly, but pay particular attention to the butler’s room. There’s no doubt that he’s the mastermind behind this incident.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then Shiro will help with the treasure hunt, too!”
At Gandof-sama’s command, the soldiers dispersed to search the various rooms. Having fought the butler himself, Gandof-sama must have had good reason to suspect that he was the mastermind behind everything.
And as for you two, Shiro and Ao… it was nice to see you so enthusiastic, but searching for evidence wasn’t a treasure hunt, you know.
“Excuse me, would it be all right if I went to check on Sue? I’ll be back shortly.”
“Everything is under control here. Take your time and have a proper talk with her.”
Having obtained permission from the Minister of Military Affairs, I headed toward the garden.
The doors to the various rooms had been left open, and soldiers were continuing their search. They were being incredibly thorough, examining every nook and cranny of the mansion. After the explosion at the military garrison and everything else that had happened, I supposed the soldiers had plenty of pent-up frustration to vent.
“Ah, Shun-san!”
“Sue, good work.”
Besides Sue, there were about ten young attendants and one lady in the garden.
The lady was lying on a stretcher while Sue treated her wounds. Or rather, Sue was putting everything she had into the treatment, but the lady was terribly emaciated. I couldn’t help wondering whether her condition was truly stable.
“Sue, is this lady going to be all right?”
“She’s the wife of the late Marquis. She’s been bedridden for a long time and was in quite serious condition, but she should be fine after a few more treatments.”
The treatment Sue had already administered seemed to be working to some extent. The former marquis’s wife was breathing peacefully in her sleep. She was an important witness, after all. It would be best to move her somewhere safe.
“If possible, I’d like to have this lady placed under protection within the royal palace. Would that be possible?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve secured a medical facility inside the royal palace. We’ll have her transported there immediately.”
“Thank you. Please inform the Minister of Military Affairs, who is in the office as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers acted at once, and the former Marquis’s wife was carried to a carriage prepared for her transfer.
That was a relief.
There was just one thing that had been bothering me.
“Sue, why are there so few attendants here?”
“These women only began working at the mansion within the past few months. Every other attendant and household member has been arrested. They were involved in corruption or had been abusing others. Some of them were even swindling the new attendants out of their wages.”
Good grief! Almost every attendant in the mansion had been arrested?
Were there seriously no decent people in this household?
Come to think of it, I remembered an older-looking attendant being arrested on suspicion of abuse earlier.
The attendants gathered in the garden now all looked to be around the same age as Sue and Shiro. I couldn’t help thinking that they must have been abused by the more experienced attendants.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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