When Gazaara’s words spread among the adventurers, Rodger finally came to his senses.
“Investigator? What is that?”
“Ah, I don’t really know about that myself, so I’ll leave it to the investigator. …Oh, and don’t move.”
His cool line ended up being passed entirely to Lisa.
By the way, the latter part of his statement was directed at Gerik, who was trying to escape during that opening.
Gerik was immediately taken into custody by another companion who had been accompanying him.
Lisa, who was then addressed, let out a sigh.
“Honestly. If you’re going to dump everything on someone else, you shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place… Well, either way, I was planning to reveal my identity, so it’s fine.”
After she complained at Gazaara for a bit, she turned her gaze to Rodger.
“Investigator, you say… Well, it means exactly what it says. It’s someone with the authority to punish those who commit fraud within Crown.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing!”
“Of course you haven’t. Why would they need to tell you, who has been committing fraud left and right from the start?”
Lisa cut off Rodger, who was making a pointless protest.
“B-but, I’m the Branch Manager! I don’t care if you’re an investigator or whatever, do you think a subordinate slave girl can punish me!”
Rodger’s words made Lisa sigh.
It was true that Rodger said, Lisa was a slave. But…
“It’s true that I’m a slave… However, you really don’t understand the basic principles of Liralamamiya at all, do you?”
“W-what are you talking about!?”
“Since we’re here, I’ll let everyone here listen as well. One of the basic principles is the treatment of slaves. Even if someone is a slave, depending on their work, they are treated the same as ordinary people?”
In the first place, slaves cannot defy their masters.
Conversely, it means they are beings who will not betray their masters.
At times and in certain situations, this trait can make them extremely valuable assets to an organization.
“Furthermore, Liralamamiya treats its slaves incredibly well. If there were any slaves who didn’t work hard, I’d want them brought to me.”
Lisa’s tone was gradually becoming more impassioned.
Seeing this, Gazaara admonished her with a wry smile.
“Hey now, Investigator. You’re getting off track.”
Lisa, startled by his words, cleared her throat once.
“A-anyway, as an investigator, even if I’m a slave, I currently have the right to do as I please with you. No, perhaps it’s precisely *because* I’m a slave.”
“……”
“Therefore, please surrender.”
“……Kuhuhuhu.”
Rodger, who had been silently listening until then, suddenly burst out laughing.
“Do you think anyone here, hearing such a sudden statement, would believe in this so-called investigator thing?”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s nothing to be done. I’ve never heard of an investigator, and that’s that. I, the Branch Manager, have never heard of it. Your story is a fabrication. No idiot would seriously consider such a tale!”
Rodger’s words caused a stir among those around him.
And it was only natural.
The very idea that Lisa, who had appeared out of nowhere, and a woman who was a slave at that, possessed such authority was, by common sense, unbelievable.
In this case, a normal line of thinking would lead to Rodger’s words being more credible.
If the existence of investigators was commonly known, Rodger’s forceful assertions would not have been accepted.
However, upon hearing Rodger’s words, Lisa and Gazaara exchanged glances and laughed.
“No, no. It’s so exactly as I imagined, it’s really laughable.”
“In this case, I’ll have to say you’re impressive.”
Rodger reacted to their words, which seemed to imply they’d known this all along.
“W-what do you mean?”
Ignoring Rodger’s question, Gazaara took a card from his pocket and sent it flying towards the reception counter.
“Read that card with the imprinting machine.”
Before Rodger could stop them, one of the receptionists who picked up the card placed it on the reader.
Unbeknownst to anyone other than the parties involved, the card was picked up by one of the slaves, who was also responsible for periodically reporting the branch’s situation.
Rodger hesitated to stop them at this point because he didn’t know what kind of card it was.
If his head had been working normally, he would have known that stopping them was the best course of action, but he vaguely wondered if it might be a fake, which is why he was a little late in stopping them.
That brief moment proved decisive.
The receptionist who placed the card, and the other women who were watching, were dumbfounded by what appeared on the display.
Something they had never seen before was displayed.
No, they had heard of it.
Crown Cards, unlike those of other guilds or public guilds, indicated something other than the usual rank through color.
For example, blue for ordinary adventurers, red for those recognized for their contributions to Crown.
They were taught that there were cards with a platinum color, and that anyone becoming a receptionist would be told this first.
They were drilled that those who held such cards were important individuals to Crown.
However, the reality was that they had never actually seen a card of such a color.
The reason the holders of these cards were so highly valued was because they were endowed with extremely significant authority.
“Platinum Card…”
“……What!?”
Rodger was speechless at the muttering of one of the receptionists.
Of course, Rodger also knew the meaning of that card.
“It seems you understand the meaning of that card after all,” Gazaara said. In reality, however, only those involved in operations were reacting; the adventurers outside the counter were out of the loop.
For the adventurers who were being left behind, Gazaara continued his explanation.
“Simply put, the person holding that card can revoke permission to use the Teleport Gate to Amamiya Tower.”
Gazaara explained this simply, but it took a little time for the meaning to sink in.
However, for Crown, whose headquarters were located inside the tower, the significance of possessing such authority gradually began to dawn on the adventurers.
“In a word, there’s no way someone in a position of authority couldn’t come to headquarters.”
That’s how it was.
Conversely, it meant that a person holding this Platinum Card occupied a very important position within Crown.
“I’m telling you, trying to destroy the card is useless?” Lisa said to Rodger, who was moving as if to do something about the card.
“Many people misunderstand, but the card itself is merely a tool to view one’s own status. Even if it is lost or destroyed, the individual’s information is already registered, so it can be reissued at any time.”
Naturally, impersonation was also impossible, but this was within the realm of common sense, so she didn’t bother to mention it.
“I will prove it’s mine, so may I have it back?”
Lisa said this and approached the reception counter.
“W-wait…!!”
“Oops, looks like you’re not giving up easily.”
Gazaara immediately stopped Rodger’s movement.
One of the receptionists, trembling, handed the card to Lisa, who then accepted it.
Upon receiving the card, Lisa immediately imbued it with magic power to prove it was her own.
The reason Gazaara held the card instead of Lisa was purely out of caution.
“Is this sufficient proof?”
There was no doubt that the card had been activated by Lisa’s magic power.
Given this, no one could possibly think Lisa was a fake.
Naturally, those who would obey Rodger’s words were limited to his own inner circle.
With that, Rodger’s wrongdoings came to an end.
In the end, Crown managed to avoid a complete loss of trust and was able to appoint a new Branch Manager.
The successor Branch Manager was a talent handpicked by Crown. Due to Rodger’s actions, it would be quite some time before someone from the Northern Town would be appointed Branch Manager again.
And so, evil was vanquished!
…Yes. Sorry. I just felt like saying it.
You might question whether an investigator should reveal their face, but when Lisa arrives, it’s already with sufficient evidence.
Thanks to the efforts of the slaves (women) mentioned briefly in the text, and the Defreya Clan.
Of course, Lisa was also tasked with making a personal visit to conduct the final investigation.
This time, it turned out like this because of the disturbance, lol.
