Lloyd Society

Dark passages might sound mysterious, but they're not that rare.

After all, they're built for people to use.

Iver led Lu Lu and Sherlock from near the Pelican Bar into a disused warehouse that had once stored stone, now filled with dust and rubble.

The back door of the warehouse opened onto a desolate wasteland.

There was no one around. A stream formed by sewage and stagnant water blocked their path. The opposite bank was piled with various kinds of garbage and bushes, faded and rotten from repeated exposure to wind and rain.

But Iver seemed relieved to see it, as if he had found his target. He crossed the stream without hesitation and headed towards the garbage heap.

"Keep going straight from here, and you'll be there once you get over this big mound."

"...I see."

Sherlock, who had barely managed to jump over without dirtying his shoes, murmured softly behind Iver, "Using the imagery of 'abandonment' and 'the end of the road' with sewage and garbage makes people subconsciously think there's no way through here. It's not a very sophisticated hiding method, but it's enough for ordinary people."

"Because this isn't a high-level secret passage, and it's not exactly man-made."

Iver led the way, turning his head slightly to explain, "It leads to a chemical factory that was abandoned twenty years ago.

"About seven or eight years ago, this dark passage was discovered and occupied by a bunch of young punks from the Lloyd District. They're the current 'Sweater Brotherhood,' a gang of Strangulation Gang."

"...Strangulation Gang, isn't that the name of a gang?"

Lu Lu, who was holding up her skirt and struggling to keep up with Iver, asked doubtfully, "I thought it was the biggest gang in the Lloyd District."

"Not exactly. The Strangulation Gang are indeed gang members, but it's not like they have a common gang called 'Strangulation Gang'."

It was the newsboy Sherlock who answered her question: "Any gang members who commit murder and robbery by 'strangulation' are called Strangulation Gang. It's precisely those small gangs that use this method to make money."

"What about the biggest gang?"

"That must be the Lloyd Society. There's only one Lloyd Society in the Lloyd District."

Iver replied, "Lloyd Prince, more than two hundred years ago, when he was still a merchant, founded the 'Lloyd Society,' which still exists today. It's a large-scale organization that sells insurance, high-interest loans, ocean-going intelligence, and commercial secrets. In a sense, they are Avalon's only legal gang."

"...Aren't high-interest loans illegal? Why are there legal high-interest loans?"

"Because they don't openly charge excessive interest. Instead, they charge interest by selling Lloyd Weekly, which is priced far beyond what normal people can afford."

At this point, Iver glanced at Lu Lu helplessly, "My dear, you don't think it's normal for five Red Candles to buy a weekly newspaper, do you?

"That's a weekly newspaper. That means most of the news on it is old news that has been reported by other newspapers—there's a saying in the news industry, 'the morning newspaper is waste paper by evening.' Although it's a bit extreme... but in any case, a weekly newspaper should be cheaper than a daily newspaper."

The newsboy Iver had met at the entrance of the Pelican Bar was one of the "newsboys" raised by the Lloyd Society.

At the time, Hai Na had sensed that the price of the Lloyd Weekly was wrong. But she didn't understand who the Lloyd Weekly was being sold to. Iver didn't want to explain it to her.

With her straightforward nature, it would be better if she didn't know about such things.

Hai Na thought that the people buying the newspaper would be sailors, fishermen, and laborers... but they couldn't afford that kind of money.

Even if they did, they would only buy meat and beer.

Tired and impoverished people at the bottom of society are unable to buy newspapers; they can only inquire about free news in bars.

The little Sherlock beside her sighed and patiently explained the intricacies to the naive princess in a low voice, "Those who borrow from Lloyd's in the Lloyd District must regularly purchase a designated share of the Lloyd Weekly as additional interest. When the debt collectors come to check, they will inspect the number of newspapers the borrower holds and cut off a corner of the newspaper as verification.

"The same goes for the insider information they sell. Those factory owners or company directors will directly order a large batch of the Lloyd Weekly from Lloyd's. And the person delivering the newspapers will bring the message along with them.

"They also have a business of investigating designated targets and have even invited me. As far as I know, some private detectives accept their employment. And when Lloyd's delivers the investigated personal information, they also use a designated share of the Lloyd Weekly for payment."

"...Is it because newspapers are taxed?"

Hearing this, Lu Lu immediately reacted, "So the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Revenue protect them?"

Although it was the first time she had heard of this method of conducting gray transactions through newspapers, she immediately realized the cleverness of this approach.

This meant that Lloyd's would publicly disclose all of its income financial reports to the kingdom and actively pay a large protection fee.

Since they took their money and didn't arrest them, it meant that this behavior was allowed.

As expected of an organization cultivated by Lloyd Prince.

Despite lacking a lot of experience, Princess Isabel's mind was very sharp.

Moreover, she had access to a very high intellectual class, so she had also developed a good political sense:

"The reason for using 'newspapers' as a way to collect money is that Lloyd's is expressing its respect for the 'Path of Authority', right? Even if they originate from the forces left by Lloyd Prince, they will encounter trouble if they truly anger the Round Table Hall.

"But if they conduct loan transactions through the sale of newspapers, it means that they will pay taxes on 'interest' as a net income... Because they don't want to offend the Bureau of Supervision, their tax payment behavior will be more active and stable than those merchants who almost certainly evade taxes."

Isabel had heard the Minister of Revenue complain countless times about the problem of not being able to collect taxes.

He constantly demanded that the Bureau of Supervision send tax inspectors to companies that might have tax evasion. Each time, he could come up with a terrifyingly long list—longer than Isabel's hair, and when held in hand, the other end almost touched the ground.

Isabel clearly realized that if Lloyd's tax payment behavior was active enough, large enough, and very stable, then they would indeed be protected.

Their ability to obtain the distribution rights of the Glass Staircase Newspaper already indicated the Round Table Hall's opinion of them.

The newsboy nodded, "That's why the Inspectorate doesn't send people to manage them. In addition, they spontaneously maintain the civil order of the Lloyd District, so the Bureau of Supervision can only turn a blind eye to them.

"After all, that is a legitimate organization that itself practices the [Path of Authority] and also respects the existence upstream of the [Path of Authority]. In a sense, they are no longer an organization but can be regarded as a large company with unclean methods.

"So they will not engage in 'strangulation,' which may lead to investigation. But their squeezing of the profit margins of other gangs will lead other organizations to constantly choose to send members to carry out illegal means such as 'strangulation,' 'burglary or theft,' 'kidnapping,' and 'assassination' to obtain funds.

"And this will make them easily investigated and arrested by the Bureau of Supervision, further compressing the living space of other organizations."

"——Not only that."

Finally, Iver, who saw the back door of the abandoned chemical factory in the distance, breathed a sigh of relief and casually added, "In fact, after those Strangulation Gang members ambush and kill passersby and rob them of all their belongings, their means of disposing of stolen goods is still Lloyd's. And some commissions similar to assassination or theft are also issued by Lloyd's.

"So I just said that there is only one largest gang in the Lloyd District, and that is Lloyd's."

"...Is that so?"

Hearing this, even Sherlock was taken aback.

But upon closer thought, it seemed reasonable. No matter how legitimate Lloyd's was, it was ultimately a gang organization with unclean hands rather than a serious industrial company.

But Sherlock had never been able to find evidence of their crimes...

Perhaps it was not just because the evidence was destroyed by the Bureau of Supervision.

Perhaps from the beginning, there was no such evidence. Because they no longer needed to do that kind of thing themselves.

Sherlock carefully sized up the "Fox" disguised as a Priest, beginning to doubt his true identity for the first time.

He seemed very familiar with the Lloyd District and knew this secret passage. He even seemed to know the secrets of Lloyd's...

Could it be that the "Fox" isn't a student at all, but a gang member? Or perhaps an informant planted in the church by some organization, or even a defrocked Priest?

Thinking of this, Sherlock tentatively asked, "Mr. Fox... would it cause you trouble if I investigated the Sweater Brotherhood? If so, I think I would give them a break, as thanks for your help in the ritual."

Hearing this, Iver paused.

He turned his head to look at the newsboy, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Since I'm telling you this, I'm not afraid of you investigating. After you're done with the Bone Carver, go ahead and arrest the Sweater Brotherhood... consider it doing a service for the people. Don't underestimate the Sweater Brotherhood just because they're a small organization; each of them has at least five lives on their hands.

"According to my inside information... they might be connected to the people behind the Pelican Bar."

—Actually, it's more than that.

The reason Iver remembered this secret passage was because it was a main storyline dungeon.

He had forgotten the preliminary plot, but Iver was certain that the Sweater Brotherhood was definitely related to the Noble Red Society. Because the Sweater Brotherhood members who appeared in this dungeon were not only greatly enhanced in body and maddened in mind by the Demon Scholar's ritual, but they also raised a large number of Demon Dogs made from corpses.

That dungeon was quite disgusting.

Not only was it long and winding, making it easy to get lost if you didn't know the way, but the ground was also covered with all kinds of garbage, mud, and sewage that hindered movement. There were also a large number of Demon Dogs lurking around corners, activating when the first person passed by, and then suddenly rushing up to bite the second person.

These Demon Dogs were not only covered in scrap iron armor with sharp edges, making them tanky and dealing high damage, but their aggro was also chained—after being hit, they would start barking madly, and other patrolling dogs would come running when they heard it.

Compared to the BOSS, whose mechanics weren't that complicated, the mobs in this dungeon were much more annoying.

Iver didn't want to do this dungeon again. Just thinking about being pounced on and bitten by those half-man-high, iron-clad mad dogs that were fed with human flesh made his scalp tingle.

It would be better to have Sherlock take them out in advance.

It would also give Sherlock something to do, so he wouldn't keep staring at the things behind the Pelican Bar. Otherwise, That Lord might think his letter had fallen into Sherlock's hands and start destroying evidence and silencing people out of vigilance.

If That Lord destroyed evidence faster than Iver, it would be difficult for him to investigate.

Although the "Fox's" identity was a mystery, for the suspicious and intelligent Sherlock, the clues casually provided by the Fox he encountered in the Dream Realm ritual would be more worthy of investigation than clues deliberately offered in reality.

Because he would suspect the latter's motives, trying to reverse-deduce from a higher level—which couldn't be said to be wrong. Iver was just afraid that he would perceive his motives, so he had to use the "encounter" method to "unintentionally" stuff him with information.

—Iver understood Sherlock; he was indeed that kind of person.