Chapter 81
"You've become mayor, and you're still willing to worry about this kind of thing."
"It has nothing to do with what position I hold. I've always had this idea. I believe it's not just me; it's just that most people don't have the ability to do it," Ryan said. "Captain, didn't you also say that we should do what we are capable of? Now that I can handle this matter, I'll take charge."
"Okay, I'll take care of it then. I'll let you know when I've finished dealing with it tomorrow."
"Um."
After handing the matter over to his former boss, Ryan washed up and rested.
'Ina' is in Berman City. She can be transferred over tomorrow once things are settled.
The next day.
Soon after Ryan arrived at the office, he received a call from Jonathan.
This morning, the Bureau of Governance raided the orphanage. Jonathan went there personally and easily uncovered the secret with his keen insight gained from over a decade as Security Officer —this orphanage was specifically for raising children and then giving them to the nobles and wealthy merchants of Berman City.
The orphanage was owned by Councilor Rhode, who, according to Jonathan's investigation, controlled the largest share of the slave trade in the entire Berman City, specializing in this human trafficking.
However, there weren't always enough eligible slaves, especially children. Those displaced by war didn't qualify as slaves, so he set his sights on orphanages.
Not only here, but all the orphanages in Berman City belong to Rhodes.
"Damn it, I knew that bastard wasn't a good person, but I didn't expect him to be such a beast!" Jonathan cursed on the other end of the phone. "Don't worry, none of them will get away. I'll take them all back for a thorough interrogation, and then I'll send that Rod guy to jail!"
"Yes, I've paid my respects. But release the one named Ina, and arrest the rest."
"Ina? How do you know about her?"
"Otherwise, how do you think I would know about the orphanage?"
"Oh, right. I was wondering why that woman wasn't flustered at all. She's definitely one of yours. Alright, I'll let her go now. I'll talk to you about this later."
Jonathan hung up the phone, but afterwards he felt something was off.
... Isn't he Ryan's boss? Why is it that he's the one reporting to Ryan every time now?
Never mind, let's not worry about these trivial matters.
Jonathan was very efficient; he cleared out the entire orphanage in less than half an hour, taking all the prisoners away and leaving the children to be cared for later, with Ryan making further arrangements.
Not long after.
Ryan's office.
"Mayor, someone is looking for you. They said they've already contacted you," the secretary knocked and entered to announce.
"Yes, bring her here."
Ina walked into the office.
Ryan called to his secretary, who was about to go out to pour tea.
"Dorsey, from today onwards, Miss Ina will be my secretary-general. You will follow her instructions and tell her about the daily tasks."
"Huh?" Dorsey paused, "This young lady?"
Yes, is there a problem?
"No...of course not." Dorsey hurriedly bowed to Ina. "Please come with me."
Since it's just my alternate Alts, there's no need for interviews or anything like that. Anyway, it's just appointing the secretary-general, and Ryan has the final say on that.
He currently has two secretaries, making three including Ina. Ina is the secretary-general, a position that isn't high-ranking but actually wields considerable power; otherwise, Adler wouldn't have been so arrogant back then.
Believe it or not... Bill actually hired a grown man as his secretary-general. Doesn't he feel uncomfortable about it?
'Ina's' adaptability surprised Ryan, and he finally experienced the direct benefits of high charm.
In less than half a day, the other people in the mayor's office were praising Miss Ina, and the other two secretaries did not show any dissatisfaction, not even a hint of sarcasm behind her back.
Even the officials and aristocrats who frequently liaise with the mayor's office would praise her, saying, "Miss Ina is simply outstanding!"
Moreover, 'Ina' learns things very quickly. The job of a secretary is not simple, especially for the secretary-general, who has a lot to deal with every day.
Ryan was initially worried about Ina's work ability, but with the help of her two secretaries, she adapted completely in just half a day.
"Where did you find such a... secretary?"
After finishing his business at the orphanage, Jonathan came to the office to explain the situation to Ryan.
The moment he saw 'Ina' at work, he thought... ah, this person is a secretary, not someone doing the job of a secretary.
Judging from both her demeanor and temperament, Jonathan felt that 'Ina' was far superior to those young ladies from aristocratic and wealthy families... How come he hadn't noticed someone like her before in Berman City?
"That's a secret," Ryan chuckled. "She's one of my people, and she won't join the Burning Covenant."
Jonathan shrugged. "You really think the Burning Covenant is a marketplace where anyone can walk in?"
Ryan thought to himself, "That's for sure. While Ina's abilities aren't particularly outstanding, they're still better than most investigators."
"Alright, let's get down to business."
Jonathan recounted the tasks he had completed that morning to Ryan.
After shutting down Dream Star Orphanage, he conducted a surprise inspection, leading his men to dig up every orphanage in the entire Berman City.
As it turns out, when you condemn ten people with one blow, none of them are innocent.
The entire orphanage in Berman City was a human trafficking platform, controlled behind the scenes by Councilor Rhode, with others handling the day-to-day operations. When someone wanted a child, Rhodes would notify the orphanage to select a suitable one and then secretly send it over; after all, nobody in this kind of place would care.
Even if someone notices something amiss, so what?
"No one dares to report it."
Jonathan handed over the list of 'clients' he had investigated to Ryan.
Ryan immediately understood what Jonathan meant.
These are all wealthy and powerful individuals who hold positions within the municipal government, and some are even nobles from towns within the Berman City territory who have come from afar to buy children and establish connections with Councilor Rhode.
"What should we do?" Jonathan asked.
There are too many people, and many of them hold important positions. If we were to uncover them all at once, half of the municipal administration would be paralyzed.
The Bureau of Governance alone can't arrest all those people.
"Need I say more? Just do it!"
"Really? If we arrest them all, no one will be able to do the municipal work."
"It's alright, just grab a pig and use it to do the work, the effect will be the same."
Since Ryan had said so, Jonathan didn't hesitate and immediately went back to work at the Bureau of Governance.
Then that afternoon, all 32 members of the municipal office, including Councilor Rhode, who held various positions, were arrested!
"What are you doing?! I'm a councilor, a baron! How dare you arrest me?! I'm going to complain to the Imperial authorities!!!" Rhodes, who was being taken away by the Security Officer, tried to resist, but Jonathan had given a strict order. With the mayor backing him up, what was there to be afraid of!
By 3 p. m., everyone had been arrested. There was no need for an interrogation; the evidence was conclusive. Now, all that remained was for the Tribunal to sentence them.
However, Ryan knew that the sentencing process might not be very efficient, because there were still people from the Tribunal among those arrested. Although they weren't big fish, they still represented the Tribunal's influence.
"If they don't convict him, I'll chop them all up!"
Ryan was a little angry.
This kind of thing is actually not uncommon.
He didn't think he could manage everything.
But since we've encountered this, we should take action.
Otherwise, wouldn't he have been the mayor for nothing?
However, there wasn't much time to deal with these people right now, so Ryan told Jonathan to keep an eye on things while he went to handle other matters.
The inquiry from Caslathdi yielded results; there was indeed something fishy going on. The people the Old Emperor sent to investigate had lost contact, and the messages relayed back by all his spies in the Western Territory were very confusing.
Simply put, these messages are 'contaminated'; they are tainted by the power of Outer Gods.
To read these messages, you need a mental profession, and even then, you might not be able to obtain them. If you're not careful, you might even be corrupted into becoming a follower of Outer Gods.
The contaminated parts are all about 'Magana'. Any information related to her will be blurred by the power of the Outer Gods, but other information is fine. For example, the secretary-general of Childe City's bust size can be reported accurately every time.
Upon hearing this, Ryan knew that someone was indeed deliberately concealing the Grand Duke's specific situation.
Why hide it?
This means the Grand Duke is not dead.
Once you're dead, there's no need to hide it.
However, it is a fact that the Western Barbarians breached the Talma Defense Line, which shows that the Iron Blood Legion had indeed suffered heavy losses.
"Using the power of Outer Gods to block information seems to be a method used by the Eye of Dawn."
Ryan didn't know much about the Eye of Dawn, but neither the Blood Cult nor the Hand of Darkness seemed likely to be involved. Death and Desire were also unlikely. The only other possibility was the Spirit of Chaos, whose power was viral and contagious, making it far more potent than anything else.
Furthermore, the Augustus Empire did not have the power of the Spirit of Chaos.
Now that he knew it was a conspiracy, Ryan was even less able to let Gruk and the others go back. According to Caslathdi, the Old Emperor had decided to intervene in the situation in the Western Territory, General Erwin led 30,000 Imperial troops out this morning.
Well, this doesn't really affect Ryan much, but it's a different story for Magana.
Even if the Grand Duke returns safely this time, the situation in the Western Territory will likely change, and it's not impossible that the Old Emperor might take the opportunity to lock down her territory.
"My Grand Duke, you must show some spirit. I've left you two thousand men here to turn the tide."
Ryan prayed silently.
Although I really want to repay the Grand Duke's kindness, I am powerless to do so. All I can do is leave a child for the Grand Duke.
Meanwhile, the Royal Guards led by 'Shally' had also arrived in Nade City.
The journey went smoothly; no one attacked the train or blew up the tracks. Upon arrival, the Royal Guards were immediately given a warm welcome by the Lord of Nade City, which made 'Shally' somewhat displeased.
'Why isn't anyone resisting? We can't kill them now.'
Ryan: "..."
No, sister, I only asked you to go just in case, I didn't really plan for you to beat the game!
It would be best to avoid killing if possible, but every soldier is precious now and we can't afford to waste any more lives.
However, the situation in Nade City was in line with Ryan's expectations. According to the intelligence provided by Jonathan, the lord of Nade City was a very conservative and timid person. There is a saying that a wise man is one who knows when to yield, and he was a wise man.
The situation would have been completely different if they hadn't been able to defeat Kosotoya.
Simply put, they're opportunists, siding with whoever wins.
These kinds of people aren't exactly loyal, but they'll generally not betray you if you're powerful enough.
'Shally' spent an afternoon taking over the military administration of Nade City, but the results were not ideal because the city only had two thousand city defense troops.
Kosotoya, also a border city, has a population of six thousand!
Even Berman City, which is not near the border and has a large number of Blood Cult, has two thousand people.
"These lords have no intention of governing their territories properly."
Ryan was speechless.
The reason why Nade City has not been conquered so far is that Augustus is powerful enough. Even if the neighboring Kainter comes to take advantage of the situation, they will not attack and plunder, because that would attract too much hatred.
As a result, there are many aristocratic gentry like those in Nade City who govern in a laissez-faire manner, pocketing all the money. If war breaks out, they will carry their trains and flee overnight, abandoning the city altogether.
"Two thousand it is, it's better than nothing."
Recruiting new soldiers in Berman City has begun. Thanks to the distribution of pensions by Caslathdi, the recruitment work is going quite smoothly, with more than a thousand people recruited in half a day.
Ryan originally planned to recruit 2,000 people, since the weapons and equipment were insufficient. However, because so many people were arrested and their homes were ransacked, Berman City's treasury is now not only rolling in money, but at least it is very well-funded.
So Ryan waved his hand and summoned three thousand!
At the same time, he asked Keou for another batch of weapons, mainly high-destructive firearms such as cannons, not for conquering cities and seizing territory, but for defense.
With insufficient firepower, a defensive strategy is needed first. Recruit training takes time, and the Royal Guards alone is far from enough. Therefore, Ryan only intends to defend Berman City for the time being.
Therefore, he set up twenty cannons on each city gate!
This deal completely emptied out Keou's Gilded Group, because there weren't many people who actually bought cannons; previously, Berman City only had twenty cannons across its four city gates.
Expensive and rarely used, especially by inland lords, some of whom didn't even use cannons at all.