"Fools"

The intelligence report from Gear City mentioned that Mr. Marshall, the banker, was a workaholic. He took pride in working at the Imperial Union Bank in the Imperial Capital, and at least when it came to his work ethic, he was beyond reproach. The morning after his laughing fit was cured, he went straight to work at the bank.

When Ivy and Ethan entered, Marshall was already seated behind his desk in a suit, with a mountain of paperwork piled on it.

Miss Chloe stayed beneath a tree outside the bank to wait for them, since the Imperial Union Bank staff had emphasized that pets were not allowed inside.

Marshall glanced up at the two of them. His brows furrowed when he saw Ethan, who had a hardtack biscuit tucked under his arm.

It was Ethan's breakfast.

On the way over, he had explained all the benefits of hardtack to Ivy. It was cheap, filled you up, and, in a pinch, could even be swung at someone as a weapon.

In a game, it would be an epic-tier item at the very least.

Ethan wisely stayed by the door. He had noticed not only the way Marshall looked at him, but also Marshall's tongue when he drank some water.

It was still black, and he looked like he was about to die from poison.

"Roxanne's death had more to it than meets the eye."

Ivy began explaining the case. Before coming to the Imperial Union Bank, they had obtained Riverside Town's death records from Captain Haig. Using her replication ability, Ivy had found Roxanne's wife and daughter on the third page. Like the other residents of Riverside Town, they had died after drinking from the cursed water supply, completely unsuspecting.

The knowledge the Astrology Society had taught her was not enough to break a witch's curse.

"His wife and daughter died in Riverside Town. That was the direct cause of his taking his own life."

There was still one thing Ivy and Ethan hadn't been able to figure out.

Why had a curse appeared in Roxanne's ledger? Why had Marshall taken only his ledger, and then concealed this crucial information in his letter asking Gear City for help?

"Is that so? So that's what happened..."

Marshall stared at the death records for a long time. Then he lowered his head and clenched his fists.

His reaction took Ethan by surprise. He hadn't expected someone like Marshall to grieve over Roxanne's death. But on reflection, he understood. Mr. Roxanne had once brought joy to many people in Brookwood Town. Perhaps Marshall had been one of them.

"Worthless..."

Marshall's next words abruptly cut off Ethan's train of thought. At first, he spoke in a low murmur, but his voice grew louder and louder. His reaction no longer looked like grief. It was anger. He slammed his clenched fist onto the desk, rattling everything on it.

"Useless trash, the dregs of society, shameless mangy dogs! Did they have any idea how much effort I put into them?"

When Ethan heard Marshall describe Roxanne that way, his mind went blank for a moment. He even thought he might be hallucinating, because he couldn't imagine anyone learning the truth of the case and still saying something so vile.

But Marshall kept ranting, leaving no room to mistake it for a hallucination.

Ethan's disbelieving gaze swept over Marshall's stout figure and lingered there for several seconds. Then...

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

A picture of the cup on the desk surfaced in his mind. Water had splashed everywhere when the desk shook.

Drinking water in an office was terribly dangerous. It could easily put someone's life at risk.

According to the Containment Bureau's latest investigative report, water was the most toxic substance in the world. Every deceased person had drunk water before they died.

Ivy waited quietly for Marshall to finish venting before she spoke. "The documents sent by the Containment Bureau mentioned that you had volunteered to transfer to the Brookwood Town branch."

Marshall's loss of composure only confirmed her suspicions.

Why would a young nobleman from a prestigious family volunteer for such a thing?

There were still plenty of opportunities for him to enjoy an easy life while building his résumé.

"It was because the people in Brookwood Town were so easy to deal with, wasn't it? They didn't like to read and knew so little. Whenever they ran into a problem they couldn't solve, they'd trust anyone and treat anyone willing to help them as their last hope... A bunch of ignorant, shallow fools like that wouldn't recognize a treasure even if they stumbled across one, would they?"

Marshall fell silent.

Ivy had come from the same kind of environment as him. She knew how much the great nobles were willing to spend on a gifted young supernatural. They would invite those young people into their homes and treat them as honored guests. If they wished, the wealthy families would cover their tuition without any conditions.

That was how the world had always worked.

And so the power of the supernatural was usually held by the wealthy and powerful. Every supernatural was a creation built from riches.

But Marshall had found a cheaper way.

As the supernaturals grew, he would saddle them with enormous debts, then use those debts as collateral to sell them to the powerful in the Imperial Capital.

Why couldn't a supernatural be treated as a commodity?

When Marshall sent his idea to the head office, he received a response almost immediately. The head office thought highly of his plan and gave him the chance to put it into practice.

"If Roxanne's ledger were sent back to the Gear City branch as a Cursed Object, the Research Department would study it. Naturally, they'd have to examine every debt recorded in it."

Ivy shared her theory. "Training a magician certainly costs a lot of money, but exactly how much? Could it really be so much that a future supernatural would have to sell himself just to pay it off?"

In truth, Roxanne had no idea how much money he owed, nor did he understand how much the interest would grow over time.

He certainly didn't know that once the debt became impossible to repay, it would be transferred to his daughter.

But the people at the Containment Bureau could see that.

They could even pick out which loans among all those accounts had been entirely unnecessary.

From Marshall's furious reaction, it wasn't hard to tell that he thought Roxanne's daughter would fetch a good price in the future. That would serve as his stepping-stone into the Imperial Union Bank's head office.

Ivy looked at the documents scattered across the desk. Among them was a debt transfer agreement.

It bore a familiar name.

It was Roxanne's daughter's name.

Debt didn't disappear when someone died. That was a rule established by the Imperial Union Bank. The living would take the place of the dead and inherit everything they owed.

"As investigators with the Containment Bureau, you're sticking your noses where they don't belong."

Marshall glared at Ivy with hostility. "I don't have to explain the bank's business to you."

"Recovering Cursed Objects is my duty."

"About that."

Marshall impatiently waved a hand. "We don't need you anymore. Thank you for your hard work. The letter from Gear City should be here soon, too."

Before he had finished speaking, a falcon cried out beyond the window.

A kestrel landed outside the office window.

It had brought an order from the Gear City Containment Bureau.