Charlotte handed fifty luxury goods to Louis Smythe and thirty-five to Ross Bard, telling them to convert them into cash and use the money to hire a group of detectives and adventurers.
Now that Charlotte had finished fighting at Silver Doveburg, the two men still had not hired any detectives or adventurers. There was no way they could explain that away.
As for swallowing the money, they would not dare, no matter how much courage they had.
If Charlotte had died at Silver Doveburg, they naturally would not have feared him. But not only had Charlotte survived, he had also been promoted to thirty-second rank, Second Administrative Officer. He was a powerful figure with real authority over the City Patrol and the Knight Order. Even if he was only a low-ranking noble, killing two merchants would have been effortless.
A thirty-third-rank First Administrative Officer was equivalent to a fifth-rank Chief Clerk, but while thirty-third rank was the ceiling for a Chief Clerk, it was merely the starting point for an Administrative Officer.
As a low-ranking noble, a Chief Clerk had some chance of obtaining an administrative post and managing specific affairs. An Administrative Officer, however, was guaranteed an administrative post and entry into the Empire's managerial ranks.
Louis Smythe was ultimately much bolder. After leaving Silver Doveburg, he came to Charlotte's side and said in a low voice, "I helped you acquire a detective agency. Their business was not doing well, but they had a complete staff. I thought that instead of hiring detectives, it would be more convenient to own an agency ourselves."
"The paperwork took far too long, so it delayed things a little."
Charlotte smiled faintly and accepted this "reason."
The batch of luxury goods he had provided should barely have been enough to acquire a medium-sized