Inside the study.
Earl Hall shook his head as he looked at the documents in his hands.
Several more properties belonging to Bavart Bank had been forcibly searched by the military under the pretext of "protection." Several of the family's other properties in Backlund and the provinces had suffered similar treatment.
Heh, what a fine-sounding excuse. Aren't these so-called "protective searches" just seizures? They've merely chosen a more genteel term to maintain appearances and give everyone a way to save face. To Earl Hall, however, this hypocrisy only made it all the more ironic.
The military's stated reasons for the seizures were to investigate the counterfeit banknote case, conspiracy in the financial markets, securities fraud, and so on...
As for the first accusation, Earl Hall could declare with complete confidence that he had absolutely nothing to do with it. The Hall family had not sunk so low as to dabble in something as sordid as counterfeit banknotes. Someone had undoubtedly planted those notes in Bavart Bank to frame them!
But as for the latter, those financial charges... he could only laugh bitterly to himself. He had not only committed most of the offenses listed on the investigation order, but was highly practiced at them. In Loen, financial capital made money largely through this kind of "legal" fraud, exploiting information gaps and privileges. Everyone did it. He was simply the unlucky one singled out to pay for it now.
"The family's cash reserves are almost gone..." Hall sighed, then pressed his aching temples.
Anyone looking closely would have noticed how much the earl had aged recently. His eyes were bloodshot, and even his temples had begun to turn gray. Clearly, the recent blows had aged him rapidly.
With the bank's financing channels comprehensively restricted and the government imposing tight controls on