My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 154

§ 154 – Embezzlement Spree (1)

《Wh-What is this! What, what on earth is this!!!!!!》

《Why, why is such a high level of karma being measured?!》

*Ding!*

《How in the world did this happen?!?!》

The Mobile Lord’s notification window was going crazy, popping up incessantly.

Well, it was only natural.

82 million gold.

This… this was truly an absurd amount.

No, it wasn’t just absurd; it was an unrealistic amount.

Enormous? Astronomical?

Or perhaps terrifying?

Even those words couldn’t adequately describe it.

No amount of exaggeration could fully express the value of that sum.

From the beginning, even if you gathered all the gold Cian had spent on in-app purchases so far, it wouldn’t amount to 82 million gold.

The 32 million gold he poured in when he revamped Ruben last time.

Even adding that gold, it would only be a little over 70 million gold.

It was nowhere near 82 million.

Therefore, the Mobile Lord’s reaction was understandable.

The karma that sent the Mobile Lord into emergency maintenance was a mere 32 million gold.

Well… you couldn’t really call 32 million “mere.”

“Terrifying” would be a more accurate description.

In any case, the Mobile Lord had been knocked out for weeks by 32 million gold.

He even had to undergo psychiatric treatment.

But the amount he was seeing now….

[82,124,000 G]

A whopping 82 million gold.

An overwhelming amount, more than double the previous one.

《There’s no way such a huge karma could come in…!!》

《No…!! Nooooo!!!!!》

The Mobile Lord was already mumbling as if he had lost his mind.

《If something that big comes in…! I… I won’t be able to come to my senses…!!》

《I’m gonna faint, pass out…!!!!》

Somehow, that sounded rather suggestive, but….

Well, whatever.

82 million gold was just that terrifying.

“But wasn’t it only supposed to react to gold?”

Come to think of it, that was the case.

In Cian’s experience, the Mobile Lord had only ever reacted to gold.

Gold that was in the inventory.

In other words, gold that existed as physical currency.

The Mobile Lord hadn’t reacted to things like promissory notes.

And right now, Cian was faced with a mountain of payment requests.

Adding up to a total of 82 million gold, but they hadn’t been stamped yet.

Well, once stamped, they would take effect immediately.

But right now, they were no different from uncashed checks.

“Come to think of it, it was like that last time too, wasn’t it? Maybe?”

When he received a total of 32 million gold worth of promissory notes from the Emperor and the Imperial Family.

Even though he hadn’t cashed the notes into gold yet, the Mobile Lord had freaked out, he remembered.

Cian hadn’t been in his right mind either, so it was a hazy memory, but.

He definitely had a memory of that happening.

“Did things like this get stronger as I got stronger?”

Like the ability to measure karma also getting stronger?

Well, maybe. Or maybe not.

“Eh, who cares.”

Cian shook his head and brushed it off.

It wasn’t a particularly important fact anyway.

The only important thing right now was this.

[82,124,000 G]

The fact that he could spend 82 million gold on in-app purchases!

And this wasn’t even Cian’s money.

It wasn’t money that Cian had earned through hard work.

It was money he got just by sitting in a chair and stamping payment requests.

More precisely, it was money taken from Durac’s wallet!

No less than his parents’ money, and now someone else’s money!

“Ah…!! Aaaaaah…!!!”

Cian couldn’t hide the elation that filled his entire body.

*Ding!*

《I haven’t been awake for long…! I haven’t been awake for long…!!!》

《I don’t wanna faint again!! I don’t wanna faint agaaaaain!!!!!》

Aaaaaah…!

Woo-oong…!

And so, for a while, the room was filled with the overflowing joy of two beings, Cian and the Mobile Lord.

And after some time had passed.

“Hoo…! Hoo…!”

Cian was finally able to come to his senses.

“C-Calm down. C-C-Calm down….”

Cian repeated the words, trying to soothe himself.

Then, he slowly took out the payment stamp.

His hand trembled as if there had been an earthquake.

He had stamped countless payment requests, but.

He couldn’t calm down this time.

Cian grabbed the hand holding the stamp with his other hand.

The trembling didn’t stop, but it was enough to stamp the seal.

Gulp.

Cian swallowed once.

Once this stamp was applied, everything would begin.

“Heeeuuup…!”

Cian squeezed his eyes shut and stamped the payment request.

*Thump!*

The desk shook violently with the sound.

Carefully lifting the stamp, the white wolf’s seal was clearly imprinted on the payment request.

Cian glanced at the amount in his inventory.

And.

[Current Gold Holdings] – 84,734,560 G

He could confirm that 82 million gold had been added!

“Keuheop…!!!”

Cian’s breath caught in his throat.

At the same time, *Ding! Ding-ding! Ding-ding-ding!*

*Ding-ding! Ding! Ding-ding! Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!*

Mad notifications were coming from his smartphone.

But Cian had no time to check.

“Keuheop…!!!”

He couldn’t even think about checking!

“C-C-Calm down…! No, calm down!”

Cian calmed himself and calmed his heart.

The existing 2 million gold.

It was a promissory note found in Conner’s possession.

A promissory note with an unknown source.

But it wasn’t hard to guess that it was a promissory note Isabel had given to Conner for an assassination request.

Therefore, the 84 million gold currently piled up in his inventory.

That meant.

That all 84 million gold came from ElanDour’s wallet!

In other words, the amount Cian could spend on in-app purchases was a whopping 84 million gold!

“Th-Th-This money…!”

He could revamp Ruben twice.

And not only that.

A family of four could live for 230,000 years.

That was enough time for Arnaise to faint 23 times.

An amount that could not be expressed in existing languages or expressions.

“C-C-Calm down… The more it is like this, the more calm I need to be… Aaaaaaaack!!”

Cian couldn’t maintain his sanity with that ecstatic amount!

His whole body trembled.

His mind grew distant.

“Aaaaaah…!”

*Thud!*

Cian ended up falling backward from his seat.

“Hoo…! Hoo…!!”

Rough breathing.

Cian took several deep breaths and organized his thoughts.

First, it was true that 84 million gold had come into Cian’s possession.

However, to be precise, it wasn’t “gold” in Cian’s inventory.

To be precise, it could be said to be the budget in ElanDour’s warehouse.

Cian had only approved the payment.

In other words, he had only authorized the use of the budget.

To borrow the Mobile Lord’s expression for a moment.

It was merely a practical asset that Cian could manage, befitting the karma of being ElanDour’s Deputy Administrator.

Therefore, if he was deprived of being ElanDour’s Deputy Administrator.

In other words, if the karma to use the budget disappeared, it was money he couldn’t use.

“I can’t use it now.”

Therefore, he had to be extremely careful when making in-app purchases.

ElanDour’s budget was almost impossible to estimate.

However, 84 million gold was not something to overlook.

No matter how much it was ElanDour, 84 million gold would definitely be noticeable.

No, it wasn’t just noticeable; it was an amount that would take out several pillars!

“They’ll definitely notice.”

So they would definitely notice.

There would definitely be a major investigation into the missing 84 million gold.

And it wouldn’t be hard to find Cian at the end of it.

It was right to assume that there was no way to hide Cian’s embezzlement.

But.

“It’ll take them a long time to find out.”

It was definitely possible to delay the process.

First of all, in-app purchases for the Mobile Lord leave no trace.

Literally, the gold disappears.

So it would take time to find out that Cian used it.

Also, the image Cian had built up so far would buy him more time.

The results of the relief policy.

And even the budget used transparently and fairly in the process.

Even if there was suspicion about Cian, they would think.

Surely not the Deputy Administrator?

Eh, it can’t be.

That belief would buy Cian time.

And above all, the scale was too large.

Embezzlement is embezzlement.

At this scale, it was impossible to think of it as embezzlement.

No, what crazy bastard in the world would embezzle 84 million gold!

People couldn’t easily think of the word embezzlement for this insane act.

Budget omission.

Or lost ledger.

They would think like this and track it.

Still, it was something that would be revealed.

It was inevitable that Cian’s embezzlement would be discovered someday.

But when that fact was discovered.

Cian would no longer be in ElanDour.

To be exact, he would be watching all of this from Ruben.

So now was not the time to make in-app purchases.

The time was the day he left ElanDour’s mansion for the Imperial Palace.

“Wait for it…!”

Cian’s eyes flashed.

#

Time passed quickly, and it was time to leave for the Imperial Palace.

And Cian had spent almost the entire time wide awake.

That was because he was constantly having seizures….

No, he couldn’t sleep because his smartphone was vibrating…!

*Ding!* every second.

He couldn’t sleep a wink because he was tormented by the Mobile Lord all night.

And well….

The most important reason was this.

“Magic engineering research and upgrading existing facilities to Lv.7… Ah, then I had to upgrade the Lord’s Castle to Lv.3.”

He didn’t have time to sleep because he was organizing the list of things to buy for in-app purchases!

In-app purchases worth 84 million gold.

This time, there was no need to reset Ruben.

Semir’s newly written blueprint calculated all the subsequent variables.

Even if other facilities came in, they could simply be built through territory expansion.

Of course, a huge amount of gold was consumed in the process….

But now he could use 84 million gold!

So Cian had spent almost three days wide awake.

And in the end, he was able to organize all the items to buy for in-app purchases.

And so now.

Cian slightly opened the window of the carriage.

A knight in white armor came into Cian’s view.

A knight with a particularly restrained atmosphere.

It was Aaron, the leader of the White Wolf Knights.

And around Aaron, several White Wolf Knights were visible.

They were surrounding Cian’s carriage.

The reason was no different.

It was none other than Cian’s escort.

They were escorting Cian to the Imperial Palace.

The fact that the White Wolf Knights were following as such an escort force.

That meant that Cian was officially recognized as a member of ElanDour.

But one thing.

It was a bit much for Aaron to follow.

Aaron was the leader of the White Wolf Knights and a Master-level knight.

It was too much to be attached to Cian’s escort.

This was not only a waste of manpower but also a waste of resources.

Nevertheless, the fact that Aaron was following.

‘Are they going to monitor me?’

Cian could immediately sense the meaning.

It seemed that Aaron was attached to monitor Cian so that he wouldn’t stray off course.

‘It seems that Durac is getting impatient.’

Sending Kai to Ruben and.

Now attaching Aaron as a monitor.

It seemed that Durac was trying to hold on to Cian by any means.

But Cian was leaving this mansion at that moment.

He wasn’t planning on coming back.

Even if he came back, he would come back as an enemy of ElanDour.

‘It’s a bit unexpected that Aaron is following….’

Of course, it was unexpected that Aaron was following.

No matter how much it was Cian, he couldn’t escape the surveillance of a Master-level knight.

Because of this, there might be a problem with going from the Imperial Palace to Ruben….

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

He had thought of everything.

Unless Durac followed him directly.

Aaron was no problem at all for the plan to go from the Imperial Palace to Ruben.

So now there was only one problem.

[Current Gold Holdings] – 84,734,560 G

Embezzlement of 84 million gold…

No, in-app purchase spree… No, embezzlement spree.

No, in-app purchases disguised as embezzlement….

No, embezzlement disguised as in-app purchases….

Anyway, that was it!

Cian took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

The paper was densely filled with writing.

It was none other than the list of in-app purchases he had organized all night.

*Ding! Ding-ding! Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!!!*

The Mobile Lord’s seizure came to mind for a moment, but Cian lightly ignored it.

“Hoo…!”

Cian took a deep breath.

And sat in the carriage, quietly waiting for the time.

How much time had passed?

“Young Master. We will depart now.”

Aaron’s voice was heard from outside the carriage.

*Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!!!*

《I, I don’t wannaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!》

At the same time, the Mobile Lord’s screams echoed loudly.

#

The administrative office located in ElanDour’s mansion.

“Hoo… So everything is finished with this.”

Python looked at the last payment request and let out a long sigh.

A famine struck the Marquisate [a territory ruled by a marquis].

The famine caused enormous damage to the Marquisate.

Deaths from starvation and famine were rampant.

Those who survived also had to worry about the future.

When everyone was restless and didn’t know what to do.

A man solved the problem in a flash.

And that was someone who was thought to be nothing.

“Really….”

Python muttered without realizing it.

Python, the chief administrator of ElanDour, who had served as an administrator for decades.

“I don’t think he learned administrative work from anywhere.”

Even Python couldn’t help but admire Cian’s policies.

Not only the policies but also the decisiveness and boldness to implement the policies.

He was on a different level from the martial artists who were full of thoughts of fighting in their heads.

“The Lord had a reason.”

Python could immediately understand why Durac had appointed Cian as Deputy Administrator.

At first, he thought it was a parachute appointment [a job given based on connections rather than merit], but it was definitely not a parachute appointment.

Recruitment of talent, that is, scouting.

In fact, it would not have been strange to give him the position of Chief Administrator.

“Is it time for me to retire?”

A small smile appeared on Python’s stubborn face.

And right then.

“Chief Administrator! Chief Administratoooor!!!!”

A voice calling Python erupted from somewhere.

Did he eat an ogre’s lungs or something?

The voice echoed throughout the administrative office.

Python tilted his head and looked in the direction of the sound.

There, an administrator was running towards Python in a hurry.

*Thud!*

*Crash…!*

He was running so fast that he was falling and stumbling.

His clothes were torn and blood was flowing, but the administrator did not stop running.

“Chief Administratoooor!!!!”

He was running towards Python, shouting even louder.

The administrator approached in such a hurry.

“What’s going on?”

“B-B-Big trouble…! Big trouble has happened!!!”

The administrator shouted, panting, when Python asked.

Python frowned slightly at the administrator’s appearance.

No matter how urgent the matter was.

The attitude he was showing now was not good.

So Python was going to scold him instead of listening to the report.

“It seems that the budget has disappeared…!”

Until these words were heard.

Python’s frowned eyebrows were raised.

“The budget disappeared?”

“Yes! Yes, yes!”

Python chuckled at the administrator’s hasty answer.

It was always happening.

No matter how strictly the budget was managed, it could not be managed perfectly.

The larger the scale, the more omissions occurred.

At the scale of ElanDour, hundreds of thousands to millions of gold were bound to be missing.

That’s why they set aside a reserve budget in advance, calculating such loss rates.

It seemed that the administrator in front of him had not been working in ElanDour for long.

No wonder I couldn’t remember his name.

“How much?”

So Python asked casually.

Then the administrator hesitated greatly and did not answer.

To be exact, he was clearly worried about whether he could say this.

But he couldn’t delay it forever.

The administrator squeezed his eyes shut and said.

“It’s 8… 82 million gold….”

*Thud.*

At the same time, Python’s body froze.

All sorts of thoughts swirled in his head.

Then he finally came to a conclusion.

‘I must be getting old.’

I can’t even hear well anymore.

Python shook his head and asked.

“I’m sorry. How much did you say it was?”

But why?

“It’s 82 million gold….”

The administrator’s words had not changed at all.

*Thud.*

Python’s body froze once again.

Am I senile?

Python asked the administrator again, holding a lot of questions.

“820 gold?”

Then the administrator shook his head.

“Then 8,200 gold?”

Shake, shake.

“82,000 gold?”

Shake, shake.

“820,000 gold?

Shake, shake.

“… 8.2 million gold?”

From here, he flinched a little.

8.2 million gold was not an amount that could be easily overlooked.

But.

Shake… Shake….

The administrator finally shook his head.

Then there was only one thing left.

“82 million… Gold?”

Nod… Nod….

The administrator nodded his head then.

*Thud.*

At the same time, Python’s body froze.

The flow of thought also stopped along with the body.

So… So….

No, so… Does that mean that 82 million gold has disappeared now?

His mind went out and he became dazed.

In the meantime, the administrator gently handed over a document.

Python’s gaze naturally turned to the contents of the document.

And Python could confirm.

That 82 million gold had really disappeared.

To be exact, the fact that 82,144,000 gold had disappeared from the finances!

“Th-Th-This is ridiculous…! Eugh!”

Words did not come out due to indescribable shock.

But that was only for a moment.

“Wh-Who! Who on earth! No, what is the usage? What is the source? Did you check everything?!”

Python regained his senses and asked.

82 million gold was a lot of money.

No, it was not enough to say it was a lot of money.

The disappearance of such money was bound to leave traces.

Traces were bound to remain in some form.

And if you check the source of even 1 gold, it was not difficult to track it.

But.

“Th-There isn’t….”

The administrator’s words that were heard did not make sense.

“There is no source of the disappeared gold….”

It was beyond the level of not making sense, it didn’t even sound like words!

“Wh-What?”

Python was dumbfounded.

There is no trace of the disappeared gold.

That means.

“Are you saying that the gold has evaporated?”

That was the only way to explain it.

But damn it.

“… Yes.”

That’s right.

“……”

Python didn’t know how to react to this.

He could only blame himself for putting such a thing as an administrator.

Python laughed in vain and looked closely at the documents submitted by the administrator.

And.

“Gold… evaporated?”

He could really confirm the evaporated gold!

Literally, the gold had disappeared.

The real gold had evaporated.

With no source or usage!

“C-Can this be…?”

It was the first time in decades of administrative experience.

I swear it was the first time!

Even the scale was absurd.

It was beyond the level of not making sense, it was impossible.

At this level… With this 82 million gold, ElanDour’s budget was severely damaged.

Moreover, it was even more so because he had used the budget like water for the relief policy this time.

So the people of ElanDour didn’t care much.

They had already received more than enough.

But others were not.

That is, the members of the mansion, including ElanDour’s vassals [a person or state that is subordinate to another], were not.

At this level, they couldn’t even give them a salary.

From tomorrow, they had to eat porridge for the mansion’s meals!

And not only that?

The planned projects had to be canceled.

The projects that had been planned for several years had to be overturned.

This was not just 82 million gold.

Considering the profits to be made with that gold, it was a loss of more than 100 million gold!

100 million gold.

An amount that far exceeded the concept that could be called money.

That gold had now disappeared!

“E-Eugh…!!!”

*Thud!*

“Chief Administrator! Chief Administrator!!”

Python lost consciousness as it was.