"Hmm……"

  Seeing the check, Clerivan groaned and grabbed his head.

  "How can it be so identical?"

  Violet opened her eyes round and rubbed them over and over again.

  I agree with that a hundred times.

  At a glance, it was impossible to tell which was real.

  In my previous life, when the counterfeit check case occurred, I was alone in my darkroom and had a hard time.

  Later, I only knew that this had happened at this time of year when I was looking back on Lombardy’s past history while helping my grandfather’s work.

  So this was the first time I saw a counterfeit check with my own eyes.

  "I don’t know who it is, but it looks much the same."

  I murmured, staring at the check.

  I can’t say anything.

  The one who made the counterfeit check is obviously stealing from Lombardy.

  Moreover, the bank assets are credit.

  To blow the money and the credit of Lombardy like this.

  Bad guy.

  I stared at the check on the table, turned my head, and asked Bate, who was sitting comfortably leaning against the sofa.

  "But how did you get the counterfeit check? It wouldn’t have been easy because it hasn’t been solved yet."

  There probably aren’t a few things Lombardy bank figured out.

  But Bate has saved one of them.

  "……it’s a trade secret."

  Responding like that, Bate sidestepped his gaze.

  "I suppose so."

  I stepped back neatly.

  I can’t ask an informant for details.

  "Excuse me."

  But Bate stares at me.

  "What’s wrong, Bate?"

  "Don’t you want to ask more?"

  "But you already told me. It’s a trade secret. What else can I ask?"

  "But anyway, you’re an investor of our Caramel Avenue……"

  He said, ’If you want, you can grab the money and shake it to make me vomit an answer.’


  "I want my relationship with Caramel Avenue to last long and healthy."

  Threatening Bate to for the detail is like cutting the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs. [1]

  Besides, to betray me in this situation, Bate has too much to lose.

  Bate needed a stable base to grow the information guild, not a small amount of money you can get from counterfeiters.

  "……Thank you."

  The corners of Bate’s mouth were loosened as he nodded his head.

  "It’s amazing!"

  While I was talking to Bate, Violet, who was looking at the check more carefully, said half admirably.

  Then she looked into my eyes to see if I wanted to and quickly added.

  "Well, I mean, the counterfeiter, he’s good at it……"

  "I know, what are you talking about?."

  "Are you all right, Lady Florentia?"

  "I’m a little upset."

  "We’ll be able to catch the counterfeiter somehow."

  "A counterfeiter is a counterfeiter, but……"

  In the end, Viese failed to prevent the situation from worsening again this time.

  In my previous life, counterfeit checks eventually ran out of control.

  The amount of damage was astronomical because of the enormous.

  It was already late when Viese tried to figure out the situation and settle it, and my grandfather, who was in bed, had to take special measures.

  ’Immediately make a check with a new design and replace the old check, and Lombardy will bear all the damages caused by counterfeit checks.’


  It was inevitable because it was practically impossible to distinguish counterfeit checks on the spot.

  "You idiot……"

  It is beyond Grodic Bray’s authority to stop issuing checks, shape new designs, and decide how to deal with counterfeit checks.

  I meant that it was a job for the householder to step up.

  At that time, Bate added.

  "Oh, and there’s one more thing. Grodic Bray is said to have visited Shananet."

  "As expected."

  People’s thoughts were all similar.

  He must have judged that Shananet was the only one who could stop Viese.

  It was a change that occurred when Shananet, who had been down to the resort after her divorce, returned proudly and began to take care of her family’s affairs.

  Clerivan muttered, looking again at the counterfeit check.

  "It would be great if we could figure out a way to tell the difference between counterfeits. And if I could tell Shananet how to do it……"

  "Shall we try to shine in the sun?"

  Violet picked up two checks and looked through them one by one.

  But there was no difference at all.

  "There must be a difference……"

  The same was true of Clerivan, who frowned and agonized.

  Then suddenly he asked me in a low voice.

  "Could it be someone from inside the bank? If it’s this much the same, I think they’re just siphoning off checks made in the same place."

  It was a reasonable deduction.

  "That’s a possibility."

  Neither Violet nor Bate nodded.

  The betrayal of Lombardy insiders.

  In fact, it was the most likely hypothesis to find the culprit in this counterfeit check case.

  But it wasn’t.

  The criminal was just a man with very good counterfeiting skills.

  "What if it’s really like that?"

  Seeing Violet confused, I thought I should give her the answer.

  "Bate, do you have a match?"

  "Yes, I do."

  "Take it out."

  At my words, Bate tilted his head and pulled a pack of matches out of his pocket.

  "Try burning the check with it."

  "What?"

  "Come on."

  At my absurd request, Bate looked at Clerivan and Violet.

  However, there was no shaking in the eyes of the two.

  They believe in my judgment PERFECTLY.

  "……Okay."

  Bate, gulped loudly, carefully drew a match, and lit a check.

  "Huh? Uh……?"

  The apparently identical check burned with one red flame and another blue flame.

  "Wow, weird?"

  Bate, who blew out the fire quickly, struck a match once again and lit it.

  Again, the result was the same.

  "That’s the way to tell the difference between real and fake."

  It was only in the process of destroying counterfeit checks collected by employees of Lombardy Bank who eventually failed to find a way to distinguish them in my previous lives.

  Well, it was too late when I found out.

  "How, how did you know?"

  Bate asked me with big faded eyes.

  The wide-open amber eyes were full of joy.

  I looked straight at Bate and said it with a smile on my face.

  "It’s a trade secret."

  "……Yes?"

  "TRA. DE. SE. CRET."

  "Ah……"

  Bate’s face turned pale and his ears were going to go down.

  It’s a trade secret that I can never tell you.

  I left such a Bate alone and looked at Clerivan.

  "Clerivan."

  "Tell me, Lady Florentia."

  His eyes sparkled at me.

  "Tell Aunt Shananet how I showed you a little while ago."

  "Yes, I will."

  "You have to go as fast as you can, so Violet, don’t forget to take ’it’ out of the Lombardy bank vault and give it to Clerivan."

  "Yes, Lady Florentia. I’ll be right back after the meeting."

  "And Bate, I have a favor to ask of you."

  Bate, who had been dazed by my words, awoke in surprise.

  "Please look into one person."

  Bate tilted his head to someone’s name I suddenly asked him to look into it.

  "It’s not that difficult. But……"

  But Bate, who was about to say something, suddenly stopped talking and looked at Clerivan and Violet.

  Then he nodded firmly to see what came to his mind.

  Bate’s appearance resembled Clerivan and Violet somewhere.

  * * *

  That evening.

  Shananet visited the main office with a stiff face.

  Knock, Knock

  "Viese, may I come in for a moment?"

  She asked the butler to meet the time when the schedule was all over.

  Then, after a while, Viese’s answer came.

  "……Come in."

  It was a vague answer somewhere, but Shananet had no idea.

  Until she saw Seral sitting on the sofa on the office couch.

  "You are here."

  Maybe they were enjoying refreshments together in the office.

  Seral’s face was stiff because his leisure time was disturbed.

  "I’m sorry. There’s something I want to discuss with Viese."

  "……a discussion?"

  Instead of Seral, Viese asked back in a thorny way.

  "What do you have to discuss with me sister, the Lord representative?"

  "……Why don’t we have a private talk?"

  Shananet replied calmly to Viese’s harsh words, which seemed to hurt his pride.

  But Viese took a glance at Seral and spoke in a grumpy voice.

  "There’s no conversation I can’t have in front of my wife. What’s the point?"

  It was Viese’s tone, which has changed so much since he became an acting householder.

  "……Yes, I heard fake checks are circulating these days. Are you aware of the matter?"

  "Fake check?"

  Viese made a big impression.

  "Did the bank chief come to see you, sister?"

  "It’s not like that……"

  "How dare he leave me as the Lord representative?"

  Viese jumped up from where he was sitting and shouted.

  "……Viese. Calm down and listen to me."

  "Why should I listen to you, sister, who dares to ignore the authority of the Lord representatives that my father has given to me!"

  "……Dare?"

  Shananet’s voice also began to smear with subtle anger.

  "Our father’s temporary assignment to you does not mean that you should wield your authority at your convenience and imitate Lombardy’s, Viese."

  "Imitate Lombardy’s? I’m doing my job steadily! You’re not in a position to tell me what to do!"

  "I don’t know what position you’re in your head, but I can see one thing. You don’t understand how serious this counterfeit check is. Such a fool."

  "Watch your language! No matter how rude my sister is, you can’t be to me, the Lord’s representatives! I’m here instead of our father!"

  Shananet felt giddy as if she were talking to a wall.1

  All Viese cared about was his authority and rights as a landlord.

  The conversation continued to hover in place even when the counterfeit checks were brought up.

  "What’s so important about a couple of counterfeit checks? Aren’t you too obsessed with trivial things to distinguish between public and private affairs?"

  Viese said with a snort.

  "Are you so jealous of me being acting patriarch? So it’s obvious that you’re trying to get a hold of yourself and meddle in my affairs!"

  Shananet laughed in vain.

  Viese genuinely believed that a counterfeit check was trivial.

  And for such Viese, Shananet is nothing more than a malevolent hindrance.

  "……Yes, Viese. My expectations for you were too high."

  Shananet turned away, leaving only that word.

  Behind her back, she heard the laughter of Viese and Seral, but Shananet did not look back.

  She was going to visit her father right away tomorrow morning.

  Back home with a cold heart, Shananet found someone waiting for her at the door.

  "Madame Shananet, it’s late, but can I talk to you for a moment?"

  It was Clerivan Pellet who greeted politely with a handsome face and a smile.

  7

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  [1] The tale has given rise to the idiom ’killing the goose that lays the golden eggs’, which refers to the short-sighted destruction of a valuable resource, or an unprofitable action motivated by greed.