BVSM 06

Chapter 06

As expected, Jeremy’s face crumpled right away.

“You don’t know what ‘stop slacking off’ means?”

“Oh, so I’m not even allowed to walk around the office?”

“Stop poking your nose everywhere and just stay put like a proper trainee! And for starters, the only places a trainee like you can freely come and go are the bathroom, the break room, and this office right here!”

“Ah, is that so? Nobody told me, so I didn’t know.”

“Right! Even I can’t just waltz into the archive room or the conference room! The boss has the keys!”

Hmm, I really didn’t know that.

That Aden guy is seriously harsh. Would it kill him to leave the doors unlocked?

As I stood there with a blank expression, the huffing Jeremy was about to say something more when—

“……What’s this? Did you organize these documents?”

Jeremy’s brow furrowed as he looked at the papers I had neatly sorted.

Oops. I relaxed my eyes a bit more and tilted my head.

“Organize? Is that what I did? I just put them wherever my hands took me.”

“Wherever your hands took you? But this is—”

Beep—

Jeremy’s words were cut off by a beep.

“Ah, yes, yes. Yes, I’m heading out now, hehe. Of course. I’ll arrive on time. The work is obviously proceeding without a hitch…”

That must be the communicator calling him.

Even regular magical engineering devices are expensive, but a portable one like that is even rarer — I wondered what he had tucked in his ear.

Jeremy, who had been so abrasive with me, turned sycophantic with whoever was on the other end, glanced my way a couple of times, and left.

Now that the interruption was gone, I started flipping through the documents again.

‘The establishment date of <Ronen Logistics Agency> is…’

But I had a feeling I didn’t need to search hard.

This kind of shell company scheme…

‘Six months ago.’

…is impossible without an insider.

A shell company established six months ago, right when he joined the company.

The way he frantically shielded his desk.

An expensive micro-communicator that doesn’t match a regular employee’s salary.

‘……So it’s you.’

[Jeremy Sand]

Everyone who approved the expenses billed by <Ronen Logistics Agency> was Jeremy.

Looking at his stamp marked densely on the papers, I squeezed my eyes shut.

‘From the looks of it, this isn’t just a case of taking a little kickback. He even created a ghost company to gobble up everything himself.’

Is he crazy?

Even though it wasn’t my money, my blood started to boil.

Well, that’s understandable — I’d seen cases like this back when I worked at <Mason Trading Post>.

Fortunately, I’d always caught them before signing any contracts, so we never had an actual accident, but how could I ever look favorably upon people who deliberately deceive others for profit?

I wanted to report Jeremy’s corruption immediately.

But…

‘……What happens to my “Get Yourself Fired as the Worst Employee Ever” project then?’

If I uncover company corruption on my very first day, wouldn’t anyone acknowledge my ability?

Even that finicky Aden would!

I wish I hadn’t found out.

But now that I know, turning a blind eye to this kind of corruption would weigh too heavily on my conscience.

Never mind that Aden is also a schemer and a bad guy — that’s a separate issue. At least in this matter, everyone at <La Mar> is a victim.

‘This is driving me crazy, seriously.’

I’d brought a sandwich for lunch, but I lost my appetite.

After staring blankly at the file for a while, I slowly got up.

Yeah, better than just sitting still.

“Let’s just clean. Sweeping and wiping might clear my head a bit.”

I neatly stacked the documents back into the cabinet and grabbed the long broom.

Swish— swish—

Watching the sparse dust get swept away did help clear my thoughts a bit.

‘Come to think of it, that Jeremy guy wasn’t at <La Mar> a year later. He’s so obvious, Aden’s bound to catch on eventually.’

It’s only a matter of time before the shell company is exposed.

In my experience, fraudsters like that never quit while they’re “ahead.”

They always think, “Just one more time, just one more time,” and that’s how they get caught.

Once Aden gets him, he’ll suffer way more than the money he embezzled, so justice will be served soon enough.

But I’m not just going to sit around and wait for that to happen.

‘I could subtly drop a hint while pretending not to know… or send an anonymous tip after I get fired. Once my safety is secured, I can do at least that.’

Keeping my mouth completely shut would violate my conscience. This was the best I could come up with after racking my brain.

‘Alright, let’s not say anything for now!’

Still, having reached a conclusion put my mind at ease.

“That guy’s got some nerve, though. If you’re going to pull something like this, shouldn’t you at least be careful about who you’re up against?”

Creak—

Muttering to myself as I swept the hallway, I suddenly tilted my head in thought.

Where had all the swept-up dust gone?

I bent down and let out an “Oh.”

‘There’s a gap in the floor here. …Huh?’

Coincidentally, it was right in front of the archive room.

Creak. I stepped on the slightly noisy floorboard, and it gave a subtle bounce.

Through the gap, I could faintly see something like a metal structure.

“Well, well. Looks like a secret passage.”

As I thought about it, I realized.

‘Ah, right. When that creaking sound happened, Jeremy yelled at me not to wander around, didn’t he?’

No wonder he was whining about not being able to enter the archive room either.

I chuckled. I could easily picture how much that hot-headed, impatient Jeremy must have fumed while making this secret tunnel.

‘Hmm, but all the documents related to the shell company were in the office cabinet.’

Why would Jeremy need this tunnel?

Just as I was poking at the gap with the broom tip—

“Hey!”

Bam!

Jeremy came running in, slamming the door open.

His face was bright red, and he was breathing heavily, like a furious bull.

What the hell. Why’s he acting like that?

“You, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Huh? Me? As you can see, I’m cleaning…”

“Cleaning, my ass! I saw you stepping on that floorboard on purpose and smirking! I had a bad feeling, so I’m glad I came back quickly.”

Ah. Come to think of it, there was a window in the middle of the hallway.

He must have noticed I was gone, searched for me, and then hid under the window, watching me clean all creepily.

But wait a second.

“Yeah, I thought it was strange from the moment you organized those documents. ‘Wherever your hands took you’? If that were true, how would you know to arrange them by color? But you sorted them by date received! In that short amount of time!”

I almost said, “So you knew how to do it properly all along, yet you’ve been managing the files like garbage until now?” but held my tongue.

This is…

“Who sent you?”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, who sent you! Was it the chairman? Did he send you to spy on me?”

“I… I think there’s some misunderstanding. Who’s the chairman…?”

But Jeremy, who clearly had no intention of listening to me anymore, rolled up his sleeves.

“So you’re going to keep playing dumb? Fine, good! Let’s do this, then!”

Do what, you lunatic!

I wasn’t going to rat you out!

Meanwhile.

Out on an errand, Luther walked down the street and muttered absentmindedly.

“Heh. Perfect weather for a nice, cold beer.”

The moment he said it, he felt a sharp glare.

Startled, Luther waved his hands and laughed affably.

“Ah, come on, it’s just a figure of speech! Do you really think I’d drink on the job, even me? Especially in front of the boss?”

“It sounds like you would if I weren’t watching.”

“What do you take me for? Of course, with the sun shining so bright, I might’ve thought about it for a second, but that’s it.”

Luther glanced at Aden, who, even at the beginning of summer, stuck to his fully buttoned-up suit.

“I’m a guy who thinks about consequences too, you know. I don’t go out of my way to do something I know will get me caught. After all, doesn’t the Empire have no such thing as ‘secrets’ from you, boss?”

“That’s a reasonable judgment.”

There were quite a few street stalls selling cold drinks along the street.

But without even glancing in their direction, Aden pulled a hip flask from his pocket and added slowly.

“Unlike ‘someone’ at the company who seems completely unaware of that fact.”