Chapter 673 : The Thief

“Thief?”

Inside a room in the Falano National Museum, Adèle furrowed her brows slightly at Samson’s words, then continued speaking with a puzzled expression.

“Could you clarify? What kind of thief are we talking about? Are you saying someone took advantage of the chaos during the Cold Moon Revolution to loot the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty?” she asked, and Samson replied while using a handkerchief to brush together the cigar ash he had scattered earlier.

“When I say thief, I don’t mean a common robber... but a pack of vile parasites within the state—shameful traitors from the late Bourbon regime. From the moment Robert ascended the throne, they began to rot the nation from the inside out. And when the great tree was about to fall, they abandoned it and fled.”

“Parasites within the state... you mean corrupt officials?”

Adèle asked bluntly, and Samson, having now cleaned the ash into the tray, nodded and replied.

“That’s one way to put it. Robert was known as the Greedy King—if he was greedy, so were his ministers. At the time, the entire Bourbon court was drowned in vanity and extravagance. Money was squandered everywhere, and parasites infested every corner. The one who stole Maria’s Light... was the biggest leech among them all—Dibois.”

“Dibois? You mean Armand Dibois? If I recall correctly, wasn’t he Robert’s Chancellor? I remember he’s often portrayed as a scoundrel who escaped judgment—a henchman during Robert’s tyranny, the infamous bootlicking prime minister.”

Adèle said, recalling what she knew. Samson, now down to the final puff of his cigar, nodded.

“That’s right… the bootlicker Chancellor Dibois. In modern plays, he’s usually portrayed as a sycophant who loyally executed Robert’s oppressive decrees, whispering slander to persecute the loyal and brave. But how many realize—this ‘bootlicker’ wasn’t a petty schemer, but a true political predator. He was the shadowy mastermind behind much of Robert’s tyranny, and the very reason Robert turned into what he became.

“He wasn’t Robert’s lackey. He was Robert’s puppeteer. The so-called Greedy King was nothing more than a marionette.”

With the final puff of smoke drifting from his lips, Samson exhaled solemnly. Adèle, now visibly more puzzled, asked plainly.

“Robert was Dibois’s puppet? Can you explain what exactly happened?”

Samson calmly pressed out the cigar in the tray, then began recounting slowly.

“After Charles and Maria died in a mysterious shipwreck, Robert inherited the throne by Bourbon succession law. But although he was the first in line, he was never really groomed for kingship. That’s because shortly after Robert’s birth, Charles successfully ascended to full Crimson-rank and gained a long life spanning centuries. He never saw a need to prepare a successor any time soon.

“Charles was flamboyant, confident, energetic, and exceptionally gifted. He believed Falano could flourish for hundreds of years under his reign. So during his time on the throne, he barely considered what would happen to the kingdom if he died prematurely. He didn’t spend time or effort raising his children properly—he merely gave them ample material comfort and a list of rules, then left them to their own devices. That included Robert, who—like his siblings—spent most of his time enjoying luxuries, never touching state affairs, and was never trained to be a ruler.

“So from the start, Robert lacked the qualities of a king. He was completely unprepared for Charles’s death. When he heard the news, he panicked and wept for days. Even when he was crowned, he was still crying. Facing the immense power that had suddenly fallen into his hands, he was utterly lost, unsure of what to do. His powerful father had suddenly died without reason, and from that moment onward, his reign began under a cloud of fear. He became paranoid, mistrusting everyone, and convinced someone was always out to kill him.”

Samson recounted quietly from his seat, and Adèle, listening to his words, seemed to have realized something.

“Panic… paranoia… insecurity… So his unstable mental state at the time of accession is what led to his later tyranny?”

“That’s right. Deep-rooted insecurity in his own abilities and overwhelming fear from his father’s death shaped Robert into a ruler plagued by paranoia and volatility. Convinced everyone wanted to harm him, he used his authority to irrationally lash out, committing murders in a frenzy of self-defense. He personally began dismantling his own kingdom from the very moment he took the throne.

“Now, Robert didn’t easily trust anyone—but once someone earned that trust, he would become dependent on them. And tragically, the one who gained that trust… was Dibois.

“Dibois was a mysterious figure. He started off as a mere merchant and worked his way into the royal court by making repeated large donations. Somehow, he managed to win Robert’s trust. He was first appointed the palace treasurer, then promoted to Minister of Finance, and eventually—directly made Chancellor.

“In official history, it’s recorded that Robert ordered Dibois to carry out various tyrannical policies. But in truth, once Dibois gained Robert’s trust, he used the king’s dependence to manipulate him, slowly seizing control of the Bourbon regime in its final years.”

Samson’s voice remained steady as he continued speaking to Adèle. After hearing him out, her expression grew slightly grim.

“So… the person most responsible for Bourbon’s downfall... was actually Dibois?”

“No. I believe the primary responsibility still lies with Robert. His insecure and paranoid personality was the regime’s fatal weakness. The next most responsible was Charles—his arrogance helped shape Robert’s character. Only after that come the external players—Dibois among them, and the Church as well. Dibois, in particular, took advantage of Robert’s weakness to amplify his own influence to the extreme, ultimately destroying Bourbon.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“Dibois was a scheming opportunist from the start. A filthy leech who latched onto a dying Bourbon like a parasite and drained it dry,” Samson said gravely.

Adèle then asked.

“A scheming opportunist? What do you mean by that?”

Adèle asked Samson this question, and after a brief silence, he lit another cigar and slowly began to speak again.

“Robert is widely known by his title, the ‘Greedy King.’ That name comes from his obsessive efforts to hoard wealth during his reign. He imposed harsh and heavy taxes across all social classes and seized rare treasures and valuables from the Falano populace on a massive scale. People often say he did all this to feed the lavish lifestyle of the decadent Bourbon royal family—to fund their indulgence and extravagance—but the truth isn’t so simple.

“In fact, during the final years of the Bourbon dynasty, the other members of the royal family didn’t enjoy any of the wealth Robert amassed. On the contrary, they too were targets of his plunder. Where exactly the vast wealth Robert extracted over those years ended up has always remained a mystery. No one knows what became of it.”

“No one knows where Robert’s fortune went? That… that’s impossible. Are you saying he just hoarded money without ever spending it? Why would he collect so much wealth, then? Just to be a miser? What was the point of imposing all those taxes?”

Adèle asked, confusion showing on her face. Samson took another puff of his cigar and replied slowly.

“That’s precisely the mystery. Robert amassed incredible riches, yet—he didn’t squander them on luxury. He didn’t embark on grand construction projects. He didn’t wage wars.

“Right before the Cold Moon Revolution, Robert once displayed extraordinarily powerful abilities from the Desire Path—a display far exceeding what one would expect of someone only at the White Ash rank. Because of this, the revolutionaries suspected that he had been secretly planning something monumental, or that he was preparing some formidable secret weapon. That this secret—whatever it was—had strengthened him and brought him close to the level his father once reached.

“The revolutionaries grew extremely wary. They used artifacts provided by the Church to investigate Robert’s palace, which had been moved out of Flottes. But they were obstructed by powerful mystical forces with Shadow attribute, which only reinforced their suspicions and made them proceed with even more caution.

“But what no one expected was that when the revolutionaries finally completed their preparations and launched their full-scale assault on the palace, they encountered barely any resistance. Robert’s palace was easily breached and occupied. His body was found on the throne—dead before the assault had even begun. The cause of death was poisoning.

“The overthrow of the ‘Greedy King’ Robert turned out to be far easier than anyone had imagined. In contrast, it was the rest of the Bourbon lords who put up the fiercest resistance. The greatest mystery came after the revolution’s victory—when the revolutionaries scoured Robert’s palace thoroughly, they found almost no treasure at all. Later, when the revolutionary government examined the Bourbon accounts, they discovered that the royal treasury had recorded large sums of income—but virtually no spending. No large expenditures were ever recorded.

“The royal treasury and the palace were completely empty. The accounts showed no signs of any significant outflows. The vast fortune that Robert had extracted during his reign vanished without a trace. And vanishing along with it was Robert’s most trusted confidant, Chancellor Dibois. As such, nearly everyone linked the disappearance of the kingdom’s wealth directly to Dibois.

“Unfortunately, in the early years after the revolutionary government was founded, the mystical system was still incomplete. They lacked the capacity to pursue Dibois. And by the time the regime had stabilized and could act… it was already too late.”

With a solemn expression, Samson finished his recounting. After hearing his account, Adèle frowned, her expression heavy as she asked.

“So then… that necklace, Maria’s Light, must have disappeared along with all that other wealth during Robert’s time? Dibois took it with him?”

“That’s very likely. After all, this was the largest theft in Falano’s recorded history. The whereabouts of Maria’s Light have remained unknown ever since the Cold Moon Revolution. So yes, it’s almost certainly tied to the Robert Grand Theft case.

“If you’re determined to track down those crystals, I’m afraid there’s little I can do to help. It’s been a hundred years since the Grand Theft took place, and to this day, there’s no answer. I can’t offer you anything more.”

After taking another long drag from his cigar, Samson spoke slowly to Adèle. At his words, Adèle fell silent for a moment. Just as she was about to say something more, she heard a voice in her mind. Startled, she turned back to Samson and said:

“I understand the general situation now. Let’s set aside the missing crystals for the time being. Your Excellency the Consul… would it be possible for me to borrow this golden base for a while?”

“Heh… Borrow? I thought you’d just demand that I give it to you. Seems I misjudged you a little.

“This golden base, without the crystals, doesn’t hold much value on its own. It’s just gathering dust here. If the followers of Heaven’s Arbiter find it useful, take it. In a way, this item was originally theirs to begin with.”

Samson’s reply came easily, and Adèle looked somewhat surprised at how quickly he agreed. But before she could say anything, he continued.

“However… I do have a small request. You’ll need to provide me with a secure and discreet means of contact—something that will let me reach your people at any time. And if your investigation into Dibois ever uncovers anything valuable… I want to be informed. I want to know what happened to all that wealth that once belonged to Falano.”

Samson made his conditions clear, and after a brief pause, Adèle nodded.

“Understood. I accept your terms, Your Excellency.”

As she spoke, Adèle picked up the golden base that lay on the table.

…

Just as Adèle and Samson’s conversation came to a close, somewhere else in Flottes—on the balcony of a high-end hotel suite—Dorothy stood up from her chair. She wore a checkered padded nightgown, slippers on her feet, and her long white hair was disheveled down her back. She stretched toward the sky with a great yawn.

“Uwaaaah~ ugh... that’s rough…”

After the yawn, she rubbed her eyes and wiped at the corners, muttering softly to herself.

“I thought we’d finally found a lead… but turns out it’s only half a lead… the other half got stolen. What a pain. Seems like Gold-rank knowledge… really isn’t so easy to obtain…”

As she spoke, she began rubbing her shoulder, pondering over the new intel just acquired from Samson.

“Armand Dibois… a scheming opportunist, a greedy leech clinging to a rotting dynasty and sucking it dry. A true master thief… how interesting. What exactly was his identity? Could someone from a hundred years ago still be alive today? And what was he planning to do with that massive fortune he hoarded?”

These questions swirled in Dorothy’s mind, her imagination already running wild.