"Hm? I see that your brows are quite tense. Forgive me if I am being direct, but is Lord Reinhardt by chance under a lot of stress these past few days? Could it be perhaps related to the documents? I have seen a long line of people holding a bunch of papers while on our way here. From the header, it seems to be documents relating to tax and property files".
Instantly, Melissa saw through the troubles plaguing Reinhardt. For a second there, the latter stood there with unbridled surprise in his eyes.
This woman could see all that with just his stressing brows? Reinhardt massaged his forehead.
He was just pondering over what he should say next when the door to the hall was pushed open without any knock, and Ryley walked in with a mountain of paper.
"Hey, so you were here. Did you finish the stack that I gave you? If you did, then why did you not hand it to me? Have you any idea how much work I have on my plate? Ah!!"
It was at this moment that this former peasant realised that Reinahrdt was entertaining guests. Whatâs more, given their attire and extravagant clothes, they were no doubt nobles. At that instant, his face became weird.
"My apologies, I didnât know there were guests. If you will excuse me," He tried to immediately make his escape. However, Melissa stopped him.
"Ah, Sir knight please wait. Can I see the documents in that box you brought?"
Unable to swiftly escape, Ryley turned around and scratched his hair "My lady, I am not yet a knight. You donât have to call me that".
Melissa nodded and casually took the documents from the box. She then browsed through them at a speed as if it were a picture book for children before taking out a pen from her pocket.
"I see... Here, this person... he has been registering properties under different names. You can see a clue in all of his signature styles, very sloppy."
Saying that, she flipped to the next page.
"This one, his balance sheet is a disaster. Claimed revenue doesnât align with bank deposits. Where did the extra 4,000 gold come from? No invoice trail, no client records. Just... poof."
She then pulls to the next page.
"Here we goâ undeclared anonymous account. And look at this: monthly transfers labeled âMaintenance Feesâ to an establishment that doesnât even exist anymore. Classic laundering".
Then next and then next, she went through the documents, finding faults at a superhuman speed.
"This oneâs hiding assets under a family memberâs name. This oneâ Illegal substance purchases masked as âCosmetic goodsâ. And the quantitiesâthis isnât personal use. Someoneâs running a side business."
She went through the entire pile of documents, shedding light and pointing out inaccuracies in the blink of an eye.
By the time she was done, Reinhardt and his acting vice commander looked at her as if she was a ghost.
"W-Whatâs wrong?" She asked, blushing faintly from being stared at so hard.
"Ahaha.. ahaha... I was agonizing over that pile of documents for a whole day, yet she did not even take ten minutes."
Ryley laughed as if he had become an idiot before grabbing the shoulder of his Commander and whispering in a voice that only they could hear.
"No matter what, you canât let her go. Make sure she stays here. She is the hope of this city".
Reinhardt looked at his acting Vice Commanderâs eyes, which had turned blood red from sleep deprivation and excessive workload.
After taking the documents from her, Ryley thanked Melissa again and again before taking his leave.
Now with just the three of them, the room returned to its previous quietness.
"Now do you think I am capable?" the wife of Marquis Boulevard asked.
Capable? She was more and beyond that. He had decided, who cares if this was weird, who cares if she was someoneâs wife, or if in her shadows...
Anyways, he needed to keep her here, for his and his subordinatesâ mental health at the very least.
"Alright, you can work in my office from now on. Youâll take the position as my secretary".
"Iâm honoured," Melissa gave a bow of gratitude. The cleavage that was highlighted by her jacket became more apparent when she did so.
"Then thatâs settled. Ah, Sir Reinhardt, since my wife will be living in this city from now on, I will come visit every now and then." Marquis Boulveard appeared very pleased that he would be able to see more Reinhardt from now on.
The latter though, wasnât very happy. However, since Melissa was so competent, he could at least endure his weird behaviour every now and then.
And so, after Melissa took the position of his secretary, she quickly went through all the documents of the people of the city within half a day and pointed out all the fraud and crimes that the people committed.
For those who could be pardoned for the most part, were only given some slight punishment by his knight order and as for those whose crimes were unpardonable, they were imprisoned in the underground cellar where Baron Chetak had previously imprisoned the kidnapped demi humans.
.
.
At night, Marquis Boulevard had already left, leaving Melissa his wife, to work at Reinahrdtâs estate.
"Did everything go smoothly?"
Inside the governorâs office, a woman with brown hair and ponytail, wearing a black coloured suit, could be seen talking to someone. However, there was no one in the room other than her.
"Yes, everything went according to plan. The Divine Paladin did not suspect anything, Father". Melissa spoke.
It appeared that she was talking to a device in her hand.
"Thatâs good. What about your husband? Did he not make a scene when you said that you were going to work for the Divine Paladin?"
A voice came out from the device. From the makeup of the voice, it could be guessed that the speaker was an aged man, probably in his fifties.