Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 423 Playing Both Sides (Happy New Year everyone! Meow!)

For Brando Rosefield, today was a pretty good day.

As the Rothfield family's representative in Cront, Brando thrived during this period.

War, oh war.

Brando loved war because the Kingdom of Krante had borrowed a considerable amount of money from the Rosefield Bank to cope with its heavy financial burden. Especially since the war mobilization began, what might be a day of constant anxiety for ordinary people was not so for Brando.

In fact, he wasn't even as worried as the people of Deburg about whether the Empire would occupy the city, because it was irrelevant. Whether Deburg was ruled by the Krant or the Empire, Rothfield's family business wouldn't suffer any losses. It was a matter of finance and credit, just as he wasn't worried at all about the Krant Kingdom renege on its debts now.

Because if the Kingdom of Krant does this, no private bank will be willing to lend them money in the future.

Credit is the foundation of finance.

Whether it's an empire, a crown, or Franciscan empires, the Western European Empire, or the Sasha League, they are all the same. Regardless of their system, government, or ideology, they cannot violate the laws of capital. The Rothsfield family is the embodiment of capital. Everyone needs them, whether commoner, noble, or king.

They are the true rulers of this world…

"Dong dong dong."

A rough knock on the door interrupted Brando's pleasant reverie. He frowned in annoyance and looked towards the office door. But before he could speak, his secretary rushed in in a panic.

"Sir! Something terrible has happened!"

"What's wrong? You're so flustered, how can you be so unbecoming?"

Seeing his secretary's flustered appearance, Brando reprimanded him with dissatisfaction, while secretly thinking that he should just fire him tomorrow.

"What happened?"

"Yes, it's the army!"

"Ok?"

"The army has surrounded our bank; they've blocked the entrances and exits, and are not allowing anyone to enter or leave!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Brando was taken aback and quickly stood up.

How could they do this?!

This is no remote, impoverished area; it's the trading city of Deburg. The news that the Krant military has blocked private banks will spread throughout the world in no time. Don't they care about that?
"I...I don't know, they said it was on orders from higher up..."

But before the secretary could finish speaking, a group of fully armed soldiers rushed in. They roughly pushed the secretary aside and then pointed their guns at Brando.

"You're Brando Rosefield?"

"Yes."

Upon hearing the surname "Rosfeld," Brando's initially panicked expression returned to normal. He straightened his clothes, glared at the soldiers in front of him, showing no fear of their dark gun barrels.

"What's going on? Why did you break into the Rosefield Bank without permission? I'm going to complain to Commander Bickgu!"

Brando coldly stared at the soldiers and spoke. He wasn't just making things up; after all, Commander Bickgu had just spoken to him, asking if he was at the bank, as there were some matters to attend to. He had promised to wait for Commander Bickgu at the bank, but he hadn't expected these soldiers to cause trouble at this time. They were really asking for it!
"We came here on the orders of the legion commander."

However, the leading soldier paid no attention to Brando's words, and simply replied coldly, then raised his gun and aimed it at Brando.

"We suspect you are an imperial spy. Please come with us for questioning!"

"An imperial spy? Me?"

Upon hearing this, Brando stared wide-eyed at the soldier before him in astonishment.

"What nonsense are you spouting?! How could I be an Imperial spy? Do you have any evidence?"

"Of course we have evidence."

However, just as Brando was arguing desperately, a steady voice rang out, and then an elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in military uniform, walked into the office with a serious expression. Upon seeing him, the soldiers hurriedly put away their weapons and saluted him.

"Sir!"

"Okay, you guys go out first."

"Yes, sir."

The soldiers looked at the old man with suspicion. They had received orders from the legion commander to bring Brando to the command post, so why was he here in person?
However, military orders are absolute. Although the soldiers were somewhat puzzled, they still turned around, left the office, and closed the door.

The old man stared at Brando in silence, who was sweating profusely under the old man's oppressive gaze.

"Commander Bickgu, what do you mean by this?"

“Just recently, we launched an attack on Port Der Lai.”

The old man looked at Brando and spoke.

"But we failed! The Empire anticipated our arrival and cleverly set a trap! The Sixth Army suffered heavy losses! Don't tell me you don't know what happened!?"

"I really know nothing about this!"

Upon hearing the old man's question, Brando was immediately horrified.

"How dare you say that? Have you forgotten who it was that led us to plan the attack on Port Derlai at this time?!"

"This...this has nothing to do with me, Lord Bick!"

By this time, Brando was sweating profusely, and he naturally understood the reason why the other party had come to interrogate him.

"Really?" "Of course, I assure you... this is actually a message from... another branch of my family. I'm just relaying it to you. I assure you, I'm absolutely not an imperial spy!"

The saying goes, "Better to sacrifice a friend than myself." At this moment, Brando didn't care about anything else; he just wanted to distance himself from this matter as quickly as possible, since it really had nothing to do with him...

"Do you have evidence?"

"Of course!"

Hearing the old commander's question, Brando felt a sense of relief. He quickly stood up, then squatted down on the floor, opened a section of the floorboards, and revealed a safe hidden underneath. This was originally where Brando hid his secrets, but now, he clearly didn't care about that anymore.

Brando reached out, used the key to open the safe, and then took out a thick envelope.

"Please see, Commander, this is the detail of the letter I received... I can assure you that I am absolutely not an Imperial spy, and I have no ill intentions towards Krant!"

As he spoke, Brando cursed inwardly. When the news came from there, they said it was a good opportunity for the Kingdom of Krant to take back Port Delai. As long as the Kingdom of Krant took back Port Delai, his status and importance, along with the Rosefield family, would rise in the Kingdom of Krant. How could he have been so blinded by greed and believed such nonsense?

Could it really be a trap set by the Empire? But how could that be?

Brando couldn't understand it at all. He had heard that the Queen in the Empire had been putting pressure on and curbing capital, and the Rothsfield family had reached a consensus to teach Her Majesty a lesson. Moreover, the plan seemed to be going smoothly—had the Empire seen through their scheme and then provided false intelligence?

He handed the intelligence to Commander Bickgu, looking at him anxiously, while secretly vowing that if he could survive this ordeal, he would report this to his family. Clearly, the branch in the Empire was useless! Utterly incapable of any real use! Perhaps he could even advance his own career because of it.

"………………………"

The old legion commander took the intelligence report, opened it, examined it carefully, and then nodded.

Then he looked at Brando.

"Well, it seems you're not entirely wrong."

Hearing this, Brando breathed a sigh of relief, but the next moment, the old legion commander's voice rang out again, making his heart jump once more.

"However, this does not prove the innocence of the Rothfield family."

"Please give me a chance, Lord Bick."

Brando quickly spoke up.

"I will report back to the family, find out the spies and traitors hiding within the family, and give you an explanation!"

"Um………………"

Commander Bickgu nodded, then slowly walked to Brando's side and patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, sit down. What you said makes sense."

Hearing this, Brando breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down in his chair. Just then, he heard the legion commander speak again.

"But... how can we avenge the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in the fortress?"

"Hey?"

Before Brando could react, the cold, hard muzzle of a gun was pressed against his temple.

"Bang-----!"

Gunfire suddenly rang out.

Upon hearing the gunshots, the soldiers guarding the door hurriedly tried to rush into the office. However, the office door was locked and could not be opened at all. But this did not deter the soldiers. They pounded on the door with all their might, and after a moment, they finally managed to break it open completely.

"Boom!!"

The door was flung open, and the soldiers rushed into the room, only to find Brando slumped on the desk, his eyes wide open, his face filled with unimaginable terror and astonishment. Even more surprising was the disappearance of Commander Bick, who should have been in the room.

"What's going on? Where's the officer? Go find him immediately!"

The leading soldier hurriedly gave the order, and the others immediately took action. After giving the order, the soldier also gripped his weapon tightly and cautiously approached Brando, looking into the latter's unseeing eyes.

Suicide out of fear of punishment? So this guy really was an imperial spy?

Ok?
Just then, the soldier seemed to hear a dripping sound coming from below. He looked down at the table and then his eyes widened in shock.

"boom------!!"

A burst of intense flames erupted from the top floor of the bank, the massive explosion shattering every pane of glass, sending them scattering across the ground. Screams and shouts filled the air.

"Oh dear? What's wrong?"

The restaurant owner wiped her hands with her apron and looked anxiously out the window.

"Could it be that the Empire has invaded?"

"It should just be thunder."

Li Wei said casually while eating the sausage in front of him.

"Boss, your sausages and potato pancakes taste really good, I really like them."

"Hehe, this young man really knows how to talk. I'm glad you like it. How about a beer? It's a fresh malt beer, it tastes pretty good, doesn't it?"

"No need, I don't like drinking alcohol. Please just have a cup of herbal tea."

　This book might take a whole year to write in the new year, meow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)