I have a number of regrets that have accumulated throughout the course of my life. But spending years learning arithmetics is not among those regrets. The reason for this was fairly simple. Since I was investigating the Katepan of Safra, my search party retrieved numerous financial documents concerning the trade of Damask steel from the Katepan. As a result, I had to sort through a vast amount of documents with only one soldier being able to help me. 

And although the search for documents took up around five hours, we spent around a day sifting through the documents for falsehoods, questioning collaborators, and finding other forms of evidence. 

The result was somehow both expected and shocking. Although Loukas was guilty as expected, the embezzled funds were far higher than I had expected. The total number of money pilfered amounted to 50 solidi. Around a fourth of it was taken from exploiting trade with the blacksmithing villages while the rest came from taxes not paid to the Doux. 

After collecting the funds in the form of jewelry and other assets, we set up a temporary Katepan from among Safra’s administrative staff so we could take Loukas to Damask for judgement. 

When we arrived back at Damask, the time was early in the morning, the sleepy sun now slowly rising through the clouds. Besides me, the soldiers were still drowsy from waking before dawn, while Loukas was quietly awaiting his fate. I actually found the Katepan’s attitude quite admirable. Compared to so many others who would beg and moan, Loukas just enjoyed the trip through countryside, occasionally making remarks about the beauty of the blue sky and verdant fields. 

“We can take it from here,” the captain of the soldiers told me when we passed through the gate. 

“It’s fine,” I replied. “I need to talk to Doux Isaac about the situation anyways.”

Even though I would love to come home to a cute sleeping Sekh, I think it’s much more important for me to see this case through. 

Soon after, our party got to the citadel of Damask, the guards atop the walls giving us curious looks. As we were unloading our baggage, I saw the familiar shape of Gallus appearing out of the training grounds.

“Welcome back,” he said while waving towards me and the men. 

Apart from me, the soldiers quickly turned towards their captain and saluted him. 

“Good to see you,” I said to Gallus. “Sorry but I have urgent business with the Doux right now, so one of the men here will have to inform you of the situation.”

“I can tell,” Gallus remarked while looking at Loukas. “Good luck with that.”

I entered the Doux’s hall with Loukas and two soldiers in tow. Although the Katepan had his arms restrained, it was in our best interest to maintain precaution. This turned out to be unnecessary, since Loukas was very docile as he waited with us for Doux Isaac’s presence.

“So it seems your investigation was a success,” Isaac said when he entered the main room. 

That’s right, he must have heard about the situation when I sent the request for reinforcements. 

“I guess,” I replied. “The short story is that Loukas here is guilty of embezzling funds and exploiting trade deals with the blacksmith villages. I’ll give you the full report, but it’s going to take a while to go over the documents that I brought with me.”

That’s fine,” he answered. “We should send Loukas to the prison for now then. I’ll decide his punishment once I finish hearing your report.”

“Well I hope you’ve already had breakfast,” I said while bringing out a pouch filled with papers. 

For the next hour or so, Isaac and I went over the details of my report. This mainly included the specific amount of money that was embezzled and the number of illegal transactions. Because I had carefully gone over my report before, we were able to wrap things up quite quickly.

“My plan is to strip Loukas of his position as Katepan of Safra, sentence him to thirty years of imprisonment as well as a fine of 40 solidi,” Isaac told me. 

“The fine is not counting the assets that we seized, right?” I asked.

“Of course not,” he answered. 

“Then that’s a pretty harsh punishment,” I remarked. “With a fine like that, the imprisonment should be closer to twenty five years. Are you perhaps implementing a harsher punishment to set an example for the other officials in the province?.”

“That’s the plan,” he answered. “And technically the punishment is valid under the Iasor legal code, though it may be stretching the limit by quite a bit.”

“If you run into any problems with the royal court then let me know,” I told him. “I think it’s a good idea, so I’ll pull strings for you if need be.”

“I appreciate it,” Isaac chuckled. “And I’m sorry for being so negligent of this province, I’m sure I’ve let Gallus down far too many times.”

“That's putting it a bit lightly,” I complained irreverently.

The Doux grimaced, most likely surprised that I didn’t use honeyed words on him. “I guess I’ve been too occupied with my personal research. But seeing you and Gallus work so hard has given me a smidgeon of hope.”

“A smidgeon?” I asked sarcastically. “After everything that we’ve done, I really wish you would feel more than that.”

“I’m just glad that you two are giving me a chance,” he said with a smile. “Most people would rather just scheme for my position.”

“That’s true,” I replied wryly. “But luckily for you, being a Doux is way too much of a bother for me.”

Although few would share my opinion, my sentiments still had reason behind them. Compared to many other states, the Iasor empire has more non-hereditary government posts. So although the title of emperor is hereditary, governor positions are assigned by the emperor and his council when a governor dies, resigns, or is stripped of their title. Therefore, the position of governor is slightly less desirable because it is unlikely for one’s heir to inherit the position. I say unlikely because political clout and favor can go a long way in the right situation. 

Additionally, the emperor could strip away one’s post if enough evidence of incompetence was found. However, this mainly applied to Douxes of lower birth, since it would be dangerous to anger the powerful noble families. And this is the main reason that someone like Isaac could keep his position. Alexios is pretty much just waiting for this man to die so he can appoint a new person while appeasing the massive Anhelas family. 

When I got to the courtyard after my talk with the Doux, I was greeted by a servant who told me to meet with Gallus. From there, I was brought to the soldier’s barracks where Gallus was waiting for me. 

“Did you have breakfast yet?” Gallus asked me.

“Nope,” I answered.

“Let’s get you some food then,” Gallus said while motioning for me to follow me. “We can talk during that time.”

“Sure,” I replied. 

By the time two of us entered the citadel kitchen, all the soldiers had already finished eating and the only other occupants were servants milling around with their daily work. Despite this, when the cooks saw the two of us, they quickly whipped up a meal from the leftovers. After a short wait, I received a plate of sausages, eggs, and toasted bread. 

“Are you not eating?” I asked Gallus when I got my food.

“I already ate,” he told me. “But I’d feel bad for holding you hostage while you’re hungry.”

“Thanks then,” I said in response. “I guess you can just tell me about what happened while I eat.”

So as I began wolfing down the food in front of me, Gallus started his account of his time in the east. After he and his men arrived at the eastern village, they began searching the surrounding area for signs of the bandits with the help of a local guide. From there, they managed to discover the small hideout where the wolf bandits were staying. 

Due to their reduced numbers, the wolf bandits barely put up a fight against the soldiers with a quarter slain while the rest surrendered. Instead of executing all of the bandits, Gallus decided to reduce the sentence of two to life as indentured servants. In return, the two bandits had to guide the soldiers around the area to purge monsters and other bandits. As for the other bandits, they were executed by hanging. 

“Did you find out if they had any relation with the nearby village?” I asked Gallus when he was mostly finished recounting his story. 

“We didn’t find any evidence,” Gallus told me. “But there’s always the possibility that the bandits could be covering for their relatives.”

“I guess,” I replied. “So did having those two bandits guide you pay off?”

“It worked out better than I had expected,” he answered. “Those bastards knew every nook and cranny in the area. They even guided us to the smaller bandit groups in the area. And all of this was accomplished by promising that we would send them to a nice farm if they worked hard enough.”

“Leaves a bitter taste in my mouth,” I scowled.

“Me too,” he sighed. “Even though I would like those bastards to get what they deserve, it does more good to use them to improve the safety of the region.”

“I know,” I said in response. “It’s just a shame that we can’t send them to a salt mine or something.”

“Still there’s a big issue with the eastern border in particular,” Gallus comments. “Many bandits will run around the border between us and the Zayyid territories to avoid patrols. And the idiots on the other side barely show any signs of cooperation. Actually, it’s better to say that they’re trying to dump the bandit problem on us.”

“Want to file a complaint to the Zayyid central government?” I quipped.

“Nothing is going to result from it,” he replied. 

“Yeah, so we can just fill our letter with whatever the hell we want,” I smirked.

“Try not to cause an international incident,” Gallus sighed. 

It would be funny for me to send a complaint letter detailing why the Zayyid government is a bunch of monkeys with brain damage. But that would be a waste of time. And it would possibly get me in serious trouble. 

Once Gallus and I were finished with talking, I went back to the Labor Bureau for some well earned rest. Since it wasn’t a break day, the building was filled with people going in and out to conduct their business.

“Oh, you’re finally back,” Irene said when I got through the door. “By the way, Sekh is waiting for you in the kitchen.”

“Really?” I wondered. “Did you see me when I got back to the city?”

“Yeah, people tend to notice when two dozen soldiers return with a man in chains,” she remarked. 

“I guess we need to be more discreet next time,” I joked before leaving to go to the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, Sekh was sitting down by the main table, a platter of cookies lying in front of her.

“I’m back,” I announced warmly to the leopard girl. 

Upon hearing my voice, Sekh twisted her body in my direction, her tail sticking up excitedly.

“I made you breakfast,” she said while pointing to the cookies in front of her. 

“Shit, I already had breakfast in the citadel,” I said while smiling apologetically. 

Sekh’s ears drooped in response, a slightly downcast look on her face. “That sucks. But it’s fine, can you tell me about what happened with the whole steel business then.”

It’s not as though Sekh was pressuring me on purpose, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for her.

“Actually I’ll eat a few,” I said while picking up a cookie.

“You don’t have to,” Sekh said as she waved her hands vigorously. 

Regardless, I bit into the cookie which gently crumbled inside my mouth. 

“It’s really good,” I told Sekh with a smile. “You put the right amount of butter, just how I like it.”

“Thanks,” Sekh replied warmly. “I’m glad you like it.”

I reached towards the top of Sekh’s head and began to gently caress her ears. “I’m… really happy that you thought about me.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Sekh said, her voice slightly worried. “This is really just a normal thing between people who care about each other.”

“I know,” I responded. “But that’s what makes me happy.”

“You sure you’re ok?” Sekh asked in concern. "Did something bad happen while I was gone."

“I'm definitely fine,” I said happily. “Anyways, I’ll tell you about what I was up to in Safra.”

“Safra?” Sekh asked while cutely tilting her head. 

The two of us began discussing what had occurred during the time that we were out of the city. Sekh and crew had spent their time hunting mostly ratmen and marauder crabs along the river, though they also had a run in with a pack of wolves. Fortunately, no one had been injured. When I told my story, Sekh patiently sat as I spoke, only occasionally rubbing my arm and commenting. 

“I’ll tell Zeph then,” Sekh said when I finished talking. “You should go get some rest.”

“Thanks,” I replied before hugging her. “Wait, is Minerva here?”

“No, she's still out on the business that you assigned her,” Sekh informed me. “She’ll be back in maybe two days. Maybe.”

And so after taking a well deserved two hour break, I began my new role as Minerva’s temporary replacement. This proved a bit difficult because I lacked her level of expertise with the workings of the Labor Bureau. However, I was at least able to mimic Minerva’s intimidating and helpful presence. 

It was during the evening that I returned to the citadel to have another talk with Doux Isaac. The reason was that I had just remembered something important in regards to Loukas’ sentence. 

“Hi, I’m back,” I said while entering Isaac’s office.

“Did we forget something this morning?” he asked as he raised his sights from a book on his desk. 

“Exactly,” I declared. “I think we need to determine how we’re going to announce Loukas’ sentence. A public announcement would be a bold move, but might inflame sentiments against the local government from the general populace. We can also just issue a notice to the whole administration of the province to scare them into working. But keeping things in the dark is out of the question.”

“Oh right,” Isaac realized. “I’m leaning more on the side of a notice since we might provoke an independence movement from the locals since Loukas is an Aeolian.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” I replied. “It’s a higher risk, higher payoff. But I’d prefer to not gamble.”

“As would I,” Isaac added. “I’ll get to sending out those notices as soon as possible then.”

“Thanks,” I responded. “Be sure to make it menacing in a subtle way so the staff around here will actually feel the need to get their act together.”

Another two days passed before Minerva came back from the blacksmith villages. During those two days, I continued overseeing the Bureau to the best of my abilities as well as spending time to train my companions and help Doux Isaac with some small jobs. 

“Welcome back,” I said to Minerva as she went right to her office to resume work. “How did things go?”

“Good,” she replied. “I’ve managed to fix the labor issue in the mines for now, though I’ll have to keep checking up on the situation. But things went extra smoothly after a group of soldiers came to Camil to redistribute the money that the Katepan of Safra exploited from the smiths. So I have to thank you for that.”

“It’s no problem,” I said warmly. “In fact, I should be the one thanking you. I don’t know how else to say it, but I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Minerva froze up for a bit and stared at me while blushing bright red. 

“Well I did promise to help you,” she said, almost stuttering. 

“I’m thankful either way,” I told her with a bright smile.

“Oh speaking of thanks,” Minerva said while trying to regain her composure. “The smiths are sending you a gift.”

“I suppose declining isn’t an option?” I quipped.

“Yeah,” Minerva answered. “That’s why I didn’t ask if you wanted to receive something. It’s just inevitable.”