This Time, To The Believed Path
Inspection

After the Wordlock family's ban order to Grandall, Leana's father filed a complaint with Forde while Leana herself received a letter from her stepmother.

Leana who was too tired to respond to her mother and step-sister immediately burned the letter and Forde threatened Baron Wordlock to say nothing.

Grandall returned to her usual peace.

“Forde, can I come with you during inspection in two months?”

Forde stopped his hand and looked at Leana beside him. He saw how his wife put on a face pleading with him.

Marquis Grandall had a fief that included five cities outside Adreandel and Alphiella. The five cities are Donis, Solam, Navia, Hecar, and Zettanica.

These five cities asked for protection and direction directly from the Marquis Grandall.

Initially asking for protection was the city of Donis who had been rescued by Forde who at that time was still a mercenary.

After the Emperor accepted Grandall's request for control of the government in the city of Donis, the other four cities asked for the same thing to seek shelter as the four cities were in areas close to the cliff.

Alphiella was an additional territory given by the Emperor to Grandall and the imperial side also did not expect much from the territory they had abolished.

The inspection is carried out once a year where the Marquis will immediately intervene in checking the state of the city and the work of his subordinates.

Each of the cities was taken care of by Forde's subordinates who were also people recommended by the noble faction who wanted to harness and control Grandall's power.

Leana suspects fraud committed by Forde's subordinates and with the evidence documents she has obtained, she plans to replace them with her chosen one.

“You know ‘kan if this inspection is not like inspection in general?” forde.

“Iya, I've heard it from Albert.”

There were two inspections conducted by Forde. Open inspection and closed inspection.

An open inspection was when Forde met with his subordinates who represented each of the five cities and gave a full report to him.

Meanwhile, a closed inspection was when Forde went down to the city directly to see the condition of the city without informing his subordinates.

Forde did it because he was a very meticulous person.

A closed inspection is carried out at least two weeks before the open inspection date.

Forde who usually wants to quickly finish his work without delay will ride a horse to each city.

But since Leana was planning to come along, Forde would definitely set up a horse carriage that took longer to get to the destination.

“I know you started helping me with the region documents but I couldn't involve you in the fieldwork.” Forde.

“I promise I won't burden you.”

“It will be a long and heavy trip, Leana.”

“I'm much stronger than you imagined! I can also ride a horse alone!” exclaiming Leana.

“You plan to ride a horse?” forde's tone turned a little heavy.

Seeing from the change in tone used by her husband, it seemed like she was indeed planning to bring a horse carriage for Leana.

“Forde, I know that closed inspection is confidential so I can't be selfish and be a burden to you.” said annoyed Leana.

“But, Leana..”.

Leana drew herself closer to Forde. His eyes continued to radiate a strong determination to stick to his plan.

“Didn't I promise to help you? I plan to do it until the end. So please believe me.” Leana.

Slightly panicked with Leana who was very close to his face, Forde finally gave up.

“I understand. But you are not allowed to part from me, you understand?”

“Thank you Forde.” Leana smiled happily.

So happy, he unconsciously grabbed Forde's face and kissed her cheek quickly. Forde instantly froze while Leana rushed up from beside Forde.

“Then I will prepare the necessary necessities later.”

When Leana disappeared, Forde each quietly held his cheeks that felt warm. He stared at the finished document taken care of by Leana then looked at the ceiling with a blank mind.

Slowly her face flushed with embarrassment mixed with pleasure.

As planned, Leana and Forde along with Iscan, Hardie, and several other knights set out to conduct a closed inspection to the five cities.

Closed inspection will start from the city of Zettanica, Navia, Solam, Hecar, and the last destination is the city of Donis which is also the place where open inspection is carried out.

On her way Leana sensed that her two shadows, Liam and Eson, were following them from a distance.

Their arrival must have been the work of Adde.

When they arrived at the town of Zettanica, Liam gave her a magic communication device and now she can get a report from a distance.

Liam brought information about the condition of each city that had previously been examined by Xero.

The state of the five cities has declined in the past two years. Donis is the only city that still maintains the peace of its people but the other four are slowly deteriorating

Seeing this condition made Leana think of Alphiella.

the worst was in the city of Hecar. The city was barely managed but the nobles who were there could live luxuriously without regard for the commoners.

An unwritten rule suddenly emerged stating that the people were not allowed to work in the city.

They seemed to want to make a special city for the nobility and expel the commoners who were considered dirty by them.

But eventually the city looks deserted and those who are poor can only hide on the edge of the city.

In the city of Navia, the government raised taxes to an unreasonable figure. In the last two years, at least 50 stores have gone bankrupt. The unemployment rate also increases with time.

Moreover, there are reportedly money laundering services that fake interest from what has been promised.

This way reminds him of the workings of Duke Leon.

Was the noble faction holding Forde the people from Duke Leon?

Remembering again, it seemed like Duke Leon had a dislike for Grandall in his first life.

But when he asked, Duke Leon replied that it happened in the past and he no longer had that feeling to Marquis Grandall.

Even so Leana also felt something strange to Forde. The reason why he held a closed inspection was to look at the state of the city directly, but why did he allow the current state of the city for the past two years?

Leana suspects that someone is holding Forde to make a decision in curing the city's condition. Or it could be that there was a conspiracy that the nobility used to keep Forde sitting without doing the cleaning action.

It seemed like his condition was deep and complicated enough that he had to re-check.

As Leana occupied the inn at Hecar, Leana threw the paper she had folded as small as possible into the trees that were Liam and Eson's hiding place.

He wants Liam or Eson to deliver a message in which he assigns two new tasks to Xero.

The first was to convey his suspicion regarding Duke Leon's interference to Grandall to Grand Duke Volfelance, and the second was to investigate the noble faction that was playing behind Grandall.

During the day when he traveled through the city of Hecar and saw the situation of the outskirts of the city is very bad, he found Forde who was giving instructions to the knight he was carrying.

As Forde finished speaking, he turned his head and the eyes of the two met. Forde came to him.

“Sorry to make you have to see this state.”

Leana shook her head. “No. I think seeing firsthand the situation is a very good thing as bad as the result.”

That way he can continue to make his determination to bring down anyone who makes the condition of the city become like this.

“Forde, is there something holding you back?” leana asked bluntly.

Forde fell silent and turned his gaze to the people lying limp on the side of the road.

“I'm ashamed to admit it, but something holds me back. Right now I am looking for the right thing to solve this situation to the end.” Forde.

Leana had what Forde wanted, but he would only tell her if they were already in a much safer condition.

Even with the shadow supervision, he had to still put on a perfect act in order to get rid of the slight possibility of the enemy being suspicious of them.

Compared to removing eyewitnesses, it would be better if they used those eyewitnesses and used them to make a profit on their side. That's how Leana works.

According to Adde, the way Leana works is quite risky but also cunning. If they could use that method perfectly, then no one would know which one was real and which one was fake.

Adde himself does not know whether Leana is actually too naive or deliberately behaving like that. In the end, he still did not find the answer.

Leana looked at the gray sky above her. Seeing how the steam of his breath went following the winter wind, he thought whether the snow would soon fall at that very instant.