NOVEL NEXT chapter 91
91 – Supply Chain
Siena was afraid. Afraid that the game would end too soon.
“No. It’s too early to give up.”
Sienna decided not to give up hope and explored the inside of the op*ium den.
It was an op*ium den created by utilizing an entire floor of a closed hotel…
The sight before her was something she had never seen before but had roughly anticipated.
A furnace constantly burning op*ium residue, op*ium pipes scattered everywhere, and strong rum, presumably prepared to be enjoyed with op*ium.
op*ium was indeed the main commodity here.
However, it wasn’t just op*ium.
“Whisper… Silver hair? White hair? Tell me the truth.”
Students trembling and cowering as they interrogated Sienna.
They all wore a bizarre smile and wrapped themselves in blankets. Beside them, dried mushrooms with red caps were rolling around.
She thought it was just an op*ium den, but it seemed like they were making efforts to diversify beyond that.
“Mushrooms too, huh? Do you deal with those as well?”
Sienna asked the owners of the op*ium den.
However, instead of responding to Sienna’s question, they only glanced at her with dying expressions. They even timidly argued among themselves, pushing each other’s shoulders, blaming one another. Sienna was greatly disappointed.
“Anyone, step forward and answer. Don’t delay for no reason.”
“Your Highness Sienna! I truly had no intention of colluding with the rebel Leon.”
“That can wait. For now, I want to hear about your establishment. Where did you get the hallucinogenic mushrooms and how?”
One of the students, who had a bewildered expression due to Sienna’s urging, began explaining the origin of the mushrooms in a hesitant voice.
It was said that Queen Dowager heard rumors that eating mushrooms made her feel good, so she became interested and issued a warrant for herbalists to collect mushrooms with special effects. However, one of the customers almost died, so they were considering closing it soon.
“There are limits to collecting. It’s not easy for you to selectively pick out poisonous mushrooms and mushrooms with hallucinogenic effects with your abilities.”
“That… Yes, Your Highness.”
This is just how it is.
Disappointment washed over Siena’s face once again.
Of course, she didn’t expect an organized group. They were just small-time dru*g dealers operating under the guise of being student. When she thought about it, they didn’t have much of a reputation either.
“If I had known this would happen, I should have waited and caught them.”
But there was no way to undo what had already been done.
Now, there was only one hope left for Siena.
Morphine.
The 1 gram of morphine that they had paid for, claiming it was part of Leon’s nonexistent legacy (80 vials).
There were only two ways to obtain morphine in the Empire.
Either by stealing it from Medop Pharmaceuticals or by stealing the supply sent to the military. The former couldn’t be completely ruled out, but the latter was overwhelmingly more likely. Alan handed over the morphine to the military one by one because of that.
Whose doing could it be? A military officer or a nurse?
Or perhaps a noncommissioned officer or a warrant officer?
Now was the time to find out.
“Bring all of them here.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
As soon as the order was given, the owners of the op*ium den were brought before Siena, and the knights kneeled in submission.
Siena’s knights were originally quite capable in handling “such matters.” Normally, when it came to escorting and ceremonial duties for the nobility, it was typical, but Siena’s knights had to deal with the messy problems that arose in her business.
“Your Highness, we truly didn’t intend to…!”
“…We didn’t have such intentions. There was some misunderstanding. There won’t be any more incidents like this, so please turn a blind eye. If you were planning to go around like this, just give up.”
“……”
“If you provide useful information in exchange, I am willing to show mercy.”
A notification that it would never end well.
As the students who were rolling op*ium pipes looked at her with gloomy expressions as if they had encountered a wall upon hearing these words, Siena didn’t even pay attention.
After a period of silence, one of the op*ium den’s patrons cautiously stepped forward.
“Uh, Lady Siena. I am James. My father is Viscount Jajak. He served as the Minister of Land and Territory a decade ago. As Your Ladyship may already know, our family has served the royal family for four generations,”
“Just get to the point.”
“…The reason His Excellency says such things, what on earth could it be?”
“Do you need a reason to dismantle organizations that violate the Arms Management Act, jeopardize the empire’s defense, and even eliminate organizations involved in attempted regicide?”
When Siena responded brazenly, her interlocutor became furious.
“It’s not about that! The real reason is…! Your Ladyship is making an incredible amount of money, isn’t she? I heard you made over 100 million talers just from morphine supplies… And even earned 1 billion talers from heroin. Moreover, with silver…”
“The silver mining is still in preparation.”
“Regardless!”
James, the op*ium den owner, raised his voice,
Siena’s knight immediately retaliated against him with a scabbard.
“How dare this guy!”
“Hmph!”
Siena knew why James felt so wronged.
In fact, as the princess, she had no real reason to directly crack down on the organization operating the op*ium den. It was insignificant compared to Medof Pharmaceuticals. When it came to business, there was no need for restraint.
However, Siena had a more important motive.
“Because it’s interesting.”
James, who had been hit and fallen, cast a pathetic glance. Even the op*ium den customers, who were casually glancing around, were looking at Sienna with expressions that were hard to articulate, as if they had heard something unbearable.
But Sienna had only spoken the truth.
**
“Crazy woman.”
James, who had been operating the op*ium den in a closed hotel for a little over three months, almost let slip the curse he was about to utter.
Still, he managed to hold back, considering that the other party was a princess.
Even though she was a crazy woman, she was still a princess. Moreover, a princess who practically held the lifelines of James and his friends. Somehow, they had fallen into the clutches of that crazy princess, and the situation was unfavorable.
“Speak. How did you get the morphine?”
Sienna was still interrogating him.
About the morphine that had already been supplied to the military, weighing over 60 kilograms.
And more than that, the heroin that was said to be even better, or rather, fatally addictive, which was handed over to the elves for a hefty sum.
It was too unfair to ask where James got just 1 gram of morphine.
‘Am I going to die like this…’
But revealing the source of the morphine was a risky business.
The person who provided morphine to him was not an ordinary human.
Although his rank was only that of a sergeant, his family was immensely powerful. He was originally a member of a powerful family, so he could have taken away the morphine.
If he spoke carelessly, retaliation would undoubtedly follow.
But keeping the supplier’s name hidden seemed difficult.
“Did you say James? If you want to keep your loyalty to the person who supplied morphine, I won’t stop you. It’s not like I have the authority to investigate. What can I do?”
“Your Majesty…?”
“But I can deliver a few words to the Commander of the Royal Guards. It shouldn’t be difficult to order a severe punishment.”
“……”
It seemed to imply that if I didn’t obediently comply, my life would be thoroughly ruined.
“Sending you and your friends to the Punishment Unit, like Leon Loaderdale, wouldn’t be a bad idea. However, you won’t be working on land like Leon. You’ll probably serve as deckhands. As for the conditions of that service… I won’t explain.”
“Your Majesty, please.”
“Oh, would this be acceptable too? I can have you work in the logging installation team in the silver mine where I secured mining rights. How about working there for about ten years, unpaid, deep in the forest?”
“……”
“It will be difficult to survive for ten years.”
…To spew such cruel words with a bright face.
James and his colleagues were already pale and sick of it. This was a threat far worse than brandishing a knife and making threats.
In the end, James mustered up the courage to speak, his voice trembling.
“Your Majesty, then please be honest about the supply source.”
“You think I’ll show you now?”
“Please, show some leniency.”
“Don’t try to negotiate with me. …But I can tell you one thing. The more you delay, the worse the situation will get. Honestly, it’s already a bit too late. You should have answered when I first asked.”
This person truly lacks any human kindness.
However, they couldn’t afford to waste any more time in this desperate situation. If they continued to delay, Princess Siena, the Second Princess, might come up with an even more gruesome idea.
In the end, James weakly revealed the name of the supply source.
“A subordinate from the Supply Command granted us a favor. With the cooperation of a military hospital officer, we secured the supplies. We disguised non-patients as critical patients and steadily provided them with 4 to 5 grams of morphine per week….”
“I have a rough idea of what kind of person he is. So, who is this so-called Timothy Wolf?”
“Timothy Wolf… that’s his name.”
Timothy Wolf.
James could see the expression on Princess Siena’s face brighten as soon as this name was mentioned.
Was this ordinary individual of such great importance to the Second Princess? Not really, but the surname “Wolf” held a special value in the Empire.
A prestigious family that stood out among the Empire’s elite, producing over a hundred officers, including famous scholars and military generals.
And.
The maternal relative of the First Princess of the Empire, Victoria Calyle.
Among the three princesses, who each had a different mother, Victoria was the closest to her maternal relatives, and she was the one who had the closest relationship with her relatives.
**
I can’t believe it’s Victoria unni who got caught.
Siena couldn’t help but laugh… No, she didn’t need to hold back, so she just laughed. And she did it very casually.
It was such a delightful news that a member of the Wolf family was involved in the leak of Morphin.
Honestly, Timothy was just an insignificant individual.
He was six degrees of relation away from Victoria. Looking at Timothy Wolf individually, he was just one of the common members of the Wolf family. So, he must have made money by dealing Morphin.
But the degree of relation didn’t seem to matter at all. Since the entire Wolf family was the core faction of Victoria. Unlike Siena herself, Victoria had a very close relationship with her maternal relatives. So, Timothy was able to handle the Morphin accounting work.
This could be used in various ways.
Siena decided to personally inform her beloved sister about this news.
She had a different purpose than just teasing her.