Chapter Sixty-Two: The Scheme

In the end, Helen, wiping her tears, leaned over the coffee table by the fireplace, writing an account of the mischief she’d once committed with the little foxes, all the while casting curious glances at her “big sisters” as they performed their juggling act right up until lunch.

More precisely, it was twenty minutes before lunch. Today’s cafeteria meal featured the ‘Padar Giant Lobster’—something not to be missed.

As Helen pondered over her self-critique, the changing room nearby was filled with sobs and the sound of clothes being removed—everyone had a layer of costume on, having just rehearsed some mad priestess play.

As for the money Helen had previously been swindled out of by the little foxes, it had all been returned. Those who had mocked Osicris gave apologies to Helen, Osicris’s sister, while riding unicycles and juggling balls.

Louis, after tidying up the costumes, came to the sofa and pulled out the stack of IOUs Miss Lilith had brought forth earlier. He searched for the blank ones without signatures—these he intended for Lilith and her crew to fill out, so that Sakura Bell could have a look.

With his proper title, he would ensure that the kingpin of Blackhorn Alley learned who he was.

The name of Louis VI deserved to be known by all.

Having found the IOUs, Louis noticed Lilith still sitting at the desk, crying, and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Don’t cry now. Look, your little sidekick is over there, staring wide-eyed and watching you all,” he teased, waving the IOUs in his hand. “It’s as if I’ve done something to you. Isn’t this all part of your planned performance for today? Making me dance, ride a tricycle, juggle balls. Oh, when you make me do it, it’s a prank; when I make you do it, it’s called bullying?”

He lifted Lilith’s chin and smiled, “Queen Lilith, wouldn’t you agree?”

Lilith turned her pretty face aside and wiped her tears, cursing, “You damned devil—” The rest dissolved into muffled sobs.

Dancing, she could tolerate. She’d grown up in the Red Fox Den; she’d seen it all, even if she hadn’t eaten pork herself.

—She had thought it’d be some sort of dance, ha.

But admittedly, it was a bit vulgar... cough.

Yet riding tricycles and juggling balls, especially having little Helen watch, left a deep shadow in the hearts of Lilith and the others—for in the end, everyone took a turn. The skilled ones juggled balls while riding unicycles; the clumsy ones did so on tricycles.

Each “big sister” performed a trick in front of the little sidekick before it was all over.

When Helen glanced over again, the big sisters sobbed even harder.

From now on, let alone bullying Helen—just seeing her would likely have them covering their faces and sneaking away.

“Hmm... Six porcelain dolls... cough, six high-level substitute dolls, a carpet, two unicycles... three thousand, five hundred, six hundred, two...” Louis sat at the desk, brows furrowed as he calculated seriously.

Indeed, comforting people this way was most effective—once he recited the string of numbers, the little gangsters stopped crying.

They raised their heads, staring incredulously at the devil, unable to believe what they were hearing.

Helen’s mouth fell open; she realized Louis was far more ruthless than her big sisters!

Soon, the numbers had reached fifty thousand!

Two little foxes, just recently frightened, nearly fainted when Louis called out fifty thousand and kept adding.

“These dolls are all court antiques from the era of Isolda the Witch King—you all should recognize their value, right?” Louis smiled at Lilith and the others. “Never mind the rest, just compensate for these... let me see.”

Louis finally quoted the number the little foxes had earlier proposed: “—five thousand gold crowns.”

The little foxes, just stunned, breathed a huge sigh of relief. But Lilith’s face turned pale—he might have been bluffing with fifty thousand.

But five thousand could very well be real!

[Clearly, Lilith is still too young...]

When Louis actually took out the IOUs, Miss Lilith grew dizzy, pointing at him for ages before she could utter a word: “You, you, you...”

“No need to doubt, Miss Lilith. Today, if you dare to sign, tomorrow I’ll dare to collect,” Louis laughed. “Otherwise, what’s the point of signing? Isn’t that right?”

He pinched the tail of a little fox nearby.

“Don’t touch my tail—” came the muffled protest.

“Be good, come on, sign them. Lunch is about to start; after you sign, I’ll take everyone to the cafeteria,” Louis soothed them gently.

“Who wants to—sob—go to the cafeteria with you...”

“I won’t go... sob... I want to go home...”

“Stop crying!” Lilith gritted her teeth, wiped her tears, and snatched the pen from Louis’s hand. “We’ll sign, but you must promise to return the dance video to us, or we’ll never let you off!”

“No problem,” Louis replied with a smile.

A few little foxes signed. The stack of IOUs ranged from ten to a hundred, all specialized tools of extortion in the Red Fox Den, written on magical parchment immune to spells.

Thus, they couldn’t be altered. IOUs had to be written on this professional paper.

The little foxes all signed. Lilith then took out a stamp and pressed it onto the papers.

Afterward, Louis returned everything as promised—even Helen’s crystal ball.

To the foxes’ surprise, their own camera hadn’t recorded anything at all, which left them shocked and relieved.

As they departed, the foxes quietly pocketed several of Louis’s items—hair, nails, used cups, pens, and such.

Louis pretended not to notice.

Once the foxes left, Louis sorted the IOUs, and with a spell, the names of lender and debtor swapped places—the magical parchment, supposedly immune to spells, proved useless in his hands.

With that done, Louis wrote: “The Mysterious Office owes Red Fox Den five thousand gold crowns,” and stamped it.

The debtor’s line bore Director Triff’s signature—an exact match.

Some of the IOUs also had Louis’s signature—identical to Lilith’s handwriting!

If one looked closely, the dates on Lilith’s prized “Triff-signed” IOUs were identical—these were dirty goods! And entirely unrelated to Louis.

For he’d only arrived this month.

As for those bearing Louis’s signature—as Helen gaped in astonishment, Louis unveiled the covered crystal ball on his desk.

Within were several minutes of footage—beginning with Lilith and the others entering, their extortion, Louis’s righteous rebuke, right up to his dramatic slamming of the desk.

After that, only audio remained, and Louis used magic to interfere, preserving the recitation of black curses by Zinia and others—few wizards besides Louis could “edit” a crystal ball.

Louis’s editing was masterful.

To anyone not present, it would appear that this wizard had rolled up his sleeves and, with an Osicris magic mirror and his fists, dealt with the foxes.

Thus, the footage was clean—ready to be sent to the Ministry of Magic.

After playing the video, Louis tapped his palm with the stack of IOUs, looked at the still-adorable Helen, and explained, “Five thousand gold crowns? Ha, what budget could a tiny office like that have in a year?”

“They’ve all embezzled it!”

“You say they haven’t? But the stamp is real, the date and Director Triff’s signature are real—most crucially, there was indeed such a transaction between them!”

“If I submit this to the Ministry of Magic to prove my innocence, would they investigate?”

“The signature isn’t mine—let them check!”

“But Triff’s signatures are genuine!”

“The foxes’ signatures are real too!”

“Indeed, Director Triff and the foxes’ monthly entries and exits only total about two hundred gold crowns. But here sits an IOU for five thousand—wouldn’t the Ministry have to investigate?”

“A major case!”

“If they check, would Director Triff be afraid? Would the foxes be afraid?”

“You say you didn’t collude to defraud the Ministry’s funds, never extorted professors—who would believe that?”

“You say you didn’t take kickbacks—who would believe that?”

“The foxes have plenty of dirty laundry.”

“They’ll find out soon enough~”

With both evidence and witnesses, no one’s denial would matter—such a large sum, once reported to the regulators, would surely attract an investigation. All involved would be in serious trouble.

The key was, in this footage, Louis was excluded—appearing merely as a naïve, justice-driven temp.

Helen, meanwhile, was cast as the hero rescuing the “handsome.”

If it were truly reported, the two temp workers might even make the newspaper and be lauded.

Thus, as long as Louis was displeased, Sakura Bell and all foxes connected to the Red Fox Den would be in deep trouble.

So, if a real “big sister” came tomorrow to settle scores, there’d be quite a show.

Once Louis finished explaining all this to Helen, she slowly raised her head and looked timidly at him. She suddenly realized that her own big sisters—so adept at extortion, loan-sharking, and all manner of evil—were, compared to Louis, little innocent kittens.

Who said the big bad Louis was a bookworm?

Who said he’d read himself silly?

He was wicked to the core!

“Learn something, you little rascal. You spend your days tagging along with those ‘big sisters’, but there’s no future in that,” Louis said, putting away the IOUs. “You think you’re seeing the world with them? The world is right under your nose,” he pointed at his own nose, “see?”

“I’m sorry, Lilith, sob, I’ve ruined you all—” She whimpered and sobbed.

“Call me big brother!” Louis prompted.

“Big brother, I was wrong~” (Will you follow me from now on?) “I won’t—” She started, then broke down, “sob, alright, I’ll follow you from now on, okay... Louis, you won’t really submit all that, will you?”

“Relax. I wouldn’t go so far as to ruin them forever. This is just a lesson, a reminder to the foxes and all the professors to know who the new person in the office is, what he does! A proper reintroduction to what this Mysterious Office is!”

“As for you acknowledging me as your boss—that depends on your performance.” Louis grinned, stuffing the IOUs into his pocket. “When you join a gang, you need to pay an entry fee.”

“I said I don’t want to follow—” she sobbed.

“What good is it to follow you? Lilith talked you up so much.”

“Just wait and see the real world!”

That noon, Louis took his little sidekick Helen to witness the real world.

Watching the goblins and little Yordles arrive precisely on time to queue at the cafeteria, all greeting Louis, Helen was dumbfounded.

“Louis, when you said before that anyone who tried to rob the cafeteria would get their teeth knocked out—was that true?”

“.............”

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