Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!-Chapter 52: The Judicial Department Visit

After officially receiving my knighthood and becoming Wolfgang Ritter von Streit, my daily life changed completely.

First, the stream of visitors to my house was relentless. At first, I was bewildered. I didn’t know what was going on, but since they were guests, I welcomed them. They showed me respect, called me a model knight, and piled on the flattery. This was one of the changes to my daily life after my Family Prestige hit 750 points.

So I served them tea, made small talk, and answered their questions sincerely. But the moment I heard them ask me to introduce them to His Highness the crown prince, I went cold. Bertheim had warned me. I needed to watch out for jealous nobles, but I also needed to be wary of nobles trying to use me.

So I checked their identity with the Manager Scouter.

The Manager Scouter could check a person’s history and status. I couldn’t tell what intentions they harbored or what they were thinking, but by using these two functions well, I could get a good enough read on what kind of person they were.

His mindset was flattery, and his disposition was opportunist (evil).

Just as I’d thought. So I showed him the door, saying I didn’t have time.

He was quite insistent about not leaving, but Hans simply hoisted him up and tossed him out. The problem was that there wasn’t just one or two of these people. In three days, fifteen nobles had come barging in. So I called Oscar, Ted, and Daniel and laid down instructions.

1). If a noble’s identity is unclear, demand one silver coin as a meeting fee.

2). If a noble refuses to pay and causes trouble, rough them up and throw them out.

3). If they have attendants or soldiers, don’t touch them—come find me immediately.

4). Titled nobles, princes, ministerial families, royalty, and nobles I know get a free pass.

5). If the situation seems too much to handle, don’t force it—come find me.

These five guidelines were the minimum threshold. I wasn’t going to meet anyone for free anymore. The reason I’d set one silver coin as the standard was to filter out most of the nobles who had nothing but a bloodline and empty pockets. If they caused trouble, I ordered them beaten and thrown out.

Were people trying to ride my coattails going to be respectable nobles?

Nobody raised a fuss even after a thorough beating.

If they had proper connections in the first place, they wouldn’t be trying to latch onto me. If they had connections, they should use them. Anyone trying to attach themselves to me when I wasn’t even part of their circle wasn’t worth dealing with. The only exception was nobles who traveled with soldiers. Those I had no choice but to meet.

If a fight broke out and escalated into a feud between families, it would become a serious headache. Once I’d established these standards, I got to watch clueless nobles show up every day only to get roughed up and tossed out. For now, there seemed to be more hangers-on than jealous rivals.

The entire notion of trying to reach someone through me because a higher noble wouldn’t grant them an audience was misguided from the start.

Occasionally, there were nobles willing to pay one silver coin to see me. Appreciating their sincerity, I deliberately carved out time to hear them out. Literally just hear them out. For that alone, one silver coin was a tidy income. I even served them tea, made up some excuses, and sent them on their way. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

But was it my imagination? Ted hadn’t been looking well lately.

I’d asked him about it, but he just hemmed and hawed and brushed it off, saying it was nothing. So I checked his psychological state with the Manager Scouter, and it read as worried. It didn’t tell me what he was worried about.

Hmm, what could be troubling him?

I wanted to ask, but for now I’d wait for Ted to come to me on his own.

"Sir Wolfgang! Someone from the Judicial Department is here."

"The Judicial Department? Show them to the reception room."

If they were from a government office, they naturally got a free pass, so I allowed the meeting. The Judicial Minister had mentioned having something to discuss last time—was this a messenger related to that? The noble who introduced himself as working under the Chief Justice was neatly dressed and silver-tongued, and launched into all manner of flowery preamble.

I was starting to lose patience. So what was the point?

"Skip the pleasantries—just tell me what you need."

"Hahaha, you’re as direct as the rumors say. Working with the court clergy to hold monthly court services is part of our ceremonial duties, but as you know, conducting ceremonies requires a substantial budget. So I’m making the rounds collecting donations."

Once a month, they held a public service centered on the court clergy, which they called a ceremony. I’d attended about three times, but it was even more elaborate and solemn than the church Mass I heard every weekend, making it the most tedious affair imaginable. I even wondered if any noble actually understood it, since it was all delivered in Latin.

"You’re collecting donations? Don’t you normally receive a budget from the Finance Department?"

"That’s the principle, of course, but since it’s a national event, the budget is always inadequate. And the Finance Department doesn’t allocate funds flexibly. So the Chief Justice is perpetually strapped. I’m collecting donations like this to ease that burden."

"Hmm, I see. But as I understand it, the court clergy handles the ceremonies?"

"Some are led by the court clergy, and some are organized by the Judicial Department. So if you donate, the bishop will recite Sir Streit’s name during the ceremonial proceedings. And when you face Judgment Day, you’ll earn merit that will let you climb the stairway to heaven."

A devout Catholic knight might have been tempted.

It sounded convincing enough, but suspicious about being solicited for a donation, I activated the Manager Scouter. For the record, I never trusted anyone who came asking for donations. The scouter reading showed that the noble before me wasn’t a court noble at all but hailed from Radensdorf.

Radensdorf was land ruled by the Duke.

And this man’s occupation wasn’t listed as unemployed but was clearly marked as swindler.

This son of a bitch.

I’d been listening attentively and he was a con artist?

Anger surged through me.

I’d assumed this kind of thing wouldn’t happen given that I was called the Gale Knight and had high prestige, but apparently in this swindler’s eyes, I looked like a young noble giddy over his sudden rise. But I had the scouter, and he couldn’t possibly fool me.

As the atmosphere turned frigid, the swindler began glancing around nervously.

"Um, Sir Streit? It’s perfectly fine if you’d rather not donate. I’ll be on my way."

"Oscar, Ted! Tie this swindler up!"

Judging by his polished patter, this wasn’t his first or second time impersonating someone.

So I had him bound without mercy.

"Sir Streit? What is the meaning of this!"

"How dare you impersonate an official in front of me—you must have a death wish."

"Impersonation? That’s baseless speculation! I’m a legitimate official of the Judicial Department!"

"Fine, then I’ll personally deliver you to the Judicial Minister."

He had nerve, I’d give him that. And he was undoubtedly a repeat offender. The swindler, who’d thought I’d be naively taken in and had thrown himself wholeheartedly into his performance, broke down crying and begging for his life the moment I dragged him to the actual Judicial Department. The real officials were dumbfounded when they saw me haul in an impersonator.

"You’re saying he’s a swindler from Radensdorf? A noble?"

"He’s done this more than once or twice, so if you investigate, there’s bound to be a warrant out for him. Check at your convenience and pay me the bounty. And while I’m here, can I see the Judicial Minister?"

"I’ll check."

Since I’d come all the way to the Judicial Department, I requested a meeting with the Judicial Minister and was immediately granted one. It seemed I had a free pass here too. The Judicial Minister regarded me with interest after hearing that I’d caught an impersonator.

"Catching an impersonator who came to exploit your reputation—you have a sharp eye."

"No one can hide lies before the order of law and justice."

"You are an excellent knight who upholds law and justice. You have my personal respect."

"But what was that matter you wanted to discuss privately?"

It was bound to be a hassle, but if the pay was good, it was worth enduring. Since Schatten—that bottomless pit of maintenance costs—had followed Hilda to my household, the best approach was to seize every opportunity to earn money. If I combined the sum I was still owed by Adelbert with the bride’s dowry, 630 silver coins would be coming in.

It might seem like a vast fortune, but compared to nobles with landed estates, it wasn’t all that much.

"Do you remember the fence you caught?"

"I remember. I stumbled onto him by chance, but I didn’t expect the matter to snowball like that."

"Connected to that fence is an organization in the slums called Rafel. They were brazen enough to even replicate guard uniforms to cover their tracks, but fortunately, thanks to your work capturing the merchant and perpetrator alive, the evidence wasn’t destroyed."

It seemed the investigation still hadn’t been wrapped up. Well, since the case had spiraled into something far larger than expected, a proper investigation would take time. Out of nowhere, a finance inspector had been murdered by the vipers of Schlange, who weren’t even connected to the original case. And that incident had also tarnished the Judicial Department’s reputation.

They’d only searched the area around Nixe where the incident had occurred, then I’d caught a Schlange executive in a completely different location, making them look incompetent. I didn’t know what had happened after that, but if the Judicial Minister was personally taking an interest in a case like this, I could guess there’d been a reckoning.

"The human body, given by the Lord, is quite resilient. So we can learn many things from it. You should familiarize yourself with this as well. There will come moments when you wonder which method is most effective."

...Was he talking about torture?

Come to think of it, most medieval investigation methods led directly to torture.