And so.
On the second day of the museum's opening.
Zeig, March 7th, and Dan Heng—the three legends…
…none of them showed up.
March 7th and Zeig had fought each other from late night all the way until the next morning and hadn't slept at all. So they went off to catch up on sleep.
Dan Heng wasn't about to be outdone. The two beasts earlier had disturbed his high-quality sleep and even burst his pillow.
After that, he cleaned up the sky-full of fluff and feathers all by himself… Dan Heng also chose to rest today.
…
Inside the Belobog History Museum.
Alice was extremely anxious right now.
She was currently not only at the front desk but also handling guiding, ticket collection, and explaining the exhibits.
Fortunately, far fewer people came today compared to yesterday.
"Is it because Lord Executive Officer didn't come?" Alice murmured.
Pela stood beside Alice, her delicate brows slightly furrowed:
"That's part of it, but the main reason is that there's still too little content to see in the museum, and almost everyone interested came on the very first day it opened yesterday."
Pela sighed:
"If they hadn't heard about us opening new exhibition areas, they probably wouldn't come again anytime soon."
That was indeed the case.
They'd already visited the museum yesterday—why come again today?
Pela continued:
"And since the executive officer didn't come, those nobles' spies didn't come in either."
Alice looked at Pela and couldn't help asking:
"I heard the executive officer turned in the full list of people who tried to bribe him and even got a little medal for integrity and a cash bonus. After all that, would nobles still target him?"
"They still will."
Pela glanced at the scattered tourists in the distance and said gravely:
"They might think the failure was because the money offered wasn't enough, or… that they shouldn't have bribed directly with cash, but with items or other things instead."
"Handing cash straight to the executive officer is way too blatant—it's the lowest-tier method in the entire bribery world."
After glancing at the entrance and confirming no new tourists were coming, Alice asked:
"Is that so? Then what kind of bribery would be considered a higher level?"
Pela let out a long breath:
"Oh, way too many. If you want to give someone something, you have to consider their needs. Money is indeed universally accepted under normal circumstances, but smart nobles always add some cover."
"For example, giving the executive officer some antiques, paintings, or calligraphy that can be resold, or famous wines, famous cigarettes, very expensive teas. Or using even more advanced methods—like engineering a coincidence so a pretty subordinate girl gets close to him, slowly makes him fall in love, and then uses that girl to control him."
Listening to Pela go on and on, Alice felt like she had suddenly grown up.
So the world could work like this?
Pela continued:
"It's the same at school, isn't it? For example… the student council. If you treat the student council president or some department minister to milk tea every day, then when they have something good, they'll prioritize you."
Alice said in shock:
"But isn't that too unfair to the other students?"
Pela curled her lip:
"That's just how human relationships work. Right now, those nobles want to use this kind of method to make Zeig 'get worldly' too—so they can use him to gain even bigger benefits."
Alice said worriedly:
"If they actually succeed, that wouldn't be getting worldly—it'd be causing an incident. If the executive officer sides with any one family, even the Supreme Guardian could end up changing."
"Yeah, so a lot of people are rushing toward it." Pela recalled the scene she'd encountered before:
"When I took Zeig out to eat, on that short walk, we ran into seven or eight girls who 'accidentally' twisted their ankles right in front of him."
Alice asked curiously:
"And then? Did Lord Zeig help them up?"
"Have you heard of compensated assistance?"
"Huh? What's… compensated assistance?"
"Help them up for 100,000 credits."
"…"
"Of course, some people actually paid."
"Then…"
"The Silvermane Guards helped them."
"…"
While the two were chatting.
A blue-haired guy came stomping over, cursing loudly and shouting:
"Hey hey hey… why are the guards outside not letting Mr. Sampo in to buy a ticket? I had to shake them off for ages! This is discrimination—blatant discrimination!"
Pela looked at Sampo ahead and narrowed her eyes: "Oh crap, you actually came in? Guards, grab him! Grab him quick!"
"Ah?!!!"
Under Sampo's shocked gaze, the Silvermane Guards stationed around the museum surged in from all directions, surrounding him completely!
He immediately panicked:
"No… you can't do this! I already paid my fine! I'm clean now! I'm a legal citizen of Belobog!"
Sampo held up the proof of payment high.
Pela squinted over—there was even Gepard's official seal on it.
"Hah? You actually paid? This receipt isn't fake, is it?!" Pela didn't believe it at all.
As far as she knew, Sampo never paid any fines—he always just ran when caught!
"If you don't believe me, go confront that Gepard guy yourself. Anyway, I really paid. Hurry up and let me in to see my big bro!"
"No way!"
Pela rejected him firmly, her eyes full of suspicion:
"The pile of fines you've racked up over the years is no small amount. Where did you get the money to pay this? Did you commit another crime?"
"No way, don't wrong an innocent man!" Sampo argued righteously:
"I, Sampo, am a pure and upright citizen of Belobog. What's wrong with paying a little money? Besides, don't underestimate a merchant's savings, you jerk!!"
Pela took a deep breath, feeling like she was dreaming.
This guy who'd always been scheming and profiteering… seemed to have actually gone straight.
No way?
Had he taken the wrong medicine?
"Are you okay?" Pela couldn't help blurting out:
"Are you about to die or something, so you're using your last burst of energy to accumulate some good karma?"
Sampo gritted his teeth:
"Damn it, am I really that pathetic in your eyes? Back then it was blizzards everywhere, everyone for themselves! Old Sampo had no choice! Now Belobog is rising! Safety is guaranteed! Can't I just wash my hands of it all and become a good person?"
The arrival of the Silvermane Guards attracted the attention of many tourists.
Pela glanced at those tourists, pursed her lips, and waved for the guards to stand down.
Seeing this, Sampo also breathed a sigh of relief.
"My respected Miss Pela, please believe that Sampo is now absolutely a good person! I'm very interested in Belobog's history and culture—please let me take a tour!"
"No. Get lost."
"? Why??? Do you know who my big bro is? Hurry and get my big bro out here! I want to see him, I want to see him! He'll speak up for me!"
"Your big bro took bribes—he might be going in soon. You want to accompany him?"
"Sorry, actually I'm not that close with him."
"…"