The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'-Chapter 392 - Problems Probably Planned And Positions Potentially Prepared

Chapter 392: Chapter 392 - Problems Probably Planned And Positions Potentially Prepared

"Thank you for your prompt response. We need to discuss certain irregularities that have come to our attention."

Ondua settled into the chair clearly prepared for him. None of them seemed comfortable with this meeting, but while his Primalist spirit allowed him to effectively sense the differing tensions radiating from each official... he wasn’t quite as well-read in the exact emotions of those he was not close to.

"I’m at your disposal. What specifically might require clarification?"

The Army member opened the first ledger to entries revealing resource requisitions bearing his signature. Except the quantities seemed excessive and there were authorizations for materials he’d never requested. Even transfer orders directing supplies to locations he’d never heard of.

"These documents indicate planned misallocation of critical supplies during active Descent operations. Quantities sufficient to supply a full battalion have been diverted to... questionable purposes."

Ondua found himself between confusion and growing recognition. Not all of them were altered - some entries he remembered clearly signing as they were - legitimate requisitions for his unit’s operations, properly authorized and accounted for.

Others were complete fabrications bearing signatures that resembled his own. But contained a subtle error no cultivating forger should have made if they’d been trying to fool anyone with real expertise... someone with a Crystal Element who had been signing his documents in a special way for almost a decade.

’That’s not my ink.’

But that wasn’t the only problem. Some of them were plain impossible for other reasons. He pointed to the most egregious example of them all.

"This shows me authorizing the movement of a set of siege equipment on a date when my unit was engaged in active combat a hundred miles away. We were not back at the fort to submit this at the time the supposed witness stamped it. Campaign logs will confirm this."

"Yes. I’ve noted several such... inconsistencies."

The woman from the Void Defense spoke up for the first time. It was incorrect to say that she was on his side in this, but of the three officials in the room she was currently the most neutral.

"However, the very volume of questionable entries suggests a *pattern* that requires investigation. Regardless of - and especially because of - these individual discrepancies."

The way she emphasized ’pattern’ made Ondua think that this whole ordeal wasn’t about proving specific fraud - it was about creating an impression of impropriety by magnifying old rumors. One that would survive even if individual pieces of evidence were debunked. A scandal that would effect not just himself, but his family members and those who lived and worked within his holdings.

"I’ll need time to review the copies of these documents thoroughly and provide counter-evidence where appropriate. Some of these allegations can be disproven through easily verified records."

"Of course."

He was sure there were enough existing and untouched versions of things he had signed to build a case about the pigment ink he always, always used. The only problem was making sure there were people that could understand and believe him.

He wasn’t the only Crystal Element cultivator... but they were not so common that he was friends with one of sufficient ability in the region. Which meant finding someone neutral and hopefully not connected to the sort of people responsible for this fraud in the first place.

"We’re not suggesting any conclusions at this time. I’m sure you’re aware of that, or else we would not have been having the conversation this way."

The Earthen Fellowship representative replied with just a little too much waver of ’glee’ behind his flat features. Of all the organizations across the continent, they were one of them who were likely to ’snatch up’ elementalists of his sort of type. Especially the ones who did not try to specialize in combat.

Eventually, the meeting concluded with promises of follow-up reviews. As he walked out and back through the corridor, with two sets of eyes on his broad back... he felt the coordination of the attack.

This wasn’t administrative blunders. It was orchestrated character assassination that had been timed for maximum damage in a period when his family was scattered and vulnerable to accusations. He really just didn’t understand who had anything to gain.

Moreover, he began to expect that all of this had something to do with what happened to his daughter... and that angered him more than any sort of threat against his ’riches’.

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Two days of being placed on leave to deal with things showed him the disturbing sophistication of the inside knowledge required to place all these. Whoever orchestrated this understood military and Guild procedures. Knew which types of documentation would be most damaging and hardest to disprove.

And had access to enough legitimate records to create these fairly convincing forgeries. This wasn’t the work of outsiders making educated guesses, but of people within each of these organizations. The timing gnawed at him most of all.

Elua had disappeared under mysterious circumstances barely a few weeks ago. Qatrand was redeployed to dangerous emergency operations that kept the young heir far away from this political maneuvering. Yatrel remained at the posting with their youngest daughter for now, but the moment he told her about this she would probably punch down a few gates.

His memories drifted to past tensions, looking to come up with a list of who might possess both motive for bringing his family down and capability or clout for such an operation. The list was long but shorter than it might seem - few had access to some of the places to have been able to plan all of this. But the number of co-conspirators it looks to have involved was incredible.

The ’accusations’ themselves were mixed - rather than claiming outright *treason* in every case, a few assessors had suggested that it seemed like a sense of ’poor judgment’ and ’self-serving’ choices. Even if successfully defended, the allegations would leave lingering doubts about the family’s integrity and capability... if they made the light of day.

’And they will, just like last time. That seems to be the point of all this. Except now I’ll be without the post-Descent energy of public sentiment behind me.’

Ondua found himself missing his wife’s direct counsel and his daughter’s politically savvy mind more than he’d expected. Yatrel would be planning how to strike back effectively. Elua would have anticipated such an attack and prepared countermeasures before it could begin.

"Well, she did... didn’t she? Ten years ago. When my little girl asked if I could make special ink with fine crystalline powders... after I showed off my chain sword."

The jump in topic had been so great that her ’innocent’ question and later ’gleeful’ suggestion that it could be like a second secret signature if he added things people don’t normally put in them... had seemed like nothing more than his smart child bonding her interests with his. She loved books - and even asked him to practice with different substances while she made copies of her favorite ones to practice her handwriting.

’A very neat for a child style of writing that only grew more sharp and flowing. Because she already knew how to write from her past life memories?’

In any case, his biggest defense now seemed to be what started from that moment. It was worthless against any ’evidence’ from the last Descent, but having a decade of things to look through for officials was a boon and a half.

If an official discovered from that that only the certain ones with these suspicious entries had been ’altered’ instead of filed that way? That was important. It didn’t completely get him off the hook, but at least brought things to question. His wife and daughter like to think of him as politically unperceptive, but he wasn’t helpless!

"I only hope that someone doesn’t try to make the case that I was intentionally not using my own ink when I was committing crimes. How would I even argue against that?"

Military command had taught him to analyze enemy capabilities and respond to coordinated attacks, as well as how to expect that a failure could be morphed into an opportunity if capitalized on appropriately. He just needed to figure out how to time the reveal of his own analysis. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

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"—and that’s when we realized the planted materials must have had their own altered logs from wherever they actually came from."

Lirades er Yecine was explaining to the Goltbred Patriarch as she paced excitably in the small, secure room she’d arranged for their meeting. Her old hands gestured with sharp energy that showed off her cultivator nature. Even the streak of silvering almost looked darker and closer to a youthful black than he remembered.

Despite never holding official rank within the family hierarchy, she was a known existence to many important people. Fighting in the cyclical war or accidental death tended to cull most before they reached their second century, but she put off a presence that he certainly wouldn’t want to fight - and he doubted any Voidling felt much better.

Ondua leaned back in his chair, processing the scope of what she’d revealed over the past hour. The systematic counter-investigation being performed while he had been working ’by himself’ the last few days. Evidence collection and the dismantling of ’hiding places. The sheer number of people working to dismantle the conspiracy against his family was... touching.

"You said my daughter’s personal servant noticed the discrepancies first?"

"Well, not quite. Though she has a mind like a steel trap for household finances. Young woman could repeat lines like she had the entire thing memorized."

Lirades confirmed with something approaching admiration.

"It was that Coiled Serpent branch manager that was brought in. Spotted Guild records that seemed criminal in nature and didn’t match what she had seen in their records. Though from there, your Klaytei convinced that Dima to investigate further."

"I see. Elua always spoke well of her work ethic in the short time since the construction... though she never looked happy about saying anything positive. Qatrand also seemed to get evasive when I questioned it once."

"Work ethic... is one way to call it. She has been conducting what amounts to a coordinated audit on her own while *officially* remaining... neutral. Rather, when I spoke to her, she actually said something more along the lines of ’if there is any evidence that the little snake is a criminal, I swear I will find it’."

An old woman didn’t like to pry into the interpersonal relationships of the younger generation too much, but it seemed to her as if that woman was trying her best to find real proof of a crime and disproving the lies was happenstance. That didn’t seem like a very healthy working friendship, but what did she know?

’Well, I do know that the servant is smitten. She was more attentive to that other lass by half... a shame that such a smart cultivator didn’t notice. Years go by so fast sometimes.’

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