Chapter 55: secret?

The small building in the center of the village was quiet. Outside, the villagers were still working under the guidance of our new guards, but inside the main room, the air was completely still. This house had belonged to the corrupt supervisor, and it was full of old junk, broken papers, and ruined furniture that needed to be cleared out before we could use it as the new branch office.

I stood near the wall, as I grabbed the edge of a massive, rotted cabinet. The structure was made of dark wood and was completely wedged against the corner, blocking a large section of the room.

Suzy was standing a few paces away, using a simple cloth to wipe down a wide desk. Her sleeveless dark tunic fit her waist perfectly and she was looking very pretty and beautiful and her hair was tied back out of the way. She stopped her work for a moment, turning toward me as I braced my feet against the ground.

"That cabinet has been there for years, Barry," Suzy said, her voice carrying a tired tone. "The supervisor probably locked his old trade tax files in there. We might need to find a tool to pry it away from the masonry."

"I do not need a tool for a simple cleanup job," I smiled, adjusting my grip on the wood.

I gathered my energy into my arms, letting my muscles tighten under my shirt. I did not use my full reptile size, but I used the raw physical strength of my current form. With one hard pull, I ripped the entire wooden cabinet away from the wall. The old, rotted material split down the middle, breaking into pieces with a loud snap as it hit the ground.

As it fell away, a small hollow space in the wall behind it became visible. Inside the gap, sitting on top of a brick, was a single book bound in rough black skin. It was covered in dust, completely hidden from the rest of the room.

I reached into the gap, picked up the book, and walked over to the desk, placing it on the wood right in front of Suzy. "Looks like the old supervisor left a backup file behind."

Suzy looked at the black book, her hand trembling slightly as she reached out to brush the dust away from the front cover. She opened the first page under the light of a small lamp. The moment her eyes scanned the lines of numbers, she froze completely. Her breathing turned very shallow, and her fingers gripped the edge of the paper tightly.

"Barry..." she whispered, her voice sounding incredibly thin and full of a sudden emotion that she could not hide. "This... this writing. I know this handwriting style."

I stepped closer to her side, leaning over the desk to look at the columns. The numbers were written in a very neat, precise ink style, with perfect straight lines and balanced margins.

"It is my father’s writing," Suzy said, her eyes pooling with tears as she stared at the ink. "Before he was executed, he spent weeks reviewing the population registries for the outer districts. I used to sit next to his desk and watch him draw these exact custom currency symbols. This book belongs to him."

"What was your father tracking out here in this village?" I asked, keeping my tone quiet and steady to let her process the memory.

Suzy turned the pages slowly, her eyes tracking the dates from ten years ago. "Look at the names, Barry. Every winter, the supervisor’s official city records said that dozens of village families were moving away due to bad harvests. But my father’s private book shows the real math. They did not move away. They were marked as ’Transferred for Royal Census Adjustment’ under the Prince’s personal authorization."

She took a shaky breath, her face turning very serious as the mystery unfolded. "My father found out that the royal guards were systematically taking people from these outer districts in the dark. He was secretly altering the village accounts, falsifying the numbers to hide these families from the palace tracking lines so they would not get captured. So He wasn’t just killed because of a core transaction, Barry. He was executed because he discovered a hidden human trade system run by the crown right here in this valley."

I looked at the pages, a smile forming on my lips as my eyes narrowed. "So the old Prince was running a secret side business with the local workforce, and your father tried to block the distribution line. That is a massive corporate crime."

Before Suzy could reply, the door of the house opened, and Victor walked into the room. he had a piece of parchment in his hand. He looked at both of us, noticing the tension in the air, and lowered his head respectfully.

"Report, Victor," I said, turning away from the desk.

"The new brick kilns are fully assembled, sir," Victor said, "The twelve-year-old kid, Toby, is currently running the production line like a professional manager. The first batch of building blocks will be ready by evening. But while we were clearing the lower barns, my guards found something strange near the outer perimeter fence."

Suzy lifted her head from the book, her authority returning instantly. "What did you find?"

"A hidden underground tunnel entrance, Queen Suzy," Victor said seriously. "It is completely sealed with an old royal crest lock. The local elder says the supervisor used to guard that hatch with his life every winter. It goes straight down into the deep system beneath the valley."

Suzy looked back at me, her fingers resting against her father’s handwriting. The connection was completely clear now. The hidden ledger and the sealed tunnel were part of the exact same dark secret.

"It looks like our infrastructure project just got a lot bigger, partner," I said, looking out the window at the village. "We are not just building houses anymore. We are going to open that hatch and let’s see whatever the old dynasty left behind for us."