Chapter 41 Lloyd's

Although this thing may sound mysterious, it is actually not that rare.

After all, the purpose of its creation is for human use.

Aiwass took Lulu and Sherlock and entered an abandoned warehouse not far from the Pelican Bar, which was once used to store stones and was now full of dust and rubble.

Coming out of the back door of the warehouse, there is a slightly desolate and dilapidated wasteland.

There was no one here. A stream of sewage and stagnant water blocked their path. The other side of the stream was filled with garbage and brush, faded and rotting from repeated exposure to wind and rain.

But when Aiwas saw it, he breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had found his target. He crossed the stream without hesitation and walked towards the garbage dump opposite.

"Keep going from here and go over this big dirt slope and you'll be there."

"……I see."

Sherlock, having barely managed to hop over without soiling his shoes, followed behind Aiwass, muttering softly, "Using sewage and garbage—images that evoke a sense of abandonment and the end of the road—to subconsciously make people believe there's no way out. It's not a particularly clever concealment method, but it's sufficient for ordinary people."

"Because this is definitely not a high-level secret passage, and it's not man-made."

Aiwass walked in front and led the way, while looking back slightly to explain: "It leads to a chemical plant that was abandoned twenty years ago.

"About seven or eight years ago, this secret passage was discovered and occupied by a group of young men from Lloyd's. They are today's 'Sweater Brotherhood' and a gang of stranglers."

"...The Stranglers, isn't that the name of a gang?"

Lulu, who was barely able to follow Aiwass by holding up her skirt, asked in confusion, "I thought that was the biggest gang in Lloyd's."

"That's not true. The Stranglers are all gang members, but it doesn't mean they have a common gang called 'The Stranglers'."

It was Sherlock, the newsboy, who answered her question: "Any gang that uses 'strangulation' to commit murder and robbery is called a strangulation gang. It is precisely those small gangs that use this method to make money."

"What about the biggest gang?"

"That must be Lloyd's. There is only one Lloyd's in Lloyd's."

Aiwass replied, "Over two hundred years ago, Prince Lloyd, when he was still a businessman, founded Lloyd's, which still exists today. It's a large association that sells insurance, usury, ocean intelligence, and business insider information. In a sense, they are the only legal gang in Avalon."

"...Isn't usury always illegal? Why is there legal usury?"

"Because they don't charge excessive interest openly. Instead, they charge interest by selling Lloyd's Weekly at exorbitant prices, far beyond what ordinary people can afford."

At this point, Aiwass looked at Lulu helplessly and said, "My dear, you don't think that five red candles are a normal price for a weekly newspaper, do you?

"It's a weekly. That means most of the news is old news that's already been reported in other papers—there's a saying in the news industry: 'The morning paper is waste paper by the evening.' It might be a bit extreme... but in any case, a weekly paper should be cheaper than a daily one."

The newsboy that Aiwas met at the door of the Pelican Bar before was the "newsboy" employed by Lloyd's.

At the time, Haena sensed something was amiss with the price of Lloyd's Weekly. But she didn't understand who it was being sold to, and Aiwass didn't want to explain it to her.

With her straightforward nature, she still didn't know if this would be a better thing.

Haina thought that the people who bought the newspaper would be sailors, fishermen and laborers...how could they afford such money?

Even if they did, they would only buy meat and beer.

The tired and poor lower class people are unable to buy newspapers, and they can only get free news from bars.

Little Sherlock sighed and patiently explained the intricacies of the matter to the naive Princess in a low voice: "Anyone who borrows money from Lloyd's in the Lloyd's district must regularly purchase a designated number of Lloyd's Weekly newspapers as additional interest. When the loan collector comes to inspect the borrower's loan, he or she will check the number of copies of the newspaper and cut off a corner of the newspaper as acceptance.

"It was the same with the inside information they were selling. Factory owners or company directors would order a large quantity of Lloyd's Weekly directly from Lloyd's. The delivery man would bring the message along.

"They also have a business of investigating designated targets, and they once invited me. As far as I know, some private detectives will accept their employment. And when Lloyd's delivers the personal intelligence they have investigated, they also pay with a specified share of Lloyd's Weekly."

“…Is it because newspapers pay taxes?”

Hearing this, Lulu immediately reacted: "So the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Taxation will protect them?"

Although it was the first time she heard of this gray business method through newspapers, she immediately realized the cleverness of this practice.

This meant that Lloyd's Society disclosed all of its income and financial statements to the Kingdom and actively paid a large amount of protection money.

Since they took their money but did not arrest them, it means that this behavior is allowed.

It is indeed an organization fostered by Prince Lloyd.

Despite her lack of experience, Princess Isabel has a very good brain.

Moreover, she was exposed to a high level of intellectuals, which also cultivated a good political sense:

"The reason they're using 'newspapers' to collect money is to show their respect for 'authoritarianism,' right? Even though they're descended from the power left by Prince Lloyd, they'd be in trouble if they truly angered the Round Table.

"But if they're selling newspapers as a form of loan, they'll treat the 'interest' as net income and pay taxes on it... Because they don't want to offend the Inspectorate, their tax-paying behavior is actually more positive and stable than those merchants who are almost certain to evade taxes."

Isabel heard the Minister of Taxation complain countless times about the problem of not being able to collect taxes.

He constantly asked the Inspection Bureau to send tax inspectors to companies that might be involved in tax evasion. Every time, he would come up with a terrifyingly long list—longer than Isabel's hair, and the other end would almost droop to the ground when he held it in his hand.

——Isabel clearly realized that if Lloyd's tax payment behavior was active enough, the amount was large and very stable, then they would indeed be protected.

The fact that they were able to obtain the distribution rights for The Glass Steps already shows what the Round Table thinks of them.

The newsboy nodded. "That's why the Inspectorate won't send anyone to control them. Plus, they're actively maintaining order in the Lloyd's Quarter, so the Inspectorate can only turn a blind eye to them."

"After all, they are a legitimate organization that practices the 'Way of Authoritarianism' and respects those above it. In a sense, they are no longer a group, but rather a large corporation with shady practices."

"So they won't engage in acts like 'strangulation' that might lead to investigation. However, their squeeze on other gangs' profit margins will cause them to continually resort to sending members to carry out illegal means like 'strangulation', 'burglary or theft', 'kidnapping', and 'assassination' to raise funds.

"This makes them vulnerable to investigation and arrest by the Inspectorate, further squeezing the living space of other groups."

“—and more than that.”

Finally, after catching sight of the abandoned chemical plant's back door, Aiwass breathed a sigh of relief and added casually, "Actually, after those stranglers ambushed and killed passersby, stealing everything they had, they still sold their stolen goods through Lloyd's. Some commissions for assassinations and thefts also came from Lloyd's."

"So I just said that there is only one biggest gang in Lloyd's, and that's Lloyd's."

"...Is there such a thing?"

Hearing this, even Sherlock was surprised.

But when he thought about it carefully, it seemed reasonable. No matter how legal Lloyd's was, it was ultimately a dirty gang organization rather than a legitimate industrial company.

But Sherlock couldn't find any evidence of their crime...

Perhaps it's not just because the evidence was destroyed by the Inspectorate.

Perhaps there was no such evidence from the beginning, because they no longer needed to do such a thing themselves.

Sherlock looked carefully at the "fox" dressed as a priest and began to doubt his true identity for the first time.

He seemed to be very familiar with Lloyd's and knew this secret passage. He even knew something about the secrets of Lloyd's...

Could it be that the "fox" wasn't a student at the school, but a gang member? Or perhaps he was an informant sent by some organization to infiltrate the church, or perhaps a renegade pastor?

Thinking of this, Sherlock asked tentatively: "Mr. Fox...will it cause trouble to you if I investigate the 'Sweater Brotherhood'?

"If so, I think I'll make a break for it. As a token of gratitude for your assistance in the ritual."

Hearing this, Aiwass paused.

He turned around and looked at the newsboy, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Since I'm telling you this, I'm not afraid of your investigation. After investigating the 'Bone Sculpture', let's arrest the Sweater Brotherhood... This can be considered as eliminating harm for the people. Even though the Sweater Brotherhood is a small organization, each of them has at least five lives on their hands.

"According to my gossip... they might be connected to the group behind the Pelican Bar."

——In fact, it’s more than that.

The reason why Aiwass remembered this secret passage was because it was a main line copy.

I've forgotten all the previous plot, but Aiwass is convinced that the "Sweater Brotherhood" must be related to the Noble Red Society. Because the Sweater Brotherhood members who appeared in this dungeon not only had their bodies greatly strengthened and their minds violently violent by the demonologist's ritual, but also raised a large number of demon dogs made from corpses.

That copy is pretty disgusting.

Not only is it long and winding, it's easy to get lost if you don't know the way. There's also all sorts of garbage, mud, and sewage on the ground that hinder movement. There are also a large number of demon dogs that will ambush at the corners, activating when the first person passes by, then suddenly rushing up and biting the next person.

These demon dogs are not only covered in scrap metal armor with sharp edges and are very tough, but also have high damage. Their hatred is also chained - after being hit, they will start shouting "dog" frantically, and other patrolling dogs will come after hearing it.

Compared to the BOSS whose mechanism is not complicated, the monsters in this dungeon are much more annoying.

Aiwass didn't want to play this dungeon again. The mere thought of being attacked by those half-man-high, iron-clad mad dogs, fed on human flesh, gave him a chill.

It would be better to let Sherlock take them down in advance.

Also, find Sherlock something to do so he doesn't have to keep looking at the things behind the Pelican Bar. Otherwise, "that gentleman" might think his letter fell into Sherlock's hands and start destroying the evidence and silencing him.

If "that gentleman" destroyed the evidence faster than Aiwass, it would be difficult for him to investigate.

Although the identity of the "fox" remains a mystery, for the suspicious and intelligent Sherlock, the clues casually provided by the fox encountered in the dream ritual are more worthy of investigation than the clues deliberately given by someone in reality.

Because he would doubt the latter's motives and try to reason backwards from a higher level - this could not be said to be wrong. Aiwass was afraid that he would discover his motives, so he had to "accidentally" slip him the information through the "chance encounter".

——Evans knew Sherlock, he was indeed that kind of person.

(End of this chapter)