135 – Peter Yeager’s Holiday (1)
In an empire ruled by an emperor, the act of a general or commander of a unit to gain the trust of his subordinates is like a double-edged sword. It’s the same action.
This has the positive function of increasing the loyalty of his soldiers and officers when the general directly monitors and helps his subordinates, thereby increasing the morale and combat power of the army.
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This is because, in the eyes of the emperor, such actions sometimes make him suspect that he is preparing for treason.
So, until now, when I encouraged my subordinates, I replaced the performance evaluation with giving them good evaluations and letters of recommendation…
“Director Jaeger, this is Ensign Hans Loren’s house.”
After hearing Charlotte’s words, I stopped thinking and knocked on the door of the small brick house.
“Is this the house of Lieutenant Hans Loren?”
Then a woman who looked to be about twenty years old opened the door and came out.
“Yes, I am Ensign Lauren’s wife. But what’s going on here…”
She looked surprised when she saw my face, my rank insignia, and my uniform full of decorations and medals that only a general could wear.
“This is Major General Peter Yeager, former brigade commander of the 12th Brigade. “Are you sure you’re called Lauren?”
“Yes, that’s right. “But what brought you here?”
“I came to visit the brave second lieutenant who fought hard in the Battle of Hattin Forest.”
After saying that, Lauren’s wife came in in a huff and called Ensign Lauren on her crutches.
The second lieutenant, who was about 4 years older than me, looked at me with an incredibly nervous yet thrilled expression and tried to salute me after putting down his crutches.
“There is no need to salute. I’m glad you want to show respect, but wouldn’t it be a loss to the empire if an excellent officer like you gets hurt while putting down his crutches and trying to stand? “Okay, how is your physical condition?”
“Thanks to your concern, I have improved a lot. “I think I will be able to return to the military next year.”
“I see, I’m glad. Personally, I was really sad when I heard that you were injured. “I’m very happy to hear that I can return to the military next year.”
When the second lieutenant heard those words, he looked like he was both thrilled and disappointed.
I guess he’s worried about the injury that caused him to miss a year from duty, delaying his promotion to lieutenant, and his mother’s hospital bills.
Because the reward he received this time was just so-called one year’s salary.
“Don’t worry too much, just rest comfortably and see if you get better. Actually, I came here to talk to His Highness the Crown Prince and give you a small consolation prize and the news that your promotion to lieutenant next year has been confirmed. “Just reward me by getting better quickly.”
To be precise, I wrote to His Highness the Crown Prince in advance to inform him that His Majesty the Emperor had instructed him to take care of the soldiers so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion.
So, while conveying that I had made a schedule to go to encourage the soldiers during the period of suspension, I suggested that it would be good to create the image that His Majesty the Crown Prince cares specially for the wounded soldiers by making me move, and it was passed, so I am saying this.
For your information, the crown prince already knew that the emperor had ordered me to establish a position within the army, so he would not have raised any suspicions even if I had moved without permission.
He personally asked for permission and said he would raise the crown prince’s reputation, and he was very pleased and promised support.
“This is a consolation prize that is a combination of His Highness the Crown Prince’s money and the money I paid. At this level, I should be able to live without much of a problem until next year. “I really want to go and have a cup of tea, but I have to go see where the other officers are, so I’ll just leave.”
So, I stayed with Charlotte for about 10 minutes and came out after visiting Ensign Lauren.
“Chief, it’s time to go to Lieutenant Hartman’s house next.”
When I heard that, my heart became heavy and I felt bad.
This is because Lieutenant Hartman was killed while leading his platoon in the Hattin Forest while fighting hard.
“Go quickly. “Tell the cart drivers to hurry up.”
So, as a superior, I went to Lieutenant Hartman’s family to tell them how wise and brave he was during his lifetime, but unfortunately he died in battle, which I consider a great loss to the military.
**
Today, we visited about 10 homes of officers and soldiers who made great contributions in this battle but suffered unfortunate events.
Although Charlotte and I traveled comfortably in a carriage, meeting the injured or the families of the fallen was very mentally draining.
“Is there anywhere else to turn today?”
“Yes, I am finished. “Thank you for your hard work, Director.”
“Going around to console people is a lot harder than I thought. Personally, I think comforting is more mentally tiring than going into battle.”
Charlotte smiled slightly at those words and nodded her head in agreement.
“By the way, as I continued to walk around, this occurred to me: How is your family doing?”
Usually, when asked this question, people usually smile and give a light answer about how their family is doing.
Perhaps something bad happened, she couldn’t answer right away and seemed to hesitate a bit.
And when I thought about it a little more, I realized that I had never once made s*xually harassing comments or asked for a physical relationship with Charlotte.
Considering that being an exclusive maid was something that girls from serf families with fair faces and bodies did for the sake of the family.
She should have taken into account that, given her education at a level that enabled her to write and assist with basic administrative tasks, there were circumstances that could have led to her, or indeed her family’s, downfall.
“I’m sorry. “I said something meaningless…”
When I said that, Charlotte made an effort to show that she was okay and answered.
“No. “Of course, the business that my father ran went bankrupt a few years ago, and the situation was in dire straits…”
Then she slowly started talking about her family’s situation.
To summarize, Charlotte’s father, Carl, was a merchant who tried to expand his business by advancing from a small city to a large city. After finally advancing to the capital and laying the groundwork, he was attacked by thieves while on his way up and lost everything, including his life. I lost all my products.
Because she was charged a huge penalty in return, Charlotte’s family accumulated a debt of about 40 gold, putting her in a situation where she was almost sold.
It was a tragic story in which Charlotte, thanks to her beauty, became the exclusive maid to wait on her generals and was saved from being sold.
“But now I’m sending home 1 gold every month, and I’m using that to repay her principal with interest. If I add her retirement money to that, it’ll work out somehow.”
Normally, the salary paid to a dedicated maid is approximately 6 silver per month, but since Charlotte also takes care of the office work for her brigade, I personally pay an additional 6 silver per month.
So her cost is 1.2 Gold, which honestly makes her pay more than most ensigns or lieutenants.
Although it is her job to always be by my side, I should have guessed that after returning to Reichburg, she did not go home or go out on her occasional holidays, and was wearing a maid uniform.
“That’s why I am always grateful to the director. In addition, when she was training to become a dedicated maid, she heard that her servant might try her hand, so she prepared her heart to some extent. “I am truly grateful to the director for always consistently respecting me and treating me well.”
As I listened to Charlotte’s story, I remembered the experience of being reincarnated for the first time and living as an orphan in an orphanage, suffering like a dog.
Nowadays, we can laugh it off like we did in front of Lieutenant Colonel Anya, saying that those days were really sh*tty.
At that time, it was really cold and hungry and I had to live in misery.
But I felt sympathy for the woman who was helping me both materially and spiritually, and that her situation was more serious than mine at the time.
In addition, Charlotte is the person who will be by my side for at least the next few years, and is the person I will spend the longest time with after Laura.
“Thank you so much for saying that. However… We still have time, so rather than going home like this, let’s stop by Charlotte’s house for a while.”
If I stop by her house and pay her debt in full, I will be able to secure Charlotte’s loyalty, and her voluntary loyalty will be of great help to me in many ways.
You never know. For example, when an order comes from her imperial family to secretly monitor her suspicious activities, I might give her a hint so she can escape without much damage.
Also, even if it is not necessary, Charlotte is of great help as an office assistant.
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So I opened the carriage window and spoke to Charlotte.
“Tell the coachman where the house is. “Now that we’re out, let’s hurry up and go.”
The sight I saw after arriving in front of her house was quite shocking.
“I came to get money! “Open the door!!”
As Charlotte said, no matter how much the debtors of this era collect a hefty amount of interest and even engage in misbehavior…
You wouldn’t treat someone who pays interest consistently like that, right?
What on earth is going on?