52 – Crudia Mountaineer Mercenaries – 5
Manfred, the mercenary leader of the Crudia Mountaineer Mercenary Corps, had traveled here and there during his long career as a mercenary, but had never been to Arcadia, the capital of the empire.
The main activity area of the mercenaries was a fertile and large area called the Kingdom of Swadia, but since the Kingdom of Swadia was on the opposite side of Arcadia, there was no chance to come to Arcadia.
For this reason, it was the first time he had been to Arcadia, and the first thing Manfred thought upon entering the islands was that there were many roads around the islands. There were no roads on the roads around here. In addition, strangely, the road was flat, so when I looked closely, it seemed that the low areas were filled in and the high areas were dug out to make a road there.
Manfred shuddered at these roads. These roads would have a great impact on the development of commerce, but there was something bigger than that. that was war.
Since stone roads are laid on flat roads with no uphill or downhill roads, the movement of troops will be much faster than in other countries, and the efficiency of supply will be greatly improved.
Of course, there was a fatal flaw that the enemy could invade in reverse using the road, but that was solved by always maintaining the superiority of military power.
The Arcadian Empire had already conquered the world once 500 years ago. Now, it has lost its dominance, and rebellions and wars are constantly going on all over the world, but looking at these figures, it gives me a feeling that I will realize a little how the Arcadia Empire conquered the world.
Meanwhile, while Manfred was shuddering at the road, his men were talking.
“I like that Arcadia is good. Everywhere I go, the city sparkles.”
“You can’t even compare it to the mountains of Crudia.”
“Look over there! there! City girls are so pretty!”
Manfred was about to give a shout to his excited subordinates, but stopped. When will they come to Arcadia again? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so I thought I’d just enjoy it this time.
“By the way, Captain, why are you suddenly going to see Maris? Why in this busy time?”
“I received a letter.”
Then, the faces of the subordinates became serious.
“why? Where are you sick?”
“They made a lot of money with their inventions. They said that they don’t need tuition support anymore, and they sent back the money we sent so far in a slip.”
Then, the faces that brighten up.
“Isn’t that a good thing? I must have worried a lot about the tuition.”
“I already knew that my child was a genius!”
“Have you been unusual since childhood? I also learned magic alone.”
Manfred thought. It was true that Maris was a genius. He had a talent completely different from that of ordinary people. But Manfred, on the other hand, was uneasy about that.
“It would be perfect if you really developed an invention and made a lot of money.”
“What do you mean?”
“It could be a lie.”
The atmosphere in the crowd turned cold.
“Maris’ talent is top-notch. So, you may be making money by dabbling in illegal activities. For example, forging gold through alchemy, or manufacturing drugs.”
“Ah~ Our Maris can’t possibly do that. How naive Anne is.”
“Odilon, you must have seen it a lot during your mercenary life, right? For naive soldiers to commit crimes out of money.”
“ah… ”
At Mannfred’s words, the atmosphere in the audience grew heavy.
“But let’s not jump to conclusions. I want to trust my child once.”
At those words, Manfred couldn’t help but nod.
—–
Arriving in Arcadia, Manfred spoke to the guards at Arcadia Academy.
“Can you call a cadet? My name is Maris, I don’t have a last name, and I’m a freshman in the General Department.”
“Excuse me, but how is your relationship?”
“I am the child’s father.”
“What about the rest?”
“We are all Maris’ fathers!”
“… ”
The guard put on a confused expression for a moment, but he just had to do what he had to do anyway.
“What are the names of your fathers?”
“Manfred, Odilon, Rugeron, Oliver.”
When the guard told the other guard, he went into the dormitory and called Maris, and Maris came out with the guard at the school gate.
“Dad!”
Maris immediately ran and hugged Manfred.
Manfred thought. Seeing Maris come out of the academy dormitory, it seemed like she hadn’t quit school. If so, how did you secure your tuition? I just thought I should check that out.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came because I wanted to see your face.”
To Maris’s question, Manfred calmly lied. And as we were talking for a while, Maris called someone.
“Charles! Can you come for a minute? Let me introduce you to my father.”
The one who ran at Maris’s call was a skinny, long-haired guy who looked very weak. It was a poor impression, as if he would die first on the battlefield. However, given that he is wearing the uniform of Arcadia Academy, it must not be normal. Manfred asked cautiously.
“Who is that person?”
“He is my friend!”
Maris smiled proudly and Manfred was taken aback. Manfred was well aware of the treatment of commoners at Arcadia Academy. But, Maris, a commoner, has friends? Are they the same commoners?
“It’s good to have friends. Didn’t you always wish you had friends since you were little?”
“yes. I am very happy these days.”
Maris smiled shyly and twisted her body. Meanwhile, Charles slightly bowed his head to Manfred.
“hello. This is Charles Jean Rochepole. We get along well with Maris as friends and business partners.”
“business partner?”
What business is Maris in?
“Ah, that… ”
Maris explained what had happened in the past two weeks. The test of making the artifact, the fact that Charles supported the cost of materials and research, the fact that the artifact received a good evaluation and was sold to Princess Lucrezia du Flos at a high price, and the fact that Charles helped negotiate things, and so on.
Manfred, who heard the whole process, couldn’t help but be surprised.
‘I don’t think you’re lying… ‘
It doesn’t look like he quit the academy, and it doesn’t look like he got involved in crime. To my surprise, Maris really seemed to have made a fortune on her own. However…
‘This guy is a bit suspicious.’
Manfred chewed on his name. Charles Jean Rochefort. It is an aristocratic name of the Swadian culture. Perhaps a noble from the western part of the empire, or one of his ancestors was a western noble.
It seemed strange for a person from such a historic family to be friendly with Maris, who was from a commoner background and was not very social. Didn’t it even say that it was Charles who suggested the collaboration first? something suspicious
Manfred decided to search for the one he cared about first. Manfred gave a fake laugh.
“So, are you my daughter’s friend?”
“Yes. You and your daughter are getting along well.”
“Looking at her name, she looks like an aristocrat. Didn’t my daughter be rude?”
“Even though they are nobles, they are only in name, and in reality, there is no real estate, so there is no difference in status between my daughter and me.”
Indeed, a fallen nobleman. It might not be as much as commoners, but since the fallen nobles are also ostracized, it’s understandable that they’re close to each other.
But not all questions were answered.
“You said you reached out to my daughter first in the magic ability test. What aspect of my daughter did you reach out to?”
“Oh, Dad!”
Maris protested, but Charles replied as if nothing was wrong.
“Actually, I knew a little bit about Miss Maris before.”
“I-really!?”
It was Maris, not Manfred, who was surprised by those words. Maris’ face turned red.
“how?”
“Crudia Mountaineer Mercenaries.”
When the name of the mercenary company he was running came up suddenly, Manfred was embarrassed and wary at the same time.
“Do you know about me?”
“I got it. Then, I came across information about Maris by chance.”
“Why did you investigate my background?”
“Shouldn’t you, of course? We have to look at the level of the mercenary group we want to take over.”
“Oh, please… ”
Manfred remembered what had happened a while ago. A guy refused because he said he would take over the mercenaries.
“At that time, the person who sent the letter saying he would take over the mercenary group… ”
“Yes, it is me.”
Only then did Manfred begin to put all the puzzles together. Why did the guy in front of him approach Maris, and how did he find out that Maris was a genius? Nom had learned about the mercenaries and also about Manfred and Maris. When he found out about Maris’ talent, he supported Maris and made him invent it. I know that far…
“Why should it be us? There must have been an overflow of mercenaries in the world.”
“That’s going to be a long story, so can we move for a moment?”
Manfred nodded. Soon, Charles called two carriages, and Charles, Manfred, and Maris rode in one, and Glacia and the other three fathers rode in the other.
And the place Charles and Maris rode in was an empty lot.
And a bunch of mercenaries gathered in that clearing.
When Charles Jean Rochepole disembarked, the mercenaries saluted Charles by putting their hands on their chests. Seeing the scene, Manfred hid Maris behind him.
“You brought them to the clearing all of a sudden, and now they’re mercenaries. What on earth are they trying to do?”
Then Charles received something from a mercenary and approached Manfred. Manfred put his hand on the handle of his sword with a wary attitude.
However, Charles approached Manfred carelessly and defenselessly, and handed him something like a wooden stick.
“Do you know what this is?”
“Wooden stick… looks like There’s something like a lump of metal attached to it. Is it some mechanism?”
“It is called a musket. It’s a new weapon imported from the eastern part of the Empire and improved by Princess Leonia.”
Muskets were spread throughout the eastern part of the empire, but had not yet spread in the western part of the empire, so it was not difficult to see them for the first time.
“So, what does this thing have to do with bringing us here?”
“From now on, I am going to show you why I have to take over the Crudia Mountaineer Mercenary Corps.”
Charles Jean Rochepole pointed the musket. And on the side where he was aiming the musket, there was a wooden doll wearing the latest plate armor that could easily cost 10 ducats.