“…”
I watched for a moment and then gave a thumbs up.
Strictly speaking, there are no guidelines on how to behave as a mercenary.
Besides, since I left Arel alone in the forest, it was my fault for not thinking that something like this could happen.
Nod!
Perhaps taking it as a compliment, Arell slightly lowered his head.
It seems that the corner of the mouth has also risen subtly.
Have there been a lot of things that have accumulated in the meantime?
······ yes. You did well.
*
Sending Arel alone to the mercenaries’ quarters was the beginning of the problem.
Rumors about Arell having dealt with the monstrous wolf had already spread widely among the mercenaries.
The mercenaries, who did not believe that only a B-class mercenary dealt with the monstrous wolf, quarreled, and the result was this catastrophe.
“Are you awake!”
“good morning!”
Early moning.
The mercenaries, whose faces were swollen like bread soaked in water, bowed at a 90 degree angle toward Arel, who was coming down the stairs.
Arel, who subdued the mercenaries with one fist, was already being treated like a legend.
It has established itself as number one in the ranks in name and reality.
Arel, slightly embarrassed, showed a hesitant posture. It seemed that he had never thought that the battered mercenaries would surrender so neatly.
“Arel! Would you like to eat?”
“The seat is left empty!”
The mercenaries continued their fervent courtship towards Arell.
The mercenaries, who did not believe that only a B-class mercenary dealt with the monstrous wolf, quarreled, and the result was this catastrophe.
Arel, who subdued the mercenaries with one fist, was already being treated like a legend.
“Are you awake!”
It has established itself as number one in the ranks in name and reality.
“good morning!”
Arel, slightly embarrassed, showed a hesitant posture. It seemed that he had never thought that the battered mercenaries would surrender so neatly.
Early moning.
The mercenaries, whose faces were swollen like bread soaked in water, bowed at a 90 degree angle toward Arel, who was coming down the stairs.
“Arel! Would you like to eat?”
The large hall on the first floor was thoroughly cleaned, disregarding yesterday’s catastrophe.
Some blood stains are visible, but I tried to ignore it.
In the world of mercenaries, the strong one is the leader. Such a refreshing reaction is rather unnerving. Maybe I should consider it fortunate that Arel was the focus of attention instead of me.
The seat we were led to was the largest table in the hall. It’s just bread and soup, but the scent wasn’t bad. Arel awkwardly sat down, and I took a seat next to him.
Then, looking at me, the mercenaries started talking one by one.
“But isn’t that man an attendant?”
“Isn’t it time to teach etiquette again to see a servant eating at the same table with his master?”
It seems that he became an ardent follower overnight.
It is not unusual for a well-known mercenary to have an attendant with him.
A skilled person is accompanied by at least one attendant and has them do chores. Due to the nature of a mercenary’s job, he often travels long distances, so he needs someone to handle things other than his main mission.
However, since mercenaries are not nobles, there is nothing that can’t be broken, but in all cases where money is exchanged, the employer is bound to be the boss.
Allel’s eyes turned to me.
I shrugged my shoulders, saying what to do.
Then Arell silently ate the bread.
Well, there is no need to answer.
‘It’s no different from plain water.’
As soon as I put a spoonful of soup into my mouth, my impression naturally wrinkled.
The bread is hard and the soup has no taste.
Still, isn’t the name Rigel Kingdom?
It is a country where a lot of good crops grow, but the same food does not seem to be on the table of citizens.
I took a sip and put it down.
I just lost my appetite.
‘If it’s with Germin, he’ll have the best taste even with ingredients he doesn’t have.’
He said he had gotten used to this kind of meal while touring the north, but Germin and Croft were together in the north.
When the ingredients were airlifted, Germin cooked them with the best possible flavor.
Germin was a top-notch butler. He also had a knack for cooking.
But there is no Germin here.
Arel also seems far away from cooking. Come to think of it, I had never seen Arell cook and eat something.
‘Should I learn to cook?’
After thinking for a while, I shook my head.
It’s enough to give money and buy food, but why?
I shook my head when Arel looked at me with concern.
-Okay.
You can skip breakfast.
Above all, the quality of free food must have been there.
Still, it is a place where people gather.
Even if you don’t expect good quality food, you will be able to sell good food.
But it didn’t take long to realize that I was wrong.
*
“under.”
When I looked around the village, I sighed.
I can’t buy food even with money.
At least the mercenaries ate bread and soup for the best. I wondered if the ‘good lodging and food’ that the lord said was just those things.
‘The estate is in the worst condition.’
The territories were being exploited. They have nothing to eat, so they dig up tree roots and eat them. It was an appearance that could not be thought of as a part of the Rigel Kingdom, where the crops were abundant.
You can enjoy the golden wave and richness even if you get away from the territory a little bit. However, the inside of the manor was miserable.
Naked children and wives are plowing the dead land starving.
The forest that was not even properly cultivated was like hell to them.
A situation with no clear solution.
An increasing number of people went into the forest to find food and never returned. Perhaps that is why there were especially many orphans who lost their parents.
After circling the village, Arell said.
“… are you okay?”
“There is nothing to eat.”
“I will go hunting.”
I shook my head. No matter how strong Arel is, the forest beyond this village is full of monsters. There were also epics and monster wolves that Arel couldn’t handle.
“Mmm, even a piece of leftover bread is fine. Please help me.”
Then a child approached.
With the appearance of the stench and ttetguk flowing through.
For a moment, Arell looked worried.
Ordinary nobles do not allow such children access. In severe cases, they beat and even kill.
No one would hold a nobleman accountable for killing an orphan.
Much less a common aristocrat, he is the crown prince of the empire with the greatest influence on the continent.
Even if all of these territories were annihilated, Rigel Kingdom would not be caught.
He didn’t even say anything when he pulled out Prince Flik’s tongue.
However, it showed completely different behavior than Arel expected.
He took a sip of bread from his bosom in the morning and started shaking it.
“If you do my favor, I will give you bread.”
“What, what are you asking for?”
“All you have to do is answer the question.”
“Ask me anything!”
“Since when did the lord monopolize the supplies sent by the kingdom?”
“From the beginning. I have never been properly fed.”
Tsk. tongue-in-cheek
The realm of Ageus started to work in earnest when he discovered the vein of mineral. It means that the lord who was inaugurated at that time has monopolized all the treasures of the kingdom.
This is outright illegal.
Supplies sent from the kingdom must be returned to both the lord and the citizens.
Even in a frontier area like here, there was no case where the lord took all the supplies to himself.
In the first place, the frontier is a place to live with danger. Who would set foot on a dangerous frontier if they did not relieve the least of their worries about food and livelihood?
Thanks to this, only adults died.
Children who had lost their parents were starving to death.
Of course, I, the crown prince of a foreign country, would be worried about this, but…
“Take it.”
“Go, thank you. thank you.”
As promised, the bread was delivered, and the child lowered his head one after another and carefully hugged the bread.
Then, after looking around, he quietly returned and passed all the bread to his younger brother.
“Don’t you eat?”
“I am full. You eat a lot.”
“still······.”
“Eat quickly. before the other kids see it.”
They are good brothers and sisters.
I watched it for a while and then opened my mouth.
“I’ll need more bread.”
“··· Yes?”
“Your mind has changed.”
“······ ??”
*
“Who else would enter this dangerous estate if it were not me?”
“You are right, Viscount Hainan.”
“The veins of this territory will make me a count. I will never forget your hard work back then.”
“I believe in you, Viscount Hainan!”
Viscount Hainan laughed as he dipped the dried meat in green cheese.
His nose rose to the sky.
In the kingdom of Rigel, the expectations placed on this territory were high.
If he could exploit the veins and escape the weakness of the kingdom, the king might give him the title of count, maybe even the title of marquess.
To receive more territories and to nurture knights and soldiers to raise them to power comparable to that of a king. That was Viscount Hainan’s dream.
To do so, you must succeed in subjugating the wolves.
It was for that reason that he paid a lot of money to attract mercenaries.
‘In the previous subjugation, the number of wolves was greatly reduced. There must be about 30 left.’
Sword masters and soldiers previously dispatched from the kingdom had significantly reduced the number of wolves.
Although unsuccessful, it is a meaningful result.
Thanks to this, the number of remaining wolves was estimated to be around thirty at most.
‘I’ll solve it myself and become a hero.’
If that number, it can be solved by itself.
If you plant a competent ginseng by accomplishing a feat that even a sword master could not achieve, the king will directly appoint him.
“Let’s have a drink for our beautiful future.”
“For a beautiful future!”
Viscount Hainan raised his wine glass while drawing a pink future.
The vassals also raised wine glasses.
That was the moment.
Roaring!
“······ fire?”
You can see the flames rising outside the window.
At the same time, the soldiers who opened the door and entered urgently shouted.
“Oh, lord! The supply depot is on fire!”
“…some madman started the fire?”
“Mo, I don’t know.”
“What crazy! When it’s time to report, turn off the lights!”
“Ah, yep!”
Soldiers hurriedly headed to the warehouse.
However, the rising flames were burning the entire warehouse.
‘Suddenly on fire?’
Inside the warehouse were supplies that had been received and piled up.
It is mainly food. The most important supplies were all burned.
Viscount Hainan looked at the warehouse with a devastated expression.
*
“I have enough money, so please give me some food!”
“How the hell are you going to hold on if you don’t give me a piece of bread!”
The first to stand up were the mercenaries.
When the food warehouse burned down, food supply was disrupted.
3 days already.
When the ration of food was delayed or disappeared, the impatient mercenaries gathered at the castle.
In the end, Yeongju’s agent came out and sorted out the situation.
“Please wait until the next supply arrives.”
“So when was that!”
“29 days later…”
“You mean you’re going to starve until then!”
“…But, if you ask for help from the surrounding manor, the food problem will be solved.”
“Even if it’s a neighboring territory, it will take quite a while to get here, right?”
“As quickly as possible…”
“There must be food to feed the soldiers, but no food to feed our mercenaries, right?”
No matter how fast it was to enter the manor through the forest, it would take more than 5 days.
In the process, it is not uncommon to be attacked by wolves.
The lord’s agent calmed the mercenaries while sweating profusely.
The mercenaries he hired with expensive money came back as daggers.
“That is not so. No food at all…”
“Go in! Let’s see if it really exists!”
“Stop!”
“Get out of the way, you bastards!”
Soldiers and mercenaries tangled together.
Even if they put up with everything else, mercenaries are the ones who can never tolerate breaking the terms of a contract or being hungry.
Even more so, for long-term contracts or subjugation, the mercenaries were mercenaries who could turn into robbers if the client did not take care of them properly.
And among them was Arel.
There is no way ordinary soldiers can stop Arel.
In an instant, the mercenaries who broke down the soldiers at the entrance and entered the lord’s castle came to the lord’s room and found a heap of dried meat and bread on the table.
“Wow, this was a complete asshole, wasn’t it?”
“What, what is it? Why are you doing this all of a sudden! Where are the knights going!”
Viscount Hainan’s eyes trembled violently.
Does it make sense that close to 200 soldiers and knights couldn’t stop 50 or so mercenaries?
There was nothing to see in the eyes of the starving mercenaries.
It’s like piling up a heap of food to live alone.
There was no reason for the mercenaries to be considerate of a client who did not share a piece of bread.
“Kill!”
*
Fortunately, Viscount Hainan did not die.
Instead, he had no choice but to write a letter wet with tears while being beaten to the brink of death.
Wang Jeong, who received the letter in two days through Jeonseo-gu, took the matter seriously and dispatched more soldiers with supplies.
‘To turn a silver vein into a vein where magic stones come out…’
What Viscount Hainan wrote in the letter while shedding tears is simple.
All he wrote was that he found a magic crystal in a vein.
Along with that, Reinhardt enclosed a small chunk of magic stone in the letter.
It was like the shavings of the highest grade magic stone.
This is why Wang Jung is running with his eyes on.
It had already failed massively once and morale was so low that full support was not given.
However, if the magic stone comes out, no matter how many times you bump into it, it won’t be enough.
―I highly appreciate Viscount Hainan’s credit for discovering the Magic Stone and honestly asking for help, and I will appoint you as a count according to the outcome of the matter.
Upon receiving such a reply, Viscount Hainan became tearful.
“I-if this is found out to be false, I will die!”
It is not a matter of dying alone, but of three generations being annihilated.
It was such a big lie.
The kingdom of Rigel promised massive support, but now it’s impossible to return it.
It’s a letter written by myself, so it’s more going around.
I said with a smile.
“What if it’s not a lie?”
Viscount Hainan’s expression hardened.
‘Isn’t that a lie?’
Are there real magic stones?
‘Wasn’t it just a servant?’
The mercenary who actually led the mercenaries is behind, and the person who pretended to be a servant comes out and threatens himself.
It is clear that he is hiding his identity.
But I couldn’t figure out why.
Viscount Hainan swallowed and said.
“So you’re saying that there are magic crystals in the veins?”
“It is very likely.”
“How can you believe that?”
“Monsters near the veins where magic stones come out become stronger by leaps and bounds. Like the wolves here.”
It was more likely not to be, but it was possible.
There was a story between the imperial leaders who developed numerous mines.
It was said that the monsters around the mines where magic stones came out would gain extraordinary power.
Of course, it’s just speculative gossip that says ‘it was so’.
As soon as he set up his own criteria for judgment, Viscount Hainan’s eyes caught on.
“Well, why are you telling me that?”
“Don’t you want to become a count?”
“…”
Of course I want to be
But no matter how you look at it, it was a quagmire.
Ultimately, it’s about listening to yourself. An unknown mercenary’s attendant.
However, such a servant-girl possessed the highest level of magic stones.
I blew a wedge.
“Anyway, there is no going back now. Whether there is a real magic stone or not.”
It’s word for word.
The mercenaries saw all the letters they wrote and sent.
You may not know the contents, but there is no turning back. It was too late to turn around.
However, if the mercenaries were caught and forced to write the book, that would be a problem. It was like letting the kingdom know about his own incompetence.
‘Somehow he took off his face and hit me.’
In a word, it means to talk face to face.
‘So what about burning down the warehouse?’
When the thought reached that point, Viscount Hainan shuddered.
From the beginning, the outcome was predetermined.
I felt like a ephemera caught in a spider’s web.
*
Five more days after that, the soldiers sent by the monarchy arrived.
speedy conclusion. It is speed beyond imagination.
There was a hint of a will to deal with the information quickly before it leaked out.
The number also exceeded two thousand.
The numbers are too many to subdue the monsters in forests and valleys.
Soon after, the trumpeter blew his trumpet.
Between them, two men and women stood out.
Upon seeing the two, the soldiers of the lord castle groaned.
“It’s Prince Flick!”
“Princess Jasmine is there too!”
“You two came by yourself?”
“Looks like you really decided to subdue this time!”
＜ Feat Robbery (5) ＞ End