32 – Mercenary
＜Chapter 32 – Mercenary＞
“Kaiman…”
The person Aine recommended was the A-class mercenary, Kaiman.
He had already been active as a mercenary a generation ago.
He was over 60 years old,
and had lost one arm during his mercenary career.
Although he had reached the rank of Sword Expert, considering his age and having only one arm, he wasn’t particularly attractive.
Nevertheless, I accepted Aine’s recommendation.
Aine knew well what I needed.
And she emphasized that point.
Kaiman’s connections.
Being an A-class mercenary with over 30 years of experience as a mercenary.
“She said that if I appoint Kaiman as the division manager, many mercenaries will follow.”
It was a good proposal in a situation where one mercenary was not enough.
Not just that.
Kaiman said he could better control the mercenaries when he came.
There are only one million registered members in the Mercenary Guild.
Of course, among them, there are evil mercenaries.
What if they cause trouble?
It’s not easy to solve it with my own strength.
That’s why I needed Kaiman’s name and power.
Finally, I liked that Kaiman and I share the same goal.
“He said Kaiman is a reformer.”
Aine said.
As long as I treat the mercenaries well, Kaiman will be on my side.
“After all, I had to save the guild leader.”
As a noble, I cannot continue to be the guild leader of the mercenaries.
It was also a matter of honor,
And it’s not good for the Mercenary Guild either.
“Even Kaiman is included in the recommendation system. Isn’t this enough?”
Right now, only the Innocent Mercenary Corps is active, but in a few months, more mercenaries were supposed to hunt monsters here.
Knock. Knock.
“Master, it’s Isaac.”
“Come in.”
Isaac came inside and greeted once again.
Then he got to the point.
“The mercenary guild, surrounding buildings, and all infrastructure, including roads, have been completely constructed.”
“Good work.”
From gathering materials to construction.
The construction, where thousands of slaves were involved, was finally completed.
“Master, what is the next mission?”
“Give them a few days off, then start clearing the land.”
“Understood.”
Isaac bowed and left the room.
Dealing with mercenary-related matters inevitably led to financial deficits.
So, additional land cultivation was necessary to increase income from other sources.
Knock. Knock.
“Lady Soyoung, it’s Hans.”
“Oh!”
I stood up and personally opened the door.
There stood a dust-covered Hans.
Upon seeing me, he kneeled on one knee.
“Lady Soyoung, I have exterminated three goblin strongholds within the territory and returned.”
While I was preoccupied with mercenary affairs, Hans, Isaac, and Russell had diligently carried out their assigned missions.
Russell went up the hill,
Hans led the slave soldiers and subjugated monsters.
“You did well. Take a rest.”
“At this rate, we won’t be able to secure the troll territory within the given time.”
Even with Shira’s words, Hans knelt down and spoke.
“That’s what mercenaries are for.”
“But!”
“Hans, you can’t face trolls with slave soldiers.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Hans’s voice of apology carried complex emotions.
“The troll habitat is important, but stabilizing the territory we’ve taken is also crucial. So please focus on the task at hand.”
There are two urgent tasks.
First, secure the troll habitat before Gibson’s coming-of-age ceremony.
Second, stabilize the expanded territory.
The areas I’ve expanded have reached the level of defining borders and planting flags.
There are still many monsters inside.
We need to defeat them to make it a complete frontier territory.
I encouraged Hans and returned to my room.
“There’s so much work to do.”
I had my own growth plan in mind.
With the added goal given by Father, my to-do list had doubled.
For several days, while handling various documents in areas such as diplomacy and military affairs,
A system notification popped up after a long time.
[MISSION]
Farm Operation (Completed)
HINT) Respected Farmer Skill
[SYSTEM]
Mission completed.
1 skill point is awarded.
[SYSTEM]
Analyzing the situation and suggesting appropriate missions.
[MISSION]
Eliminate threats to the farm (in progress)
HINT) Eliminate monsters near the farm
“It would have been easy in the past, but now…”
Dispose of monsters near the farm.
This is not an easy mission.
Unlike when there was only one farm in the river,
Now, because we’ve established Monster Island all over.
“Other farms in different territories are fine.”
The farm in the viscount’s possession was constructed near the noble mansion.
It’s the safest place in each territory.
The farm at the Gray Mast Tower is equally safe.
However.
“It must be a farm built on the front lines.”
As we expand our territory, we establish outposts on the borders.
And we form farms there.
To see the effects of the respected farm owner skill.
“But time will take care of it.”
Hans already leads slave soldiers to regularly subdue monsters.
Mercenaries will come here in the future, and they too will dispose of monsters.
“Perhaps it’s the skills more than anything.”
Skill points given upon completing missions.
I currently have three skills.
Land Restoration (Lv 5)
Purifies polluted land.
Norfolk-style 4-field Rotation (Lv 3)
Efficiency of Norfolk-style 4-field rotation slightly increases.
Respected Farm Owner (Lv 2)
Increases the loyalty of affiliated farmers.
If the management of the territory is divided into military and internal affairs,
all skills are focused on internal affairs.
By increasing production,
and increasing the number of slaves,
naturally, military power also becomes stronger.
However, now military capability has become even more important than before.
A skill that considers such a situation is “Military-Farming Synchronization”.
Military-Farming Synchronization (Lv 1)
Increases the combat power of farmers.
Increases the productivity of soldiers.
“As a passive skill, the effect may not be significant, but it’s better than nothing.”
There are two main types of skills.
Active skills and passive skills.
Among the skills I have, Land Restoration is an active skill, while the rest are passive skills.
Active skills require direct use for the effect to occur.
On the other hand, passive skills always have an effect even without being used.
However, the effect is weaker compared to active skills.
That being said, I have no intention of learning more active skills.
I have to use all the mana I have for the restoration of the land.
For expanding the farmland,
And for quickly leveling up my skills.
Snap.
I slapped my cheek to refresh the atmosphere.
“Alright! Let’s stop worrying about skills and focus on work again!”
I lowered my gaze and focused on the documents piled up on my desk.
**
Vampires’ duchy.
Allen’s vampire chamber.
From Noble mtl dot com
Allen stood by the window, looking outside.
“You’re pushing yourself too hard…”
The person she had in mind was Elwin Frontier, the lord of the Frontier.
“I understand why, but…”
There are a total of five territories in Monster Island.
Vampires’ duchy.
Frontier’s barony.
Kent’s barony.
Aquano’s barony.
Ayer’s barony.
Among the successors of the three marquisates, stability was evident.
On the contrary, the duchy and the viscountcy were not as fortunate.
In the duchy, the first-born Benia and the second-born Alencia were in fierce competition.
As for the viscountcy, though it had a young lady, she was incompetent.
“No, not incompetent anymore.”
Elwin, despite inheriting the bloodline of the Frontier, was ignorant of magic.
Instead, he displayed talent in other aspects.
However, even so, his position as the successor remained precarious.
While Elwin couldn’t use magic, Gibson was rapidly mastering it.
“No matter how urgent, this is too fast.”
There are two ways to gain power.
Either become strong oneself,
or gather many people around.
Elwin chose the second method.
He gathered slaves and became the owner of a large estate.
“I thought having too many slaves was excessive, but now he’s even calling mercenaries.”
It’s not good to gather many people.
You should gather people you can control.
Even if they are slaves, can you control mercenaries?
Alencia tilted her head.
Among the many professions, mercenaries are the most difficult to control.
They are numerous, and each individual is not weak.
Moreover, a considerable number of mercenaries have no qualms about killing people.
After all, they are individuals who have carried out numerous missions from wars to assassinations.
Knock. Knock.
“It’s Mari.”
“Come in.”
Mari stood next to Allenzia.
“What happened?”
“In the past week, 67 mercenaries have passed through the Vampire’s Bridge.”
67 in a week.
That is not a small number.
The bigger problem was that the number continued to increase.
Can Elwin control them?
…
Mari silently bowed her head.
“It will be difficult. Yeah, it will be difficult…”
**
Frontier Lord’s Mansion, 3rd floor.
Bilda’s room.
“Mercenaries gathering in the River?”
“…”
Even to Blylda’s question, Anna remained silent.
It was because it was a soliloquy to organize her thoughts.
“Why mercenaries? Wasn’t the slave army enough?”
…”
Blylda turned her head.
“What happened when you met your husband? Something happened, right?”
“It seems so. After that incident, Elwin hired mercenaries.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Blylda’s fingers quickly struck the table.
“Madam, the current situation is not bad. The number of mercenaries gathered in the River is only a few hundred.”
“So?”
“They are not ordinary people, and there are hundreds of mercenaries. It won’t be easy to control them.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Once again, the sound of nails colliding with the table filled the room.
And so, time passed.
After a while, Blylda’s mouth finally opened.
“You’re managing so many slaves too, right? What if it happens again this time?”
“…”
Anna couldn’t answer.
Because it was true.
Elwin had similar thoughts when increasing the number of slaves.
That he wouldn’t be able to handle a large number of slaves.
That problems would inevitably arise.
But what were the results?
The slaves didn’t cause any problems.
Instead, they became even more loyal to Elwin as time went on.
“I can’t just leave it be. Is there no solution?”
“There is.”
“What is it?”
Anna bowed her head.
Her lips slowly approached Brilda’s ear.
“Even clear water becomes dirty with one drop of mud.”
A smile appeared on Brilda’s lips.
“Sending just one drop of mud should be enough?”
“Yes. Madam.”
“I’ll provide enough funding. You try it yourself.”
“Understood.”
