43 – Dadaikseon 43
“Storage fee?”
A storage fee, they say.
It’s not even an item, but they want a fee for storing money.
It didn’t make sense in the common sense of a modern person.
“If you charge a high storage fee, the slaves’ morale will drop. So…”
“Free.”
“What!?”
“I’ll store it for free.”
Isaac stood up abruptly.
“Really!? If you do that, everyone will be grateful for the lord’s favor.”
“Well, it’s not something to be overly grateful for.”
“I’ll immediately share the good news with the slaves!”
Isaac greeted and left the restaurant.
Inside, only Russell and I remained.
“Master, you’ve got money now.”
“After the festival, take the slaves and move to the northern outpost. Build a new village there, excluding construction costs.”
“Understood.”
“Use the money for buying slaves, excluding construction costs.”
Russell took out a paper from his pocket and began writing a note.
“And from now on, don’t pay money to the slaves. Instead, just issue storage receipts.”
The current system is like this:
We give money to the slaves, and they use that money to buy themselves.
After all, it’s money that will come back to me.
“But it takes a long time.”
At best, 6-7 years. If it’s late, it can take over 10 years.
However, if we just write a receipt? No actual money leaves.
It looks like a bank, but it’s a much better situation than a bank.
When a bank accepts deposits from customers, they have to keep some as reserve funds.
They need to have money to give back to the customers when they come to withdraw.
But I’m different.
I don’t need reserve funds.
I don’t even need to give it back when it matures.
All I have to do is erase the slave’s seal instead of giving money.
**
**
Kalas’s personal command.
The Lord’s office.
“So you’re saying you lend that money at 3%?”
“… I’m sorry.”
“You were supposed to tell me it’s a win-win situation, right?”
“Yes, Father.”
At an interest rate of 3%.
A very small number.
But considering Elwin’s win-win proposition?
“If Ireland develops, the tolls will increase.”
If we lend money, they will use it to increase consumption and production.
“Our gain would be 3%+@, right?”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Understood, go and see for yourself.”
“What!? Just… go out?”
“Do you have something else to say?”
“No, Father.”
Freya greeted politely.
And turned her body, walking towards the door.
“Wait, how was Elwin?”
“He was a strange person.”
“Strange?”
“He was noble but didn’t seem noble. For example, he gets along well with slaves…”
She didn’t see Elwin’s exceptional abilities, only strange things.
But this too was Elwin’s true self.
Not his abilities, but his human side.
“So, how is it as a man?”
Freya lowered her gaze.
“I’m embarrassed to say.”
Even without hearing the response, it was evident.
“Ha. hahahaha. Alright, go on, leave.”
**
**
New town, Alp.
Named after the initials of Alencia and Freya.
Perhaps due to the experience of building Terra,
Alp’s construction was progressing even faster.
“When Alp is completed, our profits will increase again, right?”
Shifting her gaze, she looked at the farmland spreading outside the town.
While the interior was busy with construction, it was bustling with cultivation there.
“There’s more money among the slaves than I thought.”
Individually, the amounts were small, but collectively, they were substantial.
“There will be money left over, won’t there?”
After building the town, purchasing slaves, there would still be leftover funds.
“In that case, we can invest in other areas…”
“Master.”
“Ah… Russell, are you back? The slaves?”
“We purchased a total of 2,000 and divided them in half to be put to work in construction and cultivation.”
“Good job.”
People gathered in the village and farmland could be seen.
They must be the newly purchased slaves.
“You look pleased.”
“Me?”
“I saw it when you came, you kept smiling.”
“When things go well, laughter comes naturally. But where should the leftover money be invested? Any good places?”
It seemed like an addiction to investment.
Unable to hold onto cash, like a stock addict who must invest somewhere.
“My lord, I’m concerned you’re becoming too fixated on money.”
“But money is important, isn’t it? Don’t you know that? The more money, the better.”
“That’s true, but money shouldn’t be the top priority.”
He shifted his gaze to Russell.
Russell is a merchant.
Still, it was hard to understand why money shouldn’t be the top priority.
“Still, money is important to me.”
“…”
“Do you know how a magician becomes powerful?”
“Learning magic at Matop, isn’t it?”
He pointed at his left chest with his finger.
“Gather mana here to create a circle. The larger the circle, the stronger it becomes. What about knights then?”
“They wield the sword, sensing the mana. They practice it repeatedly, mastering the skill. This way, they become adept at handling mana…”
Perhaps because he was from a knightly family, he knew well about swordsmanship.
“That’s right. Then what about me?”
“Are you inquiring, my lord?”
“How can I become stronger? I lack magical talent, and I haven’t properly mastered swordsmanship.”
“Well, that…”
He took out a coin from his pocket.
Ping.
The coin spun in the air and fell back into his palm.
“Just as a sorcerer grows stronger by gathering mana, I grow stronger by amassing wealth.”
Wealth.
Slaves.
And subordinates.
They are all my power.
The foundation is ‘wealth.’
Russell nodded in agreement after the lengthy explanation.
However, his own thoughts remained unyielding.
“I understand your lordship’s words. However, the next step should be investing in the forward base rather than focusing on profits.”
Back when he was a slave, he wouldn’t speak his mind without being asked.
Now, even after explaining the importance of money, he expressed his opinion.
“Why is that?”
“For the convenience of the mercenaries. The areas you’ve annexed, my lord, have no towns. Except for Serriver, there are only four forward bases. So, even for the sake of the mercenaries, we need to expand the forward bases.”
This attitude isn’t bad either.
After all, I could be wrong at any time.
Lately, I’ve been too focused on money.
“Let it be so. You’re right.”
“Really? Is it okay to invest in the forward base?”
“Yeah, anyway, we don’t have much funds left.”
“Understood, my lord.”
Four forward bases in the annexed area.
Two of them have towns built.
So, we just need to expand the remaining ones.
Not necessarily to the level of building a town, but enough to accommodate the increased number of mercenaries.
Russell left,
leaving me alone again.
“I didn’t tell Russell, but there’s another way for me to become stronger.”
[Mission]
Threat Removal at the Farm (In Progress)
HINT) Eliminate Monsters near the Farm
While dealing with real missions, I couldn’t pay attention to the system missions.
“Now I have some free time.”
Considering the rate of mercenary recruitment and the speed of troll subjugation,
I can secure the troll area until Gibson’s coming of age ceremony.
“If the slaves want to expand the outpost, they’ll need escort troops. Should I mobilize Hans and the slave soldiers?”
But then the defense of this place will weaken.
They are guarding the Alp village and the transportation of supplies.
“I need to find another way…”
I went down to the village and wrote a letter.
[Request for Outpost Defense]
[Request for Troll Subjugation near the Outpost]
I wrote two requests and sent them to the Silverbear Mercenary Guild.
**
**
Frontier Territory, Western Region.
Troll Area.
Ineon led a group of elite mercenaries to fight against the trolls.
Human 20 vs Troll 3
If it were ordinary people, even a hundred of them wouldn’t be able to defeat a single troll.
But these people were different.
They all knew how to use mana.
Especially, among them, only exceptional mercenaries were selected.
The blade of the mercenary’s sword was stained with the blood of various types.
The moment the troll was struck by that sword,
Swoosh.
Though not as tough as an ogre, human skin is still difficult to cut through.
That skin was split with a loud sound.
“Don’t go too deep. Stay in formation with your comrades!”
At the command of Ilnon, the mercenaries did not launch additional attacks, but instead retreated.
The mercenaries surrounded the troll and only attacked in the gaps.
In this way, they inflicted one wound after another,
And when 20 minutes had passed since the start of the battle,
The first troll died.
The remaining trolls couldn’t hold on for a few more minutes and fell.
“Collect the blood.”
Normally, monster blood is discarded.
But, the blood of some monsters is valuable, and among them, troll blood is quite expensive.
They filled a prepared container with the blood.
It was a considerable amount when combined with what had been caught before.
“Captain, shall we go back now?”
“…”
There were a lot of monster spoils. The movement was troublesome.
“Hweeyuyu. Captain, why are there so many monsters in Ireland?”
“I don’t know either. I haven’t been here for a few months.”
There is not a single person from Ireland among them. They are all mercenaries who came from the mainland.
“This time, let’s go to the forward base. I heard from the mercenaries we met last time that they’re building a village like Terra.”
“A village?”
“Elwin is also there.”
“The Lord is coming to the forward base.”
The thought of hunting more disappeared.
I wanted to see the Lord after a long time, and I was curious about the new temple that would be built in the new village.
“We’ll camp today and return to the forward base tomorrow.”
“Understood!”
The sun, which was hanging precariously in the west, disappeared,
And deep darkness arrived.
After finishing the meal,
I drew a night watch.
As I was about to fall asleep like that,
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of footsteps echoed.
Inon immediately recognized.
They were human, not monsters.
The mercenaries who were previously asleep rose once again.
Swoosh.
Swoosh.
Monster Island.
Troll territory.
Nothing was too unusual to happen in this place.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
“No hint of hesitation.”
Thinking positively meant no intention to ambush.
Thinking negatively? That much confidence in their skills.
Inon sent a signal.
It was a defensive formation against humans.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of footsteps approached right in front of me.
After a moment,
a man emerged through the trees.
“A knight?”
I could immediately tell from his attire that he wasn’t a mercenary.
“Are you from the Innocent Mercenary Corps? Where is Inon?”
Inon took a step forward.
In a defensive stance.
It’s not common for a human to appear alone in the troll territory.
“I am Inon. Who are you?”
“Me? I am a knight of the Frontier.”
