Episode 14
I can’t make clothes, but I’ve always seen clothes made with care. I’ve also seen many instances of clothes being made. Thanks to my two life experiences, I’ve developed an eye for clothes.
“It’s 42 gold and 22 silver, but please give me only 40 gold.”
When he came to, he saw that one of Hebron’s wagons was full of fabric and cutting materials.
Forty gold pieces was a burden to the poor Baron of Hebron.
‘This is an investment. An investment for Hebron. And for my father.’
It felt strange to me that I was doing something for my father. The Duke of Breyo was not satisfied with anything I did, and the other children were not willing to do anything for the Duke.
It was just a matter of letting his talent blossom.
‘My father would like it.’
My father was very skilled with his hands. If I showed him the latest fashions in the capital, he would surely make a dress that was incomparable to that 2 gold and 50 silver dress.
I did make some unexpected purchases, but I didn’t feel burdened because I earned more money than I expected.
I bought a few more items as planned.
“I want to see the weapon.”
“Come this way.”
Compared to the money I worked hard to earn for over a month, the time I spent the money was short.
Good quality swords, shields, and spears for soldiers to use were especially expensive, as they were roughly made and the weapons were not well balanced.
Unfortunately, Hebron’s technical skills were not enough to produce weapons of this quality.
‘We need talent. For now, maybe technicians, administrative experts, and wizards who can handle urgent matters?’
If I had been educated as a lord by the Duke of Braio, it would have been much easier to manage the estate. Unfortunately, I was the third child, and I was destined to be erased from the Duke of Braio’s roster.
Fortunately, in my previous life, I was a book addict who had to read anything to get a good night’s sleep, so I read the textbooks used in Youngju’s education.
I had a list in my head. I used to be interested in those who were kicked out of the Breio dukedom. I often imagined gathering them together and taking over the Breio dukedom.
“I would like to hire a worker, can you help me find one?”
“I will speak to the Lord.”
“Tell them I want to buy slaves too.”
“There is nothing ready right now.”
“It doesn’t matter. I need more than one slave. It seems like the story will be long, so tell the boss to come find me.”
“Yes, your highness.”
Slave trading was legal in Zeno’s kingdom. It was highly unlikely that the royal family would ban a business that collected so many taxes.
Most of them were descendants of the alien race that lost the war against the Zenon Kingdom long ago, and occasionally, a family from a family that committed treason was sold as a slave. There were also slaves from other countries, but their number was not large. This was because prisoners of war were sent back to their homeland at a high price.
‘For now, slave soldiers are the best option. If you use them for a few months, you’ll be able to command a decent number of soldiers. If you use them viciously, you can even create a slave knight troop in a short period of time.’
The most certain way to increase Hebron’s military power in the short term was to hire a ‘mercenary band’. It was cheaper than buying slaves right away, and they were good at fighting, so they didn’t need training.
‘Mercenaries cannot be trusted. They will leave Hebron one day.’
In the long run, slaves were better. They could not harm their masters, and were bound by a magical contract to obey them without question. It may seem unreasonable to buy such shabby things at such high prices, but to those skilled in training, slaves were the best soldiers.
‘If you combine the swordsmanship of ascension, the aura training method, and the characteristics of a slave soldier who does not fear death, you should be able to deal with the knights of the bard’s house.’
After a while, the owner came to see me.
His expression was completely different from before. It was as if he had smelled money on me.
“We can provide you with as many workers as you want. Among those under contract with our company, there are quite a few skilled workers.”
“We only hire 20 people on a half-year contract.”
“2 gold per person, total 40 gold deposit.”
Without the introduction of the Serpens Upper, it would have been impossible to hire 20 workers long term.
In a situation where the goblin purge had not been announced, no worker in his right mind would go to Hebron.
“Is there a particular slave you want?”
“The price is around 20 gold, and the age is between fifteen and twenty for humans. Gender and race do not matter. As long as you are not particularly sick or lazy, that is fine. Number of people is 50.”
Twenty gold was the price of a horse. With fifty horses, the trotting soldiers of Hebron could be transformed into a cavalry force.
Of course, a war horse carrying an armed knight and roaming the battlefield costs over 50 gold.
“A 20 gold slave is ordinary. Are you okay with them?”
Slaves who were born with talent were sold for a high price.
You had to give at least 50 gold, and some of the more notable ones were worth over 100 gold.
“Ordinary slaves with no special talents. That’s exactly what I want.”
“1,000 gold. If you give me 100 gold as a deposit, I will prepare 100 people and visit Hebron. You can choose half of them.”
The Serpens upper house’s eyes lit up. It was the moment when he could dispose of the slaves he had in cash and grab a thousand gold coins.
“I will give you something else instead of money.”
“yes?”
A look of disappointment crossed the merchant’s face. He seemed to know the old adage that when dealing with poor lords, only cash should be exchanged. However, the merchant quickly controlled his expression and looked at me.
I approached the top lord and whispered.
“An ancient magic circle that tests magical qualities. You don’t even need a magic stone.”
Gulp!
The head of the serpent swallowed dry saliva. His brows furrowed. He seemed annoyed.
“… … I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
The head of the Serpens was in his late 40s. He must have been exposed to a lot of information throughout his life, but the ancient magic circle was not included among them.
It was a natural thing. Among the magicians of the Magic Tower, only a few archmages who had paid attention to the ancient magic circle knew about this magic circle.
Among them, only one person, the Magic Tower Master, had actually activated the magic circle, and to him, the magic circle had no value.
“How great would it be if a magic circle that I’ve never even heard of existed?”
“Do you have it? Do you have that ancient magic circle, Young Master?”
The head of the household looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“Prepare 100 slaves and bring them to Hebron. I will choose 50 of them. If you like, you can choose all 100.”
“If the ancient magic circle you mentioned does not exist, you must pay a penalty.”
I took 200 gold from the money I received from the merchant and gave it to him.
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“It’s a deposit. If what I said turns out to be false, you can take all the money. You can take all the slaves too. But if what I said turns out to be true, you can take the money back.”
It was a business that had no loss for the top stock of Suspense.
If the magic circle I spoke of turns out to be real, he will make even more money.
“I will go to Hebron in ten days.”
“Don’t wait.”
* * *
As befitting a lord’s castle in a territory that had developed through commerce, the Baron Nurha Castle was decorated splendidly.
Purple carpets were laid here and there, as if trying to keep up with the latest fashion in the capital, but the carpets and the painted wooden floors created an odd dissonance.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Louis de Hebron.”
“Baron Nurhah. You don’t remember me, do you? Your father and I have a deep connection.”
Baron Nurhah treated me with a stern demeanor. He was in his early fifties, close to the average life expectancy in the Kingdom of Zenon. The average life expectancy for a nobleman was easily over seventy.
“Unfortunately, I have not heard any stories from my father.”
“Is that so?”
Nurha’s eyebrows twitched. His face turned red as if he thought I was going to fart.
Nurha glared at me with her twinkling eyes and asked me:
“You defeated the goblins in the forest?”
“Yes.”
“I heard you became a fire elementalist.”
“That’s what happened.”
I drank the tea that Nurhha’s maid brought out. It was just so-so, unremarkable tea.
‘This is a car that suits Baron Nurhya perfectly.’
“Congratulations. Hebron is also producing talented people. Our eldest son is in the Royal Academy. He is training in swordsmanship. The second son is also planning to enter the Royal Academy soon.”
“I see. I understand. Now that you’ve finished speaking, I’ll get up now. If we don’t leave now, it looks like we’ll be spending the night in the forest.”
I greeted him politely, but I never looked at Baron Nurhya. I thought I would feel sick if I looked at his greasy face.
“Do you know that you have to pay taxes when trading in the Nurhah Territory?”
“That only applies to merchants.”
It was natural to impose taxes on commercial activities in the territory. That was the authority of the lord. However, it was difficult to find a precedent for imposing taxes on the purchaser, not the merchant who was the subject of the commercial activity.
“I made some changes to the land tax law early this year. The tax is 30%.”
If I were to appeal to the royal court and determine who was right and who was wrong, it would be a case I would have no choice but to win. However, it would take more than two weeks by carriage from Hebron to the royal court. This is assuming that there are no incidents or accidents along the way.
In the remote fiefdoms, the baron was the king. In fact, even in the early days of Zeno’s kingdom, the baron was a powerful ruling class that did not pay taxes to the king.
I straightened my clothes. It was a habit that came out when I suppressed sharp emotions that were about to burst out.
The ability to hide one’s feelings from a nobleman was a great asset.
“Then there is no need to pay taxes. I was just about to cancel all the transactions. Come to think of it, Hebron is extremely poor.”
“Are you trying to humiliate me?”
“How could that be? I am just giving someone a chance. The soldiers of Hebron who defeated the goblin horde are hungry. They have tasted blood. If they do not find their next target, they will quickly go crazy and run wild. As you know, that is usually the case with uneducated people.”
“How dare you threaten me!”
Nodding, he greeted Nurhya with a nod.
It seemed to him that it was meant as an affirmation rather than a greeting.
“Please stay safe, until we meet again.”
After taking a quick look at Baron Nurhya, he opened the door to the reception room. The soldiers standing outside stood up tensely and rolled their eyes.
“Guards!”
The two guards responded to Nurha’s command.
They stuck out their spears from both sides, blocking my path.
“Inferno.”
A muscular spirit descended, causing karma. The soldiers were at a loss as the flames swept across the castle, seemingly ready to engulf it at any moment.
I showed mercy to the innocent soldiers.
“If you want to live, run away.”
The soldiers didn’t run away. They didn’t attack me either.
“Arrest him now!”
Nurha’s orders were not carried out.
The sound of soldiers coming up the stairs was heard. They stopped abruptly as they were climbing up to the second floor where the office was. It was because they had discovered a mid-level fire spirit.
There was no one in the Baronial Territory of Nurhah who could compare to the mid-level spirits.
I said, pushing away the soldiers’ spearheads with my fingertips.
“If you want to succeed… … open wide the gates and welcome Hebron.”
* * *
The deal with the top of the serpent has been cancelled.
No, it was postponed for a moment. They heard the denunciation of the Baron of Nurha, that the special laws of the territory applied only to the Baron of Hebron.
A wagon from the top of the serpent followed us. The owner of the serpent had gone out to fetch the slaves, and said he would arrive at Hebron within ten days.
