Episode 61: Where to Use a Fool? (4)
Vanessa’s madness was mostly due to learning the Mana training method incorrectly, but it may also have been due to the hurt she received from the people in the world.
The resentment that had built up in my heart must have surfaced as a result of the wrong mana cultivation method.
Even among the knights, there were some who fell into such a state of mind while practicing.
‘But this life will be different.’
Jiselle intended to teach her the proper way to practice mana and see to it.
If you can teach Vanessa to use her talents to her fullest, she will be of great help in this war.
Because time is short, I won’t be able to accumulate as much magic power as I need… … I’ve thought about that part separately as well.
‘I’ll help you make sure that doesn’t happen again this time.’
If that was the case, I had to bring her here, even if it meant using threats. Of course, Jiselle didn’t use threats or anything.
Having achieved all of the goals I had set for myself on the Red Flame Tower, I felt incredibly rewarded. Jiselle smiled with satisfaction and said:
“The deal is done, so I will leave now. I will return with the runestone as soon as the situation in the territory stabilizes.”
When the tower master and the elders heard that they were leaving, they were overtly delighted.
I couldn’t help but be happy when the guy I hated to see said he would go away on his own.
But Hubert’s mouth, honed at numerous social gatherings, was the problem.
“Oh my, why are you leaving so soon? Let’s take a look around the city and rest a bit before we go. I’m not bragging, but I’ve been putting a lot of effort into running the city, so there’ll be more to see here than in other places.”
Hubert looked secretly proud.
“Hmm, is that so?”
But when Jiselle responded positively, everyone’s expressions immediately crumpled.
The elders looked at Hubert and scolded him for saying such useless things.
Hubert also looked at a loss, with an expression like he was chewing on rotten ginger.
‘Ah, you clueless brat.’
It is a basic social skill to notice and reject polite remarks, but the rude guy in front of me was not showing any of those basics.
Jiselle chuckled to herself as she watched the wizards’ expressions change from moment to moment.
‘They say acting is really bad.’
Although he himself is not a very good actor, the magicians’ acting skills were so blatantly bad.
After all, how often would they, who were considered to be very talented from a young age, have had to try to please others?
It was fun to play around with, but… …. Jiselle had a lot to do to waste time here.
“No. I have a lot of work to do, so I guess I’ll have to go now. I’ll come back next time and enjoy it.”
Then Hubert’s face brightened suddenly. He spoke hurriedly before Giselle could change her mind.
“Yes, yes. The Archduke must not be away from the territory for too long. I have already prepared the money, so check it out. I will also send the wizards without delay.”
The wizards were scheduled to depart at a later time and enter the territory separately from Giselle and her party.
If we move together, rumors may spread that a wizard from the Red Flame Tower has followed us.
Giselle emphasized to Hubert once again.
“You must also make sure that Vanessa arrives safely at the estate. Until then, please take care of her as best you can. She is now my personal wizard, so you must treat her very well. I cannot allow her to get hurt.”
“Of course! Don’t worry, we’ll treat you like a very special guest.”
Hubert answered, even getting excited.
Giselle approached Vanessa and spoke in a soft voice.
“I’d like to set off with you, but circumstances dictate that it won’t be possible. Anyway, be careful.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
Vanessa’s expression was dark beyond belief. Giselle urged her once more.
“If someone is harassing you, you must tell them. Don’t keep it inside. If you do, it will explode and you will be in big trouble. Do you understand?”
Vanessa simply nodded, even though she did not understand the words.
“all right.”
Jiselle patted her shoulder twice and turned around.
When we all came down to the lobby together, mercenaries were already waiting there.
The cart was loaded with chests full of gold coins.
“Check the amount.”
As soon as Giselle gave the order, the mercenaries immediately started counting the money.
The wizards made unpleasant expressions. How could they possibly think that they would have given them less money, checking it out right in front of them so vulgarly? How could they possibly have seen them!
After a while, the mercenaries spoke with a puzzled look on their faces.
“I’m short 3 gold. Wizards are supposedly smart, but I guess they can’t count money properly?”
In an instant, the wizards’ faces turned bright red.
It seems like a mistake was made because the amount was so large.
It was a small amount compared to the size of the transaction, but it was an extremely embarrassing mistake considering the reputation of Matap.
Hubert stuttered in embarrassment.
“It looks like the person in charge of the calculation made a mistake. I’ll check it again. I’m sorry.”
Jiselle sighed and called out to someone.
“Gordon.”
“… … .”
Gordon quietly reached into his groin, pulled out five gold coins, and placed them into the chest.
“… … ?”
There was silence in the lobby for a moment.
Not only was Gordon taking it a problem, but the mercenaries’ calculations were also wrong.
Kaor grabbed Gordon by the neck and dragged him into a corner, swinging his fists.
“You pee-pee bastard! I’m not letting this slide today. You said you don’t care about money?”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“Ugh! Sorry! I thought I could get what I was going to get anyway… … Ugh! Stop hitting me! I can’t stand it? Ouch! Stop the violence!”
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Hubert and the elders just blinked as they watched Gordon being beaten in the corner.
Jiselle smiled awkwardly at them.
“I’m sorry about this. There are so many people who are so illiterate. Hahaha. Well then, I guess I’ll go now.”
Before the wizards could say anything, Giselle quickly turned around and said.
“Come on, let’s get going, you ignorant bastards.”
Jiselle and her party quickly left the tower.
Until then, the wizards stood there blankly, unable to say anything.
As soon as she left the city, Jiselle seemed to realize something and let out an “Ah.”
“What’s going on?”
“I forgot to mention the gatekeeper.”
Belinda looked at Giselle in bewilderment.
“Weren’t you just teasing me because you were annoyed?”
“Don’t tease me, I’m always serious.”
“What a… … .”
Gillian blocked Belinda’s gaze from glaring at him.
“Your Majesty’s plan has truly succeeded. I never imagined that Matap would accept all of the conditions.”
“It seems like your luck has finally changed, Master. Everything you do is going well.”
“Aren’t they all just idiots, not wizards? Why on earth did you listen to them all?”
“Yeah, they must be idiots. You’ll meet a lot of idiots in the future.”
There was a clear reason, but she couldn’t explain it now. Jiselle just laughed.
“By the way, why did you hire that woman as your exclusive magician? She seems completely useless.”
Kaor asked again.
An ordinary woman with no energy or spirit at all.
It seems that she worked as a maid at the top of the mountain, so she cannot be highly educated or have a good reputation.
But Giselle just laughed without answering that question.
“You’ll find out later.”
Kaor looked puzzled for a moment, then gave Giselle a thumbs up. A sinister smile appeared on his lips, as if he was wondering what she was thinking.
Jiselle ignored Kaor and spoke to Gillian.
“We’ve only just gotten to the top of the ladder. Now we need to prepare for the next step.”
“All right.”
We couldn’t let our guard down because we didn’t know what kind of person the enemy would put forward or how much force they would bring.
To let your guard down in war is to throw away your life.
Jiselle wanted a sure victory.
‘We’ll show you that anyone who touches us will die.’
His determined expression was colder than ever.
* * *
Homer, the governor of Ferdium, spent each day waiting for Giselle to arrive.
Since the strategy of asking people around me for favors had failed, the only way was to ask for money directly.
However, the Archduke who had gone to sell the rune stone did not return even after a month.
‘What? Why aren’t they coming? Did they meet bandits and get robbed?’
Once I had a strange thought, I couldn’t sleep properly.
It was a situation where one could not help but feel worried.
Giselle is the hope of this land. No, not Giselle, but the runestone he took was the hope of Ferdium.
‘What if I got caught by bandits and died? How stupid! That’s why I should have taken more soldiers with me!’
In reality, even if we called them soldiers, the reality was that in the current situation of Ferdium, they couldn’t even provide support for a hundred people.
Still, Homer was convinced, it was better than nothing.
‘Even if the Archduke is dead, we can still collect the Rune Stones from the territory… … No, come to think of it, we don’t even have the money to hire laborers!’
I was worried about the Archduke’s safety, but if he really died, I also had to think about what to do with the remaining rune stones.
Since Jiselle made a path to where the rune stone is, it should be easy to find.
‘Ah! I can’t tell if he’s alive or dead, it’s driving me crazy. What should I do?’
The castle was in an uproar with talk about the Grand Duke, perhaps because the other vassals were worried.
Since the northern fortress could not be left empty forever, Count Ferdium had to return to the fortress soon, but since Giselle had not returned, the Count could not leave either.
Since he left without even telling me where he was going, I can’t even guess where he is now.
‘This won’t work. I have to go find it first. Where on earth did it go?’
Homer waited for two more days, then finally received permission from Zwalter to form a pursuit force. It was a small force of about ten soldiers per knight.
Although they didn’t have the capacity to form a large-scale tracking force, the size of the force that Jiselle had brought with her was so large that it wouldn’t be difficult to find out about her whereabouts even without using many people.
Just as they were about to open the gate and depart, a group of people approached from afar, raising a cloud of dust.
“What, what is it?”
“Who broke in? There was no police?”
“City gate! Close the city gate first!”
Hundreds of armed men were advancing. They were not even waving flags, so it was difficult to identify them.
The terrified people closed the gate and went in to see what was going on.
“Oh, that guy?”
One of the knights was surprised to see the man riding in front.
He was the archduke who had left the territory.
“It’s the Grand Duke! The Grand Duke has returned!”
“Then what about the troops behind them?”
“Are they mercenaries? Their equipment is too good for something like that.”
When Homer heard the news that Giselle had returned, he ran out to the castle gate in a panic.
He opened his mouth wide as he saw the troops following Giselle.
“Oh my god, what is that?”
Jiselle stopped her horse in front of the castle gate and laughed heartily.
“Did the General come out to greet you?”
“Ah, no, Your Highness! What is this? What on earth is going on with the troops behind you?”
“These are the people hired to pioneer the Demon Forest and defend the territory.”
“Are you hired? Are you mercenaries?”
“you’re right.”
Homer looked at the mercenaries in astonishment.
Although the weapons were all different, the armor and horses were almost identical in appearance and shined like new.
Homer asked, suppressing his ominous feelings.
“Even if you clear the forest, what do you mean by defending the territory?”
“Now that the Runestone resource site has been discovered, aren’t other lords going to invade? We need to prepare.”
Homer touched his forehead at Giselle’s words that seemed so obvious.
‘You idiot! You think war is child’s play!’
If rumors about the Rune Stone spread, a war of attrition would break out someday, but not right away.
“You can hire mercenaries when the war starts! How long after you’ve obtained the runestone will it take for another lord to invade? It’s going to take at least a year for something like that to happen, already!”
Although Homer spoke passionately, Giselle just shrugged her shoulders with an indifferent expression.
Homer was wrong.
If you start recruiting mercenaries after the war starts, you won’t be able to gather them properly. No one will take Ferdium’s side.
But even if I said that now, who would believe me?
It would have been better to just prepare on my own even if I was treated like a crazy person.
“Anyway, I can’t help it since I’ve already hired them. If there’s no war, I can just use them to develop the Demon Forest.”
“Ugh… … Then what about the money? How much is left for the runestones I sold this time?”
“I wrote it all down.”
“yes?”
“I’ve spent all my money hiring mercenaries and preparing supplies, so now I have no money left.”
“Not a penny?”
“Not a penny.”
“… … .”
“… … .”
A moment of silence passed between the two.
Homer, his eyes moist, clutched his forehead and staggered.
