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We’ll be going a little back in time.
The motion for sending envoys to the Equus tribe unexpectedly passed with little objection in the council.
The reason was Regal DeBell did not particularly oppose the motion.
For him, there’s no point to trading with savage tribes but he also thinks there’s little point to particularly oppose that motion.
In other words, he’s just not interested.
After it was decided to send the first envoy to the Equus tribe, Almis hurriedly went back to his territory to begin war preparations.
For this war, in addition to the 800 regulars, the Ars territory conscripted around 1,200 more for a combined force of 2,000. That would be around 6% to 7% of the population.
Although it was planned to not drag the war on for more than 20 days, the responsibility ((of mobilizing such a force)) is nevertheless daunting.
Since the Ars Citizens themselves are aware of their precarious position living in a territory directly bordering the De Morgal Kingdom, there probably won’t be any big opposition particularly since Almis has been exercising good governance.
The treasury, too, was particularly stable thanks to the support of the salt and paper industries.
The remaining problem is soldier quality.
Therefore, he immediately obligated the citizenry to participate in the military drills.
Once every week, he would have around 10 to 20 villages gathered together and perform drills.
If it’s just to that extent, then the farmers won’t be too angry.
Besides, one of the objectives is to instill a sense of danger among the citizenry.
Now, there are still things to do apart from supplying the soldiers.
First is to order Ismere, Qingming, and Lulu to further reinforce and inspect the new fort. This is to strengthen the fort rock solid ((to withstand the expected attack.))
The point is to put up a sorcery barrier around the fort and to make it more fortified than ever before.
Futhermore, Almis and Tetra have together began developing new defensive siege equipment.
Soyon was assigned to King Rosyth’s sorcerers. They were made to survey the De Morgal Kingdom’s geography. Using owls, they explored past midnight so they wouldn’t be found that easily.
Well, the De Morgal Kingdom was probably doing the same against the Rosyth Kingdom anyway.
Ron, Roswald, and Gram, on the other hand, are responsible for the soldiers’ training.
As for Yal…
He left for the DeBell Territory together with several subordinates. They were mobilized to the territory disguised as merchants.
Around ten years ago, when Ron and the others were still children, currency was not that yet widely circulated. However, within these ten tears, the Adernia Peninsula voluntarily and rapidly transformed into a monetary economy. The primary causes were the Adernian kings, princes, and clansmen desire for foreign goods, their adoption of Cretian culture, and the advent of the study of the Cretian language.
As such, it wouldn’t be strange to see merchants and the like.
Of course, in the DeBell territory too.
While recently all the merchants are heading for the Ars territory, there are still those who go to the DeBell territory.
At first, Yal acted like a normal merchant, trading goods here and there.
Then he devoted himself to gathering information.
It’s not that particularly strange for merchants to gather information. Yal slowly gathered information regarding the DeBell territory from other merchants, farmers, and the like.
The efforts paid off and he was able to identify the DeBell clan’s power structure.
As expected, the clan is divided into the Relative and Non-Relative Factions. The former is headed by Gilberto while the latter was headed by Bermet.
It seems that Bermet has gathered excellent and talented people over time.
The DeBell Clan somehow managed to become the most powerful clan in the Rosyth Kingdom (before the resurgence of the Ars Clan.)
Because the head of the Rosyth Clan – King Rosyth is ill, their prospects are bleak. A lot of personnel have been going to the DeBell territory.
Bermet would then pick them out and assign them official duties.
Although you might say the DeBell clan is monopolizing the important offices, it’s not like it’s completely impossible to get one.
Besides, once Regal DeBell becomes king, there’s enough chance that you’d finally get your turn for one.
It’s not like he has a lot of relatives after all.
Furthermore, should Bermet overcome the power struggle, he could secure an important post in the Rosyth Kingdom and he could also become a territorial lord.
Having said that, it’s not like there’s no dissatisfaction against them.
Plus, it’s not like all the personnel have a sense of gratitude to Bermet.
There are a lot of people thinking of leaving and offering their services to other territorial lords after completely failing to obtain good assessment.
Yal is targeting those people.
It happened in the Third Month.
Yal speaks to a man of the DeBell Territory.
“Ah, Yal, is it? Come on in.”
This man, a soldier of the DeBell Territory, called Decurion Joseph invites the merchant Yal into his house.
(TLN: Decurion literally means Ten Person Officer. Will use Latin Decurion since it literally means the same thing. However, I don’t yet know if this Joseph commands cavalry as in the Roman sense of the word.)
Josef has been living off a salary of wheat from the DeBell clan. Naturally speaking, man cannot live on wheat alone.
Thus, Joseph sells his wheat in exchange for vegetables, meat, and liquor. However….the value of wheat has recently fallen despite the harvest yield not really changing much.
Though he has no way of knowing, the reason was because of Almis. The wheat that Almis had been paying to the DeBell Territory as reparations have been driving down its market value.
Let’s get back to the story.
Since the value of wheat has fallen, Joseph was forced to tighten his belt and live a horrible life.
It was around that time that Yal entered the picture.
Yal was selling unusually cheap vegetables. As a matter of course, Yal and Joseph soon became good friends.
“I can’t take this anymore~” (Joseph)
Joseph complains to Yal as he drinks his liquor.
One thing is that his abilities aren’t being properly acknowledged.
Joseph was excellent in sword and spear fighting that he managed to take down several enemies during the war with King Ferrum. He defeated all enemies he encountered.
Bermet caught his attention so he got employed into the army.
He was an existence acknowledged for his unusual excellence as decurion.
However, he couldn’t become a centurion. All centurion offices have been monopolized by DeBell’s relatives. Naturally, he was grateful for Bermet. However, gratitude won’t feed him.
‘Why does someone excellent like me have to go through such hardships in life?’ he thought.
Seeing such a Joseph, Yal thought it was the perfect opportunity so he began his pitch.
“Then why not just serve the Ars Territory? I can guarantee you the status of centurion. I’ll get you ten times more than you get now as salary. We’ll also prepare a residence for you.” (Yal)
“Haha, that would be nice….huh?” (Joseph)
Joseph reflexively asks again.
Yal laughs grinning.
“I am Yal, an operative working for Lord Almis Ars. Well, right now I’m passing myself off as a merchant.” (Yal)
“Haha, so it was a ruse huh.” (Joseph)
“I had no choice but to do this to ascertain your feelings. So, what do you say?” (Yal)
Joseph was greatly tempted.
However…
“……Regal DeBell is the main candidate for the next king. There’s no way I’m jumping off a winning ship. Besides I owe a lot to Lord Bermet, I’m gratefu….” (Joseph)
“Grateful? Should you even have such gratitude to that person? Isn’t it because of Bermet that right now you have no choice but to live a life of great poverty? That person saved your life, you say? Weren’t you just saying that if I wasn’t here you would have no choice but to go into debt, right? Furthermore, it’s not like it’s been decided that Regal DeBell would be succeeding as king. Besides, aren’t things suspicious lately?” (Yal)
Yal presses Joseph for an answer.
At present, there are two rumors circulating regarding King Rosyth’s relatives.
The first rumor was that Raymond would be the next king. He’s the best choice genealogically speaking so it’s not a strange rumor.
The second rumor was that Almis Ars would be chosen as the supreme commander of the army in the war against King De Morgal.
In other words, the rumors aren’t farfetched.
It was just some time ago that the DeBell Army suffered a miserable loss to the Ars Army.
That event had huge repercussions…..It gave exceptional credibility to the rumors. Even if you doubt the credibility, the rumors were mostly true though.
“My lord, Almis Ars is young. He still has a lot ahead of him. Furthermore, it’s been rumored that he will be chosen as the supreme commander of the army for the next war. He’s close with King Rosyth after all. Also, he’s being tormented by a shortage of good personnel. He doesn’t have any relatives too. You’d have several chances of rising through the ranks.” (Yal)
Practically speaking, the Ars army lacks commanders for the battlefield.
The thirty tax collectors of the Ars Territory are general purpose public servants that can both fight and do finance.  However, there’s no way all of them could be brought to the battlefield.
It will mess up the territory’s management after all.
Some of them have to be assigned as direct escorts of Almis.
Considering that, they would want four to five centurions.
After worrying for some time, Joseph asks Yal:
“Three days, can you wait for my answer in three days?” (Joseph)
“That’s fine. Don’t make your new house in the Ars Territory wait for too long. (Yal)
Yal leaves with a laugh.
Yal then visits the next house.
The master of the house welcomes him.
“Please, come inside.”
Her name is Dora. (TLN: Dudutdutdutdu Dora~)
She’s a sorcerer specializing in using dogs.
“Here’s the usual liquor. Also, the medicinal plants.” (Yal)
“Thank you very much. You saved me.” (Dora)
Dora pays for Yal’s merchandise with wheat.
After having a friendly chat for a while, Dora opens up to Yal.
“Actually, I have something to consult with you.” (Dora)
“What is it?” (Yal)
“You see, I received a marriage proposal from a DeBell clansman.” (Dora)
Naturally, Yal already knew. It’s a popular story amongst the sorcerers working for the DeBell Clan after all.
Or perhaps you should say it is for this reason that Yal approached Dora.
He also knew why she’s so troubled. However, he’s pretending to be in the dark.
“Isn’t that a wonderful thing? You’d be marrying into wealth, yes?” (Yal)
“It’s completely horrible, you know!!!” (Dora)
Dora raises her voice.
“That man, his appearance is….well THAT. He’s also over 50 years…. At the very least, he’s not my type. Furthermore, he has 5 wives PLUS 10 sex slaves, you know.” (Dora)
Sorcerers have high pride as women.
That’s because they receive even more favorable treatment than normal male retainers due to their unique sorcery abilities.
Not only do they have high salaries, they’re pretty much free from troubles in life.
Therefore, there’s no need to desperately chase after a rich man. A sex maniac with several wives is out of the question.
In the first place, she won’t be able to stand being treated as a typical wife the same way as a woman who’s not a sorcerer would be.
Dora holds this kind of sentiment.
If the one who proposed were very good-looking or had an incredibly high social status then she might have considered.
However, the one who proposed did not by any standard have that high of a social status.
The established reputation of the DeBell Clan only has value within the DeBell territory itself.
She’s not desperate for a man to the extent that he’d marry with such a small fish.
“However, in this territory, if I go against the DeBell Tribe then my job will be…..
I can’t rely on Bermet, too. Is there a good place of employment anywhere? You’re a merchant so I thought you’d probably know something.” (Dora)
“Yes, I know somewhere you can go.” (Yal)
Yal visits the third house.
The master of this house is a man who has about a quarter Cretian blood.
He can speak fluent Cretian and specializes in calculations. He is a very excellent man.
“Yal, I’m sorry…..Can you please give me one more month? I’ll definitely pay you back by then.”
Despite this, Amerigo has been living a very distressed life.
Since a lot of the clansmen are attracted by Cretian culture, a lot of them have also put great importance in writing.
However, there are also a lot who hold a different opinion.
In the Adernia Peninsula where wars and petty squabbles are a frequent occurrence and the danger of getting attacked by bears and lions are ever present, physical strength trumps all.
Thus, scholarship and learning where the results are hard to see tend to be despised.
This trend is currently strong particularly in the DeBell territory.
Although Bermet who was the only one who noticed him gave him a post, his life had been particularly bitter. His salary too was not that high.
Well, the Amerigo clan having a huge family of 9 people consisting of a too old to work grandmother, the wife, and six children played a huge part in their poverty.
Supporting eight people with Amerigo’s salary alone is impossible.
Since the children are still young, he has misgivings with having them work away from home.
He has thought of relocating to another territory but there are no jobs except in the DeBell territory.
In the first place, with the exception of the Ars territory, no one bothers with doing troublesome things such as accurately collecting taxes, conducting land surveys, and creating certificates of residence.
The great clansmen who put high value in letters on the other hand are satisfied with having just one or two people who can speak Cretian.
Furthermore, only a few would dare hire people who would have to leave from the DeBell Clan. A lot of them are afraid of inciting the wrath of the clan.
“No, that would be a problem, you see. I didn’t loan it as good will after all.” (Yal)
Yal answers with what seems like a bothered voice.
Amerigo clings to Yal and begs.
“Please, I beg of you!!” (Amerigo)
“No. Is what I wanted to say, but….” (Yal)
Yal smiles and says:
“I’ll tell you about this huge opportunity to have your debt immediately written off while being able to earn a salary several times bigger than what you earn. How is it? Would you like to know more?” (TLN: He sounds like a scam artist haha)
Just like that, Yal succeded in headhunting three talented people.