Chapter 85 – 85 – Pay the Money
“···Let’s run away quickly before our sympathy is appealed to. I don’t like this kind of thing. I’m convinced and leave. It feels like scratching a blackboard with my fingernails.”
“We’ve already made eye contact, Eshen. Unfortunately for you, I think it’s too late.”
“It’s in front of the station. I’m sure he understood that we were planning to leave. It’s a pity, but let’s just listen to the story. If you don’t want to hear it, you can just leave.”
Leni turned behind her and whispered coldly, suddenly making a bright smile on her face and bowing her head politely.
“Yes, this is a warrior’s party. Come closer and talk. What is your business?”
When her aunt stabbed her grandfather in the side, the old man seemed to have suddenly come to his senses and stepped forward.
And he held out a heavy bag in front of Lennie, who was standing in front. Lennie responded softly.
“What is this?”
“So, with even numbers…”
“You mean the start-up fee?”
“···Ah, yes. That’s right. The down payment is 3,000 gold coins.”
One coin weighs about 12g, so 3,000 coins equals 36kg. It’s huge. While the party members looked wistful at the funds raised from the villagers’ property, I, who had a deep occupational disease, admired Noh Ik-jang’s biceps that showed his age.
Lennie asked in a very innocent tone.
“Oh, how much of the balance have you prepared?”
Residents flinched. It seems that the down payment is all that is prepared right now. The old man curled his lips with an expression of great determination.
“···Well, I’ll try to persuade the villagers somehow to prepare. So, please stay-“
Lennie let out a pitiful sigh and took the old man’s hand. The old man looked at Leni with an expression that caught her hope.
“240,000.”
“···Yes?”
“Even 10,000 gold is not enough. The minimum is 240,000.”
“Lenny.”
Nenya called Leni in her soft voice. But Lennie shook her head slightly at her daughter and said coldly:
“Dragon, Spiritual Knight of Lesser Elan, Tigris Fighter and Wooden Mage of Greater Elan. We are all fighters who have been recognized as top-class. We are carefully selected assistants who are experts among experts and do not fall short even when compared to the top-class name. “There are three of them. It would be difficult to find such alchemists, healers, and porters anywhere in the world.”
Villena, who is very interested in recognition, was not happy to hear those words openly. Because that wasn’t something I said to praise her.
Lennie spoke in a stronger tone to the old man whose pupils had begun to tremble.
“I’m sorry, but if we accept that price, our partners who sacrifice their lives to fight monsters will be accused of being greedy. It may not be you, but other people will criticize you. That’s how the world works.”
“If I combine it with the money given by the country, how could it not work?”
“No. In the first place, your country and its representative, Colonel Salamanca, tried to beat us up at a low price. I repeat, such a price is not acceptable.”
Lennie took a breath and then spoke coldly.
“Consider leaving the territory rather than holding us back.”
“···Lenny, that’s harsh! If you reject it, you’ll even be told to abandon your hometown-“
“I’m not saying harsh words, just from experience, Nenya! If the country can’t protect its people with money or the military, wouldn’t it be wiser to leave and run away?”
The party members’ eyes widened. It looks like I’m not the only one seeing Leni and Nenya yelling at each other for the first time.
“Let’s say we solve the demon problem by dying for a cheap price. What will you do if it happens again? Are you going to bring our bodies back from the grave?”
···Is that even included in the experience?
The blade attached to the horse is sharp and fierce. Nenya lowered her head without answering as the sister watched her carefully to see if she had noticed something similar.
Leni immediately turned around to ignore Nenya. With that momentum, even Isil Rune couldn’t bring himself to say anything about helping her.
“We are leaving. If no other party comes to subdue Magul, then don’t blame us and argue with that man named Lorenzo Salamanca.”
“There is nothing wrong with the village chief.”
The kid from before pulled Lennie’s collar. Leni sighed and looked down at her child.
“Is this person here the village chief?”
“No. It’s Grandpa Borro’s son, Uncle Lorenzo.”
“···What?”
————
“This is what happened.”
Lorenzo Salamanca shouted with an expression trying to hide his gloom. Of course, for the attempt to be successful, he would have had to have lived as a less naive person.
Hiding in the bushes, we glanced back at Isilun. Isilun looked almost like he was about to cry.
Lorenzo’s solemn speech, unaware that we were watching, continued.
“If the country was in its right mind… I made a mistake. Under normal circumstances, an honorable public office would never have been given to a farmer like me who used to plow the fields.”
The volunteer soldiers who recruited young people from all nearby villages shouted loudly that this was absolutely not the case. Their argument was that Lorenzo was the person they could trust and entrust with their work.
It was a scene more like a rally of rural people rather than an army. Lorenzo, a respected farmer, seemed to be somewhat comforted by his neighbor’s support. The expressions on the faces of some of the real non-commissioned officers who were watching were rotten.
“But I received the military dog ring seal from the Archduke. So-“
“It’s not military dogs, it’s military authority, Colonel.”
“I’m sorry… Ah, no. I made a mistake. Anyway, I said it. How far did I go?”
“You said you received a ring from the military commander in charge of the six nearby comunes. Just in case, don’t lose it again. You will be court-martialed!”
“What is a komune…?”
I can’t watch it. I wanted to apologize for taking him seriously.
It’s not because he’s funny. In addition to his worries about us, he must have had more than one burden weighing him down.
“Administrative unit. Please, Colonel!”
“···Aha. Anyway, we can’t just hand over our hometown to the monsters that will appear in this town.”
Lorenzo sighed with a blank face.
“The capital will send troops, so let’s hold out for a few days. Let’s set up a fence and prepare torches. The sergeants will help.”
“What about the hero party?”
“···They are not coming. Again, the capital will send troops.”
Lorenzo waved his hand as if he was annoyed and pretended to disperse. The young people dispersed, some hesitantly, others relieved to hear that the real army was coming. The noncommissioned officers who had to line them up looked at the sky and sighed.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo walked slowly along the mountain path behind the alley. And just when he thought everyone’s eyes were gone, he fell to his knees behind a tree and collapsed.
“They’re not coming. The only party that responded, I made a mistake and left. There was no way to catch them.”
“I see.”
“I-I’m sorry. Ah, Enrica. Enrica. I’m sorry…”
“You’re sorry.”
It was only at my second reply that Lorenzo became aware of our presence, who had been watching from hiding on the mountainside.
Lorenzo Salamanca was frightened and fell backwards. I knew that would happen, so I quickly helped him up so he wouldn’t hit his butt.
“But we didn’t go.”
“···Didn’t you go?”
Lorenzo, who was forced to his feet by the porter, nodded his head with a puzzled expression. And he realized that he was suddenly surrounded by combatants.
This is not his barracks, but a forest. Lorenzo nervously glanced sideways at the extermination party members.
“Is there something you want from me?”
“It suits you much more now that you’ve abandoned your tone of forced dignity. No, I don’t have anything to ask for.”
I looked around at the party members as if asking for their consent. Everyone, from Eshen to Isilun, just smiled like conspirators. Lorenzo swallowed his saliva.
“Then why…?”
“We have come to talk not about what we want from you, but about what you want from us.”
“Yes?”
“I will do that. I will invade the heart of the Magul and, if possible, beat up the lord of the Magul like a dog. Even if I cannot get to the demon cave, I will cause trouble within the Magul and prevent the outflow of evil energy.”
Lorenzo sighed and took a deep breath. And in response to my next words, he let out a fuss and a mixed sound.
“Of course, you get paid for the amount of work you put in. You will have to pay twice the price quoted.”
“···Anyway, you must have seen my clumsiness just now, so I will tell you honestly. We are people who farm the land, so we are poor. The gold sent by the country is enough to buy a few low-level mercenaries. The sergeants are thinking of buying help early on. “They advised us to throw away silver and melt down farm equipment to make weapons. So, we don’t have the money to buy your best.”
“There are ways to get money without taking that money out of your wallet.”
I smiled slyly. Lorenzo, who must have read the article about pervert porters, suddenly took a few steps back, covering himself.
I quickly pointed to Lorenzo’s hand to correct the unpleasant misunderstanding.
“I know how to use that thing properly.”
“I am a man who loves his wife!”
“Coincidentally, you are covering that area. No, I am not talking about that. It is the ring you are wearing on the hand you are covering.”
“This is it? The ring of military power?”
“Yes. This is the ring that you lost without knowing why, but I found it for you.”
To be exact, it is a ring that was ‘stolen by a marten.’ I deeply apologized to him for the pain he must have suffered.
Lorenzo nodded his head, but then fell into a different kind of fear.
“If this melts, I will hang myself…!”
“···How many gold coins can I get if I melt it? That’s not it.”
I suppressed my laughter and took out a piece of paper.
“Let’s write a bill.”
————–
The colonel’s seal is stamped in the space of the person who approved the issuance of the bill of exchange. I solemnly unfolded and pressed the corners, which were slightly curled due to carrying it around rolled up.
“Is this okay?”
Villena asked in a frightened voice. I shook my head.
“No.”
“If you can’t do it, why do it?”
“You can do it, but it’s something you shouldn’t do in a humane way. If there are any high-ranking people in the principality who are weak-hearted, they might burst out of shock.”
“Ask the same thing again. Then why are you doing it?”
When Nidroga asked jokingly, I returned a happy smile.
“You’re making me feel bad.”
Now that we know that it was not Lorenzo’s true intention to treat us cheaply, it becomes clear who is responsible.
In the past, Hero Lindborg, whose power gradually grew and became independent as a warlord, continued to have friction with neighboring countries and finally reached an agreement. He agreed to go on an expedition and defeat the monsters in return for recognition as a nation.
The strong soldiers raised through thievery have become a huge mercenary group, and Lindborg’s descendants are dancing on the piles of money they have accumulated through thievery in the past and through mercenary work to this day.
Even though they have such strong soldiers, they are actually stingy when it comes to protecting their own people. Does that make sense?
If you have a lot of money, spend a little. People die, right?
Nidrgar held back his laughter and touched the corner of his mouth a few times, then took off the decoration from his horn and placed it in my hand.
It had an emblem engraved on it, like the ring the duke had given Lorenzo. It was the symbol of someone who would put a chill on the nerves of any powerful person in the world.
In the creditor’s box under the colonel’s seal, I placed the Lord’s seal.
