Chapter 24 – 2. Marginal Reconstruction Period (4)
There are a total of three places that can be called the center of the northern border of the Gallic Kingdom. One is, of course, Lemoang Citadel, where the margrave’s family is staying, two are the nearby city of Havre, and the third is Saint-Bour, a town located relatively south.
“If you want to work in the future, you will need someone to help you. Right now, you need to be conscious of the people around you to some extent, so choose one henchman. For now, I think it would be better to handle things like that.”
“The soldier named Antoine, whom you hired earlier, was fine.”
“Oh, I think I know who it is. I don’t even know the name, but I remember the face roughly.”
Returning to the citadel corridor, Oriane immediately found a nearby soldier and summoned him. It was virtually impossible to memorize all the names of more than five hundred guards, but instead I remembered the faces of a few diligent ones.
Antoine was such a person.
“Did you call, madam?”
Antoine, who came running from a distance, armed and panting, saluted. At least the basics were to come out with a fairly angular shape while holding his spear.
“Your name is Antoine?”
Oriane asked quietly. Rome just watched silently. Antoine, who was holding his breath to avoid showing ugliness, replied in a voice so fast that it was hard to believe that he was invincible.
“That’s right.”
“Who is your direct supervisor?”
“This is Mathieu Peltier.”
After the death of the Marquis, Lemoang’s military authority was divided into two. One was a soldier belonging to the vice-count and four barons, and the other was a group of old knights leading the fortress soldiers. Mathieu was the oldest knight among them, and could be said to be a man who had been loyal to the frozen land all his life.
The deceased margrave and his wife Orianne were warriors who fought for this land even before they were born.
“What is your rank and career?”
“This year is the 12th year for the general bottle.”
“That’s enough qualifications.”
“Hey, if you’re not rude, may I ask what you’re doing?”
Antoine asked cautiously. In Gaul, a class society, it was not easy for a commoner without any support to open his mouth to aristocrats first. A picky noble would sometimes take it as a challenge to me.
In that context, Antoine’s question was brave. That much also meant that it was difficult for him to hold back his curiosity.
“Soldier Antoine, from this moment on, I will appoint you as the 10th commander of our Marquis of Lemoyn.”
“Yes?”
“A formal notice will be issued soon, so please go through the promotion process. Let me speak to Lord Peltier himself. The class is the seed of the knight Sir Romuald Dior here. From now on, I hope that he faithfully assists me, assuming that his will is my will.”
As if Oriane had understood, he waited for an answer. Antoine, who had been dazed, understood the situation belatedly and recited in amazement.
“Sir, are you talking about the tens commander?”
The Gallian deputy commander is literally a low-ranking officer with ten soldiers under his command. However, unlike the ordinary central government, the meaning of the position of chief of the 10th department at the border is by no means small. As long as you always maintain the wartime system, you get a little more salary and better discretion.
“Okay. It seems that Sir Dior took note of your performance the other day.”
“Ah…!”
“We, Lemoang, do not forget those who devoted themselves to the frozen land. It will be difficult right now as the situation in the territory is very chaotic, but after the case is over, I will assign ten soldiers to you.”
“Poem, it is indeed an honor. Following your wife’s words, I will give my life to the knight.”
“It’s great.”
Antoine made an expression of admiration. Although he was a story among soldiers like him, it was a rare and unconventional greeting for an ordinary soldier to be promoted to 10th division commander in one morning.
Unlike a soldier who would normally retire even if he had accumulated experience unless he had a special military service, he could rise to the top according to his achievements from his from the 10th division commander onwards. The position where he could enjoy rights as much as the responsibilities he was given was the rank that Antoine had been promoted to today.
“Your performance last time was very impressive, Mr. Antoine.”
“Thank you for the recommendation. I will serve you with all my heart and soul.”
“Thank you. Then I’m going to go ahead and do one thing right away.”
“Yes, just give me orders.”
Rom rhymed with the mention of a center in the Margrave.
“First, go to the Lucerne store in Havre. There, summon the person in charge in the name of Madame Lemoang. Next, you should stop by the Brullin Mercantile Guild and ask them to send official letters to all Margrave Decrees.”
“What are the contents of the official letter?”
“Write down that you are looking for an engineer who minted Lemoang silver coins in this land in the past, or a person with all the knowledge about it. Do not forget to add a phrase saying that a wagon will be sent from the citadel to those with reduced mobility, that all lodging and meals will be provided, and that one Gallic silver coin will be given each for paralysis.”
“Are you talking about simple paralysis?”
“Instead, the deadline is only until this week. And when you send out the official letter, summon the head of the branch as you did in Lucerne. The same goes for the Britannia Trading Company in Saint-Buch. However, it’s a bit far from there, so I’ll send a copy from here too. You should join them at the halfway point.”
The given mission was, in a word, messenger. Like a conscript officer, he was to deliver an official document while crossing the vast Marquis and summon three key figures.
“You don’t necessarily have to come together, so keep that in mind. If either side is likely to be delayed, you can send the one that can leave first in advance. Instead, we must bring them all back here before the sun goes down at the latest.”
“Can I leave right now?”
“Yes, go to the stable and borrow the black horse I rode. As proof of identity, I’ll lend you the sword in my room. My wife lent me the sword of the deceased Margrave for a while, so if you show me the handle, you should be able to pass all the inspections.”
Antoine nodded. Rom asked him one last time to confirm.
“Can I trust you, Mr. Antoine?”
“You can call me by my full name. I will never betray the faith you have given me.”
“Good. Then hurry up. There is not much time allotted.”
He saluted once again in moderation and moved away from the two of them. Rom looked at Oriane and whispered to go to his room. He honestly couldn’t help but recall the night before, but it was still daytime.
“Come to think of it, madam, how did you do it on your own…”
There was a lot of work to be done and the bitch’s time was still up.
“Since the matter is the matter, I had no choice but to lend him the Marquis Adult’s sword as a token. I ask for your forgiveness even if it is believed.”
“The sword has now gone to its rightful owner. It doesn’t seem like a problem for me to argue about. Even if it wasn’t so, when things were sorted out, I was going to officially give it to you along with the black horse you mentioned. Of course, with the title.”
“Thank you for your words. It’s still too early to do nongong peddling, so you’ll have to put it off until later.”
Oriane agreed. The two of them started walking side by side in the corridor of the long corridor and continued their conversation. Apart from the heaviness of the topic, it was nice to see them as they looked like a good couple.
“If you don’t mind, could you explain to me what Sir Dior’s plan is?”
“It’s half past ten.”
“What is that… ?”
Rom met his gaze and grinned. It was a pretty good expression for her face, where her scars her stood out. She seemed to stand out more because of the feelings she had for the subject she was eyeing.
“Certainly, the frozen soil here is barren. There is no useless land in the world, but since it is a place that boasts an extreme environment, mining alone is not profitable. Even so, it is a miracle that the financial situation is stable when the war overlaps in a very difficult yard.”
Judging from many circumstances, the reign of Marquis Marquis Orianne was impeccably exemplary. The problem is the corruption and incompetence of the vassal under him, and the continental situation that a mere lord can’t do anything about.
“If your wife has tightened her belt and the funds you couldn’t stockpile, neither can I. The deputy lord of Lemoang is a better ruler than he considers himself. So please, I hope you get her confidence on her back.”
“Thank you for encouraging me. But then, how are you going to raise funds?”
“First of all, I will borrow money from three merchants.”
“How much?”
“I’m thinking of a thousand Rosengart gold coins for each place.”
“This, one thousand? That’s how much our monthly budget is! No matter how big a company is, there is no ability to pay that amount at a single branch! How can you get that much money when there is no collateral? … !”
Oriane couldn’t contain her astonishment. It was inevitable. Even if I sold all my presents right now, it would not be worth less than a hundred Rosengart gold coins. Even if an ordinary farmer works hard for a month to collect, there is nothing to see even a single gold coin. Even if it wasn’t Rosengart, which boasted the best credibility on the continent, but a trivial rogue gold coin.
“It is not over yet. After that, we plan to reclaim the wealth of the vice-count and the four barons.”
“It’s something you have to do, but…”
Rebellion is, of course, a serious crime in any territory. Moreover, in the border decree of Gaul, even noble families are given the right to be executed after trial for certain crimes.
“It will be pretty exciting. I don’t know, but I think about 500 will come out with the same gold coin.”
“Is it really like that?”
“This is also taken as conservatively as possible.”
“If their family property is confiscated, I don’t think it will go that far…”
Of course, the permission of the royal family is required to confiscate property to prevent abuse by a group of greedy powers. Although it can be useful without special permission as much as recovering money accumulated through fraud.
“I counted everything, including the mansion and the property stolen here and there under borrowed names.”
“Yes? As long as it is enough to return the embezzled money, we will be called traitors if we confiscate property without the permission of the royal family!”
The frightened Madame Marquis shouted. Rome was talking absolutely crazy, she thought.
“It’s embarrassing to be surprised like this.”
“What, what else is there?”
“Reprinting the silver coins of Lemoang, stealing from Temur, selling more tax collection rights to tax collectors, etc…”
Oriane lost her mind.
