CH 34

At Luke’s dismayed expression, Sein clicked his tongue.

“You should really be grateful to the Lord.”

“No……. Then w, why on earth did the Lord…….”

“My master.”

After the man said those words, he made a rather strange expression.

In a way, he seemed a little worried. Perhaps he was worried about her still being a little young. However, the emotion underlying it was undoubtedly ‘pride’. On her.

“She would never abandon her own people.”

“…….”

“Honestly, does it make sense to pay for the minerals from the mine that you own?”

It didn’t make sense. Normally, the villagers would take about a fourth of the price of the minerals, and the remaining six would be taken by the royal family.

But now the Lord will pay the price of the fourth herself.

“The Lord said this was an investment in the future.”

“…….”

“You should do your best so that the Lord’s insight doesn’t turn out wrong.”

Then the man began his one-man speech on the magnificence of the Lord. His voice was brusque and his expression was coy, but his respect for the Lord seemed to be deeply rooted.

It wasn’t until he heard that a mercenary group would be dispatched to stop the monsters from invading that Luke began to be influenced by the words.

By the time the sun went down, in Luke’s mind, the Lord of Ensis had already been transformed into an angel with wings, an incarnation of a benevolent goddess.

In the afternoon, when the sun was shining. Hundreds of people were standing in groups in front of the Lord’s castle of Ensis.

“Is it really true that you get paid that much per day?”

“That’s what they said, but isn’t that just the same as conscription?”

“I haven’t even seen the Lord. I heard that the Lord is a woman!”

“Really? Is she single?”

“What kind of dream is this guy having? She’s already married!”

“Why isn’t her husband the Lord?”

“I heard that her husband is a commoner like us!”

“Her husband must be quite handsome.”

Facing the distracted men, Albert coughed and couldn’t help but say in a thundering voice.

“If you all don’t watch your mouth, just know that I’ll kick everyone out before the evaluation!”

“Oh my.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

The men kept their mouths shut, knowing that there was no benefit in making more nonsense in front of the old man who looked uptight. Albert sighed heavily.

Albert was now carrying out the first official work ordered by the Lord.

As such, he wanted to accomplish this task brilliantly. Considering the grace he had received from the Lord, he should have done so.

The debt that Ensis had was a considerable amount, and in fact, it was an amount that the territory, which had no specialty, was unable to pay off.

In the past, a year of severe famine occurred.

Albert thought he would be able to pay off the debt in a year or two, so he went into debt to put out the urgent fire first.

The bad harvest continued for a long time, and eventually the amount of debt had grown to the point that he could barely pay off the interest, let alone the principal.

That’s what happened, but it was by no means done to satisfy Albert’s own selfish desires.

However, as if she already understood his circumstances and feelings, the Lord entrusted him with the settlement of the debt without question.

The moment he accepted the money from her aide, Sein, and heard the story, tears welled up in Albert’s eyes, even though it was a little bit ridiculous for his age.

It felt as if he had received far more forgiveness and trust than any other word.

In comparison, how did he treat the Lord? Albert asked himself.

After a long period of self-reflection, a sense of shame and apologetic feelings that anyone with a conscience would feel was directed at the Lord.

Therefore, when the Lord suddenly ordered him to expand the territory, Albert was determined to carry out the task brilliantly without hesitation.

“Now, get in line!”

“If each person has a weapon that they specialize in, write it down and submit it here.”

Soon the murmur subsided and things proceeded in an orderly manner. It was the first time since the former Lord of Ensis had disappeared that they recruited for the territory, so the applicants felt that the master had finally returned to their territory.

The afternoon, which seemed to pass without much noise, was soon interrupted by a commotion that started behind the crowd in line.

Wondering what was happening, Albert stopped checking the papers and raised his head and immediately recognized the familiar face of an acquaintance.

“Hey, Albert. You must be busy right now?”

“……Sir Elroy. What are you doing here…….”

A knight, with one of the most malicious creditors of Ensis as his master, opened his mouth with a grin.

“But what should I do with this? I think you should take me to the Lord of Ensis right now.”

“There are many different classes of soldiers, but to pick ones that can be trained in our territory as soon as possible, there will be spearmen and shieldmen, and archers, although they wouldn’t be at my level even if I were to teach them right away.”

As Sir Ted’s serious voice echoed through the office, I pinched my thigh trying to lift my heavy eyelids.

Sir Bethel was at a loss as he watched me half-asleep next to him, but Sir Ted, who was actually lecturing, spat out endless words as if I were his best student who absorbed all knowledge like a sponge.

Professor, I asked you for a lesson, but how many hours have you been lecturing……. With the way things are, your student will die of sleepiness……

But even after that, Sir Ted gave a long speech about the pros and cons of each class.

Infantry is the most basic class of warfare, and the positions in which they are deployed vary depending on the weapon they carry, and archers, in particular, need more intense training than they think to raise the probability of hitting arrows rather than just shooting them……

As I began headbanging to the point where my forehead almost touched the desk, Sir Bethel hurriedly put his hand over my forehead and said.

“Lord, do you really need to know these practical matters? In fact, it is common to entrust military affairs to the most trusted knight unless you are a monarch who holds the sword yourself. ”

“…… No, but I have the right to command anyway. There’s no harm in knowing.”

Sir Ted nodded and opened his mouth to my answer, as if moved by the sincere attitude of his ruler.

“You have a great attitude. In addition, I’ve heard that the invasion of monsters of unknown origin continues throughout the kingdom these days. Not long ago, our castle was attacked.”

“Uh-huh…… Well, yes.”

“But Lord, the territorial army of Ensis is no different from a fledgling army that is just getting organized. Rather than being greedy, I think it is better to raise the infantry, which is the basis of all battles, and establish more troops in the direction of the battle that the Lord wants and see how it turns out.”

Actually, Albert said he had arranged a lot of things, but the territory army of Ensis was still disorganized. The notion of consolidating the basics and thinking about the next one was more pertinent to the current situation.

I nodded, and Sir Ted immediately lowered his head and said.

“Then from now on, I will introduce some of the famous battles to give you a brief example of how each battle is done using each class.”

“No, wait. Sir Ted…….”

“First of all, it is said to be the greatest battle in nearly 100 years of our kingdom……”

Stop the cram course!

Just in time, a constant knock rang through the office, as if to save me. Three people, including me, turned our gaze towards the door at the same time.

“Lord, this is Albert.”

The butler of the castle, who became very cautious of me, spoke in a polite voice.

“Sir Elroy, the knight of the Peloche territory, is asking for an audience with the Lord.”

When I racked my brain and thought that the name of the territory was strangely familiar, I remembered that it was the name of a baron, one of the debtors to whom Ensis owed.

Usually, in this case, there would be no way they would come to me saying, ‘Thank you for paying off the debt!’…… I have a bad feeling about this.

“Okay, take him to the drawing room. I’ll be heading there soon.”

At my words, the presence outside the door disappeared, and I got up from my seat. As I was smiling inside because I could naturally escape from the inhumane lesson that he was pushing without a break, Sir Ted spoke up.

“…… I don’t think he came here for a good reason.”

“I’ll just listen to it. Well, then, Sir Ted. It’s a shame to end this here today, but…….”

“My Lord.”

Suddenly, he called me in a serious tone.

Surely it wouldn’t be such an outrageous talk about continuing the explanation and making me listen after meeting the guest. As I looked at him in fright, the man hesitated a little and said.

“May I join you there?”

“…… to the meeting with the Knight of Peloche?”

Sir Ted nodded.

It was actually the job of my aide, Sein, and usually, he would be there by my side to greet the guests together.

Was it because the person who came to visit was a knight like him, or was it because he thought he had to fill the void now that Sein was away?

It was not like he said something he shouldn’t say, but the man hesitantly talked and he was a little naïve and cute, so I smiled and nodded.