Chapter 60: Liam's Fleet

Chapter 60: Liam's Fleet

Volume 4 Chapter 10 Liams Fleet

The days spent at my training assignment continued.

I let the AIs process most of my work, then double-checked the results before noon.

After that came lunch, which was then followed by a short break to relax.

In the afternoon, I finished my remaining work and prepared to leave on schedule so I could enjoy the rest of my day.

When soldiers came in to complain, I used my social standing as a shield, and sent bribes no, seasonal greetings to their commanders in the regular fleets to get the results I wanted.

Tia told me, If you send a large amount of replenishment supplies to the front lines, everyone will surely understand your greatness, Lord Liam.

It was a truly delicious story, knowing I could easily sell favours using my peoples tax money.

I didnt think itd be good for my image if I only used their money though, so I made sure to use my personal funds a bit too.

Selling these favours to the commanders of the regular fleets will surely bring great returns someday.

If I wanted to build up a debt the Empire would owe me, wouldnt it be better to start while Im still in training?

In anycase, thats how I leisurely spent those days of mine.

When suddenly, I was invited to lunch by Kurt.

Hes been training as an official after graduating from the university, and it looks like hes been having a tough time.

Unlike myself, he was a rather serious person, so he didnt really have many free days for us to meet up like this.

And that Kurt was currently talking to me about

My aide?

Its been a while since we last saw each other, but the suit wearing Kurt seems to have grown up a bit.

At first glance, he might look like a pretty boy a respectable youth, but on the inside he was actually a serious villain.

Yes, its a hot topic even on my side. There are many famous soldiers out their who want to become your adjutant, Liam. So many in fact, that the military is having trouble deciding who to assign to you.

Apparently there was a multitude of soldiers who wanted to become a future Dukes aide.

Anyone is fine, as long as theyre a beautiful woman.

At that comment, Kurt laughed while saying, Youre the same as usual, I see.

Chowing down on a steak, Wallace sent Kurt a gaze,

Putting Liam aside, as the heir of a Baron house, it looks like youre quite popular with the girls yourself. There seem to be a lot of them applying to become your secretaries or subordinates.

Now whered he hear that? Wallace was apparently familiar with Kurts circumstances.

Is that so?

Hearing that, Kurt seemed to be embarrassed,

Well, even if you say theres a lot, Im not the only one being aimed for. There are a plethora of people aiming to raise their status by becoming the secretaries or adjutants of heirs.

Wallace was jealous,

There are numerous cases where the secretary of military officers or government officials were headhunted after their initial assignment to work for their superiors. If someone is able to slide into one of those positions, theyve practically made it.

But no one seemed interested in working for a prince.

The idea of getting involved in the succession war between their family was nothing to laugh about.

As always, they were in a delicate position.

For my aide I hope I get an ethereal beauty.

Wallace burst into laughter,

Dont worry, appearances are a required selection criteria for the adjutant and secretary positions. Though rumours say its all just a manner of preferences, I wonder who theyll choose for you, Liam?

In the end, Ill be the one to choose from the list of candidates that remain, but the selection process that sifts them out until that point is quite strict.

Ive heard that they do multiple things like background checks and such.

So who will remain?

Attractive female officers were lined up in a large room.

In the place where various beauties dressed in military uniforms were gathered, Tia was walking in-between them after having been promoted for her achievements of consolidating and reorganising the patrol fleets into one that would match even a regular armada.

The status displayed on her badge was one of a colonel.

It was an unusual jump through the ranks, but thats just how highly they evaluated her achievements.

Ladies, Lord Liam has finally been officially assigned to the military.

Tias skills in organising a large fleet was highly valued within the army, and although there have been offers of permanent positions for her, theyve all been refused.

All the female officers collected by Tia were from the Banfield houses territory.

Youre all elites chosen directly from Lord Liams domain. From those of you here, one of you will surely be chosen to be his aide no, one of you must become his aide.

There were a multitude of soldiers who wanted to raise their reputation by becoming Liams adjutant.

However, Tia could never trust an outsider to serve by his side.

The reason being was that if he took a liking to said outsider, hed surely take them with him once he resigned from the army.

This would surely strengthen his connection to the military, but itd be troublesome if they prioritised the imperial army over Liam.

There was also the possibility of Liam laying his hands on them, and if that was the case, itd be preferred if that person was an elite that hailed from his territory.

All for this is for Lord Liams sake. Devote your bodies and souls to him!

Understood!

When all of them responded and saluted in sync, Tia made a satisfied expression.

(All of them have the appearance and the ability to serve as his aide theres no one more suited than them. Lord Liam will surely be satisfied.)

Meanwhile

The upper echelon of the military were grasping at their heads.

What are we going to do?!

we need a connection with the Count no, the future Duke.

But do we even have anyone suitable for a position as a liaison?

After making great achievements in the logistics department, Liam had prepared a regular fleet consisting of the latest models of mobile knights and ships for his position in the military.

While he was a person who solved one of the armys most troublesome problems, he was also a nobleman with an abundance of rare metals.

They really wanted a connection with him.

However, because Tia had shown absolutely no interest in a permanent military standing, they didnt have any way to build one.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Now standing directly in front of Liam, Eulisia was holding back the dark feelings welling up inside her.

(Finally I can finally have my revenge against you, Liam.)

Eulisia had only approached Liam so that she could have revenge for when he crushed her pride.

Filled only with thoughts of ensnaring him in a honey trap, she had polished herself for decades.

Lord Liam, for now lets

Her first step of revenge would begin here.

Thats what she thought, but then a person burst into Liams workplace crying.

It was Nias, the technology captain of the Seventh Weapons Factory, a place filled with various problems.

At first glance, she was an intelligent woman with black hair and glasses, but she was actually a person with many unfortunate sides to her.

Lord Liam~!

After wildly flying through the door, Nias broke down into tears.

(Y-you?!)

Eulisia was another of Nias acquaintances, but she didnt even greet her.

Liam had an exasperated expression on his face.

what is it?

(Urgh! Youre an annoyance, so go away already! Youre lucky hes being so lenient!)

Liam was basically sweet to his acquaintances.

Although he was pretty severe, he was still one of the more benevolent noblemen.

While Eulisia knew that, she was still annoyed that Nias disturbed her plans.

Please listen to this! Lord Liam, I was building a new prototype of ship using the rare metals you prepared for me! But then everyone kept butting in and getting in my

Youve told me this already.

Although Nias wanted to experiment with various things, it seems the higher-ups of the Seventh Weapons Factory had collectively decided to work on other projects.

As a result Nias was unable to work on the things she desired.

Eulisia was smiling in her heart.

(Thats nice. Now if youre done venting, hurry up and go home already.)

She wanted to get rid of Liam early, and Nias was in her way.

However

I want additional rare metals and funds.

Huh?!

At her impudent request, Eulisia couldnt help but exclaim in surprise.

If one wanted to develop a new generation of battleships, they needed an immense budget.

They also needed a large amount of rare metals.

It was unreasonable to ask Liam for such things.

However, he was surprisingly interested.

You were developing a new battleship?

Ill make sure to prepare a special battleship for you, Lord Liam! But the development costs for such things arent cheap, so thats why I need more funds and rare metals!

However, Liam didnt seem willing to make a budget for a proposal like that so he refused, which in turn led Nias to drop to the floor crying, turning up her skirt slightly.

She didnt seem to do it intentionally.

After all, the shorts she was wearing underneath were of the functional variety.

But Liams eyes went wide at the sight.

(T-this isnt good!)

With Liam always on her mind, Eulisia had also tried her best to study his hobbies and preferences. So she knew.

Liam preferred sporty underwear over the flashier kind.

Noticing his line of sight, Nias rushed to return her skirt to its original position.

Embarrassed, Nias hurriedly began to make excuses.

P-please excuse me. D-dont get me wrong, Ive been really busy recently, so I was only wearing this because it was all I had on hand at the time. I usually wear better underwear than this!

Despite thinking that it was such an obvious lie, Eulisia didnt miss Liams joy.

I-is that so? Yes, I see. Now then, we were talking about the budget, right? Ill prepare you the money using my personal funds.

Eulisia covered her face with both her hands.

(Stupid! Why do you have to be so easy now of all times?!)

Nias immediately went on to make additional demands.

Please give me rare metals as well! Also, Id like it if you bought some battleships too. Arent you being a bit mean? Lord Liam, youre preparing a whole new fleet, but you didnt even commision a single ship from us. It truly was mean of you to jointly hire the third and sixth factories to produce the vessels needed while ignoring us.Oh, is that so? I didnt know because I left that job to Tia.

Liam didnt seem interested in those details.

As a former employee at the Third Weapons Factory, even Eulisia had heard about the joint development.

(joint development of the next generation of ships. Ive even heard rumours that the Ninth Weapons Factory is on the move.)

Each of the weapon factories were hurriedly preparing new fleets.

Meanwhile, the Seventh Weapons Factory was completely disregarded by Tia.

its because you people completely disregard appearances during development.

Nias removed her glasses and wiped her tears.

We did our best! However, that lady refused us and said, Theyre not suitable for Lord Liam, and we even had eight hundred ships ready in storage for that sale! If you dont buy them, were screwed!

Eulisia fell into thought,

(Their focus on performance and developing technology is still the same as ever. They shouldnt be making eight hundred ships without an initial commision in the first place.)

Even Liam seemed to be surprised and then he seemed to realise something.

I understand. Ill buy those eight hundred ships of yours.

Really?!

But to Nias happy reaction, Liam tacked on a condition,

Ill make more commissions for you. The other weapon factories are likely to be busy, but you guys seem to be free. Also do you have any ships or weapons that are designated to be discarded? Turn them over to me instead.

Eulisia had no idea what Liam was thinking about.