Chapter 42: Of Planning and Detailing (1)

Chapter 42: Of Planning and Detailing (1)

Ten’s ordeal did not end there. Despite having paid Henry one million gold, he had yet to settle the spectators’ share of the payout. Of course, it was nothing compared to what he owed Henry, but it was still quite a lot. No matter how small an amount the spectators may have betted, the odds had been one-hundred-and-twelve to one. This was not something that could be taken lightly.

“...This is driving me crazy, for real,” Ten murmured quietly to himself, pressing his hands against his forehead. He was just now reading the report on the comparatively lesser, but still significant payouts.

“Seems like things are looking tight?” asked Henry.

Even though Henry was the culprit behind Ten’s current predicament, he continued to act completely innocent.

“Once the payouts are settled, the operating expenses are gonna be tight... I might have to declare bankruptcy soon.”

“That’d be troublesome. Take this.”

“...This is?”

Henry held a sack containing a hundred thousand gold. Ten took the money sack and began looking back and forth between Henry and the money sack in confusion.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not giving you any handouts. This is just a loan.”

With that, any hopes Ten had were dashed.

“Considering how much you actually owe me, just a little bit more debt won’t matter, will it? Whether your debt is ten million gold or ten million and a hundred thousand, it’ll be the same to you regardless.”

“Well, that sure is comforting.”

“Ain’t it? So, just work diligently and pay it all back. I can wait as long as you need.”

Fortunately, as it was a payout, there was no interest applied to it. However, when he wanted to, Henry had a knack for being detestable.

“How about I place myself in your care for a while?”

“Now, what’s this about...?”

“I kind of like your house, you know? And it just so happens that I need a place to stay for a while. So, how about I stay here under your care for a little while, yeah?

“H-how can that be? Despite everything, you want to stay on my property...”

“If you don’t like it, then pay me everything that I’m owed. You know that even if you sell your mansion and the company, you won’t be able to repay all the money, right?”

Ten sighed deeply. With this, he had gone from being the richest person in Vivaldi to its biggest debtor.

Henry stood in front of Ten and raised his teacup with a sly smirk.

“Ten.”

“Yes?”

“You’re hiding something.”

“...What?”

“What’s the real purpose of Million Gold?”

“Real purpose? What are you talking about?”

“Do you mean to tell me that you made this kind of a living from arena activities alone? Don’t insult me with such an obvious lie.”

Having secured a stable financial channel with a huge business as his base, it was time for Henry to implement the next stage of his plan: to become famous. He needed to build a reputation as the best group, with tremendous power. Henry had chosen Million Gold as his first stepping stone to build this group.

“We’re doing business by trading information,” said Ten.

“Trading information?”

“As you said, we wouldn’t have been able to make a living simply from arena activities alone. However, it is also true that the activities here account for most of our income. That’s exactly why information is important to us.”

“Because you need to keep up with the latest trends?”

“That’s correct.”

“What about the infrastructure in place? How well-established are you?”

“We exist throughout the empire, but only in the megacities. Not only the capital, but the four vassal kingdoms, the holy kingdom ruled by the Pope, and a few autonomous cities as well.”

“That’s still a well-established network.”

“Compared to Gray Moon of the capital, we’re nothing but small fries.”

“Are you envious of Gray Moon?”

“Envious? Small merchants like us wouldn’t even dare to look at them.”

Gray Moon was the name of a mighty underground guild that had taken root in the imperial capital. They were the only independent group in the empire that was equipped with military power, information networks, and financial power. Their influence could not be understated. This was exactly what Henry had in mind as an ideal group.

“What’s there to be envious about anyway? We can make our own. You could even call it a second Gray Moon,” Henry suggested.

“...Pardon?”

“Am I wrong? Do you think they were always that powerful? If you set limits on yourself from the start, then all you’re doing is limiting your own development.”

“Are you being serious?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“Ah, no... but is it okay to just spontaneously decide something like this?”

“Who said I’m being impromptu?”

“Huh?”

“Did you think I took over your Million Gold just so I could live out a comfortable life on my own? Now that the foundation has been set, it’s time to get serious about expanding the group. Million Gold is just the beginning.”

Hearing Henry calmly talk about his plan, Ten’s jaw dropped. Despite Henry looking much younger than himself, seeing Henry talk with so much sincerity made Ten believe that there was a chance his plan could work.

‘Who the hell is this guy?’

In the face of a ten-million-gold debt, Ten had to mortgage everything he had. So, whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to be a part of Henry’s plan.

“We have a strong enough information network, and we can slowly increase our financial strength. That means there’s only the military left to work on, yeah?”

“H-hold on. We can’t just grow our military might like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Gray Moon has their hands in the criminal world as well, and because they do mercenary work and contract killings, they need such military strength. But we don’t do those things.”

“Then we should start, no?”

“Sorry?”

“Do you think that I’m trying to increase our strength just to manage this little arena? From now on, Million Gold is to establish a mercenary corps.”

“Mercenary... corps?”

It was a thought that had never occurred to Ten before. However, it was about to be set in motion because of Million Gold’s new majority shareholder.

“There are few groups that are as useful as mercenaries; all it takes is money. And to create new sources of income, we need new sources of power. Why aren’t you writing this down?”

“Ah, ah, yes!” Ten said as he hurriedly took out a piece of paper and a pen.

“Let it be known that we’re going to give the best treatment in the industry, and all we ask for in return is skill. No matter where you come from or what you look like, all are welcome. Anyone who is confident enough can join us.”

“Are we really going to advertise this? What about the salary...?”

“How much does an A-grade mercenary get paid per month?”

“About five gold.”

“Then we’ll raise it to ten gold. And, of course, we’ll include the best welfare programs the industry has to offer, as well as performance bonuses if they’re skilled enough. Oh! For those with children, we’ll even pay for their tuition. And for those who have nowhere to live, we’ll provide them with lodging.”

“Aren’t we being a bit too generous here?”

“Why? Can’t we?”

“If we just give away so much stuff, we won’t have anything left. Besides, we’re going to be a new mercenary group, so there won’t even be any work in the beginning!” Ten jumped up and down as he objected to Henry’s unconventional set of conditions.

Henry frowned. “The only thing we can offer as a newly fledged mercenary group are these unconventional conditions. If you were a mercenary for hire, would you want to apply to a new, unproven mercenary corps without any of these benefits?”

Henry was right. Asking for loyalty without giving anything in return was what bullies did.

“Also, why won’t we have anything left? I’m overflowing with money right now. I’ll cover all the costs, so don’t worry about it and start advertising. Oh, one more thing! I will personally conduct the interviews.”

“Understood... but what about the name of the mercenary group? Is it still ‘Million Gold’?”

“No, we’ll just call it the Million Corps.”

“Understood.”

With that, the discussions were over. Having received his orders, Ten began the extensive publicity campaign with a dubious look on his face.

* * *

Rumors of the Million Corps soon began to spread across the continent. In addition to the unprecedented level of benefits they provided, the salary was more than twice the average, and that was enough to stimulate the curiosity of every mercenary that caught wind of it. Thanks to this, mercenaries who had heard the rumors began to flock from all corners of the continent to take part in Million Corps’s preliminary test.

“Hey, don’t push!” shouted one of the mercenaries to another.

“What? Do you wanna settle this right here, right now?” the other mercenary replied.

“Oi, you over there! If you start a fight, then consider your right to entry forfeited. Go ahead!” one of the guards barked at the two of them.

“Tsk, consider yourself lucky. If it weren’t for the guards, you would have died by my hand today.”

“Speak for yourself!”

* * *

Meanwhile...

Knock-knock.

“Mister Mayor, sir. The person from before is requesting an audience again.”

“By ‘the person from before’, you mean... no way...”

“Yes, sir. Sir Henry is waiting for you.”

“Why is he here again?!”

Vant hurriedly changed his clothes and rushed down to the waiting room. When he arrived, he spoke between heavy breaths. “Huff, puff,

what are you doing here again?”

“Did you run over here? You didn’t have to,” said Henry, who was leisurely waiting for Vant as he sipped some tea. “I’m here because I have something to discuss with you. Please, have a seat.”

“...Sure.”

Henry was the guest there, without a doubt. However, he was acting as if he was the owner of the place.

“What is it this time?” Vant asked quietly, with a tinge of fear in his voice.

“There’s no need for you to be so scared. I’m not here to take anything from you this time.”

“Really?”

“Have you noticed that the number of visitors has increased significantly today?”

“As a matter of fact, I did. According to my sources, Million Gold is creating a mercenary corps with rather unconventional benefits for their workers.”

“You’re right. Million Gold just created a mercenary corps called the Million Corps, and I am their leader.”

“Excuse me?”

“Somehow, I ended up taking over. Anyway, it’s only been a day since I started promoting it, but seeing how many additional visitors we have already, don’t you think our next move should be more obvious?”

“What is it that you want to say?”

“Do you remember the last time we spoke, when I said you’ll be taking care of me?”

It was an unpleasant memory. Vant remembered it clearly precisely because it was as unpleasant as it was, and he responded with an apprehensive expression.

“I do.”

“Great. Then let me ask you for a favor, Mayor.”

“A...favor?”

Henry casually called it a favor, but Vant couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread over what it might be. After all, Henry was someone who was nigh impossible to read.

“Let’s raise the tax rate.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, of course, it’s only going to be temporary. Aspiring mercenaries are flocking from all over the empire, so what I’m saying is that we should take advantage of this opportunity. Something like that.”

“No. I’m merely a mayor. Adjustment of tax rates is managed by the empire, so that’s not something that a public official like me can do on a whim,” Vant refused, swiftly and firmly.

“That would be the tax rate for the entire city. However, I understand that the mayor has the right to temporarily adjust specific taxes.”

“H-how did you know...?”

“And I’m also aware that it can be adjusted flexibly as the mayor sees fit, as long as it can revitalize the city’s economy and increase its earnings. Isn’t that so?”

This was a fact that only the mayor was supposed to know. However, Henry had lightly brought up such a deep secret as if he was reading off a restaurant menu.

“We’ll help you rake in those additional profits.”

“By ‘we’, do you mean Million Gold?”

“No. It won’t look good if the city hall strikes an agreement with one private company. That’s why I’ve set up an association.”

“An association?”

“For now, we’ve named it the Arena Association. Of course, all arenas in Vivaldi are members.”

All those who were visiting Vivaldi that day had their sights set on one thing—the entrance test to the Million mercenary corps. However, compared to the abundance of applicants, there was only one person conducting the interviews, and that was Henry himself. That meant that there was a long wait time, and during that time, applicants had no choice but to stay in the city. While they stayed in the city, those who needed to earn money to pay off their expenses were sure to step foot into the arena, because battle was all they knew.

“You could just issue a special tax on any arena activities. For example, adding brokerage fees to matches that were originally put together for free, or registration fees for new fighters. Ah! Of course, there should be a fee on winning payouts as well.”

“If we did that, existing fighters would definitely oppose such measures... how do you plan on resolving that?”

“Existing players would be taxed the same.”

“Sorry? I just told you that if we do that, there will be fierce opposition...”

“They won’t object. This is a blanket directive issued by the city hall, after all. The moment the existing fighters start protesting the tax rate changes, all you’ll have to do is to apply a tax exemption benefit to only the existing fighters. That will create a rift between the old fighters and the new fighters.”

This was a common tactic used by political nobles, manufacturing a ruse to hide their own wrongdoings.

“But that will disturb the peace that we have right now, won’t it?”

“Then simply lock them all up. And if you lock them up until the end of the interview period, new fighters will just pay the bail in order to attend the interview.”

It was an elaborate strategy. Fighters with a paid bail would hold back their anger in order to secure their interviews, which naturally resolved any security issues. Vant had listened to Henry’s plan with bitter admiration, but he suddenly realized that there was something off.

“Wait. What does Sir Henry gain from doing all this?”

“Half of all the tax.”

“Excuse me?”

“All you have to do is hand over half of the profits from the special tax rate to us. That’s why we signed an agreement, no?”

Half was an absurdly high percentage for a contract fee.

“Yes, but still, half of it is...” Vant replied lukewarmly.

“If it bothers you that much then you don’t have to do it. But there will be many more visitors than in the peak season, so do you really want to miss this opportunity?”

Henry’s plan was way too sweet for Vant to ignore. In the end, he could not help but accept Henry’s offer.

“...Alright.”

“There’s no need to be so down. I’ll have something special prepared separately for you later.”

Vant’s ears perked up. After all, he was now in a situation where every single penny was valuable to him, thanks to the prize money he had to pay out to Henry.

“I’m just grateful that you have Vivaldi in your thoughts, Sir Henry.”

“As citizens of the same empire, it’s a given that we should help each other.”

As soon as Vant heard what he had wanted to hear, his attitude changed completely. With this, the first phase of Henry’s plan was now complete.