119

What I mean by it wasn't free is that I got as much loot as I gave in Runestones, if not more.

Claude, who was sweating profusely, asked cautiously.

"Do you not know anything about Count Ferdium or his vassals?"

"I don't know. Digald is known for being very poor. You would think they spent most of their wealth on war expenses. I even reported that to them."

As soon as the war ended, Giselle rushed to Digald.

Although there was an intention to kill Count Digald to eliminate any future troubles, the real intention was to take all of the nobles' wealth.

No matter how poor the estate is, a noble is still a noble.

In addition, the Digald estate was famous for exploiting its people. That meant the lord and his vassals had a lot of hidden wealth.

Claude looked at the gold coins in the chest and laughed bitterly.

"Still, there really are a lot. I can understand why the state of the territory was like that."

"Oh, this isn't all from Digald. We also raided the baronial estates on the way back."

"...yes?"

"I robbed all the guys who participated in the war. Since I was going there anyway, I did it anyway."

"Wow… … . You ate all that by yourself?"

"Then who are you going to share it with? I hate it the most when someone steals what's mine."

Claude closed his eyes at the remark that showed no trace of shame.

'Is your father a stranger? And it was originally your father's… … . Is this guy not really a noble but a bandit?'

I've seen many greedy nobles in the Kingdom of Seiron, but this was definitely the first time I've seen one so blatantly obsessed with money.

"Excuse me, do you have any secrets about your birth?"

"What is it? What does it mean?"

When Giselle glared at him, Claude waved his hand and made an excuse.

"No, you didn't even tell Count Ferdium, right? Do you really have to eat it all by yourself? Father will be disappointed."

"I guarantee you, it's much better if I write it all myself."

Even if Ferdium tried to take care of it, it was obvious that he would just end up blowing it all up while messing around with the leaky bucket.

Because they were in a situation where they could barely endure the present, let alone prepare for the future.

In that case, it would be better to use it where it is definitely needed.

Thanks to that, isn't Ferdium also seeing the benefits?

Claude, who was listening to the story, had sparkling eyes.

I was surprised, but I couldn't foolishly pass up this opportunity.

"Haha, if you don't reduce the workload right now, I'll tell Ferdium about this… … ."

Before he could finish speaking, Giselle rolled up her arms and smiled wickedly.

"Right, I was waiting for you to say that. I don't like verbal warnings because they don't sound very good."

"Huh? Eww!"

After a while, Claude woke up sobbing in the corner of the warehouse.

"I will remain quiet until I die."

"Okay, don't forget that feeling. Actually, it's okay to say it, but it doesn't look good, right? There's no need to blush."

Jiselle smiled and clapped her hands. As if she had been waiting, the warehouse door opened and Wendy and a few mercenaries came in.

"uh?"

Claude was surprised.

When Jiselle and herself entered, there was clearly no one around.

I had no idea how long the mercenaries had been waiting.

Whether he was surprised or not, Wendy and the mercenaries greeted each other and started to collect their goods.

Claude shook his head in bewilderment.

'It was a complete read, really.'

It seemed that he had already anticipated that he would run out of money and that he would come looking for him. He had also called in mercenaries in advance to act as porters.

Giselle laughed, putting her arm around Claude's shoulder.

"If you run out of money again, just tell me. Don't worry about useless things and just work hard. I'll get the money for you."

"… … Tsk."

Claude turned his head and pouts. Somehow his pride was hurt.

Even though he is a mess and does whatever he wants, whenever a problem arises, he somehow comes up with a solution.

The method was completely out of the ordinary, but the problem was that this outrageousness worked so well.

"Ahem, about half of this should be fine for the time being."

"Okay, get ready to leave quickly."

Claude used the money he received from Giselle to buy urgently needed materials and such.

The tasks that had to be constantly managed were thoroughly mastered by Lowell.

While Claude prepared to leave for the capital, Giselle headed to Ferdium.

While he was away, he needed someone to manage the troops in his territory and provide basic training.

'I think Director Randolph can manage it appropriately.'

The best thing to do would be to teach the mercenaries mana accumulation techniques so they can build up mana while you're away, but there wasn't enough time for that.

Since most of them were not able to handle mana, in order to teach them the training method, they had to be caught one by one, just like they were to Vanessa.

If it was just one or two people, it might be okay, but if there were hundreds of mercenaries, Jisel couldn't move right away until they could train on their own.

'Before teaching the training method, I have to sign a new contract. For now, it would be better to teach other areas that are lacking first.'

If it were Randolph, he could teach the basics required for regular soldiers, such as basic military science.

I was thinking of asking you to do both, as I have to teach not only the mercenaries but also the newly recruited soldiers.

* * *

Randolph nodded without much objection after hearing the story, but Zwalter frowned and asked back.

"You're going to the capital? You're a lord. A lord would leave his post just to do business?"

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"Yes, it's important so I have to go myself."

"Hey, how can the lord move his goods around like a mere merchant? People will laugh at him."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is not my reputation."

Zwalter was not pleased with his son's attitude.

Perhaps because it was his first time receiving a fief, he seemed to have no awareness of being a lord.

"If that's the reason, then I can't send you. You've become a lord, so you should know how heavy and important your responsibility is."

Originally, Zwalter wasn't such a closed-minded person.

However, since Jiselle seemed completely unaware of the weight of the position of lord, I was planning to teach her indirectly like this.

Of course, it didn't work on Giselle.

"A year's supply of food."

"huh?"

"When I come back, I will provide you with a year's worth of food from the Ferdium estate."

"… … Now that I think about it, I think it's time for you to leave the North and broaden your horizons. Have a safe trip. I'll send Randolph over as soon as he's ready."

Zwalter smiled kindly and patted his son's shoulder.

It was too much money to refuse.

* * *

Although he was able to easily subdue Zwalter, he faced fierce opposition upon returning to the territory.

When he said he was leaving for the royal family, not only the vassals who were busy saving face, but even Belinda and Gillian who knew Giselle well expressed negative opinions.

"Just send someone else! Why would you do that, Master?"

"My lord, if you step forward yourself, everyone will laugh at you. The commander-in-chief is the commander-in-chief, so how can you move yourself?"

"No, it's fastest if I do it myself. I'm not just going to do business, I have other things to do in the capital."

The two tried to persuade her a few more times, but Jiselle remained adamant as always.

Belinda and Gillian gave up and just sighed.

Since it had come to this, I had no choice but to go with him like I always did, and throw my body to stop him if he tried to do something strange.

A few days later, Giselle looked over the several wagons loaded with luggage and smiled with satisfaction.

"This amount should be adequate for the first batch."

"Can you really sell them all?"

"As long as it's well-promoted, there'll be no problem. Once you try it out, the nobles will go crazy. Don't worry."

Claude scratched his chin at Giselle's confident words.

The effectiveness of cosmetics is certain, so word will spread someday.

But the initial quantity was too large.

I couldn't understand how they could sell all of this, since it wasn't something that could be kept for a long time.

Even the carts carrying cosmetics didn't usually cost money.

Each cart was engraved with a freezing magic circle to prevent the items from being damaged. A rune stone had to be embedded in each one to maintain the magic circle.

"Are you sure it's okay? It would be a huge loss if the nobles don't buy it. Refrigeration isn't a panacea."

"Oh, don't worry. I can sell them all without leaving a single one. They don't rot easily either."

"Ah, I guess so. I'm sure the lord has a plan for everything."

Claude sighed in despair.

The people we have to deal with this time are nobles whom even the lord cannot treat lightly.

I couldn't even predict how this foul-tempered lord would persuade them to promote it.

"Your Majesty! This side is also ready!"

Belinda came over and reported with a bright smile.

Behind them stood about twenty servants, heavily laden with luggage.

"Haa… … . I told you not to go this far?"

"You are a noble, so you have to follow this much. Don't you know how to seize the initiative? You can't afford to look down on anyone in the capital."

Just as Giselle was about to say something, Belinda cut her off firmly.

"If you're not careful, you'll be looked down on as a country bumpkin. It's obvious that nobles will laugh at you for doing business!"

It wasn't a wrong statement, but Jiselle couldn't say anything and kept her mouth shut.

At that moment, Gillian and Kaor also arrived with about fifty fully armed mercenaries and lined up in front of Giselle.

"We are ready, my lord."

"What, you want me to take this many mercenaries with me? I said we don't have to take this many."

"It's a long way to the capital. We need this many people to move the expensive items. We also need to make sure that the lord is comfortable."

Gillian's expression hardened as if she could never give in. Giselle let out a deep sigh.

"Okay, since we've already prepared, let's all go sightseeing together. Is there anyone else who wants to go now?"

Belinda and Gillian nodded.

"Oh, that's right. Master, what do you call this? Have you decided on a name?"

"name?"

"Yes. If you want to introduce yourself and promote yourself, you need a name."

"That's true. Um… … Lovely bling bling, how about something like this? Isn't it pretty?"

Claude held his stomach and laughed at Giselle's words.

"Wow! What a naming sense! What a girly sensibility!"

It was so absurd that all the worries and concerns that had been weighing on my heart until just a moment ago disappeared.

When Giselle glared at him with an expressionless face, Claude quickly avoided her gaze and pretended not to see her.

Belinda said, clicking her tongue.

"That's a bit… … . Aristocrats are people who believe that even names should have dignity."

"What about bling bling? I'm pretty. Is it that bad?"

Jiselle turned to look at Gillian. Gillian gritted his teeth and answered the sudden question.

"it's okay."

Giselle also made eye contact with Wendy, who was standing next to Claude.

She tried to keep her expression as expressionless as possible, but she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from twitching. It was an expression that didn't even need to be asked.

"Your Majesty, I tell you that's not true."

As Belinda frowned, Giselle licked her lips and told her the original name of the cosmetic.

"Deneve."

Deneb was the name given to cosmetics by the Duke of Delphine in his previous life.

I heard that it was named after a star that was passed down in ancient times.

It was cool, but I didn't really like the name because it was given by the Duke of Delphine.

So instead of this name, I tried using my own name, 'Lovely Bling Bling', but it didn't work at all.

"Hmm, it's not bad. It has the feel of something nobles would like."

Only then did Belinda nod.

Kaor, who was listening from behind, tilted his head crookedly and thought.

'Lovely bling bling? I think this looks better.'

As expected, everyone's tastes are different.

Anyway, the name has been decided, now all that's left is to go to the capital and sell it properly.

Jiselle got on her horse and looked around at everyone. She smiled when she saw the trustworthy people.

Jiselle laughed heartily and shouted loudly while grabbing the reins.

"Now, let's go to the capital!"