333

Episode 333 I really wanted to try this. (2)

Well then, that's right. This man was not one to sit still. He must have contracted a disease that would make his body ache and die if he didn't do something.

Claude calmed down and asked.

"Why are you creating a mercenary group?"

"Because I need it."

"There's no need for that. Why would we do that?"

Claude, whose fever was rising as he spoke, began to cry.

It's not like there aren't any territories that act as mercenaries. Although rare, there are cases where the lord and the territories themselves act as mercenaries for other countries.

Usually such fiefdoms are small, poor, and produce few resources.

But now, Fenris is known as the strongest territory in the North. The food production alone is enormous, and considering the resources obtained through this development, its financial power is comparable to that of any other lord in the kingdom.

But why on earth would you create a mercenary group?

Despite Claude's outburst, Giselle spoke with a confident expression.

"I will place all the mercenaries of this kingdom under my command."

"Wow… … What is ambition… … ."

"Right now, we're doing road work and delivery work. If we bundle the mercenary business with that, we'll make money."

"Ugh… … That's true, but I wonder if it's really necessary to do that. It seems like it'll just be more of a headache."

To be honest, most mercenaries are people who don't want to belong to some place and work.

They also refuse stable jobs. They become mercenaries because they want to get rich quick. Not all of them are like that, but most of them are.

In a word, it means people who enjoy freedom.

There are a lot of rude and disobedient people out there. Rather than taking down those people, it would be better to train one more elite soldier.

"It would be nice to do anything. The more of anything, the better. But that takes up a lot of money and time. Couldn't it be used for something more efficient?"

It's not that Giselle doesn't know why Claude is against it. It's a well-known fact that mercenaries, even if they are individually skilled, are weaker than regular soldiers when they go into group battles.

But even so, there was a reason to acquire mercenaries.

"The speed at which our military power is increasing has now reached its limit. In the current state, no matter how much we train, it will only be sluggish. And we are still far from enough."

"Us… …Isn't this enough?"

Desmond was taken and all the prisoners were taken. Fenris' force now numbered nearly 20,000 men.

Although united as one, Giselle is a great noble who holds three territories and three titles: Fenris, Cavaldi, and Desmond.

It is rare for a lord to possess this much territory and military power on his own.

It is no exaggeration to say that the technological prowess and financial resources there are at the highest level in the kingdom. But you still say it is not enough?

Jiselle continued, still looking hungry.

"We can never beat the Duke at this level. We need to collect a little more."

Jiselle gave a definitive assessment.

People don't really know how great the power of the Duke is.

Even if he and his pro-Prince faction joined forces, they would not be able to defeat one duke. If they added the lords who followed the duke to that, they would surely lose in a head-on fight.

If you want to grow further here, you need to take over another territory. Of course, you will do that someday, but it is not something you can do right away.

'The Duke wants to take over the kingdom with as little loss as possible.'

It was definitely like that in their previous life. Even the circumstances turned in the Duke's favor, so they were eventually able to achieve their goal.

But not now.

'You'll have no choice but to act aggressively because of me now.'

The Duke will now be preparing to take the kingdom by force.

However, the nature of wanting to avoid losses does not change. It was obvious that they would prepare thoroughly to minimize damage.

'Until then, we need to strengthen our power and prepare even a little more.'

Giselle gave Claude a rough outline of the situation.

Everyone knows that the Duke's family is the strongest in the kingdom. However, no one realized how big the gap between them was.

Claude looked completely incredulous after hearing Giselle's explanation.

"Really… … is there that much of a difference? You can move more than 100,000 people in the Duke's territory alone?"

"Yes, that's just the soldiers. If you include the high-level knights and magicians below them, it's an incredible force."

If you include the great lords under the Duke's command, they can easily muster an army of hundreds of thousands of men.

Even if the royalist nobles gathered all the people of the territory, they would not be able to deal with that large army. Since they had fought it themselves in their previous lives, there would not even be any disagreement.

Claude still couldn't believe it, but that was what the lord said. Now, he couldn't take anything the lord said lightly, even if it was nonsense.

"Ugh… … Then, even if we lead mercenaries from all over the kingdom, wouldn't it be difficult to reduce the gap?"

"That's true. But mercenaries have their own uses. And regardless of the difference in power, it's right to increase our power even a little."

"Are you sure… that you can win?"

Then, Jiselle suddenly smiled with a murderous smile.

"We must win. That's why I am here. I am the only one in this kingdom who can destroy the Duke."

It was a very arrogant thing to say, but Claude somehow felt that it was true.

Giselle grabbed Claude's shoulders and asked.

"Claude, what are we going to do to deal with a stronger enemy than us? What if we can't get stronger quickly here? What if it's hard to get stronger than the Duke right now?"

"to...."

Claude was momentarily shocked by Giselle's powerful appearance and was speechless. Then Giselle laughed fiercely and continued speaking.

"Then we need to weaken the enemy. So that we can fight them. We need to defeat them individually to lower their overall strength, right?"

"Then… … Our next target is the Marquisate of Rodrik… … Are you thinking of the mercenary group operating there?"

"Yes, that mercenary group is our first target."

Only then did Claude understand Giselle's meaning.

The Marquisate of Rodrik was the first target that Giselle set out to attack during the civil war. It was a strategic point in the west where many merchants came and went, and a huge amount of money was circulated.

Naturally, it was also the place where the most mercenaries were active in the kingdom. There were many tasks that mercenaries could undertake, such as guarding the merchants, suppressing bandits, and escorting people.

There was a lot of work for mercenaries to do in the Ferdium territory as they fought against the barbarians, but since the territory had no money, mercenaries did not flock there very often.

"Oh, I see. The kingdom's largest mercenary group is located there. Wait, how are we going to take that mercenary group away? It's rumored to be closely related to Marquis Rodrik."

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"There are ways to do it. Don't worry about that. I'll take care of that, so you absorb the small and medium-sized mercenary groups in the north for now. Can you do it?"

"Understood. Let's do that. The mercenary groups in the North are all weak now, aren't they? Leave it to me."

Claude also agreed with Giselle's words with shining eyes.

It was a given that they would fight the Duke's family anyway. Still, Claude thought that if he joined forces with the Prince's faction, he could compete with the Duke's family to some extent.

But when I heard what Jiselle said, it wasn't like that. It was hard to believe and I didn't want to believe it, but I couldn't just ignore it.

Anyway, it is true that the stronger this territory becomes, the higher the chance of their survival.

Giselle smiled and said, looking at the enthusiastic Claude.

"Okay, let's get busy again from now on."

* * *

It is the nature of the people of Fenris to move immediately once a goal is set.

It wasn't like that originally, it just became like that because I was with Giselle.

Claude said, handing over a pile of papers to Lowell.

"You know we're now in the mercenary business too, right?"

"Uh… … Of course."

Lowell nodded obediently. Jiselle's entourage was fully informed of the future plans.

I honestly don't want to do it because I'm busy, but if Youngju is going to do it, I have to do it anyway.

"It will take time to receive royal approval. So, I will first prioritize establishing a mercenary corps under the lord."

There are two ways in which a noble can deal with a mercenary band. The first is the most common way, which is to personally sponsor or lead a mercenary band.

Nobles who use such methods often use mercenary groups as their agents to do work for them or for various businesses. They also often use them for dirty work.

Another method is for the lord and his territory army to act as mercenary groups.

Although it is rare, a lord who is too poor or lacks resources will sometimes do this with their body. Or the lord may be crazy about fighting.

This method requires royal approval and guarantee, because if the entire territory operates as a mercenary group, the lord can receive money and intervene in other countries' wars.

They impose strict restrictions to prevent them from easily intervening in wars taking place within the country. If left alone, they can easily intervene and cause trouble here and there.

In order to obtain permission for a mercenary group in the Fenris territory, various documents were prepared and sent to the Marquis of Bradford.

However, since it would take time to process, Claude decided to start by absorbing the mercenary group first.

"I'll go around and come back, so take good care of the land."

"But… … Do you think the General can bring all the mercenaries?"

Then Claude snickered and made a circle with his finger.

"There's nothing that money can't do. These days, most of the northern mercenaries are working for us anyway. There are also many who volunteer as laborers, so it's not difficult."

Claude had a point. If they paid him enough, he would work for Fenris. That's what a mercenary is.

Jisel also once hired a lot of northern mercenaries. Even then, it was all paid for with money.

But putting it under the Fenris Mercenaries is a different story.

"There may be some who come in with money, but there must also be many who don't like it."

"Ah, anyway, since you won't be part of Fenris' military, but will be taken in as a subordinate organization of the mercenary group, I'll give you as much autonomy and independence as possible."

"Hey, who would believe that? They have to roll over and pay their income when called upon from above, regardless of autonomy. Besides, they are people who love freedom, so they don't like any restrictions. There will definitely be quite a few who refuse."

Then Claude said with an arrogant expression.

"I thought so at first too. But if you tell the truth, everything will work out."

At those words, Lowell looked extremely uncomfortable.

'The truth that kid is telling isn't normal.'

Claude, who had no way of knowing Lowell's true intentions, left the affairs of the estate to him and moved immediately.

The mercenary bands in the North are all small and poor. They seemed to be interested in Claude's proposal.

"The Fenris Mercenary Corps? The Count of Fenris is creating a mercenary corps?"

"Then, we've already registered everything. Do you know that we're the strongest in the North?"

"No, but why did you create a mercenary group in a place like that and recruit us?"

"Well, we're trying to make you guys work hard… … No, we do a lot of different businesses, right? Now we're going into the mercenary business. In a big way."

"Oh… … ."

It is well known that the Earl of Fenris is the most active and diverse businessperson in the kingdom.

It has already become famous for its large-scale businesses such as developing the Demon Forest, selling food, selling cosmetics, building roads, and running a delivery business.

"You know that the royalist territory is almost completely connected to the roads we've already built, right? The delivery business is also thriving there. That's why we need a lot of manpower. Mercenaries are especially good for escorting and transporting."

The mercenaries nodded to Claude's words. Their most common tasks were escorting and transporting.

Mercenaries were people who fought, built, and went anywhere that needed people, receiving money for doing so.

"Hmm, fine. Let's join in. But on the condition that our mercenary group remains intact, right?"

"Oh, then. You only need to move together when needed under our Fenris. And when you receive compensation, you only need to pay a certain amount of tribute. In return, we will look after you and find various jobs for you."

"Okay. I will join the Fenris Mercenaries."

Anyway, it's hard for small mercenary groups to get anything other than odd jobs. However, if you join the Fenris Mercenary Group, you'll be able to get more expensive and better jobs.

There's a lot going on in the Fenris Territory, and they'd probably want to concentrate the good work on their subordinate groups.

Of course, if war broke out, they would be dragged to the same side without any choice, but they weren't too worried.

'What could be wrong with being the strongest in the North? On top of that, he's a big shot supported by the Marquis of Branford, a member of the royalist faction.'

To that extent, Giselle's fame and authority had risen to an incomparable level compared to before.

Very small mercenary groups readily gave in to the offer of a few favorable terms, as they did not feel that their freedom was being infringed upon.

On the contrary, the benefits were even better. You also gained a strong support system.

But not all mercenaries thought so.

Jake, the leader of the 'Bigfoot Mercenary Group', which leads about 50 mercenaries, firmly rejected Claude's proposal.

"Haha… …Thank you for your kind words, but we don't want to do that."

He was very large. In particular, his feet were very large, so he was nicknamed 'Bigfoot'. He was as strong as his size, and he had become quite famous recently.

He was known as a man among men because he always acted like a man, but he was also arrogant.

Claude thought as he watched him speak with an arrogant expression.

'You dare refuse my offer?'

Claude is the most vulgar of vulgar people. He didn't like Jake's arrogant and outright rejection of his proposal.

'I have to take care of this kid.'

If someone doesn't listen, you have to discipline them. That was what Claude learned most clearly from Giselle.