Chapter 25 : Days in the Free City of Loren (1)

Chapter 25: Days in the Free City of Loren (1)

To be honest, Shatien had thought he would receive a rather generous reward.

Considering the merits he had accumulated, he had stacked up achievements so great that even most knights would have struggled to catch up.

He had even been the first to dash out to rescue Count Bellua when the man fell into a trap during the last battle. Even if it had not helped much.

‘Khm, hm. That still counted as a fine deed.’

For that reason, when a soldier said he was being summoned about a reward, Shatien was not surprised.

He only thought the inevitable had come.

But then…

"Behold! Look upon this great hero!"

–Waaaaaaaaaah!

"I have met many mercenaries on the battlefield, but never one as brave and outstanding as this."

–Uooooooooh!

–Sha, tien!

–Sha, tien!

"Yes! That is right! This hero deserves such praise!"

Somehow, Count Bellua’s idea of a reward fell outside Shatien’s expectations.

"???"

He had figured they would brag a bit and press a heavy pouch of coin into his hand, but instead they set up a platform and praised him to the skies.

Prominent citizens of the city and captains of various mercenary companies stood nearby, which made it all the more overwhelming.

And that was not all.

"Huh. Why are you so stiff? Come now, smile. Do you not hear the people cheering for you?" "Uh… th, that is…"

"Hahaha. Your Excellency, it is probably his first time with anything like this."

"Is that so? Hm… Sir Lowe may be right."

Exchanging words like that, they even patted Shatien’s shoulder and helped him arrange his pose.

‘Good grief…’

The treatment was over the top, but from the way things were going, Shatien could tell why Count Bellua had staged it.

A great noble who gladly remembered and honored even a mere mercenary who rendered service.

There was no better opportunity to show off his magnanimity.

He also sent his household soldiers marching past at intervals and stationed fully armored knights near the platform under the pretext of security. It was a perfect show of force.

Unlike the citizens who laughed, chattered, and cheered, the city’s power brokers who attended could only clap with cold sweat on their backs at this blatant display.

‘He really is a sly one. Seriously…’

Thanks to that, Shatien received treatment beyond his station and had to serve for quite a while as propaganda for Count Bellua’s generosity.

Of course, that was not the end of Shatien’s reward.

"What?"

A very bold reward had been prepared in addition.

"What is with that what? With those round eyes, he looks like a simple country lad at times, does he not?"

"Haha. He does, Your Excellency."

"That only means he has not been tainted. Simple, brave, and loyal. It seems to shine all the brighter thanks to Your Excellency’s generosity."

"Haha... In our city, such a fellow is hard to find. He may be a mercenary, but you must feel quite reassured, my lord."

It felt as if, whenever Count Bellua finished a sentence, the surrounding notables launched into tearful flattery, but Shatien had no time to care.

His mind was fixed on the words Count Bellua had spoken.

"Are you truly giving me that much?"

"Then what. Are you saying this count told you a lie?"

"N-Not at all! I would never dare."

Startled, Shatien hastily bowed his head.

"It was only that, when you said you would give me a whole carriage of gathered spoils, I was too shocked. For a mere mercenary like me, it felt excessive."

Yes.

A carriage.

Count Bellua’s promised reward was a carriage piled high with loot.

* * *

To name the choicest spoils, first would be captured high nobles, and second would be the army commander’s coffers.

By that measure, what Shatien received could be called the least valuable. A carriage of spoils usually meant no more than seized arms and armor.

But that only applied when there were a few pieces.

"Nooo waaaaayyy! I heard the story, but you actually got all of this? Hey now, our rookie is rich. Filthy rich! Maybe you retire from mercenary work already huh? Wait, no!. Absolutely not. Nooo!!"

"...You are noisy, Miles."

When the carriage was packed tight with weapons and armor like this one, the calculation changed.

Mixed in were not only the gear of common soldiers and mercenaries, but also quality pieces from knights and squires.

It was a jackpot.

Sold to the right buyers, it would easily fetch dozens of ducats in gold.

"So what are you going to do? You are not actually quitting mercenary life, right? Huh?"

"...I have not thought of leaving at all, so stop with the foolish talk, Miles."

"R-Really?"

"Yes. I have finally earned a great deal of trust in the company. Why would I leave?"

Only then did Miles look relieved. Because of his noisy senior, Shatien felt a headache coming on.

"Jeez. Enough with the nonsense and please watch the carriage for a bit, Miles. Only until I make a visit to the Captain."

"Eh? Watch the carriage? Those guys are just leaving?"

Miles scratched his head and pointed at Count Bellua’s soldiers who were moving the carriage.

He wanted to ask them to stick around and guard it since they had come this far.

Shatien shook his head.

"I told them to deliver and go. I said we would handle the rest."

"Wait, why…? Since they were doing it anyway, you should have asked them to see it through. Ugh…"

"They have plenty of work of their own. I could not bring myself to ask."

Even with Count Bellua’s orders, he could not treat their soldiers like porters.

People’s hearts were reeds. You never knew when such behavior might rub someone the wrong way.

It’s best not to give anyone a reason to find fault. Yes, yes.’

Miles clicked his tongue and grumbled.

"Damn. You really are delicate in the most useless places, rookie. Huh?"

"Haha… Is that not how everyone should be."

"Oh please. If you could not talk smoothly like that, I would not hate you as much. You say all this, and make me work for free. Huh?!"

Seeing Shatien talk so amiably, Miles could not bring himself to scold him.

"Ugh, I would rather die than suffer. Yeah!"

Miles thumped his chest and declared,

"Just go already! But in return…"

"Yes. I will set aside a good axe for you. In fact, I already picked one out."

"G-Gasp!? Really?"

"Of course. They say it belonged to a captured imperial knight. It is superb. Heh heh. I will show it to you when I get back."

"You rascal…! In the end, you are the only one who thinks of me, rookie. The only one! Get going!"

With a shout full of emotion, Miles put on a resolute face as if entrusted with a grave mission.

If anyone tried to lay a hand on the carriage, an axe would fly.

Seriously… Rough as he was, he was an easy senior to handle in many ways.

* * *

"Hm, you want to borrow some men?"

"Yes. The wealth loaded on the carriage is a bit much, and I fear it might stir trouble..."

In answer to Captain Mordo’s question, Shatien spoke as carefully as he could.

Borrow some of the unit.

It might have sounded trivial, but it was not.

‘A brand-new rookie, and worse, one who received favor from an outside noble, now looks like he is getting uppity.’

How unpleasant would that seem?

As it was, because Count Bellua had praised Shatien alone so highly from the platform, the Black Raven Mercenary Company’s contribution had been overshadowed. Their reward had even been meager.

‘They did not show it, but they must be annoyed for sure.’

Shatien wanted Captain Mordo’s trust so he could anchor himself within the Black Raven Mercenary Company. He did not want to earn Mordo’s dislike.

So he spoke in a very low posture, circling around his request, but…

"Well, borrowing them is not the important part."

"?"

"Have you decided where to sell the goods?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you had found a merchant to take Count Bellua’s spoils."

"Ah… ah! Y-Yes. I have."

Startled by the offhand tone that made it sound like nothing, Shatien hurried to answer.

"Oh, already? Where?"

"W-Well… I plan to approach the Mercantile Association for that, Captain."

"The association? The merchants’ league rooted in the northern free cities of the Empire?"

"Yes, that is right."

Why was this man suddenly interested? Was he about to hint that Shatien should sell to the company’s partner dealer instead? Thinking that far, Shatien regretted it.

He should have asked for a recommendation from the start.

But this guess was completely wrong.

"Not bad. The association is a good choice."

"?"

"They are spreading their reach not just through the North, but through the Holy Empire and Kingdom of Ellang as well. If you build a good relationship, it will help for a long time. If you had foolishly tried to dump it all on our partner dealer, I would have stopped you at once. Good thing you did not."

"Ah… is that so?"

"Yes. I’m saying this just between us, but our partner dealer is not great. He only looks after his own margin. He will never get truly big."

Apparently relations were not that good.

If he spoke that frankly, it said a lot.

And for some reason, Captain Mordo seemed rather fond of Shatien.

Breathing a sigh of relief inside, Shatien cautiously spoke again.

"Then, Captain Mordo, may I borrow some men?"

"Hm? Borrow?"

"Yes. As I said, just in case there is trouble…"

"No. That will not do."

Mordo cut him off and shook his head.

"I cannot let you ‘lend’ them."

"Oh… Is that so?"

Shatien was disappointed. He had hoped inside, but no was a no.

"There is no reason to borrow in the first place."

"Huh?"

What did that mean?

Thrown by the strange inflection in Mordo’s voice, Shatien blinked confusedly.

Then, he was able to understand.

"Take command. From now on you are the new Centurion of the Black Raven Mercenary Company. Do not think about borrowing from me. Assemble your own men and give orders. It is a bit of a private use in this case, but I will overlook that much. Understood?"

"Uh…"

It seemed he had been promoted to Centurion before he knew it.

Wow, huh…

He had wanted it, but he didn’t expect to be promoted so suddenly like this.

Lately, Shatien felt that life handed him one bewildering event after another.

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