Chapter 405: Steady Steps

The pay is on the generous side too, so they must have found it attractive. Well, for a job that puts your life on the line, generous pay is only natural. Even mercenaries, who fight for a living, draw considerable wages.

That’s why hiring a mercenary company takes gold.

I believe I heard that the signing fee for the Swiss mercenary company led by Leto and Gedel, hired as the royal guard, was 250 gold coins. A staggering price, but they were a force powerful enough to be worth every coin.

The hair-raising memory of nearly dying at the hands of Leto, called the strongest mercenary in Switzerland, came back to me. Even with items, the best I could manage was to barely hold on. These days, I think I could hold my own against him to some degree.

Not win. Literally just "to some degree."

He was a warrior so strong I never want to face him again.

"But if they can’t even endure the training, send them home."

"No need to worry. We have an excellent instructor."

"Sorry to say it, but I’m planning to assign Ted as commander of the search unit soon."

I intend to fill the vacant instructor post from among the senior men of the standing army.

It was bad news for Oscar, but he was sincerely delighted at his friend’s promotion.

"Ted is finally getting a unit of his own?"

Oscar and Ted are of equal standing, but since Oscar commands the standing army, he inevitably ranks a bit higher. In a medieval army, whether or not you have men under you is what defines your power.

"Quite a few of the Gale Knights recruits failed to adapt, after all."

Among the recruits picked up in the east and assigned to the reserves, some dropped out midway. It wasn’t a matter of grit; the unspoken discrimination was simply brutal. They were the sons of gravekeepers, cleaners, and farmers.

I had selected them for their decent dispositions and admirable effort, but reality was as cold as ever.

There was nothing I could do about the quiet discrimination they suffered, and the Gale Knights, an order boasting glittering battle honors, had become an intensely proud group.

Even so, I always want to give opportunities to talented people of decent disposition, however humble their birth. They may have washed out of the Gale Knights, but their fighting ability doesn’t just disappear.

"Ted will lead them well."

"He’s an honest, good man. Aside from the slacking off."

"Hahaha, that’s only now and then. When it counts, he delivers."

"I know. That’s exactly why I’m giving him the unit."

The search unit’s official purpose is to root out bandits, vagrants, and enemy soldiers who slip into the domain. That was the stated aim, at least; truth be told, it began as a treasure hunt.

A prince weighed down by his position can’t go gallivanting all over the place himself.

And I needed to gather the map pieces and complete the Strategy Map.

Another major issue was my inability to catch situations like the one in Vintenheim right away, and the Strategy Map was exactly the thing to solve that. At first I wondered what it even was.

[The Strategy Map allows you to view comprehensive information about your territory at a glance]

Just like a game, in other words.

Hmm, I’d briefly forgotten this whole world was built on the framework of a game. But by now I accept it as a world and a history in its own right. After all, I’m living my life here in earnest.

"What is Schlieffen up to these days?"

"That mercenary captain is behaving himself."

"Then instead of collecting his ransom, I’ll put him to work for nothing."

We captured the mercenary captain who took a commission from Mort and Viscount Neunil and ambushed the fleeing Count Heinlein. That’s Schlieffen, from Mainz. He was highly skilled, and he had a strong reputation for reliability.

Moltheim will need a combat force garrisoned there permanently. So hiring Schlieffen and his company as its guard force seems like a fine idea. Reliability makes a fitting standard in cases like this.

I had Captain Schlieffen brought in.

"I heard the rumor that the Leben and Ladwig men were released, and I confess I’ve been quietly hoping for the same myself."

"You think I’d show leniency to mercenaries who can’t pay their ransom?"

"Wouldn’t you find some way to collect from us regardless, my lord?"

He said any terms would beat sitting idle in a garrison. Fair enough; for mercenaries who make fighting their trade, the itch must be unbearable. So I proposed the unpaid posting at Moltheim.

Schlieffen accepted with surprising readiness.

"We’ll stand guard over this Moltheim for one year in place of our ransom. Only, please cover the food costs for penniless men like us. We will defend Moltheim with everything we have."

"That’s a reasonable request, so I’ll grant it. But aren’t you agreeing a little too easily?"

"The only road left for a bankrupt mercenary company is banditry. And personally, I have no desire to earn money by stooping to robbery. A mercenary should live a mercenary’s life. That’s all I want."

He was a far more upstanding man than I’d expected. He did accept the assassination commission from Mort and Viscount Neunil, but such contracts are common enough in the mercenary world that you can’t really call it a moral failing.

"Don’t you resent me for killing your precious men?"

"We are mercenaries, my lord."

Schlieffen carried himself with a mercenary’s pride. As the saying goes in their trade, yesterday’s enemy is today’s client. It’s a world as tangled as a spiderweb, far too intertwined to hold a grudge over every death.

Hmm, outside of the Swiss companies, hardly any sellswords hold to this mindset. The more I saw of him, the more I wanted him for myself. Shouldn’t a mercenary venture be led by exactly this kind of man, one with pride?

"Someday I’d like to put you in charge of a mercenary business."

"If that day comes, please don’t forget me. Call on me."

"I’ll consider it. First, don’t cause any trouble in Moltheim."

"My men have their pride as well."

It occurred to me that Schlieffen might well be of noble birth from somewhere. It was more common than you’d think for nobles to fall into the mercenary world, and plenty of them turned out more despicable than bandits.

In that sense, for him to display such upright values in front of me, his bloodline is surely no ordinary one. But I didn’t ask about his past. He and I were client and mercenary, nothing more.

Schlieffen and his men were released at once.

Until Ferke returns, they’ll be learning guard duty under Hans. Hans marveled that the mercenaries worked far better than expected, and rated them so highly that he even asked to keep them for himself.

And so I spent busy days working through problems one steady step at a time. But no matter how busy I was, I always made time for Hilda. To me, family matters far more than work.

Hilda would even try to stop me, saying I mustn’t neglect a lord’s duties, but on this one thing, whatever else, I refused to listen to her. And for all her worrying, I think she was secretly pleased.

I learned this off the internet: no matter how busy he is, a woman loves a man who pays attention to her. And a man dearly loves a woman who understands and encourages him.

In that sense, Hilda and I are a match made in heaven.

Lily, terribly envious, was airing her grievances again today.

"Ahh, I wish my prince would cherish me the way you cherish Hilda."

"The method is very simple. Watch Hilda and learn. That’s the answer."

"Learn from Hilda? But Hilda is exactly your type, Wolf."

At Lily’s puzzlement, Hilda and I couldn’t help chuckling.

If she knew the crown prince’s first love was Hilda, she’d faint on the spot.

"Wolf, shouldn’t we start getting ready too?"

"We should. Almost everything that needed handling has been settled."

"I’ve grown used to the manor, but what do you think life in the castle will be like?"

"Perfect for hide-and-seek, don’t you think?"

For the record, Rosenheim Castle is quite large. Our lovely head handmaid Sabine’s greatest worry, day and night, was the cleaning. Won’t we need to hire even more servants and maids than we have now?

I hear the royal palace alone employs over 50 staff.

Hmm, scaled down accordingly, would 20 do?

Well, I turned over this and that in my head while waiting for Daniel to return. A few days later he was back, and at last we could move. We led the way with the Streit Gunners in full new-style uniform.

The people of Rosenheim all came out to welcome us.

Everyone rejoiced that Rosenheim’s rightful ruler had returned at last.