Next chapter is kind of long again. About 10% chance it will come out (this time for real) within the next 12 hours. Otherwise it"s most likely to be in about 20-24 hours.
So the kanji for the t.i.tle this time were kind of difficult...since it seemed to fit this chapter I was either going to go with Grasping or Seizing the Chance. Seizing sounds better but I felt Grasping fit with the chapter better...Grasping various things this time around.
Year 7444, Month 5, Day 30
I went to greet the King and also greet the commander of the second knight group. The King,
"Yo~ Greed. It"s been since the start of the new year. I wasn"t in the castle when you came last month...Molin and the other"s said to say Hi. By the way, it seems you"re involved in this incident again. I heard a bit of it the last time I came to Baldukk for a report. What was it again, the {Murderers}? Ah, right the {Slaughterers}. If it"s the {Murderers} then they"re the one"s being judged right. In any case you"ve gotten quite the dangerous nickname. It seems that there aren"t many who can make it to the top ranks in the dungeon in this short of a time right. I guess it means Greed has become quite a famous. It"s only obvious some people will be envious I"m sure."
is what he was saying while grinning. You, intentionally said it wrong didn"t you.
"Leaving the jokes to about there, I"m glad you were fine. {Bright Blade} were one of the top adventurers in Baldukk right? Even I had heard the name before. Though I forgot until I received the report this time. What? Could it be, you"re actually quite strong? Well, you know I, even then was quite relieved you didn"t die. Since you, sell us such a good thing, and you"re quite the amusing fellow after all."
"Ha, thank you very much for your kindness, I"m greatly obliged."
While I was lowering my head it seems the commander of the second knight group whispered something in the King"s ear.
I"ve only seen the face of this commander before.
"It"s fine, it"s like I have my b.a.l.l.s being grasped by this guy after all. There"s no need for being so stiff at this point...Eh? Ah, is that so? So you"ve fought against Logan huh? You even won against Bittwaz? I guess that"s not just quite but considerably strong. Ah, if I remember right your older sister is in the first knight group and you were pulled out by your older brother as well? Then, it makes sense that you can reach the top magic stone earner at that young age. If you find any sort of amazing~ magic tool then bring it to me. I"ll let you have a reward. If it"s something good then like with Viscount Grimson in the past it"s fine if I let you become governor of one of my territories as well."
It seems I had a grasp on the King"s b.a.l.l.s at some point. I guess that"s technically true though.
"Wa ha."
I humble myself with my head still lowered.
"Come to think of it, it seems you placed the headquarters of your Greed Company in Rombertia. Logan was so pleased he was doing some sort of crazy dance. Make sure you sell some armor to the other knight groups and not just the first knight group. Right~ Valmort. You think so too right?"
After the King said that he looked at the commander of the second knight group who is guarding him. This person as far as I can tell is a slightly thin middle-aged Tiger-man a bit past his 40s. As expected I can"t use Identify because my sight will wander in a strange direction.
"Yeah, I would definitely like to make use of that armor in our group as well. Greed-san, it"s fine if it"s only a bit but please send some our way. I used to be in the first knight group as well after all, isn"t fine?"
Viscount Valmort said that and smiled at me.
"Ha~ I guess so, I"ll think about it.."
Hmn, it"s not completely impossible. If it"s one or two suits then I guess it"s fine~
"Also, "Saya" was it? Sell that to us as well. When I went to "Emerald Duke Crab Reception Hall" the other day, I was surprised. That one with the emblem of the royal family on it, that"s nice isn"t it."
"Right!? That"s the greatest isn"t it! Greed"s place really made something good. Greed, you know, I"ll say it a number of times but I"ll make you into at least a sub-Baron or something so quickly quit being an adventurer and make more "Saya". I"m sure everyone would be pleased to buy them so you could live your entire life off that."
"With all due respect your majesty, I have something I would like to do. Though I am terribly sorry to decline so many times.."
"Ho~?"
Viscount Valmolt made a voice like he was interested.
"I"m sure it"s just nothing special right? Or is it that? You want to earn big as an adventurer? If it"s not that then are you like the idiots around there who admire Rogmokku.The.Pitviper or his majesty George?"
The King threw down his legs shifted his a.s.s with one of his elbows on the armrest of the chair sitting sloppily back while saying it.
".."
I couldn"t do anything but face downwards and make a bitter smile.
It seems my dream is an idiotic dream.
Though it hurts that I can"t deny that.
"Your majesty, for you to bring up admiration for his majesty George. In the first place, everyone young man dreams of one day becoming like his majesty George, Rogmokku.The.Pitviper, or Kolakt King {Wizard.King}. Saying that I was one such young man who seriously admired them when I was in my teens as well."
I don"t know if it was a follow or something Viscount Valmort mentioned the general debate. In the first place, I still haven"t responded yet.
After the King looked at Viscount Valmort he opened his mouth as if to make fun of it.
"What"s with you, could it be you"re saying that seriously? I won"t say it"s completely and utterly undoubtedly impossible though you know, but no matter how you think about it isn"t it unrealistic?"
Well, that"s what"s normal right.
The King further,
"Even that Viscount Grimson when he presented my grandfather the previous King with the wand that let"s anyone use {Fire Ball} there was talk of giving him a territory but in the end he chose to become the governor you know? Well the territory was in the Dirt Plains. I"m sure that intelligent Viscount Grimson looked up to his majesty George in the past as well. But you know, the territory we"d be giving you is either the Dirt Plains or somewhere in the north, that we cut off from another place in the past. If you try making a country in a place like that there"s no way Guranan or Devas would remain quiet about it right. Of course, since we have to show face as the ones who gave you the territory, unlike them we wouldn"t lay a hand on you but if they attack you we wouldn"t come to your rescue either. If your territory ends up captured by Guranan or Devas we"d take it back with full force but if it comes to that then it"s ours again. Though since old man Grimson isn"t an idiot he already knew something like that."
and said that. That"s only obvious. If a small independent country like that were to stand on the verge of collapse it would desperately resist, and I"m sure the invading force wouldn"t be unharmed either. After it"s been weakened the army of Rombert Kingdom would invade and then it would just return back to original. The King returns his sight back to me and,
"That"s why Greed. I won"t say anything bad so make Greed Company even bigger. And sell even more "Saya". Right, isn"t that better?"
and said that. After hearing that Viscount Valmort,
"Your majesty, it"s not as if Greed-san said he wanted to create a country.."
and calmed down the forwardness.
"Eh? Ah, that"s right. But what about it Greed? In reality, aren"t you looking up to his majesty George and Rogmokku King, Rogmokku.The.Pitviper?"
and the King said. Commander, you don"t really have any room to talk.
"Ha..That is.."
While I was still humbling myself I was about to respond that I looked up to them. But I stopped myself.
"Eh? What? Are you serious? I"ll teach a brat like you though. It"s true that if it"s a high ranking n.o.ble over a Viscount then it"s fine for them to go independent. The surroundings might not recognize them but as a result they"ll end up having to recognize it after all. But from that point on it"s the same as being a foreign country. You might end up being attacked by your original country and if it"s connected to a different country that one might invade you as well. And no one will come to save you at that time. If a freshly made small country can single-handedly repel the armies of the country it belonged to until then and other foreign countries than it"s a splendid independent country though. But, that"s just a matter of, IF they can manage it."
The King said that while drinking a sip of the tea he had at the side of his chair.
"There were countless cases of that even up until now. Even if you don"t go independent it"s a pretty common story of entire territories switching sides to a different country as well. It"s annoying but Marquis Junkel"s territory is one example of those."
Just now, the King said Marquis Junkel but to be more accurate they"re a Count. In the North of Rombert Kingdom there was a territory and right now it"s switched sides to Granan Empire. Originally the territory around there was something that Rombert Kingdom waged a war against Granan Empire invaded and captured. During that time, the one who ruled that territory was a person called Count Junkel. Midway through the invading war Count Junkel abandoned Granan Empire and switched sides to Rombert Kingdom having them recognize the territory as his own and they were conferred the rank of Marquis from Rombert Kingdom. That person ended up switching sides again returning to being a Count of Granan Empire. During the last hundred years or so that"s happened a total of five times it seems. In some meanings you might even call it Junkel Dukedom or Count-dom. Since it"s become like a va.s.sal country of Rombert and Granan back and forth, it"s even possible that they aren"t even properly paying the taxes.
It seems that there"s a few large and small territories like that along the large border of the country.
I think I talked about it before but along the border with Devas Kingdom in the south there"s a number of hidden pioneering villages so there"s probably quite a few places that aren"t properly paying taxes to either side.
"If you"re interested then, if it"s a village under direct control of the royal family along the Dirt Plains then I"d be fine with selling it to you for 10,000,000,000 Z."
Of course I"m sure that"s just a joke though. A single stingy village along the remote regions of a place like that where there"s often conflicts going on for 10,000,000,000 Z is way beyond making a killing...However...
"10,000,000,000 Z is it, as expected that"s quite expensive.."
I made a dry smile while looking up at the King.
"Hahhawwa. No, if you really pay 10,000,000,000 Z then it would be fine to get you an adequate territory along with it. If it"s a country that can oppose Devas for several years after that then it"s entirely good for me after all...Oh? Isn"t that a good thinking? I wonder if some fool won"t buy one from me?"
"Your majesty..I really can"t imagine there"s actually such a person as that though.."
Viscount Valmort grumbled while shaking his head.
Originally I intended to found my country to the East rather than the South being exposed to the threat of Devas. Unlike the Dirt Plains it seems it"s true that the territory is considerably barren though so there"s been no conflicts between Rombert Kingdom and Bakuruni Kingdom or Kanbitt Kingdom to the East in the past couple of decades. Even the last conflict I heard about was on a smaller scale than the conflicts always occurring with Devas. I thought that if it"s the area where these three countries are bordering then it"s surrounded by mountains so it would be even less likely to get involved in conflicts.
Since the areas around there are ruled by County Rinflait who isn"t very wealthy, I was thinking of paying some money and as insurance get married to an appropriate woman to create a relationship in the area and buy a territory around there. Even then if you pay 10,000,000,000 Z then I think you should at least get a single mountain and an area the size of Kanagawa prefecture with some change. After all it seems that just the area of Count Rinflait"s territory is considerably vast. With the change it would be fine if I buy some slaves and if I make the first 10 years or so tax-free then I"m sure some second sons and daughters of commoners would move in as well.
Putting aside rubber, if there"s a mountain then I"m sure I could found a country by manufacturing and creating an industry around metals somehow. I"m sure I could even do agriculture as well. I just have to have the serfs make terraced fields. Normally it seems to be impossible due to the flow of water but I can create it with water magic after all. If you give me a month I"m sure I could make Lake Biwa. Though there"s no level ground that wide in area. If we pull some water from the river we can make a reservoir. If it"s just providing the water during the period of that construction, it"s not impossible.
However, Dirt Plains huh? Up until now I"ve had Devas in my head as a threat so I didn"t take it into consideration but it seems it"s considerably fertile and if we can endure things for two years or so I might be able to make it work. Ah, come to think of Miki, No, Lilus said, "Be careful of the reincarnations in Devas Kingdom. One day they"ll become an obstacle for you." or something like that...I guess this means, even if I try to found my country in the East eventually they"ll become a hindrance? Otherwise regardless of whether I found a country they"ll try to lay some kind of hand on me? It"s probably the latter.
While I was in the middle of thinking a bit, Viscount Valmort and the King continued talking about trying to profit by selling the Dirt Plains to a n.o.ble inside of the country and how no one would buy it. The moment their conversation stopped, I looked for the timing and interrupted.
"Your majesty, I"m very sorry while you"re in the middle of your conversation but I still have yet to earn such a large amount of money as 10,000,000,000 Z, nor have I found any useful magic tools."
"That"s only obvious. Eh? What? You haven"t seriously gotten interested have you?"
Then don"t make such an amused face.
"Yeah, not yet at this time.."
"Ho~?"
After hearing my response the King"s atmosphere suddenly changed to something strict and he lowered his tone of voice.
"Since you"re saying not yet at this time, then that means from here on out you intend to do something like that?"
"Yes."
I looked up at the King and properly p.r.o.nounced it so there was no mistakes in hearing.
The King fixed his posture in the chair and leaned forward a bit.
"Just in case, I"ll say it once for you. Greed, you know, it"s true that I intend to stand by the things I"ve said. Since a King just becomes a joke if they go back on their word even once. However, while it seems you"re earning quite a bit right now but if you mention 10,000,000,000 Z then it"s a truly large amount of money. It"s true that the Dirt Plains is a good plot of land but there"s skirmishes going on between Devas there all the time, and you know that if your territory ends up being occupied once my army takes it back it returns back to belonging to my Rombert again right? Even if you make some clatter after that I won"t pay any attention to it."
"Ha..Of course."
"It"s fine if you understand though. You, I thought you were someone who could see a bit further ahead...If I remember correctly, your company has a red license right? Wouldn"t it be a good idea to leave it your older brother who"s rumored to be superior while you still can? I"m fine as long as I can buy "Saya". Though you still had some room to grow, I guess in the end you"re just a brat huh? I"ve lost interest. It"s already fine so leave."
"Ha...Please excuse me."
I guess I disappointed the King, Thomas Rombert the Third, he"s just waving his hand urging me to leave the room so I honestly left. However, I took his word.
"..Hey, Greed."
The King called out to me after I had turned my back. I turned around and took the pose of a retainer before replying.
"Ha."
The King made a slightly strict face.
"Just now, I made a fool of you. For the time being you can"t turn around my a.s.sessment of you. If you"re mortified over it then either find a useful magic tool or get 10,000,000,000 Z and hand them over to me. In that case..if you can do that then I"ll take a better look at you again, I"ll even take back that I made fun of you and apologize."
"Wa ha."
"At best strain yourself on it."
And I withdrew from the audience room of the government office in Baldukk.
Holding my chest held high.
..............
The judgements were held starting noon but just as expected Bikkens from {Bright Blade} was executed. The equipment of theirs that was confiscated by the knight group of Baldukk who has the right to police was returned to the rightful owner who turned the tables on them (in other words, me).
Just as the curtain of night started to fall, the enforcement of all punishments had ended (after my portion of seeing through the enforcement against Bikkens ended I was wondering around checking out stalls but I returned to the inn to change into normal clothes), and a messenger came from Viscount Valmort calling me out. It"s simple to find "Boil Manor" where the {Slaughterers} stay in this town after all.
When I arrived at the highest quality inn in this Baldukk "Elm Tree Manor" and the one in charge of guarding the King, viscount Valmort was waiting for me. Ushered in by him I saw down on the edge of a sofa in the lobby. So there"s even sofas in "Elm Tree Manor". Though it"s not like there"s springs so it"s just filled with feathers or straw and is just a bit better than a wooden chair in terms of comfort.
"Greed-san, in regards to the matter of selling armor to the second knight group, I"m depending on you for that."
Viscount Valmort politely started talking.
"Viscount Valmort, I"m a sub-n.o.ble and just as you can see I"m young as well. Since it"s not like we"re before his majesty there"s no need to, speak so politely.."
"That"s certainly true but you"re the head of Greed Company. And Greed Company is an importance company for our country which sells armor to the first knight group. Since from here on out we the second knight group want to have do business dealings with you as well, this much is only obvious."
Eh? I don"t remember promising to make any deliveries to the second knight group.
"However..there"s a limit on the quant.i.ty of armors we can produce..I don"t know if we can provide a quant.i.ty that satisfies you.."
While I"m holding back on my words and,
"That~ I understand that much. It"s fine even if it"s only one suit at once. For starters wouldn"t you take orders from the sub-commander cla.s.ses who are in the field? Please do."
Viscount Valmort said that and politely lowered his head to someone who could be the same age as their own child.
".."
"I was convinced of it after hearing about the matter during the judgement today. I took a look at the rubber armor presented as evidence. Even though it"s that light it has enough defensive capability to deflect arrows. It"s something that"s definitely necessary for the second knight group which sees a lot of live combat."
The second knight group is different from the first knight group in that they"re in possession of a formal infantry unit so they have an organization where there"s a mixed regiment with units from all of the knight groups from the second to the fourth that take part in combat. Well if you normally speak of an army then this is how it would be.
Since the first knight group are the elites there"s no many chances for them to directly enter the battle field and take command or cross spears. Of course, if it"s necessary they"ll stand at the front and fight. They"re strong after all. In comparison the second knight group is the main combat force in the conflicts with Devas. The command of the entire battlefield itself is usually done by a knight from the first knight group but about 1/4th of the members of the second knight group are constantly included in patrol groups that protect the Dirt Plains. Obviously it"s not as if there aren"t the armies of the n.o.bles included in patrolling the borders but they aren"t normally stationed out there. After all, there"s more cases for direct combat for the members at the ends than the first knight group.
"..I understand. However, the limit is one suit every three months. In regards to the price, delivery date, and measurements I"ll get into contact with the knight group at a later time."
After I said that and Viscount Valmort made an openly relieved face.
"Thank you very much. It"s really a big help...And, in regards to the matter this morning but don"t take it too to mind. His majesty was pleased with Greed-san. His majesty wouldn"t say something like that to someone who he was really disappointed in. Either he would just remove them from their position without saying anything or if it"s far unusual and they buy his anger..he"ll have one arm cut off. He won"t kill them though. I"ve only heard stories about it and haven"t actually seen it though."
"..Is that so."
"After that, his majesty was saying it. If it"s you then you might be able to obtain an amazing magic tool like Viscount Grimson or a large sum of money. And he also said this. You"re the only person that his majesty can freely talk with. One of the few men who know of his majesty"s size through "Saya"."
Viscount Valmort cheerfully said while laughing. It"s true that around the summer of last year since his majesty isn"t an L size but is still larger than an M size it was necessary to make a custom condom exclusively for the King. I was forced to make the model in front of the King. The requests were extremely annoying and fussy like just a bit bigger, or smaller and such. Though he was extremely pleased that I made it ribbed. I"m sure there"s a difficult smile on my face.
"He also said he won"t lend you a hand but he said to make sure nothing becomes a hindrance like the incident this time. I wonder how in the world we"re supposed to make that happen?"
Viscount Valmort said while laughing quite amused at it. Certainly that"s unreasonable. Pulled along by his laugh I couldn"t help but laugh as well.
"I see..then I need to put fighting spirit into it. I"m sure it would be quite thrilling to have his majesty apologize to me after all."
I said that had a short chat with Viscount Valmort.
During the time Viscount Valmort and I were talking in the lobby it seems that the King was watching a bit from the upper floor. Since it was from behind me I didn"t notice.