Deciding to break the atmosphere, the baron questioned them seriously:
"Well, I've heard that a village to the south has disappeared, can you tell me more?"
Glancing at Romuald, Maxime briefly recounted his encounter with the bandits and then the village's situation a month later.
"A stable source of income lost forever, so annoying..." thought the baron bitterly.
"So what's done is done, there's no going back," said the Baron, sighing slightly.
Seeing this reaction, Maxime was able to confirm his preconceived ideas.
"As the school and the books said, nobles in most worlds don't give a damn about the common people. But of course they won't treat them too badly on the surface either, so as not to risk civil war or assassination."
"These people are generally far from stupid; on the contrary, they are often extremely intelligent and have very broad knowledge and experience. After all, unlike in our world, nobles here start studying and working at a very early age. The simultaneous learning and application of the latter means that their expertise reaches a very high level in just a few years."
"Human resources management, agriculture, military strategy, law and commerce, they know it all. The only thing missing is that because knowledge is limited to a small number of people, and these people have to devote themselves to several fields simultaneously, there are rarely any innovations. This means that they will always be at a lower technological level than the main world."
"Maxime is it?"
The baron cut short Maxime's thoughts by calling out to him.
"Yes Baron Barthon?" replied Maxime calmly.
"You're a mercenary leader, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Then I charge you with exterminating this group of bandits. Don't worry, the rewards will be very lucrative."
Maxime made a surprised expression.
"Baron that's impossible, my mercenary group is far too small and weak to undertake such a task."
"You can't even handle a group of bandits? What kind of pathetic mercenary group are you?" the Baron questioned rhetorically with a mocking smile.
Maxime lowered his head, it was the harsh reality of this world.
Weakness was a sin, and he had no right to contradict it, or his head might roll the next moment.
He had to be careful and above all follow the rules and customs of this world to grow up quickly, because the real world wasn't going to wait for him.
Especially as exams were just around the corner, he couldn't afford to screw things up here and ruin his future.
"Monsieur le baron, may I speak?" intervenes Romuald despite a few beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Um...Yes, go ahead."
"Maxime is at the moment very young and has only just created his mercenary group hence his inability to respond to this task, however if an investment were to be made then the mercenary group would probably be...without a doubt capable. What's more, the return on investment would be enormous and..."
"Stop blathering on about bullshit after bullshit," the baron stopped with an air of annoyance.
Romuald didn't dare continue for fear of offending the baron as he lowered his head.
After a few seconds of reflection, the Baron suddenly asked with a strange smile:
"You're thinking of resigning your position Romuald, aren't you?"
Romuald's immediate reaction was to drop to one knee. And while looking at the ground he shouted:
"I'm deeply grateful for the treatment I've received from the Baron so far, and I'll certainly repay you. But my desire to explore and earn my own honor was aroused anew by this young man!"
Maxime was extremely surprised by this scene. He knew from textbooks that the culture and status differences were enormous compared to his world. But unless he had seen it with his own eyes, it was difficult to recognize that he now belonged to such a world.
Having no answer for a few seconds and not daring to look up, Romuald continued:
"I'm sure he'll become a great man and so I'd like to accompany him on his path by lending him my sword!"
Maxime was moved as he listened to his words. He had just realized that his actions would have a huge impact on the lives of his men. His members were in effect putting their lives in his hands. What kind of confidence or feeling had Romuald had in meeting him so that he could accept his proposal?
"Interesting, very interesting..." murmured the Baron with a smile.
"Romuald raised his head," ordered the Baron.
Romuald complied immediately and met the Baron's gaze.
"You know, you're not the first to do this. A lot of soldiers your age end up resigning from their post to join a mercenary group, as if they're going through some kind of existential crisis."
"But what's surprising is that the vast majority of them end up joining a large mercenary group, or at least small mercenary groups but which already have a small reputation."
"But you join a small group of mercenaries who are poor, have no reputation and are weak."
"So interesting!" exclaimed the baron as he laughed heartily.
Maxime and Romuald's eyes met as they both glowered as if they were thinking the same thing simultaneously.
"Marguerita! Come here and give these poor mercenaries 200 gold coins!" shouted the baron enthusiastically.
"200 gold coins!" Maxime's eyes sparkled.
"With that I'll be able to pay the first salaries and thus enable my young members to buy good equipment!"
"But above all I'll be able to recruit many men and strengthen my own force!"
At the same time, however, the Baron was carefully observing Maxime's reaction. After all, he wasn't so generous as to give 200 gold coins to just anyone. Even for him, this represented a not inconsiderable portion of his wealth.
He noticed that Maxime kept his expression under control, although his eyes showed a certain greed. However, this still represented a calmness far surpassing his peers, which greatly satisfied the Baron.
"Maxime, this will only be a down payment after I've eradicated the bandit gang I'll give you 300 gold pieces."
The baron's words brought Maxime back to reality. He was thinking about his courses and ended up smiling bitterly inwardly.
"500 gold coins to eradicate a group of bandits capable of wiping out a small village is pretty light. And even if the situation is reversed and it's the bandits who triumph over us, they won't escape unscathed. So he'll just have to send in his soldiers and exterminate the remaining crumbs."
"In this situation he'll probably also save the captives thus gaining a good reputation, but also recover the bandits' booty and thus enormous wealth."
"So following this reasoning, 200 gold pieces are surely the result of the baron's internal calculation. He thinks that 200 gold pieces are enough to dazzle a small group of mercenaries and a few idiots into sending themselves to their deaths, so that he can pick up the crumbs."
"And if they were really successful then he will have created a relationship with a man of high potential with only a small portion of his savings."
"Indeed, the nobles of this world are not to be underestimated."
Yet Maxime grinned confidently outwardly and exclaimed:
"Baron trust us, this mission, the saber-toothed tiger group will certainly accomplish!"