"I have to go too? Why me?"
"Do you expect me to go sell it by myself? We need to go together and figure out how to sell it."
"But I have a lot of work! How can I go when I'm so busy?"
"Don't make me laugh. As soon as I'm gone, you'll slack off and rest."
Ghislain knew exactly what kind of person Claude was.
"N-no! I'll work really hard!"
"You sure talk well."
Clicking his tongue, Ghislain continued.
"Well, even if that lie is true. If we're going to sell continuously, you need to come and see. We're planning to sell throughout the entire kingdom starting from the capital, so the person managing it needs to know, right?"
"Then what about the work here?"
"The main framework is already set, so someone else can supervise for a while. Find someone to take over your duties temporarily."
"Ugh…"
Claude had no response and just held his head.
Even if he found someone, it wouldn't reduce his workload. He'd have to check on the work progress during his absence, so his work would actually increase.
But he couldn't refuse to go.
As Ghislain said, if he was going to oversee the cosmetic sales, he needed to go to the capital to find sales outlets and prepare distribution.
Currently, Claude was also acting as the head of the Fenris merchant guild.
Of course, it was just a ghost merchant guild that didn't sell anything but only bought things.
As Claude squirmed, reluctant to go, a sudden idea flashed in his mind.
"Wait a minute. Do we really need to sell it ourselves?"
"What do you mean, if we don't sell it directly?"
"Why don't we sell it to a reputable, large merchant guild? They'll verify it and sell it to the nobles."
The cosmetic was that effective. If it were a large merchant guild, they could easily find people to test it.
But Ghislain looked at Claude pityingly and clicked his tongue.
"Why would I do that?"
"Well, it'd be easier to hand it over to a big merchant guild, wouldn't it?"
"We have our own merchant guild; why give it away?"
"Our guild is just a guild in name only, with no recognition. It was only created to conveniently buy things."
"That's why we need to expand it, starting with cosmetics. If we sell directly, we can keep all the profits. Why involve other merchant guilds? I've never handed over what's mine to others."
Claude let out a hollow laugh.
"Wow, your greed is something else…"
"And if we entrust it to another merchant guild, it'll take too long. We need to establish sales channels and raise money as quickly as possible. We need to expand our guild too, so stop complaining and just come along."
"Ugh, why are you in such a hurry when you already have a lot of money? You still have plenty of runestones."
Ghislain replied in a calm tone to Claude's grumbling.
"It's not enough. Time and money are always lacking."
'We don't know when the ducal family will make a move. We need to finish preparations before that.'
The Fenris territory wouldn't be attacked immediately.
Desmond, to make up for his loss in the last war, would focus more on capturing Rayfold quickly than attacking here.
Using that gap, Ghislain needed to strengthen the territory as much as possible.
Considering what needed to be done in the future, even the money he had wasn't enough.
'The runestones are also reaching their limit.'
Although he hadn't run out of runestones yet, he had plans that required using a large amount of them.
Including the amount to be handed over to the Magic Tower, it was tight.
'I don't have the leisure to go back to the Forest of Demonic Beasts.'
They lacked the strength to exploit the Forest of Demonic Beasts anew.
Until he could increase his power, he had to utilize other foundations besides the Forest of Demonic Beasts.
'We need to establish allied forces too. We need someone to at least hold them back.'
He wasn't going to the capital just to sell cosmetics.
To confront the enormous power of the Delphine ducal family, he needed the support of the opposing faction.
'I don't need to fight the ducal family alone. The royal family must be grinding their teeth at Duke Delphine too.'
Now was a good time to make use of the intensifying conflict between the royalist faction and the ducal family.
He needed to meet them and join hands.
'The war will start when and where I want. If there's going to be a war, I'll start it first. I won't fight on my land. I'll destroy their base.'
Ghislain clenched his fist.
Developing the territory was important, but ultimately, it was just a means to confront the ducal family.
But others who didn't know his inner thoughts couldn't understand why Ghislain was always in such a hurry.
Claude was the same.
They had solved the food problem, had runestones, and now had even developed a specialty product.
Even if they stayed as they were, the Fenris territory would gradually develop.
But Ghislain seemed to be in such a hurry, like someone always being chased by something.
'This must be it. He must have made enemies with someone. Ah, this is driving me crazy.'
Ghislain's words weren't wrong.
It would be a waste to hand over a hit product they developed to another merchant guild.
But Claude absolutely hated the idea of going around selling cosmetics himself.
He was already tired, and if his workload increased with trading business, he might as well die.
Once the cosmetics started selling, he'd be even busier than now.
"Ah! Seriously! If I go to the capital, I have to check how things went while I was gone! How can I do all that alone? And you're telling me to handle the trading business too? No! No way! I can't do it! Just kill me!"
In the end, Claude started to rebel, almost ready to throw himself on the floor.
"I told you to hire more people. You can delegate some of the work to other managers."
At Ghislain's words, Claude pounded his chest in frustration, making a tearful face.
"The people we have now are already overwhelmed with their own work. They don't know anything besides their assigned fields, so they can't help each other. They need to know something to work, don't they?"
"Hmm…"
Ghislain thought that, indeed, considering the workload, the number of people who could handle the work was too small.
He had personally managed important tasks and brought in Claude to oversee general affairs, but there were still too many tasks happening simultaneously.
No matter how outstanding the two were, as humans, they had limits.
Ghislain knew that, but with limited time and a lot to do, he had no choice but to keep pushing Claude.
"We have no choice. You'll just have to keep going… Huh? Wait a minute."
Suddenly, Ghislain thought of someone.
He wasn't entirely reliable, but he was someone who could handle most of the tasks needed to run a territory.
He would be suitable as Claude's assistant.
Ghislain suddenly put on a benevolent smile and said,
"It's been tough lately, hasn't it? Shall I introduce someone? I know someone who can help you."
"A woman? Is she pretty?"
"It's a man."
"…I don't like it."
"Then keep doing it alone."
Claude bit his lip hard. This damn lord always asked as if there were options, but the answer was always predetermined.
He eventually sighed and asked,
"Who is it? To entrust him with territory work, he needs to have at least basic knowledge."
Even a cat's paw would be helpful now.
But to entrust someone with managing the territory, they at least needed to be literate and able to handle calculations.
"Check when we meet. Let's move right now."
"…Now?"
"Time is money."
"Why so urgent… Can't we at least send a message beforehand? Do you think he'll agree to work when we just show up and tell him? What if he refuses?"
Ghislain chuckled and replied,
"If he refuses, we'll kill him."
***
Ghislain went to the old castle of Count Digald with Claude.
While touring the territory along the way, the two confirmed the state of the land and frowned.
"Wow, the situation here isn't any better. Feels like looking at our territory. No, we're much better now."
The Digald territory hadn't been properly restored since losing the war.
Perdium lacked money and people, so they hadn't been able to do much for the Digald territory.
They barely managed to send relief supplies to the residents using the runestones Ghislain had given, just scraping by.
They'd expanded the land, but it was a troublesome situation where only more money went out instead of collecting taxes.
"Maybe I should send some food later. Or would it be better to just take over up here?"
"Such an unfilial son you are."
"It's a waste. If I leave it to Perdium, it'll take too long."
Ghislain decided to take over the Digald territory later once Fenris was on track, and turned away.
It was a pity to leave the land idle, but there was nothing he could do right now.
Even pouring all his efforts into developing Fenris wasn't enough.
Upon arriving at the Digald castle, Ghislain immediately went down to the underground prison.
"Hmm, where would that guy be? I told them not to take him even if they took the others."
The lower-level officials who hadn't directly participated in the war had already been taken away by Perdium.
But one person was left in prison at Ghislain's request.
"Wow, there are a lot more new faces. This place is a mess."
The prison was packed without any empty cells.
Most of the prisoners were criminals who had been caught causing trouble in the ruined territory.
Ghislain clicked his tongue and checked the prisoners one by one until he finally found the person he was looking for.
The man, perhaps given special treatment, was sitting blankly alone in a relatively clean cell.
It was Lowell, who had survived by amusing Ghislain with his absurd calculations.
"Hmm, was his name Lowell? So he's still alive."
The emaciated Lowell sharply lifted his head at Ghislain's voice.
"Wh-who are you…"
"It's me, don't you remember?"
"Ahhhh!"
Lowell hurriedly scooted back on his bottom, pressing himself against the wall.
He hadn't recognized him at first in the darkness, but how could he forget that face?
The man who had stormed from Perdium to Digald and killed the surrendered count and all his vassals.
To Lowell, Ghislain was a terrifying, grim-reaper-like existence.
"Wh-why are you here? A-are you here to kill me now?"
At first, when he was imprisoned, he was relieved to be alive, but as time passed, he had a bad feeling.
All the others imprisoned with him had been released, but he alone remained locked up.
From then on, he spent sleepless nights in anxiety.
He feared they might have left him in prison to execute him later.
And finally, the demon who held his life in his hands appeared before him again.
"Please spare me! I really didn't do anything wrong! I just did as I was told! I worked diligently!"
Ghislain didn't respond to that and instead asked the question he had asked before.
"Then, what's 750 times 1,920?"
"1.44 million!"
The answer came out at lightning speed.
In prison, Lowell had chewed over and regretted his answer from that day every day.
Thinking, 'I should have said it like this!'
But Claude, who didn't know this, was surprised at the immediate response.
"What the—? How is he so fast?"
There wasn't a moment's hesitation.
'If he's this smart, he'll adapt quickly with a little training.'
Claude quickly said to Ghislain,
"Please give him to me. I'll make good use of him."
"So, do you like him?"
"Yes… But he looks like a skeleton soldier. I guess the food here isn't good."
"It's because he couldn't eat in prison. If we feed him well, he'll be fine. That's not what's important. Are you really going to take him?"
It was a slightly suspicious conversation.
'He likes me? Give me to him? He'll feed me well and use me?'
Lowell instinctively tried to back away, but he couldn't escape, blocked by the wall.
At that moment, Ghislain grabbed the bars and said quietly,
"Hey, why don't you work with me?"
"Wh-what kind of work?"
"Before I tell you that… How about signing a 20-year slave contract? It means let's work hard together for 20 years."
"Twenty years…?"
If he could just live, he wasn't in a position to refuse even 20 or 30 years of slavery.
But the flow of conversation just before made him uneasy, so he couldn't answer immediately.
Ghislain hesitated for a moment, then clicked his tongue and sighed.
"Fine, if you don't like a slave contract, I can't force you. Then pick another option. One, starve to death in prison. Two, execution. I'm so kind to give you more options."
It wasn't forced, but it was an offer with no other choices.
[T/L: Please support me and read extra chapters here: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]