Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 10: Escort (1).

The next day, Aiden visited the Pomwell family again. Honestly, Allen thought it was a relief. Of course, he had considered the possibility that he might not come at all. In fact, it was not easy to find someone of his caliber here.

The long-term employment contract was successfully concluded. For two years, at seventeen gold coins per month.

It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was hard to consider it very cheap in the initial phase. Especially since Allen’s current personal capital was barely around two hundred gold coins when scraped together.

‘…Touching the commercial capital will definitely become troublesome. I have to solve it within my means.’

Even for a mere short-term employment task, the need to calculate and report every single gold coin was a clear indication of how troublesome it would be to get entangled with the baron over a large sum of money. Of course, it’s good to be clear about money when calculating between parents and children, but Baron Pomwell takes it too far.

Anyway,

Allen took this momentum to officially start his mercenary business. Of course, that didn’t mean he planned to indulge in long-term employment. He didn’t have enough money to waste on mercenaries without skills or talent. To begin with, there weren’t any that caught his eye anyway.

So, the plan was to start with short-term employment and then, if someone seemed like a capable talent, it wouldn’t be too late to switch them to long-term later.

…And, not long after starting the business, a perfect opportunity arose.

The Pomwell Merchant Group has a task every six months to transport copper ingots mined and smelted from the mines to the mid-sized city of Reubala by the promised deadline, and they need personnel to escort this convoy.

Originally, the Pomwell Merchant Group, which did not have its own mercenary group, entrusted the escort request to the Charlotte-Mercenary Group of the Count’s family, but now that the Allen-Mercenary Group has been established, there’s no need to do so. In fact, it’s possible to snatch away the requests of other merchant groups that were going to the Charlotte-Mercenary Group at a cheaper price.

‘…No. It’s still too early for that. Let’s not be greedy from the start.’

The competition was none other than the lord’s granddaughter. There was no need to start a rivalry and engage in a game of nerves before they properly get bigger. For now, it was better to act like a business partner and grow step by step, then expand the scale. Haven’t there been many cases in *Guild Master* where provoking someone carelessly from the start only made the game difficulty go to hell?

“Aiden, it’s a transport escort mission. The hiring will be done privately, so you should look into it within the guild. Don’t hire some sloppy guy. Get someone useful.”

“Understood. I’ll look into it.”

Having Aiden, who was well-seasoned in this field, meant there was no longer a need to scatter recruitment notices. It was more efficient to have Aiden filter through candidates first, saving both time and energy.

Of course, Allen didn’t just sit back and do nothing. He negotiated with the baron. Even if it was the family’s mercenary group, the operating expenses came out of Allen’s pocket, not the baron’s.

Ironically, the stingy baron even tried to slash the fee for his youngest son’s request.

“180 gold coins. For your level, that’s more than enough.”

The original amount going to the Charlotte-Mercenary Group was 280 gold coins. Since he slashed a whole 100 gold coins, Allen couldn’t just stand by. Even so, 180 gold coins for escort transport was barely enough to make ends meet. There wouldn’t be any future with that.

“We need to receive 240 coins. Only then there won’t be a loss.”

“I can’t spend such an excessive amount on an unverified mercenary group.”

“Then I can’t do it either. I can’t start a business with a loss right from the beginning.”

“Do you think you can match the Charlotte-Mercenary Group?”

“Isn’t that why I’m settling for 240? Just the mercenary hiring fee is at least 130. Add food and lodging expenses… It easily goes up to 200. It’s still a profitable deal for you, Father.”

“…Fine. Let’s make it 200.”

‘This son of a…’

Allen swallowed the curse that was rising in his throat. He hadn’t expected his father to be this stingy even towards his own son!

But the baron held the upper hand. Allen, whose circumstances were clear, really couldn’t afford to be bold. To put it a bit dramatically, all he had was his dick.

“Please, give me 220. …I’m also starting a business. What will I do if I go through all this trouble only to earn a pittance?”

“210. No more.”

“…Understood. 210.”

The baron still ended up slashing 10 from that price. Allen, promising himself that he would never give his father a discount when he took the lead next time, left with the contract and the bill of exchange. ‘…It’s not just the subcontractors who should be blamed.’

It was somewhat shitty, but since the contract was concluded, it was time to plan accordingly.

First of all, before devising a plan, it was necessary to understand the nature of this mission.

The mission of escorting a caravan—.

The southern region, where conflicts between areas or cities were less frequent, had a lower difficulty level for escort missions compared to other places. Of course, being lower compared to others didn’t mean it was easy at all.

If you’re really lucky, you might complete the mission without a single sword fight, but from the perspective of running a mercenary group, it was wise to completely rule out such good fortune. Even if they suffered significant damage, there’s no way the bandits would easily give up on a caravan that could bring them a big score… While the southern region has fewer bands of thieves, there were consistently one or two reports of attacks during each transport. So, it’s reasonable to expect the same this time.

Allen thought hard about what the best plan could be, and suddenly, the Charlotte-Mercenary Group came to mind.

…Right, since they’ll be taking on escort requests anyway, wouldn’t it be better to go together?

Since they were headed the same way, they’ll just be helping each other out. That way, they can respond smoothly to any unexpected emergencies…

However, the problem was whether that prideful woman would happily accept this proposal.

‘Damn it…, whether it works out or not, I have to at least try. If she refuses, well, we’ll just go by ourselves—.’

After all, asking doesn’t cost money. And since they were fellow nobles, it’s not like it’s a bad thing to want to see each other.

As soon as Allen made his decision, he headed straight for the Count’s castle.

“Ah-.”

Charlotte let out a small scream and sat up abruptly. Panting heavily, she groped around as if trying to confirm something.

The sensation in her palm was not the rough and prickly leather from the demon lands, but the meltingly soft and smooth sensation of pure cotton.

‘Thank goodness… It’s not the demon lands. This place, it’s not the demon lands…’

After returning from the demon lands, she often had nightmares.

People’s heads getting chewed off, limbs flying away, torsos getting crushed. A noise mixed with screams, sobs, and bizarre cries.

“- Are you not going quickly, you bitch?! Hurry up and handle those sons of bitches!!”

“- Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch—.”

The shouts of Allen, who was thought to be a coward, kept echoing in Charlotte’s ears like an echo.

‘…Though he is a fucking bastard, he was no coward.’

She raised her hand and touched her left cheek. The cheek that had swollen from being hit had now completely recovered and subsided. …However, the mental shock was still deeply embedded in her mind and refused to leave.

“…Damn it….”

Muttering a curse under her breath, she got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom. She happened to run into a maid carrying a bucket of water, apparently just having prepared warm water.

“Miss, have you woken?”

“Fill it up quickly.”

“Yes.”

Charlotte undressed and entered the bathtub filled with warm water. She entrusted her body to the maid serving her and briefly lost herself in thought.

Fortunately, as she wished, the count promised to invest in the mercenary business. This was all thanks to the praises from her confidants.

Although she achieved what she wanted, she didn’t feel very proud… Probably because of the mistake she made back then.

However, that was already in the past. She decided not to dwell on it any longer. Regretting wouldn’t change anything. It’s not like she did something worth dying over. It was just a minor accident!

“Stop. I want to get out now.”

“Yes, miss.”

As Charlotte stood up naked, the maid quickly dried her off, dried her hair, and then dressed her.

As soon as her morning bath was over, she headed straight to the dining room. There was a lot to do this morning, so she needed to act a bit swiftly.

Having barely finished her meal, Charlotte met with the mercenaries early in the morning. It was for the recruitment interview. A few members had died in the previous encounter in the demon lands, leaving vacancies.

After conducting several interviews, the morning quickly passed by. Unfortunately, the results were not as good as the time invested.

While she was having a brief tea time after lunch, someone came looking for her. Hearing the identity of the visitor, she was slightly surprised and almost spilled her tea.

“…Who did you say? Allen? Did you just say Allen?”

“Yes, miss. It’s Master Allen.”

Charlotte’s head became cluttered. Why on earth did this damned man suddenly come here—.

“Should I tell him you’re busy?”

“…No, bring him in.”

“Yes, Miss.”

After the maid left, Charlotte gulped down her tea, trying to soothe her stifled heart.

He was an unpleasant man to meet, but she didn’t want to avoid him. …No, was there even a need to avoid him?

‘Why should I? What wrong did I do? …Strictly speaking, it was he who did wrong—!’

He dared to slap a noble lady’s cheek and even hurled curses at her.

“- Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch—!”

His cries echoed in her ears once again.

The Bitch, no, Charlotte,

Tried hard to erase that sound from her mind.