Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 101: Friendship Date (1).

The small city of Amper, where the thick fog had dissipated, returned to the present world.

Of course, the extent of the damage was almost impossible to estimate. It was even difficult to determine how many victims there were from this incident. Not only the citizens, but numerous merchant groups and mercenary groups were also caught up in this situation… A rough estimate alone would easily be three thousand.

There were hardly any survivors who could seek compensation, making it pointless to assign blame. Additionally, according to imperial law, the citizens were considered the property of the lord, so there was no obligation for compensation. Moreover, it had been decades since such a city-level magical disaster occurred, making it unclear who should be held accountable. Furthermore, there was only circumstantial evidence, with no concrete proof or witnesses… In a word, the undead were the ones left unjustly aggrieved.

The Allen-Mercenary Group, who had been through hell and back, spent two full days recuperating at the Baron’s castle. Group Leader Allen, whose body had been a wreck, thankfully recovered completely in just one day. After all, with potions and healing, most wounds could be cured.

Like a madman obsessed with the mercenary business, he even regarded himself as part of the business. As long as he didn’t die, he was willing to use himself as much as needed. Even on Earth, company owners often used their image as part of business marketing. Allen was similar in that regard.

Anyway, the situation was perfectly resolved, and since he was a money-crazed group leader, he naturally brought up the subject of compensation during his meeting with the Baron’s wife.

Of course, since she was from a noble family with deep roots, she had no aversion to giving rewards. They had saved a city in crisis, so naturally, they should be given everything they desire.

“Alright, what do you want? You need money, right? We have plenty of money.”

Though all living creatures were dead and gone, the inanimate money remained intact in the family’s vault.

While Allen was recuperating, the three mercenary group leaders had already pocketed large sums of money. Therefore, the Baroness was thinking of a reward amount similar to theirs this time as well.

…However, after two days of deep contemplation, Allen’s thoughts were a bit different. Of course, the money in front of him was important, but, aiming to become one of the Top 10, he needed to consider the distant future as well.

“Considering the city’s reconstruction will require a lot of money, may I receive something other than money instead?”

Given that an astronomical amount of money was already required, the Baron’s wife’s face brightened a bit. She was better at having tea with other ladies than managing a city, so it was good for her to save money if possible.

“Of course. What is it you want?”

“Please reduce the toll for the merchant group affiliated with our Allen-Mercenary Group by half.”

The merchant group would frequently pass through this small city, which served as a foothold. Reducing the toll by half would result in much greater benefits later on than receiving money immediately.

The Baroness, somewhat insensitive to this side of things, readily accepted the proposal of the charming man. For her, saving money was crucial at the moment, and rejecting the offer of her lifesaver coldly was not befitting a noble’s dignity.

“Alright. If that is what you want, then so be it.”

“Thank you.”

…However, Money-Grubber Allen felt it was a bit regretful to leave without getting anything in return, so he made another proposal to the Baroness.

“Madam, I apologize for bringing this up in such a distressing situation, but you do know that most of the houses in the city are empty right now, don’t you?”

As he spoke, a shadow fell over the Baroness’s face.

“Of course. It’s a tragedy I don’t even want to think about.”

“The ownership of an ownerless building naturally transfers to the lord’s family… and that includes the belongings inside the house.”

“That’s right.”

The Baroness seemed curious about why Group Leader Allen was bringing this up.

“It’s unfortunate that things have come to this, but we can’t just idly sit by. The survivors must work hard to rebuild the city.”

“…So, what exactly are you trying to say?”

“We will collect the valuables from the ownerless houses with our mercenary group. Of course, they will become your property, and we will take a commission for our services.”

Even if a little more time passed like this, the house would be completely robbed by neighbors. The quick-witted ones were probably already searching for empty houses and stealing valuables. Since the items had already lost their owners, they wouldn’t feel much guilt even if they took them… And with the city in this state, was this the time to be concerned about morality or anything else?

Of course, the Baron’s household must have discussed it, too, but they didn’t have the resources to execute it. The city’s remaining security force was barely half a dozen, and the Baron’s guards were insufficient, with only three or four knights, so they barely managed to hire a mercenary group to handle it.

In such a situation, Allen’s proposal was certainly enticing. But the problem was the trust in whether they could be relied upon.

However, as the Baron’s wife, regardless of whether she believed it or not, she had no choice but to grasp at straws. Even if the Allen-Mercenary Group skimmed a bit off the top, recovering it would be unconditionally advantageous.

Of course, Allen believed that once he took on a mission, he had to handle it with faith and trust. Especially in this field, faith and trust were crucial virtues that should never be betrayed. Even though he loved money intensely, he didn’t pursue it to the extent of jeopardizing his future… Even if he didn’t get paid, trust had to be maintained.

Allen never forgot the terrible downfall he faced after abandoning all notions of honor and trust in [Guild Master].

“I don’t know how much the Baroness will trust me, but our mercenary group operates on faith and trust. Even if I try to adjust the costs to gain some profit, we never deceive our clients. That is my belief in the mercenary business.”

The Baroness felt a bit reassured after hearing Allen’s sincere words… Of course, she wasn’t naive enough to fully believe it, but she had no choice but to follow his proposal for now.

“Alright. Let’s do that. I’ll leave the recovery of valuables entirely to you. With a tenth of it being the commission fee.”

“A wise choice.”

As soon as they reached an agreement, the Allen-Mercenary Group began raiding empty houses in earnest from that day on. Since there were so many vacant houses, each member was assigned to search a house individually. This task was entrusted based on trust in the members. And Allen took this as an opportunity to test the trustworthiness of his members. After all, he had the status window, so he could roughly tell if they were skimming off the top in secret.

Of course, a greedy mercenary would not easily pass up the treasure in front of them. Naturally, Allen would let a few gold coins slide as a minor indulgence, but anything excessive would be reflected in future personnel management. If someone’s greed was so excessive that it raised doubts about their trustworthiness, it would inevitably be a concern from the Group Leader’s perspective.

After dividing the north, south, east, and west and searching one area per day, they gathered a considerable amount of money, trinkets, and jewelry… However, it was much less than expected. It seemed that the neighbors had already taken quite a bit.

Group Leader Allen handed over what they had gathered in four days to the Baron’s wife, while also receiving the corresponding amount as a commission. Approximately fifteen hundred gold coins and a significant amount of trinkets and jewelry.

…Honestly, for saving a city that was on the verge of ruin, it seemed a bit cheap, but since he secured the privilege of halving the toll, Allen thought it wasn’t such a loss… Rather, if used well, it could turn into a truly tremendous profit. The toll was a portion of the value of goods brought into the city. If it was a small amount, it might not be a big deal, but the larger the amount, the more significant the impact would be.

Once that task was completed, Allen prepared to leave soon. Of course, the Baroness seemed to want him to stay and help with more things, but the Group Leader had already promised to do something else and politely declined… In fact, knowing the current situation of the Baron’s household, he intended to leave quickly before getting entangled. No matter how much he valued faith and trust as the highest virtues, it absolutely did not mean he would do charity work for almost free.

The Baroness’s grown daughter had been giving Allen peculiar looks for a few days now. Considering the situation, it seemed she was trying to secure the Group Leader to bind him to the Baron’s house… Unfortunately, Allen was not stupid enough to sell his future just to sleep with some woman. Moreover, the daughter wasn’t a peerless beauty worth considering selling his future for.

If it were a city being offered, that might be different! No, that would be too shameless, wouldn’t it?

Whether she sold her daughter’s body or her son’s, it was the business of another family, and Allen stopped caring at that point and went on his way.

…And so the Allen-Mercenary Group moved for another five days by carriage and finally arrived at the mid-sized city of Malziel.