Chapter 58

Chapter 58. Rotenfeld Great Castle (6)

Balun had taken a firm stance, saying the negotiations would break down if there was no money, but inwardly, he was swallowing his anxiety. After saying it, he felt he had gone too far.

‘Damn it, did I push too hard? I think I accelerated way too suddenly.’

This was not an ordinary knight. He was a great lord of a noble family that boasted four hundred years of tradition.

He must have pride that pierced the heavens, so how offended would he be when a mere Barbarian mercenary, whose origins no one even knew, kept talking back to him?

Balun suddenly grew afraid that he might be caught on some charge like “the crime of offending a noble’s mood” and end up being harmed for no reason. However, Balun instead decided to act even more confidently. He had a conviction of his own.

‘He does not seem like the sort of man who will pick fault over something like this. If so, then pressing harder is the right move.’

“Can you not hear me? I asked if you dislike it. If you dislike it, Balun will leave. If you do not dislike it, we negotiate.”

When Balun took a posture as though he would truly leave, Count Rotenfeld opened his mouth.

“Let me ask one thing, Barbarian.”

“Ask.”

“Do you have no fear?”

“What?”

“I have power. Using your insolent tone and attitude as a pretext, I could kill you as easily as pressing you down with one finger. It means your head could fly off right here and now. Even so, are you not afraid?”

Count Rotenfeld, who had recovered his briefly shaken expression in the blink of an eye, rested his chin on his hand and asked with a relaxed smile.

At his brutal threat, Balun answered at once.

“Try it. Balun will not just die quietly.”

Balun immediately straightened his shoulders. Enough that his firm muscles stood out.

“Balun has committed no crime. Balun merely objected to an unfair negotiation. Even so, if you threaten Balun, Balun has no choice but to use force too.”

At those words, Count Rotenfeld looked Balun up and down. Currently, Balun had removed his weapons because he was meeting the Count.

“Without weapons?”

“Do you think Balun cannot use force just because he has no axes?”

“There would be some inferiority, I suppose. Meanwhile, my swords are very sharp. It would be quite an unfair fight.”

“It does not matter. War is originally an unfair fight. Balun has experienced war until he is sick of it.”

“Your confidence is impressive.”

“It is not confidence. It is desperation. War is fought not with confidence, but with desperation.”

Balun continued.

“Balun knows. Balun cannot beat all of you. You have many people, and you are strong. But Balun is not easy either.”

“…….”

“If Balun goes on a rampage, this place will be turned into a mess. Many of the subordinates you cherish will die, and the Rotenfeld Family will suffer great losses. You will lose people, lose property, and lose honor. On the other hand, all you will accomplish is killing one Balun.”

“…….”

“Will you try it? Try it. Balun will not hesitate. Balun will do anything to survive. Balun killed all the Black Moon assassins that night even when he could not see anything.”

Count Rotenfeld stared into Balun’s eyes as he spoke. After looking for a long while at Balun, who did not avoid his gaze, Count Rotenfeld eventually let out a small laugh.

“Hehe. You truly are an insolent fellow beyond compare. Among all the men I have met in my life, you are the most insolent.”

“…….”

“That is why you are interesting.”

Soon, a full smile settled on Count Rotenfeld’s lips.

“You see, I believe men should all be like you. They should be brave and broad-minded, as you are.”

“Do not change the subject. So, will you attack Balun?”

“No, I will not attack you. Why would I do that? To the person who saved my son, no less.”

“I see. Then that is fine. Balun will not attack either.”

Balun nodded indifferently, but inwardly, he was breathing a sigh of relief.

‘Damn it. My heart almost burst. I nearly died from fear.’

In truth, he had been a little scared.

Why would anyone make such a savage threat?

Even though he had been certain it was meant to test him, his heart had still trembled, so that said enough.

“You said you wanted money?”

“That is right.”

“I will give you money. If that is what you want, I should do so.”

“Good!”

Balun grinned.

He should have done that from the start.

If he was going to give it anyway, why had he talked so much?

“How much do you want? I will give you as much as you want, so say it.”

“Give Balun as much as Balun is worth.”

“Your worth?”

“Yes. Balun will receive as much as the Count thinks Balun is worth.”

“Will that be all right? What will you do if you receive an absurdly small amount?”

“It cannot be helped. I will only have to do as much as that amount is worth.”

At Balun’s answer, Count Rotenfeld’s smile deepened. It was because Balun’s answer was quite clever.

If he paid Balun little in order to save money, Balun would only catch the bandits halfheartedly, or perhaps not at all.

He would not be able to say anything about that. After all, he would not have paid the proper price.

But if he paid a large sum to make him wipe out all the bandits, even if Balun succeeded, that much monetary cost would occur.

‘If I do not pay the proper price, he will not produce results either. So he absolutely refuses to take a loss.’

He was not simply a man who fought well, like other Barbarians. He possessed the cleverness to use his head. Count Rotenfeld liked that.

“Good. Then I will pay you eight hundred and one gold. Is that acceptable?”

“Eight hundred and one gold?”

“Yes.”

For a moment, Balun almost lost his composure.

Why was he giving so much?

“Are you serious?”

“Why would I lie?”

“I see.”

Balun thought deeply.

If it was eight hundred gold, then it was eight hundred gold. Why eight hundred and one gold?

There was no reason for that. It seemed there had to be some meaning behind it.

‘Eight hundred and one gold. Eight hundred and one gold. Why would that be…… Ah!’

He understood.

‘I received eight hundred gold from the Blue Magic Tower for the Expedition Team commission.’

He had received a total of eight hundred gold: two hundred fifty gold as an advance payment, another two hundred fifty gold as the balance upon success, and three hundred gold as an additional payment.

‘This man knows that and added one gold on top.’

Then what did that mean?

In Balun’s view, there were two meanings hidden within it.

‘Either it is bravado saying that the Rotenfeld Family is not inferior to the Blue Magic Tower, or it means I should carry out this mission excellently enough that it will not fall behind the merit I made in the Expedition Team.’

Balun inwardly clicked his tongue.

What a sly man.

Were all heads of noble families like this?

“Good. I will accept that.”

“Then the negotiation is successful.”

“That is not it. We have not written the contract yet.”

“What?”

“Take out paper. I will include several clauses.”

Even a prestigious family whose name itself was no different from a certificate could not escape Balun’s suspicion.

***

Balun felt as though he could fly. It was because he would receive the enormous sum of eight hundred and one gold as payment.

Of course, that great sum would only be his if he succeeded in this commission, but there was no reason he could not catch a bunch of bandits.

Naturally, the commission would succeed, so the eight hundred and one gold was as good as already in Balun’s hands.

‘Hehehe. Earning money is so easy.’

Once this job was over, Balun’s total wealth would be a full one thousand eight hundred gold.

It was a fortune large enough to buy eighteen houses on the outskirts of Milford.

Of course, that fortune was an ambiguous amount of money that could only install six magic elevators, each costing three hundred gold, but what of it?

It was still enough for houses. Balun knew very well that in any world, earning the price of a house all at once was extremely difficult.

“Balun. I heard the news. Father entrusted you with a task?”

“That is right. Balun has to go now.”

“That is good. Truly good. Haha!”

As soon as Heinrich heard the rumor that Balun had obtained work, he came to congratulate him.

He was delighted with a broad smile, but Balun could not understand it.

“Why are you so happy?”

“Because it is only natural. The fact that he entrusted you with a task means he views you favorably.”

“It is not just a task. It is a paid commission.”

“That is not so. Even when Father entrusts someone with a minor commission, he does not separately call in a mere mercenary and entrust them with work. He always says, ‘How can the family’s work be entrusted to someone we cannot even trust?’”

“Is that so? Well, he did look strict.”

“The possibility of you becoming my knight has increased. Haha.”

‘What knight…… I cannot even ride a horse.’

Balun was about to say that, but held himself back. Instead, he decided to ask something else.

“Do you know about the bandits near Dunmore?”

“Bandits?”

“Yes. Subjugating those bandits is the content of the commission.”

“I have heard of them. They say they have been growing more rampant recently.”

“Do you know more detailed information?”

“They say they are not a rabble. I heard Dunmore’s Merchant Guild organized subjugation forces several times, but failed…… Balun, what are you doing?”

“I am writing down information.”

Heinrich’s expression turned bewildered. That was because Balun had taken out a crumpled piece of paper, unfolded it, and was writing down his words with a fountain pen.

He glanced at it.

The clumsy common tongue handwriting was truly crooked.

It was messy enough that one could say a sniffling child had written it.

The handwriting was cute in a way that did not suit his massive build, and Heinrich almost laughed, but he held it in.

Because he felt he might get hit by Balun if he laughed for no reason.

“No, there is no need to write it down. It is not some great information.”

“I have to write down even a speck of dust. I wrote it all. Keep talking.”

“What more is there to say…… Ah, there is one rumor.”

“A rumor?”

“Yes. There is a rumor that several former knights or high-grade mercenaries are mixed among the bandits.”

“Hmm.”

“It is only a rumor, but everyone seems to accept it as an established fact. Otherwise, how could several subjugation forces have been annihilated? Even if they were subjugation forces made up of mere mercenaries.”

“I understand what you mean. Thank you.”

“Is there anything else you need? I could attach several people to you…… Hmm, that will not work. Father would dislike it if I helped you. It seems you will have to accomplish it alone. That is probably what he wants.”

No, if he could not help him in the first place, he should not have brought it up.

Of course, even so, Balun was grateful. This information alone seemed meaningful enough.

“Thank you. I will use it as reference.”

“Yes. Go and return safely.”

Balun immediately returned to his room, packed his belongings, and prepared to leave. He intended to finish all preparations today, then leave Rotenfeld Great Castle early tomorrow morning and go to Dunmore.

Late that evening, after finishing his meal and returning, Balun sat on the bed and took out the paper on which he had written information about the bandits.

Records written in crooked handwriting.

Among them, Balun read only the most important pieces of information.

-Their scale is unknown. At least in the hundreds.

-Several subjugation forces organized by Dunmore’s Merchant Guild were annihilated.

-They may include many former knights or high-grade mercenaries.

In other words, to summarize it, ‘I am supposed to subjugate an irregular bandit group that annihilated several subjugation forces all by myself? And they might include many former knights or high-grade mercenaries?’

Balun rubbed his brow with a tired expression.

‘This looks insanely difficult. They want me to do all this by myself?’

Of course, Count Rotenfeld had never said he had to do it “alone.”

He had said that whether Balun hired mercenaries or recruited others, that was up to him.

But in Balun’s eyes, it was something he absolutely had to do alone.

Only by doing it alone could he gulp down all eight hundred and one gold by himself.

Think about it. Hiring people had to be done entirely with his own money.

Was there some kind of welfare here that would provide labor costs? What would they do for him?

There would naturally be none of that, so if he hired mercenaries, the money would be consumed as labor costs for every mercenary he hired.

Would he be mad enough to spend money on labor costs?

Balun knew well because he had worked as a mercenary a few times.

He knew that the cost of hiring mercenaries in this world was enormous.

They would need to possess skill as a basic condition, and he would have to hire at least a two-digit number of them, so there would be no margin left.

How much did hiring mercenaries cost in the first place?

And what about the food expenses to feed all those mouths?

‘No. That is absolutely ridiculous. If I spend it all on labor costs, there is no meaning in doing this.’

Therefore, the only option left to Balun was one.

–I absolutely have to gobble it all up by myself!

‘Still, it seems like it will be easier than beating down the Black Moon assassins that night…… Ugh.’

Balun scratched his head. Could there be anything more troublesome than this? If he poured money into it, he could succeed more easily, but there would be no meaning in doing it. But if he did not spend money, he could swallow all the money, yet it seemed far too difficult.

As a compromise, it seemed he could spend an appropriate amount, but the problem was that he had no idea what level “appropriate” should be.

If he spent an appropriate amount and hired mercenaries, only for those mercenaries to be useless trash who could do nothing and get beaten, how filthy would his mood be?

It was just like spending more than one million won in a mobile game to draw an SSS-rank character, only for not a single SSS-rank character to appear.

It meant wasting money for nothing.

Balun feared that as much as the high difficulty of the commission itself. Just thinking that he might spend tens or hundreds of gold with no meaning made him feel heat rising in anger.

‘Ah, no. Absolutely not. I have to do it alone no matter what. That is right. I have become much stronger. There is nothing I cannot do.’

Good. He had decided. As expected, he had to gobble it all up alone.

‘I should wake up early tomorrow.’

It seemed he would need to prepare quite thoroughly.

***

The next day, Balun went to find George early in the morning.

George, who was stretching in preparation for morning training, welcomed Balun.

“Balun. What brings you here?”

“I have a request.”

“A request?”

“Do you know how to ride a horse?”

“Of course. If a knight cannot ride a horse, would he be a knight?”

“Good. Balun wants driving lessons.”

“What?”

“Ah, that is not right. Teach me how to ride a horse.”

George’s eyes turned bewildered. It was a very sudden request, but more than that, it was somewhat absurd that a Barbarian wanted to ride a horse.

As a sword of Rotenfeld, George had traveled to many places and had seen Barbarians from time to time, but he had never seen those Barbarians ride horses.

He had only seen them run around foolishly while shouting. Seeing one ride a horse skillfully like a cavalryman felt extremely awkward.

‘No. I did hear that among Barbarians, there are some from nomadic tribes who ride horses. Balun might be from such a tribe.’

“Balun. By any chance, do the Warriors of the tribe you were born in ride horses?”

“No. They do not.”

“Then why are you trying to learn horsemanship?”

“Because Balun has a horse.”

“You have a horse?”

“If you got your own car, would you not practice driving? Of course you would, would you not?”

“?”