95 – Preparing for war with Maxburg (5)

“hahahaha, this is really spectacle. No, how long have you guys been plundering? Well, the merchants are going to protest that they can’t live in the duchy’s capital, Lothringen, right? Shouldn’t you have done it in moderation?”

“It was our sincerity toward Your Excellency, who paid us a fair price. I was worried that it might not be enough, but I’m glad you were satisfied.”

“Are you saying that I’m a nobleman, and at the end of the day, you’re showing modesty? Just pretend to be proud. Isn’t that pirate?”

Hearing that, Braim smiled at me and then said,

“We deserve this. How is it?”

“Admit it, then I will have to pay a fair price to not host you. Okay, I’ll buy 18 ships, the goods in them, and 500 crew members for 15,000 gold coins.”

“1, 15,000… . Are you really going to buy it for 15,000 copies?”

“If you factor in the cost of the goods, the crew, and the cost of the ship, as well as your hard work, it must be about 10,000 pieces. However, I admire you guys. That’s why we added 5,000 more.”

“Are you serious?”

No wonder Braim is suspicious of me.

Because the original private contract is to give the right to cheaply buy ports and supplies to supply, and to receive some of the goods plundered by pirates.

But far from receiving goods, I am giving them food, water, and even dried seaweed, which is a magic medicine by their standards.

On top of this, they also give away bonus prize money for defeat, which is not normally recognized, and giving 5,000 more bonuses here is no different from giving out real money.

And in modern Korea and in this era in general, people who spread money are scammers.

“Yes. But I ask you one thing, what are you guys going to do after this contract ends? Have you made up your mind?”

At those words, Braim in front of me asked with a serious expression.

“Is what you wrote on the back of the contract before true?”

“That’s right. If you come under our command, I will give you a land and a house where you can live in exchange for a portion of the money from selling the looted goods. And as a soldier under my command, I will treat you the same as my soldiers now.”

“As your Excellency knows, the Black Mist Pirates are the ones who came out on their own because they hated the captains of the evil warships in Brittany. But if you ask us to become soldiers, even if it’s a proposal from His Excellency, who sees us as people, our kids won’t accept it.”

Pirates of this era are usually free spirits who have been assaulted by captains and executives of warships or merchant ships, or who have become independent because they cannot tolerate various absurdities.

Therefore, quite often, lords say, “You become my subordinate!” He doesn’t even pretend to listen and snorts when he says it, but since this guy says it’s hard to accept his kids as an excuse…

The possibility is already open to some extent, and with a little more persuasion, you will be able to bring it under my command.

So I opened my mouth to convince him.

“Then I will ask you. Hey, don’t you want to get married?”

“For us pirates, marriage is only when you get off the ship because you lost an arm or leg, or when you get old and have a baby with a female slave you bought properly. Words that don’t make sense… ”

“For someone who says that, I think I envy those who went out like that.”

“Not really. At best, even when you’re old, you can give birth to a child that looks like you and watch it grow… It’s really fun to have a successful raid on the boat or in the city with my companions, drink and eat.”

“I mean… nice Then why don’t you come and eat the cookies Ella baked for you?”

Having said that, I rang the bell and called for the butler.

“Sebastian, it looks like Ella will have finished baking the cookies… Ask them to bring their own baked goods.”

“Yes, I understand, sir.”

And Sebastian quickly left the office.

After a while, Ella came in, wearing her usual maid uniform, carrying a cart with a tray full of sweets and a kettle of black tea.

Ella took the tray and tea and placed them in front of Braim’s seat, then casually stood behind me.

Then, I said while stroking Ella’s hair.

“Thank you, I’ll have a good meal.”

“No, Master… ”

Suddenly, a maid came in, and Braim asked with an absurd expression on her face if she was embarrassed that her master was showing affection for a guest.

“Who the hell is this maid here… How can the owner act like this when he receives guests? ?”

“Ah, I never introduced myself to you. I didn’t even have to. Elaya, my only concubine. She doesn’t even have a wife, so she’s practically like my wife.”

Usually, concubines of nobles are generally considered to have a lower status than the titles that the nobles have, and their statuses are divided according to the degree of favor and the order in which they became concubines.

If I had to define Ella’s status from that point of view, in the case of Ella, my only concubine as a countess, she was treated almost like a baroness.

But I always tell myself like this.

“Because I’m the master’s maid, I don’t have the dignity of an aristocratic lady… I don’t intend to go around acting like that. If you go around arrogant like that, you will cause trouble to the master.”

Because of this, the maid who saw Ella for the first time as a newcomer sometimes treated Ella as a mere maid, and there were cases where she was crushed by me…

But that’s Ella’s case, and to others, Ella is undeniably aristocratic.

Therefore, even though Braim is a pirate, he has committed disrespect to the nobility.

So Braim quickly bowed his back and apologized deeply.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Count and Lady Ella. I never thought that you would come in clothes worn by maids.”

At that, Ella lightly denied it and said.

“it’s okay. I am not originally a noble.”

“thank you.”

“I tried baking cookies because the owner called for a guest to come. Enjoy it.”

“Then I will eat well.”

And Braim and I ate Ella’s baked goods.

The cookies were very soft and sweet, perhaps because they used a lot of butter, milk, and sugar in the flour.

How on earth can you make a simple cookie so small that it crumbles with just the touch of your teeth?

After eating some of the cookies with such doubts, I started to brag about what had happened to Ella as usual.

“The guy here is the captain of a pirate ship called Braim. He used to be a bad captain, but now he’s a good captain who works with me. We defeated the minions of the Duchy of Maxburg who were harassing our territory.”

“is that so? Wow… ”

So I deliberately continued this conversation until he ate all the cookies in order to agitate him.

And, as if my prediction was correct, the guy who was dumbfounded at first started looking at me and Ella with genuine envy.

It has no choice but to live on a piece of boat in the vast sea, and all that remains is a little money and grapes that they cannot get their hands on, who want to deny the existence of a family to those who have only old bodies.

So they say that the grapes are no big deal, but deep inside, whenever I think back on memories of my childhood or right before I became independent, those who have families will go crazy with envy.

And I pretended not to know anything.

“Oh, sorry. I’ve been busy lately, so I haven’t been able to talk to Ella much.”

“no. And the cookies were really good. As expected, the snacks given out by the ruler of Blue Fort, which is said to start with sweets and culture, are of a different class. It tastes much better than the snacks made by a top chef who once worked in the royal palace.”

“Thank you for saying that. Okay, I’ll ask again before I leave for the last time. Do you really not need a family?”

At those words, the guy in front of me seemed to be torn between his admiration for those who had families he had been hiding and the freedom as a pirate, and his expression began to wrinkle.

“Family is like this. When the husband returns from working for the family, coming home smelling the savory smell of fish being grilled by his beloved wife. Then, as the family eats together at the table in harmony, you say to your wife and family. ‘I did this today, how amazing is this… ‘ You brag like that. When your wife and children heard it, they sympathized with and thanked their husbands to comfort you or sincerely respect their husbands. Also, the daily life of the children laughing and boasting that they did this to their father. Furthermore, a place to return to that supports my heart even in difficult times and the hope of providing more delicious and better food and clothes to my wife and children who love me tomorrow. That is family.”

Of course, I don’t have children, and it’s funny that I’m saying this to a guy who’s 20 years older than me…

He just stared blankly at me as if he didn’t even have the mind to recognize that, and said while moving his mouth.

“It’s good. Okay, but if you want to have it, you can’t buy it as a pirate anymore. And I don’t know about the executives, but low-level sailors can be abused just like when they were on warships in the past. I don’t think they will accept it… Then the other sailors will push me as admiral and push the other guy as admiral.”

This condition is also common in the navy of a country, especially in the navy that treats pirates well, but only if you become an executive, you can raise a family and feed it…

That’s not the case at Kreutel, which has plenty of money, but is chronically understaffed.

And our soldiers get married just by taking a sergeant, feed their children three meals a day, and save money to get married.

“That’s what their army does, and our army doesn’t. As in the case of merchant ships and warships, if you commit cruelty without cause, even the nobles will pay the price. Unauthorized desertion will be punished, but you may leave the unit if you have a good reason. And they’ll pay enough wages, and you’ll be given 7 gold coins every year for the lowest Marines. The cost of equipment and food are all paid for by the county.”

“… . Is that true?”

“And anyone with the ability can open their arms. Have you heard of the Black Baron’s slaying of the demon pigs among the bard songs that are trending these days? The serf-turned-quasi-aristocrat Mark there is my platoon commander, and his salary is two gold coins.”

“Do you think our subordinates will treat you that way too?”

Read at noblemtl.com

Just throw one more bait here and it’ll come over.

And since we have to raise the navy anyway, starting with that guy’s fleet, in fact, even the lowest-ranking sailors under Braim’s command have to have at least a role of squad leader or higher.

“And I intend to further develop the Navy. If that’s the case, we’ll need a bunch of talented sailors like yours. So, if you contribute only to winning this war… I will commission all of you above that of a sergeant. I will also give you a knighthood.”

“But if I were a sergeant… What rank are you?”

“It’s comfortable to think of him as the captain of the 10th. I will personally arrange for you to get married with a salary of about 10 gold coins. There are already many unmarried serf girls in our estate. Of course, if I miss this opportunity, I will never get another chance like this again.”

After hearing that, he got down on one knee in front of me and said,

“Admiral Braim of the Black Mist Pirates swears allegiance to His Excellency Kreutel. Please accept me and my men.”

“Okay, instead prove your worth in this war to get the treatment I promised you. And out of 15,000 gold coins, would it be all right if I used 5,000 to buy a house and land for you guys?”

“Do whatever you want. I’m sure our guys will also give their allegiance to His Excellency.”

Now, finally, all the steps have been laid to lead this war to victory.

This time, you must show an overwhelming, really overwhelming victory.

Otherwise, in the worst case, the Northern Alliance might not attack Romania’s rear…