“Did the Lord here have no other mercenaries to call? This job isn’t at our level,”

“For the renowned Hounds, this isn’t exactly the best place to play, is it? A bloody mess of a battlefield that doesn’t let you see an inch ahead of you is more of a perfect fit for us, right?”

Even for the renowned Hounds, it wasn’t necessary to work with such risks all the time. Unlike his whining subordinates, Carl, the captain, who was satisfied with their current job, began to talk.

[If you are reading this anywhere other than taniandris.co.uk – it has been stolen]

“Well, we’ve received an advanced deposit and the job isn’t that urgent, lets just take our time,”

Instead, Carl, who had pretty much guessed the situation that might have soured his subordinates mood, threw out an unexpected question,

“You stopped by Banco?”

“Yeah, we did,”

“How was it there?”

Why was he asking about Banco all of a sudden? While Sett was wondering, Keith, who was with him, replied,

“What do you think? It’s just a Banco,”

“Really? What about the size?”

“The size? What about it?” While Keith was questioning it, Chris answered his question,

“Well, it’s about the size you’d expect for a territory like this,”

This time, it was his subordinates asking Captain Carl questions as they were curious about his intentions behind asking after Banco.

“Capitain, why are you suddenly asking about Banco?”

At the question, Captain Carl lifted the pouch of gold coins from the nearby floor in a wordless answer, then said,

“I don’t have the guts to leave this purse in this wolf’s den – how can we be sure there won’t be an ass like last time? Wouldn’t it be safer to leave it at Banco and just pay a small storage fee?”

Looking at their smiling Capitan, the three subordinates exchanged glances, shaking their heads.

“What’s with those reactions?” Since he didn’t understand their reaction, Captain Carl questioned them,

“That might not be a good idea,”

“Why are you here?”

“It’s been a while, my lord,”

When Rockefeller bowed politely and greeted the Lord who had come into the shop, the Lord couldn’t hide his flustered expression.

It had been only a month since he had suggested Rockefeller become a serf, so it was ridiculous for him to find such a Rockefeller working under the goldsmith.

“I am employed here as an assistant,”

“Assistant? You’re working here as an assistant?”

“Yes, my lord,”

“Have you been so busy with your work that you can keep an assistant?” When the Lord threw the question at Carter, who was sitting nearby, Carter replied with an awkward smile.

“Yes, well, it has been slightly buiser recently,”

“To the point where you need an assistant?”

“That is the case, my lord,”

It wasn’t like this was a major imperial city, nor was it a commercially prominent place, but a small Banco located on the outskirts of the Empire.

There was no way it was so busy that one would need an assistant. While the Lord was doubting it, Carter had answered the way he had and there was nothing he could say back to that.

“…”

The Lord who had brooded over the two for a moment had to grudgingly accept it.

A month ago, the death of his parent had left them without hope for a livelihood and he had advised Rockefeller to keep to his means as it was impolite for those without the means to reach for more than was theirs. If you are reading this anywhere other than taniandris.co.uk – it has been stolen.

‘His luck is…good. He’s a very lucky guy, to think he managed to get a job at Banco,’ – with those thoughts the Lord swallowed back his bitterness and said something he didn’t even mean,

“To think you would manage to get a job here… well, yes, that’s good for you. I suppose it is keeping to the manner of commoners to live and work like this – since Serfs can’t work here,”

While he considered how this boy might have got this job, in some ways, the picture did seem to add up.

“Well, since you’re the son of the tax collector, it makes sense. I know you’re literate – did you learn to count from your father as well?”

“Yes, my lord,”

“Yes, well, since you know how to do complex things like calculating, it works out that you work here. I told you the other day, that one must know their place and it is manners to keep to their place,”

‘I don’t think that’s what you meant though,’ Rockefeller thought even as he answered,

“Yes,”

“Right, well, you’ve found your place then – just as I said. Congratulations, now that you’ve got a job at Banco, I don’t think you or your siblings will need to come under me anytime soon. You should make decent money here, since it’s more expensive here than anywhere else,”

When the Lord’s gaze moved to Carter, he misunderstood what the Lord meant with that look and said something rather air-headed,

“Yes, I’m taking good care of him so that he has no reason to be dissatisfied. And I’m giving him separate incentives as well,”

“…Is that so? Please take good care of him then, he’s a sad friend who already has to take care of his younger siblings at such a young age,”

“Of course, I’m taking good care of him already,” Carter answered.

To the Lord who said things he didn’t mean, Rockefeller also responded soulessly,

“With the grace of my life, I will live well,” Rockefeller bowed his head to the Lord who kept a bitter smile on his face the entire time – inwardly, he was overjoyed at his awkwardness.

‘You don’t seem to like seeing me here – Well he did want me to go plow his fields under him. But what should we do? It seems things didn’t go your way,’ – Rockefeller thought.

“By the way, what brings you here?” When he asked the Lord his business instead of Carter, the Lord coughed a few times awkwardly – Rockefeller snickered internally – before explaining why.

“Is there any other reason? If I’ve borrowed money then I should pay the interest – I’m here to pay the interest from the amount borrowed a month ago – it’s time isn’t it?”

When the Lord finished walking, he nodded his chin to the Seers who had followed. The Seer took out a pouch of silver coins and put it down in front of Rockefeller.

“It should be right, but count it anyway. It should be the right amount since I had the new tax collector do it,”

Rockefeller opened the pouch of silvers and began counting the Shillings brought by the Lord.

Carter, who had pasted on a smile that didn’t suit him, spoke to the Lord since he would be bored waiting.

“How’s work going these days? Wasn’t the loan from last time related to the Orc extermination?”

“It’s going very well, I called the most reputable mercenaries I could find – the Hound Mercenaries,”

“Ah, I see. Come to think of it, yesterday, some people who might have been the Hound mercenaries, stopped by our store,”

“I suppose they must have, they would need some shillings while stopping by – wouldn’t it be inconvenient to use Talents in this territory?”

“Of course,”

“Did you get in trouble from them? They’re as wild as the rumours say,”

“They didn’t make much noise, but when you look that rugged, I suppose you would get treated like a bunch of vagrants,”

“A bunch of vagrants?” The Lord grinned and commented,

“Unlike how they look, you don’t know how great they are. They do everything for the right price. Especially on the battlefield, there are so many rumours about them that people would piss their pants from making eye contact,”

Rockefeller, who had finished counting the interest that he had brought in, suddenly spoke,

“Yes, that’s everything here,” when he glanced up and met the Lord’s gaze, he bowed again.
Carter who had watched the interaction, began speaking to the Lord again – he had heard many things here and there that he wanted to talk about.

“By the way, my lord,”

When the lord looked at him, Carter raised a question that he had considered. For him, the fact that it had been the Hound mercenaries that had been hired was a point of confusion – it was like hiring a tiger just to catch a rabbit.

“I’ve been wondering, why did you hire the Hound mercenaries? Aren’t they famous enough that even I, a goldsmith on the outskirts, knows of them? Wouldn’t it have been better to use local mercenaries or more affordable ones if it was simply for the sake of exterminating orcs?”

[If you are reading this anywhere other than taniandris.co.uk – it has been stolen]

When Carter mentioned the economic part of things, the Lord smiled,

“The situation isn’t like that,”

The lord shook his head and went on to say,

“Yes, as you say, for the sake of subjecting orcs, calling them in might not match their qualifications. Even if it wasn’t them, there are many cheaper ways to solve this problem,”

“So why did you call the Hound Mercenaries? Or would there be a deep meaning I wouldn’t know?”

“What do you mean by deep?”

Seeing the Lord’s confident smile, Rockefeller could be sure there was a reason for it.

‘Looks like there’s something we don’t know’

The lord continued,

“I’ve heard that there’s a sorcerer in the Orc’s pack that we will need to defeat,”

Carter looked extremely surprised at the answer,

“What? A sorcerer? So there’s a sorcerer in the Orc pack that they are going to subjugate?”

Orc Sorcerer.

In human terms, it was a mage.

Since most people would tremble at the thought of a mage, Carter was very surprised when it was revealed that there was in fact a sorcerer among the orcs.

And Rockfeller wasn’t any different?

An Orc sorcerer?

“Is that true?” He asked quickly,

“Although we can’t be sure, one of the Seers who went out for reconnaissance happened to spot what might have been an Orc Sorcerer. I considered it carefully since we can’t take such a thing lighty,”

Only then, Rockefeller was able to understand why the Lord had bothered to hire the Hound mercenaries.

It wasn’t a simple case of hunting rabbits after all.