Chapter 36

The investment briefing ended in great success.

There were people who worried I might make a slip of the tongue, but it wasn't difficult as I had frequently given presentations to large audiences in my past life.

In fact, it was a success that was foretold without even needing to mobilize all the presentation skills of a modern person.

“This is it! This is money!”

“Shut up and take my money!”

Look at those greedy faces, regardless of age or gender.

The Signori Family, the Shipowners' Union, and even the Merchant Guilds had stepped forward.

On top of that, rumors of the pirate's treasure had spread, so it was only natural that the response would be good.

Even the Corsini Family, a rival family to the Signori Family, decided to participate in the investment, despite having no connection to commerce.

“I heard the sailors hit it big this time.”

“They say a river of silver coins is flowing through Fasa.”

Or perhaps the vast amount of silver coins that had recently started to circulate in the city had excited the people.

In any case, it was enough to form a consensus among the citizens of Fasa that ‘they just wish the pirates would disappear from the Golden Sea.’

‘Preferably after they've coughed up their gold’ was an added bonus.

Gold truly was almighty.

“Is it over now?”

“No? This is just the beginning.”

“Yes? You're joking, right?”

***

After the investment briefing, once public opinion was formed and the investment funds were collected, the creation of the mercenary company began in earnest.

And I was in hell.

No, let me correct that.

I was dying.

“Save me……”

Late at night, I was tearing up alone in the temporary headquarters of the mercenary company, which I had gotten from the city hall.

I never thought I would be working overtime in the Middle Ages.

Was working overtime really a racial trait for Koreans, even across dimensions?

But there was no one suitable to delegate the work to.

Almost all of Fasa's government personnel were being deployed into the creation of the mercenary company.

It was to the point that rumors were circulating that the city hall staff wanted to kill me because of the increased workload.

This was probably the reason why they had known the necessity of city defense but had not dared to touch it until now.

Creak─.

Just then, Theo opened the office door and came in.

“Good morning, Young Master. You're up early?”

“What, it's already morning?”

“Didn't you know? Goodness. No wonder you look like a mess.”

Theo and I were both surprised.

I was surprised by the fact that it was already morning, and Theo was surprised by my condition.

I didn't know because I hadn't looked in a mirror, but my condition must have been bad enough to startle Theo, who could kill someone without blinking an eye.

I leaned back in my chair and muttered.

“I need coffee right now. I want to drink coffee. I want to drink an Iced Americano……”

“What is coffee?”

“Ah, you don't know. It's a drink that is black and bitter but wakes you up……”

“I don't know what you're talking about. Work is good, but you should take it easy. You'll go crazy at this rate.”

Theo nagged as he opened the window.

The morning sunlight streaming in through the window illuminated the office that the Fasa government had provided.

And so I came to witness something I didn't want to see.

It was a mountain of documents piled high on the desk.

They were all documents sent from various places asking for my cooperation or for me to handle them.

They were the cause of the overtime I couldn't finish last night.

I sighed.

“It's good that the creation of the mercenary company is on track, but at this rate, I'll die before I can create anything.”

“Don't try to do everything by yourself, work with others. The government sent people to help, didn't they?”

“That's true. But that's it.”

The Fasa government did dispatch lower-ranking officials like scribes and accountants, but their numbers were small and their efficiency was poor.

That was only natural.

In this world, there was almost no such thing as an administrative bureaucracy.

It wasn't that there were no official positions, but the way things worked was very different from modern society.

You couldn't expect a high-tech intranet and division of labor.

Most of the processing methods were haphazard, or it was common for one person to handle multiple tasks, so the work efficiency was not good.

Naturally, a heavy workload fell on me.

Creating a new organization was this difficult.

I felt like I could hear Matriarch Costanza’s laughter in my ears.

Indeed, Matriarch Costanza had the self-control not to rashly jump into an unfamiliar field, and the wisdom to see into the future.

Thanks to her, I was able to get the investment, but this was not it.

This was too hard.

This wouldn't do.

I needed more people.

For my own survival, I had to find someone to work in my place, no matter what.

So I decided to choose practicality over face.

“Right. I can't die alone.”

“Yes?”

“Theo, from now on, you will also help with the work.”

Theo flinched at my decision.

Theo, who was looking at the documents on the desk with a fed-up expression, chose to retreat.

It was a quick judgment, though lacking in loyalty.

“Hey, how can I, who has only swung a sword my whole life, do this kind of work? I'll just be a hindrance.”

“Don't be ridiculous. You know how to read and write. I know you carry around a book of poems and read it.”

“No! How did you know that!”

Theo blushed as if embarrassed that his secret had been revealed, but I didn't care.

Of course, it was unexpected that Theo, with his mountain-like physique, was so sensitive, but that wasn't the important issue right now.

In this world of , just being able to read and write made you a pretty high-class talent.

Moreover, Theo was an excellent elite who had been educated as a member of the Emperor's Royal Guard.

I couldn't just assign such a talent to bodyguard duties.

“I'm bad at math!”

“If soldiers stand at 50-pace intervals in 1 are, how many can stand there?”

“40,000. No, wait a minute.”

“You're good at it. You pass.”

“This is too cheap!”

I ignored Theo’s screams and drafted him into the mercenary company's work.

But Theo alone was not enough to improve work efficiency.

Suddenly, the faces of the traitors came to mind.

Like Randolfo, or Captain Leandro.

I had to draft them all and resolve this grudge.

They had promised to help if anything happened, so they wouldn't complain even if I drafted them.

This would be my dignified revenge on them.

“Follow me, Theo. We have many places to go before we start the morning's work.”

“Where are we going?”

“We're going to make some friends who will work next to you.”

“Then I'll gladly go!”

Theo, whose mouth had been pouting like a duck's, shouted in delight.

It seemed he had already realized what the ‘drag them down with me’ strategy was.

***

I went around the partner organizations in Fasa that had promised to invest in the mercenary business and poached their personnel.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded.

The people I requested were all individuals who had been recognized for their abilities to some extent in their respective organizations.

However, when I presented the edict from the Fasa government, which I had gotten by pestering Mayor Rapacio, they all had no choice but to give up their people.

The mercenary company had the authority to conscript people.

As a result, I succeeded in securing a minimum number of office workers for the mercenary company, but that didn't mean the work decreased.

“Recently, a large amount of currency has been suddenly released in the city, causing prices to soar. Please do something about it.”

“You should be talking to Captain Leandro about that problem, not me.”

“He's out now, saying he's going to buy a villa on the outskirts of the city. Damn sailors. They should all be locked up.”

“No wonder he was absent. I'll have to go catch him right away. Thanks for the tip.”

Worrying about the citizens' prices.

“Please send a warning to the Butcher's Guild. I know they want to make a killing on this opportunity, but they need to be reasonable. Does this price even make sense?”

“That's because the city's prices have been soaring recently. People are spending a lot of money.”

“Is that so? Should I send Mr. Randolfo to check it out?”

“We will rectify it!”

Haggling over the price of delivered goods.

“The citizens are petitioning to hang the captured pirate prisoners, but custom-ordering gallows seems too expensive. What if we just throw them into the sea?”

“Ah, no. Those guys are still useful.”

“You're really going to use pirates as galley rowers? The sailors will be thrilled to work with Kobolds.”

“Then go and bring back dozens of skilled rowers for free from somewhere.”

“Hmph.”

Discussing troop recruitment.

“Then let's do this. Tell the town criers. We'll pay them for the number of people they bring.”

“What if they bring an idiot or a fool and claim they're a normal able-bodied man?”

“Of course, we'll have to screen them. We'll only pay for the number of people who pass the screening. Then the town criers will also be more careful.”

Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind.

“Ah, and if someone who is recruited introduces someone else, let's give that person a performance bonus as well.”

“Will that work?”

“Of course. It will work. They'll work very hard.”

Mixing performance bonuses with a multi-level strategy and distributing flyers.

Anyway, as the founder, business proposer, and commander of the mercenary company.

I had to handle all the management tasks of recruiting troops, building ships, making weapons, and training them simultaneously.

Because of this, the easiest task was choosing a name for the mercenary company.

First, the official name of the mercenary company was decided as the Fasa Free Company.

However, the name that was commonly used was the Black Company.

It was because the sight of them wearing pure black uniforms with no patterns up or down was impressive to people……, my ass.

The reality was that we had purchased a large stock of black fabric that was left over in Fasa and had the uniforms tailored.

Of course, this was thanks to the influence of the Signori Family and the merchants, who were the biggest investors and sponsors of the mercenary company.

They said black wasn't in fashion this year.

Thanks to that, the merchants cleared their inventory, the Signori Family, who imported alum and wool, made money, and Mayor Rapacio, who was praised for being extremely fair, was likely to be re-elected.

I was left with a large stock of cloth and no people, but I didn't despair.

It was because I could see hope as much as I had suffered so far.

Hearing the news of stable job provision and pirate treasure, people were gathering from all directions.

Though they were more like a crowd of beggars asking for food than soldiers.

…….

……I guess I have to make these guys into people first.

***

“Theo, you have a job to do from now on.”

“Yes? Me?”

“You are now the training instructor for the newly formed mercenary unit.”

Theo looked bewildered as I pointed at him.

“Training instructor! The title sounds good. But what in the world do I teach? I've never taught anyone before.”

“Teach them the Emperor's Royal Guard's method of physical training. And also teach them combat methods. You've done it a lot, so you know, right? Just think back to what you learned from your seniors.”

“I was put through a lot by my seniors. I don't know if these guys will be able to endure it, but I'll do my best.”

A light of understanding dawned on Theo’s face as he realized what he had to do.

Theo's face, with its mischievous smile, looked like that of a rascal.

Theo had been growing rapidly while traveling with me.

He would soon be able to catch up to me.

When that time comes, I can entrust him with more work.

“But training aside, who will command the unit in the field? There doesn't seem to be a suitable person among the people who have gathered now.”

“Actually, that's what I'm worried about too. I can't step up myself.”

Although I had participated in the civil war in the Imperial Capital last time, it was hard to count that as actual combat experience.

Belius did the actual commanding.

And I couldn't go around talking about it now that I was hiding my identity.

Considering how an inexperienced commander would be received by the soldiers, it would be better to delegate the command to someone capable.

But I couldn't just hand over the reins to anyone.

I needed someone I could trust.

“Theo, if you take charge……”

“Are you trying to give me more work here? Are you trying to kill me?”

“I knew you'd react that way.”

Theo's appearance had also become quite gaunt from working overtime with me recently.

If I gave him more work, a rebellion from my close aide would be the first thing to happen.

“For now, let's try to find a decent person among the people who have come. If worse comes to worse, I'll have to do it. Let's pray that doesn't happen.”

“I understand.”

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