“Master? Branch Manager Marhen? What brings you two here?”
“What brings us here, you say? You rascaaaal!”
Then, Master Joachim let out a sharp shout.
“Does a master need a reason to seek out his disciple? How utterly impertinent. Though it is true I came because there is work to be done.”
“Ah, no. Master, it is not that.... It is just that you visited so suddenly.”
He wondered since when the master had cared so much for his disciple. Shatien felt piqued for no reason.
“Ugh. Elder. I told you not to be so harsh. We came to help, so must you give such a rebuff? In front of people.”
“Look at her, look at her. Shielding him already because he is her man. Haha. I carried you on my back and raised you since before you could even hold in your pee and poop... To think you would betray me like this.”
“Nyahaaaaat! Why are you saying such embarrassing things!! Besides, what do you mean you carried and raised me. You are even lying. Elder, you did not even visit when I was little.”
“Ahem. Well, I just meant it figuratively. Why must you keep picking at the details? It is embarrassing in front of my disciple.”
“…….”
What a mess this was. There were subordinates around as well. Shatien felt his head begin to throb.
“Ugh.... It is true you came to help me, right? Master. Branch Manager Marhen.”
“Of course.”
Only then did Joachim stop the banter and shrug his shoulders nonchalantly.
“I heard stories that you were running around busily trying to overturn the board lately. Given our history, I could not just sit back and watch, could I? So I came to help like this. Is it not so?”
“Hoho. That is right. It is.”
Chiming in, Branch Manager Marhen continued.
“I heard you have been looking for a way to get a line to the Holy See recently.”
“Yes, that is correct. I intended to bring them in as part of the Grand Alliance against the Emperor. If I can only pull in the authority of the Holy See, at least I will have a definitely good justification regarding recruitment and war.”
“Look at you. You have no intention of hiding your hostility toward the Emperor now? What will you do if others hear?”
“Hehe. It is not as if Master will report me to the Emperor. Besides, the Emperor's faction would not care even if they heard the details anyway.”
That was likely true; although he had built some reputation recently, from an outside perspective, he was still merely a mercenary.
A leader of a fairly large group of rootless bastards.
Therefore, it was not easy to think that mercenaries would dare to take the initiative in setting up the board. Rather, they would think the great nobles Shatien was contacting were laying the groundwork.
“Still, it is better to be careful. As a rule, the more secret a plan is, the better. Especially, there is no need for you to become the first target. Your army alone is insufficient to block the Emperor's forces.”
“Understood. Master.”
As expected, only the master truly worried for his disciple. Shatien nodded his head.
“So. Returning to the previous question. Branch Manager Marhen. Is there a way? It was more difficult to contact the Holy See than I thought.”
It was not that difficult to meet a local clergyman whom even ordinary serfs could see. One could visit anytime and pray along with a tithe offering.
But the high-ranking officials of the Holy See were different.
First, the method of contact itself was too difficult. The closed nature of the Holy See was beyond what Shatien had imagined. Unless one was a great noble family, communicating directly with the Holy See was nearly impossible. After all, they were people for whom authority as a noble did not work in the first place.
“For now, I am preparing to contact them through a donation by gathering as much funds as possible.”
“Hnng. You definitely have the right method. I was worried, but that is a relief.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes. When contacting the Holy See, a donation is indeed the best. If the clergymen are hesitating, it is right to think first whether the size of the donation offered is too small. Hoho.”
“Oh.... That is a bit too....”
Shatien barely swallowed the words asking if she viewed the clergy as corrupt beings. Then Branch Manager Marhen cackled and wagged her tail.
“It is not necessarily a matter of corruption. There are many people with thorough faith who receive donations on the condition of poor relief. Of course, there are those who are not.”
“Ah. Then I must make the donation properly?”
“That is right. If you don't know the tendency of the bishop in question, you might accidentally commit a great rudeness. As the Holy See is a place where the Poverty faction and the Noble faction clash sharply, there is a high probability they will view it poorly if you try to donate clumsily.”
“Dear me.”
Shatien let out a sigh of relief internally. It would have been a big deal if not for Branch Manager Marhen.
“Then Branch Manager Marhen must have relevant information?”
“That is right. I will specially help you use our merchant company's information network. You know, right? Spe. Cial. Ly.”
“Hahahaha. Why emphasize it so much. I will surely repay you.”
“Hnng. Good. Then just have the funds ready. I will look into whether there is a suitable bishop.”
“Thank you.”
It felt like he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
As the help of the Holy See was desperate in the defense line against the Emperor, this task had to be accomplished.
If Branch Manager Marhen helped by pulling in the resources of the merchant company, things would flow without trouble. Of course, persuading the Holy See after the meeting would be his own task.
‘The news from those who went to the North and the Kingdom of Ellang was quite good.’
According to the letters sent by Baron Mordo and Jacri, the King of Ellang and Count Bellua were taking the reconciliation between the eastern Elector and the Emperor very seriously.
He heard they were discussing response measures by convening a national assembly, so a result would come soon.
They would likely raise an army.
Because it was so in the past as well.
“Hmm. But did Master come here to escort Branch Manager Marhen?”
Then Shatien asked back as a thought occurred to him. Now that he looked at it, he did not know the master's reason for being here at all.
“Escort, my foot. I came to see if I could be of help since I heard you were doing all sorts of strange things.”
“Hmmmm? Strange things?”
“Yes. Gathering mercenaries to huddle together for phalanx training, and also, what was it. Telling the knights to charge at that phalanx? What kind of crazy thing is that. Ugh.”
“Ahahaha....”
Oops. It seemed the rumor had already spread that far. Shatien laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. To others, no, in fact, it was truly close to a crazy act. A dangerous training method that could cause immense damage with just a slight mistake.
“Well, I suppose it is all my fault that you are training soldiers like that. Since I did roll you around roughly. Tsk.”
Joachim clicked his tongue and let out a long sigh.
“Still, such training will eventually be the best for creating strong soldiers, so I have willingly come to help you.”
“Oh!”
“I will check the training status of the mercenaries and select a few decent bastards to personally look over their swordsmanship. Organization is certainly important for a mercenary company, but individual prowess is also necessary, is it not? Even if they are not at the level of a seasoned knight right now, I can raise their skill to a level where they can oppose a knight.”
“I would be very grateful if you did that.”
Had the master's ability to raise someone's skill, in addition to his own swordsmanship, not already been proven to some extent? Shatien's eyes sparkled. If he could raise some officers to the level of knights, it would definitely be a help.
But Joachim went a step further.
“By the way, have those knight bastards not come seeking fame?”
“Huh? Many have been visiting lately.... Why do you ask?”
In addition to the elf knights who followed from the North, as the mercenary company began to exert influence, various knights-errant, wandering knights, were peeking around to see if there was a chance to join in.
Of course, though they were called knights-errant, most of them were half-baked knights who did not even possess proper armament.
“Should we not instill some discipline in those bastards? Especially, I heard you have some point-ears under you? Their pride is very high. They will not listen easily. Are you not suffering a bit as well?”
“Uh, yes?”
Shatien tilted his head at Master Joachim's words. He wondered if that was the case.
Then Joachim shouted as if frustrated.
“Look at you. Courtesy, my foot. Because you act so soft and vague, I cannot feel at ease. None. I will specially show you. How to handle those point-ear knights.”
“Uh.... Well.... I would be grateful if you showed me, of course....”
“A knight should, by nature, show clear superior skill. Since they often try to find flaws in one's reputation and refuse to acknowledge it, first call them over and....”
While being forced to listen to the master's theory on knight mercenaries.
“Sir! Sir!”
“You were here!! See, I was right, was I not?”
Suddenly, a group of elf knights was running toward Shatien with very bright expressions.
“?”
Whether they had been hunting somewhere, every one of them was carrying game. Then, the elf knights who came close shouted as they proudly showed the prey they had caught.
“Look at this. Sir! I caught an amazing prey.”
“A deer is nothing. I told you I had a bloody battle with a bear as big as a house, did I not?”
“Look at that. Stop exaggerating. As big as a house? It would not even be a quarter of that.”
“Shut up. I am currently talking to Sir Shatien.”
The sight of the elf knights whining as if they wanted to receive praise.
“……?”
Master Joachim's expression became bizarre. He could not understand at all what kind of nonsense this was.
Furthermore.
“Our bodies are itching, so when will the training be?”
“Just say the word, Sir! I will take up my lance and give those mercenary bastards a hard time whenever you want. Hahahaha.”
“…….”
They were voluntarily participating in the training and intending to follow Shatien's words like this. Shatien looked at those elf knights and then, looking at his still silent master, he opened his mouth cautiously.
“Hm, so what were you saying? Master?”
“...Disciple. I sometimes think you are quite arrogant.”
-Thwack!
“Argh!”
Shatien felt wronged for no reason.
* * *
In any case, with such unintended help, the training of the mercenary company was proceeding smoothly, and the moves for the Grand Alliance against the Emperor were also being completed slowly one by one.
Now all that remained was to properly approach the Holy See through Branch Manager Marhen.
“Excuse me, Branch Manager Marhen?”
“Yes?”
“Cardinal Armeng wishes to see Sir Shatien secretly. He is asking if you can coordinate the schedule?”
However, an unintended proposal came in through the merchant company.
“……?”
“?????”
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