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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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It seemed that Kuman had given me a hint about etiquette, and yesterday, he had confirmed that I knew at least the basic etiquette.
“You can go in right away. I will guide you.”
The interior of the mansion wasn’t as luxurious as I had expected.
There were quite a few servants, but in terms of luxury, Kuman’s mansion might have been even better.
‘Well, it’s unlikely for a territory like this to be wealthy.’
Still, it seemed the lord wasn’t empty-headed.
“My lord, the guests have arrived.”
“Let them in.”
Click.
In the office we were guided to, there were a middle-aged man and a boy who still looked a bit young.
‘That must be Baron Owalan…’
The boy strangely resembled Baron Owalan, so it was easy to infer his identity.
‘The successor?’
If such a boy was sitting in this position, there was a high possibility of that.
“It’s been a while, my lord.”
“Indeed, it’s been a while. Kuman. You must have just returned, I apologize.”
“No, my lord. The young master still looks as astute as ever.”
The boy simply nodded his head without saying much.
I thought he wasn’t arrogant for a noble. Or perhaps he had an unexpectedly close relationship with Kuman.
“So, you’re Jimnis, right?”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Excellency. I am the mercenary Jimnis.”
Although I wasn’t actually registered.
“Right. It’s nice to see you in person.”
He smiled slightly and said.
“You have an expression that says you don’t know why I summoned you.”
Of course. I didn’t know.
“Normally, I wouldn’t have had any reason to see you in person. Thanks to you, Kuman seized a good opportunity, but you’re a monster hunter.”
I knew that.
In this world, the hierarchy of professions was clear, and monster hunters were in the lower tier among them.
They were considered to be at the bottom in terms of perception, only slightly better because they had combat power.
People who sold their souls for money.
Of course, this was from the nobles’ perspective. Merchants couldn’t get enough of them, so in the end, the evaluation differed depending on one’s status.
‘It’s the barrier between social classes.’
Becoming a noble solely based on ability was, honestly, close to a camel passing through the eye of a needle.
It couldn’t be done in one generation. Unless it was a period of considerable upheaval, it required at least 2 to 3 generations, even at the fastest pace. That was the nature of this world.
Usually, knights, who were called quasi-nobles, were the limit.
This was the same for mages as well. Although they were treated like nobles, if they were of commoner origin, it was rare for them to actually have noble status.
“Nevertheless, the reason I invited you… is thanks to the commendation from the Siglen Count’s family.”
‘The Siglen Count’s family?’
“There was an official announcement thanking you for cooperating in the breeding of hippogriffs.”
‘So that’s what it is.’
I immediately understood the situation.
Although I had captured monsters, it wasn’t treated as selling my soul for money by supplying them to the Magic Tower, but rather as assisting the hippogriff breeding of the high-ranking Siglen Count’s family through the group of the low-ranking Owalan Baron’s family.
Therefore, even though I had captured monsters, I was treated as having served for the honor of the nobles, not selling my soul for money.
The baron had officially summoned me to commend me for that.
‘Well, it is a situation where he has no choice but to commend me.’
No wonder Kuman had told me it was a good thing. It really was a good thing.
‘Well, this territory is going to be ruined anyway, so it’s only temporary.’
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as joyful as I had imagined.
“Therefore, I wish to bestow a reward upon you.”
“I was merely doing my duty according to the contract, so it’s an honor to have been of service to the territory.”
“Hmm. You have a good sense for a monster hunter. Right. I heard that you were the one Kuman wanted to grant citizenship to this time. And I was told that you had already purchased a building from Kuman.”
“I also heard that you have a residence outside for hunting purposes.”
It seemed he had already heard everything from Kuman.
Although it could be considered that Kuman had wielded power within his territory, he didn’t seem to mind much. It could be inferred that the relationship between the two wasn’t that of an ordinary lord and merchant.
‘They don’t seem to be blood-related…’
There was no resemblance at all.
“So I was pondering what to give you.”
Honestly, I didn’t have high expectations, but I couldn’t ignore the sincerity here, so I quietly bowed my head.
“For now, I will exempt you from all taxes for 2 years. After that, I will collect only half the taxes for 5 years, and I also plan not to impose any labor or conscription for the next 7 years.”
‘This will be quite convenient.’
With citizenship, one receives protection but also has to pay taxes and perform labor.
The head tax that every adult must pay, the slave tax that slave owners must pay, and the tribute that I, as a hunter taking Nenson’s position, had to periodically offer to the lord were all exempted.
When the territory becomes dangerous, there is conscription, and depending on the situation, one must also participate in the self-defense force activities, but all those bothersome tasks would disappear.
Still, in this world, they don’t levy taxes just for making a few windows or a fireplace.
Especially in a frontier territory full of dangers like this, it’s even more so. People are important here.
‘It’s only for a year, but it’s not bad.’
“That’s not all.”
Baron Owalan continued.
“I will grant you the position of honorary soldier.”
‘Honorary soldier?’
I had never heard of such a thing before.
“It’s a special position created just for you. The status will be recognized at the level of a squire, and all the hunting, monster subjugation, and monster capture you engage in will be considered as being done for the development of the territory.”
From the nobles’ perspective, it was a tremendous privilege, but for me, it was just a normal thing.
The only nobles to be seen in this territory were the Owalan Baron’s family.
In other words, even with such privileges, as long as I didn’t meet the baron’s family, there would be no reason to be looked down upon.
‘Ah, there was a knight too.’
Still, they were an extremely small number.
“Depending on your future merits, I am also willing to open the path of knighthood for you.”
‘Even if you give it to me, I won’t take it.’
This territory was going to be ruined anyway.
“It is an immeasurable honor.”
Of course, my thoughts and the words that came out of my mouth were the exact opposite.
“Honorary Soldier Jimnis. I will observe your future dedication.”
“I will do my utmost.”
It seemed there was no salary as it was an unpaid honorary position.
Judging by how he was trying to make do with just words and status, it seemed the territory’s finances weren’t very solid.
Of course, it was a common perception that status was more valuable than money.
There were more things that money couldn’t buy in this world.
After the appointment as an honorary soldier, a conversation took place between the baron and Kuman.
Kuman reported to the baron that he was planning to establish a formal trade relationship with the Magic Tower, and the baron greatly commended him for it.
They offered some of the money and goods they had earned, had a brief conversation, and then were invited to a meal.
The baron asked me about capturing the orcs, which was usually an opportunity for a soldier or knight who had distinguished themselves to boast about their achievements.
I didn’t particularly want to brag, but since it was the baron’s question, I pretended to answer diligently while embellishing as much as possible.
“Hoh. You’re saying that in addition to capture, you also subjugated more than 10 of them?”
Baron Owalan showed a very surprised expression along with a satisfied face at my exploits.
“With your slave, you might be able to perform as well as Sir Rankbink when it comes to monster hunting.”
“Your words are too generous. No matter how much I exert myself, I am not at a level to be compared to a formal knight. Please retract your words.”
Although I was confident that I could perform even better when it came to hunting, I showed the utmost humility.
If the knight was narrow-minded, it would become extremely troublesome for me.
“Is that so?”
The baron also casually let it pass, as if it was just an empty compliment to praise my achievements.
However, there was one person who kept his eyes shining throughout my tale of exploits.
‘…Why is he like that?’
Banis Owalan, the baron’s son and the successor of the territory.
His passionate gaze wouldn’t leave me.
After finishing the meal, Kuman said as we left the mansion.
“The lord seems to have taken a liking to you. Congratulations. If you do well, you might really become a knight.”
“Your words are too kind. This is all thanks to you, Sir Kuman.”
“It’s because of your outstanding abilities, not because of anything I did. But I’m grateful that you say so.”
Kuman also didn’t intend to raise me to this extent, but somehow, I had grown too much.
Therefore, his attitude towards me had changed a bit.
Unlike before, he treated me not as a subtle superior-subordinate relationship, but as an equal existence.
Since I had helped elevate the honor of the lord’s family, it seemed awkward for him to treat me the same way as in the past.
Of course, he had never treated me harshly in the past.
“Come to think of it, there were some items you requested from me.”
I should have received them yesterday, but due to the lord’s invitation, I had to prepare various things and didn’t have time to receive them.
“Since you’re here, take them with you. You can have high expectations. I was quite lucky this time.”
Kuman showed a confident face.
“The Siglen Count’s family took care of it.”
I didn’t expect them to officially express gratitude to a frontier baron’s family and even provide assistance in this way.
They seemed to place great importance on the hippogriffs.
‘Well, even in the future, the Siglen Count’s family’s reputation did rise thanks to the hippogriffs.’
They cherished them to the point of adding a hippogriff to the family’s coat of arms.
“The quality of the equipment is excellent.”
“I was told that dwarves had a hand in it. The price did go up a bit, but considering the value, it’s practically free.”
The equipment alone cost nearly 10 gold, but if dwarves were involved, it could indeed be considered free.
As expected of a grand lord, it seemed he had those rare dwarf slaves under his command.
“I also procured the herbs and reagents you requested. I was surprised at how expensive they were.”
“You have to prepare in advance when you have money. And I need to conduct experiments as well.”
“Experiments?”
“There must be progress. Especially here, where the land of monsters is right in front of us, if progress stops, we can only be eliminated.”
“Is that so? But it must have been a waste.”
“You have to spend when you need to. If you can buy life with money, it’s a sufficiently profitable deal.”
“Well, that’s true. Still, I didn’t expect you to pay so much attention to the equipment of your slave, Kayla.”
He seemed quite surprised that I had even prepared spare equipment of the same level.
“I can’t find anyone else with skills like hers in this area, so I have no choice but to cherish her.”
“Well, she is a former knight, even if her leg is injured.”
Kuman nodded his head in agreement with my words.
“Even though they know it, there are many who can’t do so because they find it wasteful. You are indeed not ordinary.”
Indeed, a sum close to 40 gold was a fortune that ordinary commoners couldn’t even dream of holding in their entire lives.
However, as I mentioned earlier, you have to spend when you need to.
Money is just money. My goal was set higher, so I couldn’t afford to be stingy with such an amount.
‘Anyway, there’s a limit to what money can do.’
You can do quite a lot with it. But as you move up, those limitations become clear.
Since my goal was in that direction, I could view money more coldly than others.
After paying for all the reagents, herbs, and equipment, most of the large sum of money had disappeared.
The remaining money in my possession was a little over 4 gold.
‘The reagents are really expensive.’
When combined with some alchemical tools, the price had increased exponenTheally.
Still, since I had spent it on necessary things, I didn’t feel any regret.
After expressing my gratitude for procuring good items, I parted ways with Kuman.
Regarding the orc capture, he said he would request it when needed, but I made it clear that large-scale capture like before would be impossible.
‘He said it would be fine for the time being since the urgent need had been resolved.’
There were quite a few merchants connected to the Magic Tower, so now, even without me, it wouldn’t be a big problem.
According to what Kuman belatedly informed me, the hippogriff hadn’t eaten anything for quite some time and was in a somewhat dangerous state.
‘Considering the first round, it probably didn’t die, but…’
They didn’t know that.
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