Chapter 334
Chapter 334
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 334
>Chapter Title: Dreams and Hope
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Aster, having entrusted the Hamern Great Forest to Rayleigh, stepped out of the information desk with a smiling face.
‘Good. Then I’ll leave the Hamern Great Forest base camp to Rayleigh for now.’
Naturally, he had already thought of a second target.
So, where would the second one be?
“……The Kallia Mercenary Corps?”
Parun’s office, which he headed to right away.
Aster nodded at Parun’s question.
“Yeah. What do you think? Sounds like a solid proposal, right?”
“A solid proposal…….”
Parun mulled over Aster’s explanation again.
Even setting aside how blatantly scammy and absurd the plan was, he tried thinking from the Kallia Mercenary Corps’ perspective.
If he were the Kallia Mercenary Corps, how would he take this offer?
After a moment of thought, Parun let out a sigh.
“……Impressive.”
“What is?”
“That you’d come up with something actually useful.”
“…….”
Aster’s eyes cooled sharply.
But Parun was sincere.
Honestly…… it was uncertain whether the Gale Wings or the Hamern Great Forest base camp would accept the proposal.
Why?
Because it sounded like nonsense.
If building a base camp on Arapurugin land were that easy, why would Arapurugin land still remain uncharted territory?
There were always reasons why even profitable land stayed undeveloped.
The harsh environment and flying monsters……
Up until now, there had been no way to overcome them.
But.
‘……If this guy takes the lead?’
What then?
Parun knew well that Aster’s level was anything but ordinary, and the Kallia Mercenary Corps knew it too.
What did that mean?
This proposal, which would sound utterly ridiculous to anyone else, would carry credibility to the Kallia Mercenary Corps!
Above all.
‘The fact that the Kallia Mercenary Corps bought land in Arapurugin…… means they planned to settle there sooner or later, right?’
Otherwise, a mercenary corps wouldn’t have purchased that much land.
So, from the Kallia Mercenary Corps’ standpoint, there was no reason to refuse.
None…….
Except there was a problem.
“Can you handle it?”
“Han……dle?”
Parun nodded.
“How many mercenary corps already? Gale Wings, Hamern Great Forest, and now Kallia. For now, let’s set aside the Hamern Great Forest mercenaries. They probably won’t send that many people even if they do.”
From Base Camp 1 to Base Camp 4.
No matter how large the scale, the forces they could spare from their main base wouldn’t be that big.
Probably…… even if all four base camps pooled their manpower, the number wouldn’t be huge.
But the problem was Gale Wings and the Kallia Mercenary Corps.
“Do you know the size of Gale Wings? Just the main force is a hundred, and including miscellaneous personnel, it’s over five hundred. Plus, the Kallia Mercenary Corps is close to two or three hundred.”
“Tha……t much?”
“……Guess you didn’t know.”
“No? I did?”
Aster played innocent, but Parun wasn’t fooled.
Anyway, Parun’s calculations continued.
“Gale Wings full force…… and Kallia Mercenary Corps. Simple math puts it near eight hundred. Even if they only bring their main forces, that’s two hundred.”
“Two……hundred.”
“Yeah, at least two hundred.”
In other words, what Parun meant was this.
“Do you have the funds to handle them?”
“…….”
“Feeding two hundred mercenaries will cost more than you imagine. Even figuring a minimum of one year…… it’s substantial.”
That was Parun’s question.
He knew Aster had a decent amount of money, but not how much exactly.
Of course, Aster had his own retort.
“Gale…… Wings should be fine, right?”
“Fine?”
“That money calculation wasn’t done by me.”
“Hmm, then that’s fortunate.”
“…….”
Aster’s cheek twitched at Parun’s genuinely relieved expression.
How deep did this distrust run?
Anyway.
‘Gale Wings is manageable.’
Evelyn would surely handle coordinating that many people.
But the Kallia Mercenary Corps…… and even further, handling the Hamern Great Forest mercenaries too?
A sudden thought crossed his mind.
“Do…… we have to handle that?”
“……?”
“No, think about it. Gale Wings is tied in with the ‘escort commission’ and ‘base camp sales,’ right?”
“That’s right.”
In other words, Aster’s logic was this.
“We commissioned them for escorts, so let’s say we handle them. But what about Kallia Mercenary Corps and Hamern Great Forest?”
“……We didn’t commission escorts from them?”
“Exactly.”
What did that mean?
“If we commissioned escorts, sure, we’d naturally cover their food, clothing, and shelter…… right? But selling the base camp? Strictly speaking, we’re not their employers, are we? It’s an equal trade? Something like that?”
“…….”
“So, no matter how many come from Kallia Mercenary Corps or Hamern Great Forest, do…… we really need to handle them? That’s the idea?”
“…….”
Parun fell silent.
“…….”
Aster fell silent too.
Rarely for him, Aster’s mouth twitched awkwardly, as if even he found his own words embarrassing.
Seeing that, Parun murmured with cold eyes.
“You know…… how absurd that sounds, don’t you.”
“Is it…… that absurd?”
“Suppose the employer hired you, me, and Henji. And only provides food, clothing, and shelter to Henji. Whether there’s a commission involved or not doesn’t matter. Just think about that treatment. How would you feel?”
“My mood…… would be pretty bad.”
“Why? The employer isn’t shirking any duties?”
“Because I’m being treated the same as you?”
“…….”
“And because I’m better than Henji?”
“…….”
Answering honestly, Aster trailed off as he saw Parun’s face hardening coldly.
Sometimes, saying the right thing could get you hit for real.
And this was one of those times.
So, he had to think of an answer that fit Parun’s intent, and it wasn’t complicated.
“Because it feels discriminatory?”
“……You know.”
“Of course.”
“Then, would that cause problems or not.”
“It would…… cause problems?”
He thought for a moment.
Wondering if smashing heads every time a problem arose would keep things quiet.
Of course, Aster knew that wouldn’t fly.
Anyway.
“So, what should we do?”
“……Same treatment?”
“The best would be to commission escorts from the Kallia Mercenary Corps and Hamern Great Forest base camps too.”
“……Do we have to?”
When Aster asked, Parun shot back, suppressing his anger.
“Do you think mercenaries are idiots? If you tie them down to Arapurugin land like that, don’t you think they’ll realize it only benefits you? Free escort manpower…… right? Think the other way around. What if they buy the base camp site only after construction’s done?”
“Ah, that’s a bit…….”
Actually, there was no need to sell the base camp site right away.
So why sell now?
The reason was simple.
‘Cut escort costs too…….’
The sooner the Arapurugin base camp stabilized, the sooner they’d start making money.
Depending on how things went, they could even cover construction costs solely from Arapurugin land profits.
So, at minimum, two out of Gale Wings, Hamern Great Forest, and Kallia Mercenary Corps needed to build base camps.
This was non-negotiable.
But.
‘……Increasing costs here?’
That wouldn’t do.
It could leave them short on construction funds.
“Now do you get it? What I’m saying?”
“…….”
Aster fell silent.
Finally understanding Parun fully.
So, what to do?
‘……Full withdrawal?’
Rayleigh hadn’t left yet, and calmly discussing with Evelyn when she returned was an option.
He wondered if Evelyn hadn’t foreseen this, but better safe than sorry.
He could act later.
But, but.
“Wouldn’t that mean…… paying full price?”
Parun’s eye twitched at Aster’s dejected mutter.
“What nonsense is that? Selling a non-existent base camp site is already more than enough.”
“But, but…….”
Evelyn had said it.
Business isn’t done with your own money.
It was a passing comment once, but Aster remembered it clearly.
And.
“……The bigger you go, the more you can skim, right?”
“So, what’s your point.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“Steal one gold, you’re a thief. Steal a thousand gold, you’re a businessman. And ten thousand gold…….”
“Your head flies off.”
“But I’m strong.”
“Has your intelligence regressed? Get to the point.”
The conclusion was this.
“Let’s…… go big.”
“……Big?”
“Yeah, big. So…… beyond selling base camps to the mercenary corps, we take investments too. Investments from the mercenary corps, and from rich folks too.”
Then, no worries about construction or commission costs.
Why?
Because it wouldn’t be small change.
Yeah. Since it’s come to this, buy up surrounding land in bulk too.
Scale it up.
“……Sounds exactly like a scam.”
“Success is business, failure is scam. That’s how it works.”
“Anyway, so? Say we get investments. What do you promise in return?”
This was the key part.
What to promise.
“Arapurugin land rights? Profit shares? Whatever it is, pulling in investments won’t be easy.”
Aster shook his head firmly at Parun’s question.
“No, that’s not what I’ll promise.”
“Then?”
The most important thing in investments is profit, but investors are people.
So, what do people live for?
What Aster would promise was exactly that.
So…….
Aster paused for a moment before opening his mouth.
“Dreams and hope.”
Right. People live harboring dreams and hope. The belief in a better tomorrow. The possibility of climbing higher.
That’s the driving force that moves people.
……And when those eyes met his.
Parun furrowed his brow.
“You’ve…… lost it.”
“No, this isn’t losing it. It’s a step toward the future.”
With that, Aster shot up from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
To Parun’s question, Aster replied curtly.
“To sell dreams.”
That was all Aster left behind.
* * *
That afternoon.
In Principal Schwertz’s hideout.
The Third Imperial Princess Bellrose, enjoying a rare leisurely tea time, received an unexpected guest.
“Your Highness, so dignified, so great, so magnanimous—have you been well? This humble one has been thriving under your ocean-like grace…….”
“…….”
Bellrose silently took in the boy bowing his head low without responding.
Polished honorifics he didn’t usually use. But somehow tacky. Like a sycophant’s.
But what truly repulsed her wasn’t that cheap speech.
“Your Highness, do you have a dream?”
“…….”
“This one believes that true comrades must share dreams…… and enable each other to dream…….”
It was Aster’s eyes—half-glazed, rubbing his hands together while kneeling.