After hearing Fred’s story, everyone clicks their tongues in amazent.
Henwell puts away his smile and grows serious. “Fred isn’t a reckless fighter. Don’t get that wrong. He’s not as foolish as he seems on the surface, nor is he a blunt, rough man. On the contrary, he’s quite cunning. Over the past fifteen years, his personal strength has improved trendously.”
”Give him another ten years, and he might break through to beco an Iron Knight. When he says he was a rising star of the previous generation, that’s no lie. A sixty-year-old Iron Knight isn’t just an average sixty-year-old—physically and ntally, he’s still at his peak.”
“Fifteen years ago, Tusyat City was a ss. Officially, the kingdom assigned a lord to govern, but in reality, many affairs had to be negotiated with those super rcenary captains who commanded thousands of soldiers. Since Fred arrived, not only did he keep those rcenary captains in check, but he personally wiped out two of their groups.”
Everyone nods seriously, taking ntal notes. Anyone who’s survived so much clearly isn’t a simple character.
If Fred were just a reckless fool, he would have died long ago in the chaos of the Lumir Duchy.
Henwell continues, “Fred is a fierce warrior forged on the battlefield. His military skills aren’t just theoretical. Right now, he commands thousands of elite troops. Those are his personal guard, not the city’s defense forces. The army he can directly control exceeds thirteen thousand soldiers, comparable to any regular regint stationed nearby.”
“Besides, the six super rcenary groups here, along with other smaller rcenary bands, are all sowhat under his influence. If he wanted to, mobilizing tens of thousands of troops for battle wouldn’t be difficult.”
“Tusyat City is unique. Within a two-hundred-kiloter radius, four regular Ika kingdom regints are stationed, along with two cavalry regints each exceeding five thousand troops. Add in Tusyat City’s forces and those of surrounding lords, and the military presence here is dense, almost rivaling the troop concentration near the capital.”
“So everyone needs to be cautious. As long as Fred doesn’t cause trouble for us, we just focus on our own affairs.”
Hearing this, everyone finally realizes that the fierce-looking lord is actually a powerful figure commanding heavy forces.
Henwell points outside and says, “Also, don’t be fooled by his act of playing poor. Although he’s not as good at making money as I am, he’s definitely not broke.”
”This guy launched a very forward-thinking policy—he set up a rcenary Task Center. Every rcenary group wanting to take on contracts here has to get a credibility license issued by Tusyat City.”
“To get that license, each rcenary group has to put up a large sum of gold as collateral at the Task Center. The amount depends on the size of the group. The more you stake, the higher your credibility rating on the license.”
“Those six super rcenary groups each pledge a hefty amount, ranging from hundreds of thousands to over a million gold coins.”
When Henwell first heard about this, he thought, “Is this guy so kind of ‘earth’ man or what? Setting up sothing like this is a clever way to make money.”
Henwell also strongly approves of what Fred does next.
At first, people just thought Fred was running a disguised protection racket. But then, when a rcenary group botched a job and the client ca to demand compensation without success, he decided to give the Task Center a try and asked the lord to diate.
After hearing both sides, Fred ruled the rcenary group was at fault and directly refunded the client’s entire commission from the group’s pledged deposit—plus a little extra compensation.
As more incidents like this happened, everyone realized Fred genuinely wanted to build a credibility system for rcenaries.
With a good reputation, more and more people began to seek out licensed rcenary groups through the Task Center.
Over the years, these offices spread across cities throughout the Ika Kingdom, providing a safety net for registered rcenary groups.
The kingdom’s top officials also strongly support this plan to stabilize public order and rein in these hot-headed rcenaries.
Now, after every rcenary group receives a contract, Fred takes a 20% commission.
But he doesn’t just take it for nothing, the licenses he issues help rcenaries avoid trouble with the kingdom’s authorities.
Plus, half of the commission he collects goes into a fund to cover rcenary personnel losses.
If a rcenary group suffers major losses due to uncontrollable circumstances, they can claim from this fund as compensation.
Though the amount isn’t huge, it shows a real commitnt.
As for the rcenary Task Center itself, Fred doesn’t hold all the power.
From staff to the task evaluation committee, representatives from the major rcenary groups participate.
This ensures the rcenary groups’ interests are protected and decisions aren’t just based on the clients’ side.
This system has earned Fred considerable prestige within the rcenary industry.
Besides that, Fred is also the biggest moneylender in the entire Western Regions of the Ika Kingdom.
All those deposits? Fred doesn’t let them sit idle. He loans them out at an annual interest rate of no more than 20%. Considering this is a feudal era, that rate isn’t high at all.
And Fred never worries about anyone daring to default on their debts.
Tusyat City isn’t just a hub for rcenary business; it’s also the center of the slave trade in the Western Regions of the Ika Kingdom.
Over more than a decade of operation, Fred has amassed a vast fortune, which is one of the reasons he’s called the rcenary Lord.
Thanks to the battle before entering the city and Fred’s presence afterward, Henwell and his group manage to rest peacefully here for three days.
On the night before they leave, Fred finds Henwell.
Seeing Fred scaling the wall late at night, Henwell waves his n off, signaling them to go back to sleep.
The two et on the rooftop, and Fred sizes Henwell up. “Famous nas often hide secrets, huh?”
“Oh? The lord thinks my reputation doesn’t match my strength?”
Fred shakes his head. “Not at all! I’m curious. Has no one realized you’re already an Iron Knight?”
Henwell raises an eyebrow. “Oh? The lord is so sure?”
Fred, casually draped in a coat, points to the scars on his body. “You and I both have fought through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. We have a special sense for enemies. During our earlier standoff, I kept wondering: if you were a Grand Knight, I’d feel a serious threat. But no matter how much I provoked you, I never sensed that threat.”
“Either you’re not a Grand Knight but just a Battle Knight, or you simply weren’t angered by . But I really wanted to kill you then. I think you sensed that too. After all, killing you would’ve ant I could return ho to my family.”
“So, I thought about it for a long ti after returning, and I ca to one conclusion: for so many people to fear you and want you dead, you have to be above a Battle Knight.”
“There’s only one possibility—you’re neither a Battle Knight nor a Grand Knight, but an Iron Knight!”
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