Chapter 050
○ Kalmond Chocolat
Rank: ★★★
Level: 40 ( 2)
Traits: Escape A, Lockpicking A, Ambush B, Daggersmanship B, Unard Combat B, ???
Status: Diamond Loyalty
[Not Unlocked]
[Not Unlocked]
......
I could not help but be fairly surprised.
Compared to the previous information, exactly two things had changed.
His level and his status.
First, the level.
The last ti I checked his Status Window, he had been Level 38. Now it had risen by 2. Kindly enough, there was even an added note telling that it had gone up by 2.
I still did not know whether this battle had made him grow, or whether he had trained on his own. Well, I could get the answer just by asking.
But one thing was certain.
He had gained 2 levels and entered the forties.
From my experience, Level 40 was definitely high.
I had not checked the levels of every knight in the Knight Order, but even so, I suspected that their veterans did not exceed the fifty mark. So far, I had not t anyone above sixty.
Level was not a asure of strength itself, but sothing closer to the degree of mastery a person possessed in the field to which he belonged.
Otherwise, there was no way Head Butler Yanrof would be as high as Level 54.
Of course, that was not to say he was weak. It only ant that level did not reflect combat ability alone.
Could it be that Kalmond’s potential was high?
A great many parts of the Status Window were still locked, but it felt as though there might also be a category for sothing like potential. The Status Window resembled a ga system, so surely there would be so item related to growth.
“Kalmond. Have you been training lately?”
“No, sir. I had no ti to hone my martial skill because I was busy searching for artisans and preparing various things. My apologies.”
Kalmond answered politely. This bastard had changed too much.
Then again, for martial n, there was probably no greater favor than having one’s life saved. One reason I had taken a liking to Kalmond in the first place was that he had looked like the sort with strong loyalty and devotion.
The more ti passed, the more I liked him.
“No, I was not asking just to nag at you. It is simply that you looked stronger than before.”
“Were you watching us from the beginning?”
“A little.”
“The situation was what it was......”
How modest of him, and so unlike his old self.
Nodding, I applied dicine to his wounds and wrapped them in bandages. I knew enough first aid that the bandaging ca out very well.
Kalmond looked at once more with moved eyes and spoke.
“I will be more careful from now on so that nothing like this happens again. We should have moved more cautiously, but our hideout was exposed. If you had not co quickly, sir, we would all have been as good as dead.”
“I keep telling you, it is all right. Do not worry about it. People make mistakes as they go through life.”
I still had trouble adjusting to Kalmond apologizing like this. The change in his status must have been the reason.
Diamond Loyalty.
And what was diamond?
It was sothing unchanging, solid, and hard beyond doubt.
In other words, he had entered a state of absolute loyalty to .
To be honest, I liked that far more than the fact that his level had risen.
When you obtained a general you liked in a Romance of the Three Kingdoms ga, was not the very first thing you did always to raise his loyalty? I had succeeded in engraving my martial might into my subordinates’ minds while also winning their loyalty.
“Sir. We have tied up all the Black Pig bastards.”
“Well done. But do not call Boss. It sounds like a thug’s title.”
“Then what should we call you?”
I thought for a mont, but nothing suitable ca to mind. In the end, I answered carelessly.
“Just call Representative.”
“Representative? Hm......”
“Why? Does it sound strange?”
All of them watched my expression.
That was the sort of thing that happened when everyone thought the answer was yes but none of them could bring themselves to say it out loud.
“Then just call Captain. But be careful when there are a lot of people around.”
“Understood.”
I looked over the Black Pig bastards my n had tied up. Blackship, in particular, had been bound twice over, locked in a wardrobe, and secured with a lock.
They really did handle things thoroughly.
Then one of my subordinates offered a pouch they had taken from Blackship’s body. It clinked with coins.
When I opened it, it was heaped with gold coins.
A smile spread across my face.
At a glance, it looked like well over thirty gold.
I hung the pouch at my waist and called my subordinates over.
“Everyone, gather up.”
“Yes, sir!”
They lined up in a row.
“You all did well. I am glad none of you were badly hurt. Continue to be careful from now on. Fighting hard is good, but surviving matters too.”
As I patted their shoulders, I checked their stats. Every one of them had gained levels. So by as little as 3, others by as much as 9.
This chance confird sothing for very clearly.
If you survived a fight where your life was on the line, your level rose sharply.
Of course, that might also have been because their starting levels were low. Still, the fact that their levels had risen at all was a positive sign.
“You all erased your tattoos properly. That must have hurt quite a bit.”
Earlier, I had ordered them to erase every trace of the Scorpion Gang. True enough, they had all removed their tattoos, probably by burning them away.
“This much pain is nothing!”
“Do not try to act tough. Instead of getting tattoos again, you should be thinking about living properly from now on. Honestly, what good do those things do? They are childish.”
“Then...... our organization will not do tattoos either?”
All eyes turned toward .
So tattoos mattered to them more than I had expected.
But I had already prepared sothing.
“We are not doing tattoos. Instead, we are going to do this with style.”
I pulled badges from my pouch.
Then I handed them out one by one.
“From now on, wear these badges on your chest.”
“Ohhh......”
The subordinates stared at the badges with fascinated eyes.
They were small iron badges. The design was a pair of A’s enclosed in a circle, copied exactly from sothing that had once been popular where I used to live.
Apparently the subordinates liked them, because they obeyed my order at once. Once each of them pinned a badge to his chest, it finally felt as though they belonged to sothing.
Later, should I make uniforms too? I ought to prepare a matching set of weapons as well.
“Good. Then I suppose we should begin cleaning up the situation. I have a question for all of you. What do you think we should do with the Black Pig bastards we tied up?”
“We should cut all their heads off.”
“Even if we let them go, we ought to cripple them! Then they will never be able to attack us again!”
They were all rather violent.
Still, I understood. These were the n who had been trying to kill them just monts ago. None of them would want to show rcy.
In any case, none of the suggestions was particularly useful. I turned toward Kalmond.
He thought for a mont, then cautiously offered his view.
“It would not be a good idea to wipe them all out.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because later, when we absorb the Black Pig Gang, that would an losing that much fighting strength.”
“Exactly.”
There was the right answer.
With satisfaction, I nodded.
He truly had the makings of a man fit to command as the Enforcer Captain of an organization.
“You judged it correctly. Then what is the alternative?”
“How about releasing one of them? Since no one escaped, the Black Pig Gang should not yet know what happened on this side. We have their Boss, so first we ought to negotiate a ransom.”
“And after that?”
“With the money we receive, should we not increase our own numbers, improve our equipnt, and then fight the war again?”
I nodded.
It was almost exactly the sa as the plan I had in mind. There was just one thing I had been wondering about, so I asked Kalmond directly.
“It would still be a bad idea to get rid of that pig bastard, would it not?”
“You judged correctly. They are a large organization as well, so it would only deepen their resentnt. They would say they have to avenge their Boss. Their organization is well ordered, so they would surely co charging at us at once.”
That part did not have much to do with intelligence. It was more the kind of experience one gained by surviving in the underworld for years. That was why I had asked him.
Kalmond continued firmly,
“So the best course is to bargain for his ransom, receive our compensation, release him, and then buy ti while they sharpen their knives for revenge.”
“A good idea. We will do that.”
At a signal from Kalmond, one of the subordinates untied a nearby man from the Black Pig Gang and grabbed him by the collar.
“You bastard! Go back and deliver this ssage properly. Your Boss is in our hands. If you do not bring sacks of gold, he will be a dead man!”
“A-all right! Please, just spare my life!”
“Get out!”
The Black Pig subordinate fled like the wind.
Now all that remained was to wait and see what the Black Pig Gang would do. If they ca at us in force, I would simply wipe them all out. I had already made all the preparations.
Next, should I check how the other work was progressing?
“Kalmond. What ca of the artisans I told you about before? What did you learn?”
“I have recruited several artisans with good hands.”
“Good hands is too abstract. What are they good at?”
“They are craftsn. They make many tools out of wood and iron. You ntioned before that you wanted to make things like pens, so I looked into that side of things.”
“Well done.”
I nodded.
The first thing I ant to make was a fountain pen.
Making money was one thing, but the constant stress of having to dip a pen in ink every ti I wrote, and then worry about spilling it, was no small matter.
Butlers had to write docunts more often than one might expect. For example, Training Officer Vesper and Head Butler Yanrof spent nearly all of their seated work writing or checking docunts.
If I could make fountain pens or ballpoint pens, the efficiency of work would rise enormously.
“When can I et those artisans?”
“At once, if you wish. They are staying nearby.”
“Bring them here.”
“Would that not be a little dangerous right now?”
I paused to think.
Kalmond’s point was valid. We still had no idea how the Black Pig bastards might react.
“Fine. Then let us et the artisans later. How much remains of the money I gave you before?”
“About one gold. But if we are going to make pens, will we not need more money?”
He seed to be imagining sothing like a factory, but that was not what I had in mind. The work was much simpler than that. And I only planned to produce a small amount at first.
“Do not worry. I drew the blueprint myself, and the materials are nothing special. More importantly, there is one more thing I need to instruct you to do.”
“Please command .”
“Find soone skilled at making masks.”
“A mask, you say......”
“Yes, a mask. One that feels like real skin. I do not care what kind it is, just bring soone who is very good at making them.”
As thin as it was, the iron mask had limited usefulness. It was fine when moving secretly at night, but if I walked around in broad daylight wearing an iron mask, the guards would seize on the spot.
I had begun to feel the need to hide my identity more carefully.
Kalmond grinned.
“That will not be difficult. There are many n in the back alleys with skillful hands. As it happens, I know one myself.”
“You can bring him right now, can you not?”
“He does risky work already, so it should not matter. Please wait just a mont.”
Kalmond was on the point of leaving the hideout when he stopped and turned back again. It seed he still had sothing to say.
“However, the production cost is rather high. As for the money......”
“Do not worry! I will pay whatever he asks. So long as the skill is real.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Kalmond left the hideout.
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