Chapter 419: Courtesy
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Because of the situation we are in now, it is not the ti to retreat imdiately," Anfey said with a slight shake of his head. Obviously, Marino was only interested in being a wealthy man, but he had to do what was needed since the situation had changed. From Anfey’s point of view, he definitely would need Marino’s help in the future. Even if Marino did not want to be involved, he had to wait until the situation got better or until Christian was in a much stronger position.
"Do you know why I am talking about these things even though we just t? I am really worried." Marino had a bitter smile on his face. "Since the War against the Dead broke out, more than 12,000 rcenaries have co to Stornburg. Including their families, the population of Stornburg has grown by more than 50,000. It is a huge burden for . With over 10,000 rcenaries coming to , plus the rcenaries in Band of Brother rcenary group, I have enough people for a decent-sized military. I do not know if Glory rcenary group took the opportunity to expand. If they are the sa size, I have the confidence to start a fight against them and destroy them."
Anfey was shocked. "You have that many rcenaries?" This was the difference between Marino and Alice. Alice had claid that she welcod all the rcenaries to Moramatch. However, only a small number of rcenaries had co. So rcenaries who ca to Moramatch were friends with Ozzic. The number of rcenaries who went to Moramatch were just a trifle compared with the large number of rcenaries who went to Stornburg. Of course, these movents were affected by the strategies necromancers used. The population of death spirits around Cross Valley was the largest. Stornburg was a lot safer. The people who were able to cross the Cross Valley and reach Moramatch were almost all soldiers. If they had families with them, they usually did not want to take the risk and preferred the safer route.
Marino nodded. "It was hard to explain to others why there are more than tens of thousands of rcenaries. So people might think I want to do sothing with so many rcenaries in Stornburg. In fact, I have the ability to take so action if I want to. I do not want others to have that misconception about . You know how many people would believe the gossip."
"Do you want to give those rcenaries to ?" Anfey smiled. "Do you think I am not concerned about the sa issue?"
"You are different than . No matter what you do, others will think you are working for Christian and doing sothing for your future," Marino said.
Entos walked into the room and frowned. "Marino, why are you talking about this with Anfey? We should not worry about this kind of thing."
"Entos, I cannot believe you cannot see it more clearly, since you are involved. Have you asked Christian’s opinion? Do you know what Christian is really thinking?" Marino asked calmly.
Entos went quiet for a while before he slowly took a seat. The issue between Granden and Christian gave him a headache. Christian was like his little brother, while Granden showed a lot of respect and had a good relationship with him. Entos even helped Granden make Niya like him. If Entos took Granden’s or Christian’s side, it seed not to be fair to the other one. Entos pretended he did not know when Niya ran away. Saul did not interfere either. It showed the attitudes of Entos and Saul toward the younger generation’s problems. They felt helpless and wanted to leave room to let the younger ones deal with it by themselves. They tried not to interfere.
If Granden and Christian were not in conflict, then all the problems could be solved easily. The problem was Granden and Christian shared a lot good qualities in common. They were both smart, kind, understood regular people’s struggles, dedicated to the country, had good relationships in their circles, and had good self-control. It made it really hard for Entos to take sides.
So many royal kids committed cris, bullied others and raped won. The grandson of Philip was an example. As princes, Granden and Christian had the highest immunity from being punished, but they had never done anything like that. Instead, they hated these kinds of things. The only difference between them was that Granden was more direct. In war, Granden supervised the troops. He had always volunteered to be the vice sheriff and had punished many royal kids who committed cris. He neither showed any prejudice toward anyone, nor was afraid of offending anyone for the right reasons. The oldest prince, Wester, was in charge of city administration for the ti being. Many governnt officials and royalty in Sacred City had showed their favoritism towards Wester. There was a saying that three inches-thick ice could not freeze overnight. Many people must have had conflicts with Granden for a long ti.
Christian held an aloof attitude towards governnt affairs, since he did not an to take any position in Sacred City. He needed so experience managing the city and leading troops. If Christian were given opportunities, no one would say he was worse than Granden. Everyone knew the real reason Yolanthe asked Christian to supervise the troops this ti.
In relationships with girls, Granden only hung out with Niya. There was never any gossip about him with other girls. Christian had dedicated himself to magic study. They were definitely unique among royal kids, in a good way. Saul and others thought Granden and Christian should appreciate each other more. Brothers could break a gold brick if they tried it together. If one of them beca Yolanthe’s successor while the other one beca a prince, they could work together to reform the country and give Maho Empire new life. That would be undoubtedly the best result, but reality wasn’t working out that way. Granden held a party on Christian’s birthday, while Christian only said goodbye to the oldest prince Wester and ignored Granden. All these had showed the conflict between them.
Marino laid his eyes on Anfey. "And I need to think for my rcenaries. There are two kinds of people. One type is ambitious, while the other is content, like . I would like to refer a few people to you. They are the forr kind. It would not benefit them too much if they follow . No matter how hard they work, they would be my officials. The problem is, they could not replace . I have thought about it for them through. Instead of having them stay with and endure a boring and lonely life, I would rather have them follow you and do sothing amazing. If they could accomplish sothing, they would definitely appreciate recomnding them to you."
What Marino said inspired Anfey. He needed to push Christian into the public more. Christian should not give others the impression that he was just a puppet of Anfey. It would not do any good for Christian, and also would put himself in danger.
"But I hope you will treat them well. Their loyalty is beyond doubt. I can promise you that." Marino smiled. "I have been talking with them about you after I had this idea. I bragged about your wisdom and capability. I can tell they admire you."
"You bragged about to what degree?" Anfey asked. He rembered that a few rcenaries had checked him out, but also looked timid.
"I did not exaggerate too much. You were a student of a supre power and will be the only supre power in the future," Marino said. "I talked a lot about you. For example, you drove out rascals and protected people, scolded Master Swordsman Philip, went into your enemies’ territories to fight and wiped the whole Griffin Aerial Unit, fought with necromancers and killed Annunciata and over a dozen other necromancers, founded League of rcenaries in Moramatch, and killed hundreds of thousands of death spirits."
"Are you sure you just bragged about a little bit?" Anfey said.
"Just a little bit. To a bard, this is a necessary and artistic exaggeration. In fact, those heroic biographies had exaggeration in them as well." Marino smiled. "I have been wanting to be a bard since I was little."
"Did you just say you have over 12,000 rcenaries? How many mages are there?" Anfey asked.
"Yes, but I am not sure of the number of mages. You’ll have to find out yourself." Marino suddenly grinned. "Don’t get too excited about the number. You know I have passed my burden to you. First of all, you should think about how you would feed them before the business route opens up again."
"I have plenty of food, but I need to send people to get it for ," Anfey said.
"You have food? Where is it?" Marino was shocked. Stornburg was his city and had all kinds of supplies, but the city supplies were almost emptied by having an extra 50,000 people. He planned to have Entos to take over 10,000 rcenaries to et Anfey. This way, he helped Anfey and made a huge contribution to the future success of Christian at the sa ti. He also could pass the burden to Anfey with a good reason. It was like killing two birds with one stone. He definitely wanted to use Anfey when he heard there were food.
"Scarlet has lead her troops into the Country of rcenaries to start the battle. She had to feed more than a few hundred thousand people. It should be no problem to feed another 50,000 people," Anfey said.
Marino was shocked. "You are not thinking of robbing Scarlet’s supplies, are you?"
"No, I am not just thinking about it. You know I have robbed her once. It should be fine to rob her a few more tis," Anfey said.
"Scarlet lost so much last ti. She must have prepared a lot better this ti. If you want to rob her again, it will be very, very hard!" Marino said.
"I am not going to rob her in the Country of rcenaries. Here is the border between the Country of rcenaries and Shansa Empire." Anfey rubbed his finger across a deep cut in the table. "I have a captive from Shansa Empire. He said Scarlet was stopped by border patrols when she was ready to go out for battle. She took over the patrol by force to show her determination. The nobility in Shansa Empire was against Scarlet going out to fight at first, but they changed their minds when they knew they could not stop her."
"What does this have to do with food?" Marino asked.
"In war, those border patrols were very brave and fought her hard, so she ordered her n to destroy the two mage towers at the border. After the battle, she forced all the mages at the border to go with her. Without the protection of mages and mage towers, Suzanna and I can go in and out freely. We could go in at any ti to open the gate." Anfey pointed on the table. "She stocked most her supplies here, on the other side of the border."
Marino suddenly realized sothing. "Did you already plan to attack there even before you ca here?"
"I planned to take a break in Stornburg. Since Scarlet is here, I cannot do anything to her. That would be too rude," Anfey said.
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