Chapter 37 - 037_Conclusion of the Menisas Disturbance
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037_Conclusion of the Menisas Disturbance
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"Are you really quitting?"
"Yes. After thinking about it, I felt that it might be about time to step down."
Keldo, who had been the core of the elite territorial soldiers, came to request retirement. It might be due to his age, but perhaps with all his daughters married and leaving home, he had lost his drive. Rodney also suspected that nearly dying in the Hekatoncheir attack was a major factor.
"What will you do after retiring?"
"It is small, but I have some fields. I thought I might spend my final years working the soil."
"You aren't planning to go to another territory, are you?"
"That is not the case. This is the land where I was born and raised, and I have an attachment to it."
Losing an elite soldier was painful, but even if he tried to retain someone whose motivation had dropped, it would only lead to injuries in the labyrinth. Still, it was a shame.
"I understand you're quitting. But will you at least hear me out on a request?"
"A request?"
"One year is fine. Please serve as an instructor."
"Instructor? What does that entail?"
Rodney explained that an instructor was someone who trained new recruits into full-fledged soldiers.
"By the late summer of next year, the exemption period from military service will expire. There will likely be a deployment then. At that time, I will lead half of the retainers and territorial soldiers. We are short on hands."
"So you are telling me to raise the new recruits?"
"That's right. I want you to train the new recruits, who haven't yet entered the labyrinth, to a level where they can survive inside. That will reduce the burden on the retainers, and we can also explore the labyrinth."
Keldo said he would think about it and withdrew.
Regrettably, Dedel Territory—no, Forvas House was short on talent. They did not have the luxury to let an experienced soldier like Keldo retire to farming.
Rodney thought that even if Keldo could no longer fight on the front lines, he could still pass on his experience to the new recruits.
Three days later, Keldo replied that he would accept the instructor position. Instead of retirement, Rodney issued a reassignment order, putting Keldo in charge of all new recruit training.
Since it was the first time, Keldo would likely be figuring things out as he guided the recruits. The new recruits assigned under Keldo were the four who had been recruited and hired this summer.
The minimum military strength for a knight baronet was set at thirty men. Dedel Territory already had forty-five territorial soldiers. Rodney wanted at least fifty, but that number was not reached.
There would likely be no deployment next year, but the year after next, there might be. If things went badly, he might die in battle like his father Beck. That sense of crisis drove his decision to increase the number of soldiers.
With Keldo's matter settled, Rodney decided to seriously begin the assault on the Lake Bottom Temple in the Abandoned House Labyrinth.
Around the Lake Bottom Temple, several hundred Merfolk stood guard. Even with Rodney, Emilia, and Yulin, the situation was too difficult, so he decided to bring others along.
Using the Life Light Stones of the Fish Dragons obtained in the Oburosu Labyrinth, he had Roxwell, Endever, and the mid-ranked territorial soldiers learn the 'Underwater Adaptation' skill.
The goal was not to remove the elite soldiers, but to diversify their quality and specialties. Currently, a heavy burden fell on the elite soldiers, so this was also a way to distribute that burden.
It also meant prioritizing Rodmel, Hortus, and the elite soldiers' exploration of the seventh floor. If they could obtain Life Light Stones with good source power, that would also benefit the territory.
Then there was the matter of age. All the elite soldiers were over forty, with many in their fifties. In contrast, the mid-ranked soldiers were mostly in their thirties. Nurturing mid-ranked soldiers who could serve for a long time was a natural duty for someone in a leadership position.
Rodney was about to enter the sea and train those with 'Underwater Adaptation', but then an advance notice arrived that a messenger was coming from the royal capital.
Rodney left the training to Emilia and, together with Yulin, prepared to receive the messenger. The imposing Rodmel and the elderly Hortus, who would normally be useful in such situations, were away exploring the Abandoned House Labyrinth and could not be easily recalled.
About four hours after the advance notice, the messenger arrived. The lord's mansion was nearly complete, but still under construction and unusable.
The messenger was a Viscount named Socrates, in his forties. He was not a particularly distinctive person.
Viscount Socrates requested that Rodney explain the pirate disturbance from the beginning. Rodney explained as politely as possible.
"After capturing the pirates, I handed over the captured pirates to Count Banyusas's territorial soldiers and proceeded to the royal capital."
He added that it was because there was a situation briefing, and because the piracy had taken place within Count Banyusas House's territorial waters.
"As for what happened after that, I only heard it from Count Banyusas, His Excellency. I heard that evidence was found at the pirates' base, but I do not know what it was."
Rodney knew little. He only had the information obtained from interrogating (torturing) the pirates, and nothing else.
Viscount Socrates seemed satisfied just to have heard the account, and did not pry too deeply. Rodney suspected that the punishment for Baron Menisas had already been decided, and that this was merely filling in the remaining details to carry it out.
After about two hours of questioning, Viscount Socrates left. He was going to visit the northern nobles to hear their reputations of Baron Menisas.
From the next day, Rodney also joined the training in the sea.
The training had only just begun, so they were training the mid-ranked soldiers to handle swords, spears, and other weapons underwater. Naturally, bows and arrows were unusable underwater, so they mainly divided them into those who would use shields and swords, and those who would use spears.
After about half a month, once they had grown accustomed to moving underwater, they also began training in coordinated maneuvers.
To deal with the hundreds of Merfolk guarding the Lake Bottom Temple, coordination was essential. To that end, Rodney demanded flawless, unified movements from Roxwell, Endever, and the other soldiers.
Around the time the signs of autumn appeared, the punishment for Baron Menisas was decided.
Many nobles were gathered at Count Banyusas's Great Eagle Castle, and the details of the punishment were announced.
The royal family ordered the Menisas House to pay reparations. Furthermore, the head of the house was to retire and be placed under the custody of a western noble family, the legitimate child was to be stripped of noble status and exiled, the house rank was to be reduced from baron to knight baronet, and their territory was to be transferred.
The reparations were to be paid to Count Banyusas House, whose soldiers had been killed and many injured by the Knight King Demon, to Forvas House, which had been attacked by pirates, and to the merchants attacked by the pirates.
The reparations alone amounted to a considerable sum, but it was also discovered that the Menisas House had engaged in usury at interest rates higher than the national standard, and they were ordered to return the overpayments.
As a result, a significant amount of money would also return to Forvas House, but even selling off all of Menisas House's assets was barely enough to pay the reparations, let alone the overpayments.
Thus, the overpayments were treated as loans made by each noble house to the Menisas House, and a deed was drawn up in the presence of Viscount Socrates and Count Banyusas.
The new head would have to rebuild the Menisas House, which faced a bleak future. Rodney felt a little sorry for them, but the overwhelming majority of nobles said it served them right. That was how many nobles had been tormented by the Menisas House.
Forvas House's overpayment was 252 large gold coins. This was because the overpayment calculation was set to a three-year period. If the debt had already been fully repaid, the calculation was retroactive for three years from the date of full repayment.
There were a fair number of nobles who had borrowed from the Menisas House, and if one went back to the time of the borrowing, the amount would become astronomical and it was easy to imagine they could not repay it. Some nobles complained, but Viscount Socrates said they were also at fault for borrowing knowing the interest rates were exorbitant, and they fell silent.
The Menisas disturbance settled down around the time the harvest began. Rodney, thinking that the borrowing side was also at fault, considered waiving the right to reclaim the overpayment, but Count Banyusas stopped him. He said that if only Forvas House waived repayment, other nobles would be seen as the villains.
Rodney decided to let them repay, but offered conditions of no repayment for ten years and no interest during that period.
He argued that while he did not think the Menisas House's finances would be healthy in ten years, Forvas House, which had financial leeway, did not need to rush repayment. Count Banyusas also approved, and the repayment conditions were changed.
"Was it really alright with those conditions?"
On the way back from Bassam, Rodmel confirmed the repayment conditions for the overpayment.
"I don't mind. No matter how much gold I have, I don't need it immediately. Besides, by showing generosity in waiting ten years, the Menisas House will be even more indebted to us than the debt amount itself. And don't you think that showing such a generous face will raise our house's reputation?"
"Was that the reasoning behind it. I misjudged you."
The Menisas House, reduced to a knight baronet and relocated from Deldo Territory to Attos Territory, would likely decline from now on. Their influence would be incomparably diminished, so there might be no point in helping them.
Nevertheless, by Rodney, who had even been targeted for assassination, showing generous treatment, Forvas House's name would be elevated. Since he did not need the money immediately, there was no need to be so insistent on repayment of the overpayment.
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