The Game Difficulty Is Crazy
With Baron Febien’s public announcement concluded,
the first ill-fated encounter with the Black Cult that occurred in Haven came to an end, carrying expectations of several positive outcomes.
Since this was an incident where a monastery of the cult was attacked by heretics within the Papal State, a theocratic nation,
it was bound to cause major social and political repercussions.
Judging by the circumstances, this incident would make the Papal State’s hatred toward the Black Cult at least twice as strong as before.
And once that happened, the Black Cult’s range of activity would naturally shrink.
In other words, Glen’s first encounter with the Black Cult could be called a perfect victory for Glen.
“I don’t like it.”
Romina bit the tip of her fingernail.
Glen was sitting calmly at his desk, moving his pen across the paper.
“What exactly?”
“The owner of this mansion.”
“Baron Febien? Why?”
“Isn’t this like the bear does all the work, and the trainer takes the money?”
He wondered what she was talking about.
It seemed Romina didn’t like the contents of Baron Febien’s public announcement regarding this incident.
“You killed him, didn’t you? That heretic or whatever he was. So why is that pig of a man talking as if he caught him himself?”
Romina clicked her tongue, leaning against the window with her arms crossed.
“Yeah. Before long, a high-ranking priest from the capital will probably come and praise Sir Febien’s achievements.”
“Then is it really okay for that pig to steal the credit you earned?”
Glen shrugged.
“It wasn’t stolen.”
“What? Then did you give it to him?”
“Yeah. I did. I told him to say it that way.”
“What?”
Romina tilted her head.
“Why would you do that?”
“Well. Because not attracting unnecessary attention is better in many ways.”
“Really? I thought humans were desperate to be noticed by as many people as possible.”
“That’s not entirely wrong. But at least for me right now, I don’t need that kind of attention.”
Of course, if the achievement of capturing a high-ranking priest of the Black Cult were officially recognized, Glen’s status would rise rapidly.
If luck was on his side, some deeply devout nobles might even declare their support for Glen Wordsworth.
That would allow him to receive aid in the war against the Demon Race, and it would greatly help him expand his influence in the future.
But—
“Right now, that kind of benefit is nothing more than a poisoned chalice to me.”
“A poisoned chalice?”
Romina frowned.
Glen’s gaze, which had been fixed on the paper, shifted to her.
“Being noticed isn’t bad. But when you think about what you’re being noticed for, the answer becomes clear.”
“What you’re noticed for… Ah!”
Her amber eyes flashed.
“You’re trying to stay out of the Black Cult’s sight?”
“Correct.”
Romina nodded.
“So you’re deliberately avoiding exposure to escape their retaliation.”
“If I didn’t, then all the effort I put into eliminating witnesses would go to waste.”
The Black Cult was persistent.
They would eliminate anyone who persecuted them, by any means necessary.
That was why the best way to deal with them was simply to stay outside their field of vision.
It wasn’t for nothing that Glen chose to fight Cornello instead of running away when he had the chance.
“Still, you fought while getting injured. Isn’t it disappointing that you didn’t gain anything?”
At some point, Romina had come closer and was gently stroking Glen’s shoulder.
Her pale hand lightly scratched around his wounds, but Glen spoke as if it didn’t bother him at all.
“Huh? I did gain something.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you get?”
Glen answered with a smile.
Haven City Plaza.
Romina’s eyes widened.
“What is all that?”
What spread out before her was an endless line of people.
Glen chuckled softly and tapped Romina on the shoulder.
“Don’t look there. Look behind you.”
Romina turned her head.
There, several knights in gray armor were sitting on chairs, talking with people standing in line.
“Don’t tell me…”
“That’s right. They’re recruiting.”
“Recruiting? All those humans in line are volunteering for the war?”
“Yeah.”
“Are they desperate to die or something?”
Glen chuckled and formed a circle with his thumb and index finger.
“Money.”
“All this just for money?”
“Humans are like this. Different from the Demon Race, who enlist to prove their strength.”
Politics, economy, religion—there were many reasons humans participated in war.
That was because resources and wealth were limited compared to the population.
The Demon Race, on the other hand, had numbers several times smaller than humans, so they didn’t go to war for those reasons.
They fought for one reason only—to prove their strength.
That was why the sight of humans risking their lives for money felt unfamiliar to Romina.
“Still, is there really a need to pay money to hire soldiers? If you’re the lord of the land, can’t you just drag every capable guy into battle?”
“You mean conscription? That’s already being done.”
Glen answered casually, causing Romina to frown.
“What do you mean? You’re recruiting and conscripting at the same time?”
“I guess I didn’t explain it. The recruitment targets aren’t the territory’s residents. They’re all outsiders.”
Glen shifted his gaze toward the people standing in line.
“The conscription officers can only take people from their own territory. But if you only conscript residents, you can’t gather that many soldiers.”
Due to Haven’s nature as a bustling trade city, the number of outsiders far exceeded that of local residents.
“So I made a deal with Sir Febien. I handed over the credit for capturing the Black Cult’s prophet, and in exchange, he would spend money to recruit outsiders.”
“…So this is what you meant by what you gained earlier?”
“Exactly. Normally, this many people wouldn’t volunteer. So I pressured Sir Febien and made him open his treasury.”
Imagining Febien clinging to his treasury and wailing,
Glen wore his characteristic cunning smile.
Romina stared at him with a dazed expression.
“What kind of person are you, really?”
“What’s so surprising? Isn’t this something anyone could think of?”
The intersection between what you need and what the other party has.
