Chapter 122
“A 5-Star Quest…” Joshua muttered with bewilderment.
Joshua knew that the Mercenary Guild only had a handful of 5-Star Quests. The vast majority of high-level missions were four stars. It had to be known that Joshua had once participated in a 5-Star Quest, and it involved a reconnaissance of a dragon’s lair. The danger of such a mission required no explanation.
"You don’t have to be so anxious. This is just an escort quest with a bit of reconnaissance."
“Then the 5-Star rating is ridiculous.”
“Are you going to take it?”
“...” Joshua went silent for a moment before nodding. “I'll take care of it. When can I depart?”
“Right away. It’s in the eastern part of the Tripia region where Count Rebrecca and his family lived.”
“...!” Joshua's eyes widened as if he had realized something.
‘Now that I think about it…’
Joshua grimaced as old memories came to light. He then stared into Eiden's eyes and said, “If I succeeded in completing the objectives, can you tell me your relationship with her?”
The confusion on Eiden’s face disappeared as he started. “Naturally, as long as you succeed. In the first place—”
However, he quickly stopped speaking before continuing. “We’ll cross the bridge when we get there, but don’t worry, I acknowledge your request, Baron Joshua Sanders.”
“Hmmm.?Another thing…” Joshua smiled.
Eiden felt a sense of foreboding while looking at Joshua’s smile. It was an oddly familiar smile.
Eiden’s gut feeling ended up being right as Joshua said softly, “This will be a test as well as a quest. In that case, there has to be compensation for it, right?”
“That’s…” Eiden started.
“Don’t tell me, the idol of the million mercenaries and the holder of a diamond card has the thoughts of being stingy about a five-star request?”
“...” Eiden stared at Joshua, who had emphasized the word ‘stingy’.
‘I remember it now…’?Eiden finally realized why Joshua’s smile seemed familiar to him. ‘He has the same smile as that short-haired man.’
The middle-aged man was an expert at raising funds, and he had an excessive amount of money. Everyone also considered the middle-aged man as the gold monster of the Avalon Empire.
Eiden recalled that middle-aged man after seeing Joshua’s sleazy smile.
“You’re right. This is a test as well as a quest, so I do intend to offer an appropriate compensation. However, this is a personal request of mine, so the reward will not be that exorbitant.”
At that, Joshua's smile deepened as he said, “You already know what I want, don’t you? Aside from unstarred quests, a quest that can only get as difficult as five stars. I don’t think I’m asking for too much.”
In response, Eiden scoffed and said, “It’s Reipon, right? You want Reipon as your reward.”
Joshua didn’t say anything, but his deepening smile was enough as an answer.
Seeing that, Eiden had the urge to cut down and send the handsome young man in front of him away. It couldn’t be helped since Joshua was acting more like the greatest bully of Avalon rather than its greatest talent.
Eventually, Joshua said, “Wouldn't it be better if Reipon lands in the hands of someone who appreciate it? Besides, it’s still a prototype that hasn’t been launched in the market just yet. Its value could increase or decrease depending on how valuable people think it is.”
Eiden shook his head and replied, “The inventor has no intention of commercializing it—
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure the inventor also wants their devices to land in the hands of those who can use them well.”
“...” At that, Eiden shut his mouth.
Eiden had to be at least three times older than Joshua, but he found it a struggle to deal with the latter. Of course, Eiden had no idea that Joshua was a regressor.
‘Is he also talented in this field?’?Eiden mused. He chuckled hollowly upon realizing that Joshua could be a pretty successful businessman as well.
“I’m sure you’re already aware, but she holds complete authority over Reipon. I’m also using a custom-made artifact, so I don’t—”
“Arranging a meeting with her is sufficient. Because, as far as I am aware, you are the only one capable of doing so at the moment. I will handle the remainder.”
“It will happen anyways—” Eiden seemed bewildered before revealing a bitter smile.
It was a kind of smile Joshua was the most familiar with because it meant victory for him.
Eiden finally agreed and said, “Okay. I’ll take care of it.”
“Much obliged.”
Eiden shook his head at that. He seemed flabbergasted by Joshua’s casualness.
“You’re something, you know that? You… Did you know that I’m from Avalon as well? You really reminded me of a nobleman whom everyone calls a ‘gold monster.’ He’s a real gold-devouring monster.”
“Ah, are you talking about Count Cox ron Bagen? That moniker isn’t exactly respectful…”
“As expected, you know...” Eiden's smiled and said, “In any case, we have been talking for quite a while now. I assume you’re going to accept my personal request, Baron Joshua Sanders?”
“Ah, that….” Joshua donned his robe once more and smiled.
“By the way, I’m not the nobleman of Avalon, Joshua Sanders. My name is Ash, a mercenary.”
***
“Achoo!”
“Huh? Did you catch a cold, Cox?”
Charles tilted her head at the sniffling Cox.
“No… I’m fine. I think someone just talked badly about me behind my back.”
At that, Charles snorted and giggled before saying, “Well, I’m not surprised, considering how you usually act.”
Charles’ words didn’t sound that great in Cox’s ears, but he couldn’t help but smile upon hearing them.
‘Lady Charles lost her smile when her father became bedridden.… But nowadays, I’ve seen her smile more than she did in the past few years…’
Actually, it was more accurate to say that she found her smile—she found herself again.
‘We owe it all to them…’?Cox smiled as well while recalling the beautiful strategist with light blue hair and the easygoing young knight who was occasionally serious.
There was also that one person who brought all those people here to help them amidst a family crisis.
Cox nodded. He couldn’t help but think that the blue-haired young man had grown wonderfully.
“They’re really incredible. Sir Cain is already training our family’s young generation while Sir Icarus is still in his chambers, plotting his next move. They didn’t have to help us, and it is none of their business either, but they’re helping us a lot.”
Cox was extremely grateful, even though he technically outranked them as nobles.
Charles nodded in agreement.
“Yes, we are forever indebted to them. They ought to be rewarded after all this. I’m sure we can afford that as a duchy.”
At that, Cox smiled meaningfully. “Are you only going to reward only the two of them, my lady?”
“What?” Charles seemed intimidated by that smile.
Cox explained, “I’m just saying that even though they are doing all this for us, they are still doing all this under the command of their liege. We should reward their liege as well.”
Upon realizing it, Charles flushed slightly as she stammered. “Oh, of course, w-we should extend our thanks toward him as well,”
“But…” Cox quivered ever so slightly.
“...?” Charles seemed perplexed at the sight. She found Cox's deliberate acting weird.
Eventually, Cox continued speaking.
“Even if we succeed, it would still be incredibly expensive for us to restore everything. The cost would be an amount my lady will never be able to understand. I just want my lady to know that it is definitely an enormous amount of money.”
“You’re right, but if everything goes well, won’t we be able to devour their businesses? In that case, we should be able to reward—” Charles started.
However, Cox interrupted her by saying, “Lady Charles seems to be counting the chickens already before the eggs are hatched. If everything went well, my lady should remember that it was only possible because of his help. Besides, does my lady believe that earning money is that easy?”
Without waiting for Charles’ reply, Cox's eyes widened. He seemed to have been spurred on by the word ‘money’ as he continued. “Is my lady aware of how money works? We have to rebuild everything from the ground up and earn our consumer’s trust once again. Yes, our family is a giant when it comes to the noble society, but we still have to do all those even if we managed to win the territorial war somehow.”
“That’s…” Charles muttered.
“We need money to make money. I predict we will be swimming in red for a long time before we can see greens,” said Cox with confidence. He seemed to have digressed as he said, “Speaking of money, they captured our manufacturing plants. However, I’m pretty sure that they left it alone because it is extremely profitable to operate, but the operation cost, manpower cost, and building cost, all of them require money. That's not all. We are spending money on the war daily and our funds are bleeding red. Do you know how much time we—”
“Enough, Cox. I also have some knowledge about how things work.”
Charles had long broken out into a cold sweat, so she knew that she had to stop Cox before things escalated even further.
Fortunately, Cox seemed to have heeded her as he exclaimed, “But yes! That is why my lady must not casually speak about compensating them with money.”
At that, Charles’ replied. “We still have our family’s reputation to uphold. If we don’t compensate them, what will people think of our family? Isn't reputation the most important as a merchant?”
“Who said there would be no compensation?” asked Cox.
“How do we compensate them, then?” said Charles.
Cox explained, “I said that my lady should not compensate Lord Joshua with money. I’m pretty sure he has a lot of money in his pockets, He has his family background, his skills, and even his handsome visage to boost! Lord Joshua probably doesn’t care too much about money.”
It was a surprising sentence from a man who loved money more than his life.
“So, what should we do?” Charles seemed embarrassed. She really didn’t think of that.
“Since we can’t repay him with money…” Cox smiled meaningfully. “My lady should repay him with your body.”
Charles went blank.
When she recovered, her face immediately flushed red as she hurriedly exclaimed, “W-What are you saying, C-Cox?!”
Cox casually said, “To get together with your knight in shining armor… Isn’t that what always happens in those fairy tales?”
Charles shivered and started pushing Cox away. “G-Get out! You money-grubber!”
"Urgent news!"
An attendant suddenly barged into the room, interrupting Cox’s teasing.
“The Crombell Family is moving!”
“...!”
Charles and Cox’s eyes widened as they immediately rushed out of the room.
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