'Er, gosh, gosh, gosh. We're going to start recruiting now.
　Rosward said as he gathered the villagers together.
　The villagers looked at each other.

　'Are you going to take it for the soldiers?'
　''After all, the lord of this one, too...''
　But there's no place that doesn't have military service...
　May I not be chosen.

　The villagers make a lot of noise.
　Rosward coughed loudly to quell them.

　'I said recruiting,' he says. We will not be forced to take troops. 'I'll tell you the terms. Leah, let me see them.
　Rosward read the paper he received from Leah.

　'Well the subject is an adult male between the ages of fifteen and forty. Wages are paid in wheat. Bring your own weapons. However, if you are not armed, the As family will lend you one, so those without weapons may also participate. You will live in the vicinity of the palace and receive daily training. They will then take turns guarding the border. Once recruited, they cannot be dismissed until they are discharged from the army due to loss of limb or illness. If they have to quit due to old age, injury or illness, they receive a severance package. Those who wish to do so must notify the village chief within two weeks. The maximum number of applicants is 530. If the number is exceeded, an examination will be held. That's all.

　Hearing Rosward's words, the villagers were once again in a tizzy.

　'You mean it's not compulsory?'
　Yeah!
　'Hmmm, I don't know. If I can get paid, I'll do it.
　'It's a pain in the ass to farm around but I don't see why we need to move...'
　I'm afraid to die.

　Rosward coughs loudly.
　The eyes of the villagers gather again.

　'And apart from the recruitment, there's one more thing I want to tell you.
　Rosward takes the paper from Leah and says as he reads it.

　'If there are any orphans ... children in the village ... under the age of fifteen and without parents, bring them to the palace. And
　Uh ... how is that?
　Don't ask because I don't know either.
　What do you mean by that?

　Leah tells him, and Rosward hurriedly covers his mouth.
　Then he glares at the villagers.

　'Anyway!　I've given my lord's orders to you!

　Rosward retreated in a deceptive manner.




　In a certain mountain in Ath territory.
　The guy was there.

　Fur so thick that normal arrows couldn't penetrate it.　
　Sharp fangs and claws.
　A sense of smell greater than that of a dog.
　And the strength to reappear from trees.

　That brown bear was foraging for honey.
　The bees thrust their stingers into the brown bear, but to no avail.

　The brown bear finishes eating the honey and looks up to go back to the hive, and then....
　An arrow was stuck in its face.

　The arrow pierced the brown bear's eye and went through its head.
　The brown bear fell down with a loud bang.



　'Thank you, Master Gram,'
　'No, no, it's not safe to kill a bear that has developed a taste for people. I did what I had to do.
　Gram replies with a smile.

　This time I stopped by this village to put out a recruiting and orphan collection touch.
　I've been asked to exterminate a brown bear that has developed a taste for people.

　After getting permission from Almus once, as he was at work, he came right back and shot the brown bear.

　''In return........''
　"Brown bear pelt, please. Otherwise, no, thank you.
　When Gram replied that, the villagers shouted in surprise.

　In the first place, the brown bear's fur belongs to Gram, who killed the brown bear.
　So it's only natural to receive it. And normally they would ask for grain, liquor or women as a reward.

　''I see.......By the way, how many servants are in Gram-sama's house?''
　'What?　No, I'm not here, but...
　When Gram replied, puzzled, the village chief grinned.

　'Then would you be willing to hire our four girls as servants?
　'What?　Um.....
　Gram was having trouble answering, when Lulu interrupted him.

　'No thank you,'
　'What?　No, I'm here for Master Gram...
　What?
　No, it's nothing.

　The village chief backed away at Lulu's spirit.
　Lulu took the opportunity to pull Gram's ear and retreat from the scene.

　''Good?　That's a ploy by the village chief to get you undercover as a servant, and if you're lucky, to impregnate you with children and make you his wife!　Don't ever take it!
　But I actually feel like I need a menial job... you know, I just got one recently and...
　'Then I'll live-in and do the housework for you. We sorcerers don't have time to do it in normal times!　Isn't that right?
　Yes but....　

　Gram stuttered, and Lulu lifted her eyes.

　'Do you have a problem with that?'
　No, I don't...

　As they were exchanging such an exchange, a group of about ten kids ran up to Gram.

　'Um!　We want to be soldiers too!
　No, no, no, you're not over fifteen years old by any stretch of the imagination.

　Gram chuckles.
　They were all around ten years old for all intents and purposes, and some of them were girls.

　'But...'
　'Now eat properly and grow up. When you're fifteen years old, you must come to us.
　Then Gram patted the children on the head.


　After watching the children walk away, Gram muttered.
　
　Yes. But a sorcerer is important as well as an army, right?

　They looked at each other and laughed.





　There were orphans gathered in front of me. No, I made them collect them.
　They all have an anxious look on their faces.

　Well.....

　I raise my voice at them.

　'You have two choices. One is to stay in this mansion. You can learn martial arts, arithmetic and Cilician here, and in the future work as a knight. The other is to return to your former village. Whichever you choose, it doesn't matter. I don't blame you.

　I send tax collectors all over the territory to collect taxes.
　I also make them sort out various other paperwork.

　It's a bit of a bureaucracy.

　But you always need good people to run a bureaucracy.
　It's good for now, but in a few decades, Ron and his friends will be old and decrepit, and there will be no more room for tax collection.

　We are always in need of new people.

　The problem is how to attract them.
　The first thing they do is run tests to get the best people in the world.

　But this is immediately rejected. Because if you can take the test, you have to be able to read and write.
　The problem is that we don't have them.

　Secondly, we get kids who want to learn.
　I was deeply troubled by this.
　But I let it fall away.

　In the first place, there are few parents who have an understanding of academics, so they are unlikely to gather.
　The children of people who have some understanding of learning and who would not mind losing their labor force are the ones who will be gathered, namely the sons and daughters of the village chief.

　Naturally, the tax collector's enemy is that village chief.
　How is it possible to make the sons and daughters of your enemies tax collectors?

　The idea was to gather up the orphans and put them in the service of the bureaucracy.
　It's a plan to kill two birds with one stone: save the orphans and recruit people at the same time.

　However, there are some dirty reasons for this.

　First of all, they don't have any family, so they don't have to worry about being influenced by the outside world.
　And secondly, they have less to worry about being betrayed because they have me to thank for raising them.

　There's no proof that they're definitely good at what they do, but....
　I don't mean to make them do advanced work like modern Japanese bureaucrats do.

　All he needs is to be able to read and write Cilician and do arithmetic.
　If you focus on just these two things, you will be able to learn them reasonably well by the time you are fifteen years old.

　I don't know.
　I'll ask them again.

　'Raise your hand if you want to go home. I'll respect that.
　When I say that, hands go up in pieces.

　Roughly a third of the total.
　That's less than I thought.

　Well, even if you go back to the village now, you're still a nuisance. If I stay, I'm sure I'll be in a great position.
　It's only natural that many of the children choose to stay here.

　I'll leave it to Lulu and Seo-yeon to take care of them. Me and Tetra will also take care of them on a regular basis. Is that okay with you?
　Good!
　Well, I could use a hand with the housework.

　They agreed.

　There are good reasons why I chose them as my caretakers.
　First of all, they are good at taking care of the girls. Secondly, they are wizards, so they are basically free during normal times.

　And they are not official tax collectors.
　I occasionally let them help, but their main job is witchcraft.

　The bureaucrats train the bureaucrats. This is a problem.
　When a mentor/student relationship is established, they cover for the mistakes of their superiors and subordinates.

　This is a huge problem for the organization.

　That's why I selected two people who are wizards and not official tax collectors.
　I'm getting dirty too.

　Well, now that the children are being sorted out....　
　I'm off to deal with some customers.


　Hello. Mr. Armes As. My name is Ismail.
　My name is Yang Qingming.
　The two men and women bowed their heads and greeted me.

　The woman calling herself Ismea is definitely a Cilician.
　But this man who calls himself Yang Qingming. How many are you?
　You look Asian, but....

　Seeing that I had a strange look on my face, Yang Qingming smiled and replied with a smile.

　''I'm from the Far East the country called the Scarlet Empire, which you all call the Silk Country. Yang is my surname and Qingming is my name.

　Silk Country.....
　I've never heard of it.

　I'm just a lowlife.

　"I want you to hire me. Is that what you're asking for?
　When I asked them that, they nodded deeply.

　'I was aiming for the farthest ocean... and just a month ago I fulfilled my goal. I was planning to write a book on what I had written, and then I discovered the existence of paper. I have a blessing called the "blessing of language" and I can speak any language. I'm also good at mathematics. I'm sure I can be of help to you.
　'I see. Instead of working for me, I want food and clothing until I finish writing the paper and the book. Is that about it?
　When I asked him that, Qingming smiled and nodded with a smile.

　''That's right. As expected of the heroes rumored to have been raised by Master Gryphon.''
　Hey, don't believe that rumor.

　Now you're leaping to the level of sprouting tail fins and dorsal fins and blowing fire in the air.

　So, what about you?
　"I'm an architect. I can devise all kinds of defense equipment. Comfortable dwellings.

　Saying this, Ismaila held out a piece of parchment.
　On it are written the blueprints and finished drawings of various buildings.

　Yeah, that's nice.　
　The fort on the borderline with King Domorgal is made of wood.
　I thought it was not very comfortable.

　But then.....

　'How did you come to me with all these skills?　You can guess what else. Like King Rosais or King Domorgal.
　You could have come to me, of all places.
　Usually.

　''No, I believe that you, the son of the Gryphon Master and a hero, would be able to use my architecture to your advantage...''
　Bullshit.

　When I say that, Ismea shakes her body with a jolt.

　''See, you should still tell the truth, right?
　After being told by Qingming, Ismea spoke the truth with tears in her eyes.

　''Actually.........''



　To sum up her story....
　They said no to everyone but me.

　Because I'm a woman. And because the architect is already there. And I can't understand a word you're saying in Cilician.
　Of course, every powerful king has an architect already. An Adelian.

　I can understand why a king wouldn't want to hire a woman who can't understand a word he's saying.
　Surprising. I'm sure King Lossius would welcome her with open arms.
　He can speak Cilician, for example.

　And to hear that.....

　'King Rosais told me I had better go to you...'
　How's that for a windbreaker?
　I'm not sure.

　But....

　Good. Good. You're hired.
　Really?!
　Yeah. We'll talk about the salary later. And you'll have to design it for reality, okay?

　When I said that, Ismea bowed deeply.