Chapter 56

"The banquet is more arduous than expected."

"You say that even though you barely ate yesterday."

"But my stomach still doesn't feel good."

His body had returned to its original state over a period of more than two weeks.

In other words, it meant he had become a body that couldn't eat at all.

Aiden had been staying at Hartmann Castle for quite a while, saying he wanted to discuss business while he was there.

Since the guest rooms had all been prepared, he had no reason to refuse.

Besides, he welcomed the chance to negotiate.

But the problem was the banquet every evening.

Not knowing how nobles entertained guests, he had entrusted everything to Arndt, resulting in a disaster.

Arndt, seemingly pleased with Aiden's sincerity, served a grand banquet every evening.

Six types of drinks including grape wine.

Six to nine dishes of seafood, meat, and poultry, each prepared with non-overlapping ingredients.

And several sweet items as desserts.

Eventually, it became nauseating just to look at them.

Furthermore, as the lord of the castle, he had to dine together with the guests.

"Have you unpacked all the gifts Aiden brought?"

"No, there were some brought by carriage, so I haven't unpacked everything yet."

"Yet you still manage to serve such meals."

"I never do anything that incurs a loss, Your Grace."

Arndt laughed smugly with a satisfied expression.

In the tidied-up office of the Duchess, Arndt was pouring a drink for him.

Though he should have been using the Duke's office, this place had become his office because it felt much more familiar.

After all, the Duchess's office was also larger.

...In fact, hadn't the Duchess been the real power in the ducal family?

"Your Grace, Mr. Aisling has arrived."

The voice of a newly hired servant was heard from outside.

Arndt cleared his throat and said with dignity,

"Show him in."

Aiden, who entered the office without hesitation, appeared refreshed and energetic recently.

It showed his character well – once he made up his mind, he moved forward decisively.

"Good afternoon, Your Grace. I regret not seeing you at lunch."

"I thought you should eat comfortably too. After all, we always dine together in the evening."

"Your Grace's meal portions are notably small. Is your health alright?"

"Always healthy."

He could reset if he died and came back to life.

He pointed to the chair in front of Aiden.

"Sit down. Is it almost at the final stage now?"

"Yes. The final will be confirmed when I return to the east, but there won't be any changes. It's thanks to Your Grace for leading positive negotiations for both sides."

"You could probably live by your mouth alone."

A bitter smile came to his face as he recalled the discussions that had continued for the past few days.

Aiden was truly a born negotiator.

He had gone through fierce discussions many times without a single concession or loss.

Of course, his side had been overwhelmingly disadvantaged.

He didn't know the current political situation of the kingdom or the flow of the commercial world.

It was bearable only because this was his third regression and he had the Duchess's notes.

He took the document Aiden handed him and examined it.

"We talked about the rent for a certain part of the mountains and the lease period and fee for nearby land belonging to the ducal territory. Are all the other contents included, such as security maintenance and environmental protection treaties?"

"Yes. What you're looking at now records all the decisions. Please review it."

Since it was a business that the Aisling Merchant Group was doing alone, it couldn't be as large-scale as the eastern one.

However, Aiden wanted to utilize the materials and reserve manpower accumulated in the east as much as possible.

After all, that was all money.

"Using the merchant group's distribution network and manpower from processing to distribution of demonic beast byproducts, in exchange for profit sharing of 5:5, taxes to be paid at a certain percentage applied with the special merchant tax and major merchant group support fund as the final details, land rent to be paid separately on a semi-annual basis. The special clause for contract termination subsidy is also well included, and there's nothing else about leasing."

"That's correct."

"This should be enough."

"Uh, Your Grace. May I say one more thing?"

"What is it?"

Could there be additional discussions? He was really tired.

Aiden looked at him and waved his hands.

"It's not about the contract content. I just had a good idea."

"A good idea?"

"Since we're using the merchant group's name, how about releasing products under a new name?"

"Don't craftsmen usually sell under their own names?"

"That's right. Most distributed items aren't like that, but the notoriety of the demonic beasts living in the Dikenter Mountains has been high since ancient times."

Ah.

Arndt's suggestion was to aim for a premium image among demonic beast processed products.

A magical weapon using the blood of a demonic beast that had lived in the Dikenter Mountains for half a century.

It seemed like it would create quite a name value, and if it made the territory well-known or attracted people later, he would welcome it.

"Good. Do you have a name in mind?"

"Not yet. Do you have a good name?"

"Then let's call it Dikenting."

Dikenting, coming from the Dikenter Mountains.

He wrote the name at the very end of the document.

It was the moment the first demonic beast brand was born in this world.

* * *

After Aiden excitedly left the castle, he thought he could rest a bit since the work had decreased, but...

"Your Grace, this is about the additional maintenance of outdoor sculptures."

"Your Grace, this is the kitchen budget for this week."

"Your Grace, there's a saddle with embedded jewels among the gifts, but there's no proper storage place..."

"Your Grace, a candlestick fell in the banquet hall..."

"Your Grace, though it's urgent..."

"Your Grace."

What was this?

He was blankly watching the documents piling up neatly on his desk.

The office was wide open, with staff continuously coming in and out, and Arndt was guiding them in one by one to ensure their movements didn't overlap.

"Why is there so much work?"

"Haven't the people increased? A guest also came and left. Besides, although we've kept up appearances, the castle isn't perfect yet, so this situation will likely continue for a while."

"And that's why I'm being asked to decide how many silver knives to buy?"

"Everything in this castle is Your Grace's property, so it's only natural."

In his past life, he hadn't understood why there were separate head butlers and assistant head butlers, and why head servants and head maids were different.

He had thought it was just nobles showing off, but now he thought that perhaps they couldn't handle the work otherwise.

"Did, did my mother also...?"

"Similarly. For reference, the former Duchess maintained the castle while also involving herself in external affairs."

"That's impossible."

It couldn't be done even working 9-6.

This was a violation of workers' rights.

Was there no labor law here? No UN recommendations?

Arndt looked at him and smiled faintly.

"Well, these are just minor matters for now."

"Minor? This?"

"If you hire the family's knights or mercenaries later, then you'll understand what hell is."

"......"

Alright.

No matter how much he had worked for a black company in Korea, he didn't want to work for one here too.

Besides, this was worse.

Being the worker, the president, the alpha and omega of a one-person black company.

"Arndt."

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Want to be head servant?"

"What? No, I can't."

"Why! You did everything by yourself when I was lying down!"

"That was when there was no proper discipline within the castle, be it employees or anything else! It's not possible now."

"At least give me a reason."

"Well, if I'm away working, who will protect Your Grace?"

"Protect me?"

"During the day, Sir Leandros patrols outside the castle, and I stay by Your Grace's side. At night, Sir Leandros guards in front of the bedroom, and I go around inside the castle."

Come to think of it, hadn't Leandros said something like that?

That assassins were being sent from somewhere, or something with that nuance.

Judging by the fact that he couldn't remember who was sending them, he must not have been told.

"But you can't even handle a sword."

"Shouldn't there be at least one shield to protect Your Grace?"

"Even if I die, I come back to life..."

"Please don't say such things!"

Arndt suddenly burst out, making him instinctively cower a bit.

Wait. Thinking about it, something was a bit strange.

"Okay, I got it. But if you take turns guarding during the day and night, when do you sleep?"

"A bit before each shift change."

"How many hours?"

"Three hours?"

...No. This wasn't the time to worry about himself.

Leandros and Arndt were also members of the black company.

He suddenly began to feel pathetic for trying to dump all the work on Arndt because he didn't want to work.

Watching him drenched in guilt, Arndt sighed and explained.

"I've been adapting to this routine since Your Grace was a young master, so it's fine. But because of that, although the offer is very honorable, I can't become the head servant."

"Before the head servant issue, we need to solve the manpower shortage."

Otherwise, one of the three would collapse from overwork.

And the probability of it being him was the highest.

Because he was the most frail.

"Alright. Let's hire one more escort knight. Then you can focus on your main job."

"That would be nice, but how do you plan to recruit?"

"Do you have any knight friends?"

"I might have had some if I didn't have a record of becoming a fugitive following Your Grace."

"...Let's ask Leandros."

When Leandros, who was called in, was asked "Do you have any friends?" he immediately answered.

"No."

"But you must have received knighthood in the capital?"

"That's right. But I don't know anyone."

"People you've exchanged more than two words with?"

"None."

"Did you take a vow of silence or something! Then how did you normally have conversations?"

"When someone asked my name, I answered 'Get lost.'"

"Why did you act like you couldn't adapt to society!?"

"I didn't feel they were worth talking to."

"Why on earth!?"

"They were weaker than me."

"Just because someone is weaker doesn't mean you treat them poorly! This won't work, Arndt. Let's just do a public recruitment."

"Are you okay with all sorts of people flocking in?"

"We're doomed anyway. Since it's come to this, all we can do is hope for luck."

Eventually, they publicly recruited for a skilled escort knight.

At first, when they spread the news to various guilds, they had slight expectations.

What kind of person would come, would it be a woman or a man? How tall would they be? It would be nice if someone with a good personality came.

After waiting with such anticipation for several days.

He was staring at the training ground behind the castle with dead eyes.

-Bang, bang, thud!

-Whoosh, slash!

"Ugh, ugh... frustrating...!"

-Thump.

Arndt, standing beside him, spoke vacantly.

"The 32nd applicant has failed."

"...Yes. I saw."

In front of the 32nd applicant who had collapsed with foam at the mouth stood Leandros.

Without any protective gear, in comfortable clothing, he swung the wooden practice sword once and then turned towards him.

"Failure. Can't predict where attacks are coming from, swordsmanship is nothing but miscellaneous techniques. Body is neither solid nor agile."

"You don't need to explain in such detail."

"Then I'll conclude."

The servants who were waiting dragged away the unconscious applicant.

Leandros, without his breathing even slightly disturbed, left the training ground.

He looked down at the recruitment notice he had been holding all along.

<High noble exclusive escort knight wanted. Generous compensation, 2-shift guarantee, good working environment. Fully equipped medical facilities. Receive honor and admiration!>

Up to here, it was an ordinary notice without any problems.

However, below that, small text had been added.

<However, the result of the sparring test with the existing escort knight may affect acceptance.>

Leandros, you bastard.

Who in this world could beat you...