"What?" asked Henry.
Both men's eyes turned away, looking at Jeanne, who still sat on the dining table chair. The girl turned her face the other way when Henry and Caroline looked at her.
"Is it true what he said, Jeanne?" asked Caroline, making sure.
Henry Ingfried seemed to be crouching near Mark Saxer, looking at the white-haired man with an angry look in his eyes. The heir to the House of Ingfried asked again for the truth about Jeanne's involvement with his actions.
"That's right. Five days ago, Jeanne came to Rachdale to meet with me. She offered me a partnership in exchange for twenty gold coins," Mark replied.
"Twenty gold coins? I didn't give her that amount of money. Are you sure he promised that?" asked Henry. Mark Saxer was seen nodding his head.
Tobias walked over to Henry, right next to Mark, who was lying limp on the floor, "You would only know the truth if you asked Jeanne directly."
"Tch!"
Jeanne clucked her to
"Don't be kidding. I'm not interested in that kind of offer," Tobias said.His heart still belonged to Akihiko from then until now. No single woman in the world can replace Akihiko in Tobias' heart. That's why Tobias worked extra hard to get the highest status to search for Akihiko more easily."Do you already have someone in your heart?" Henry asked.Tobias nodded, his eyes looking closely at Henry and Caroline, "You should solve this problem by discussing, not sacrificing.""I will send a message through my soldiers about the results of my discussion with the villagers," Tobias replied.The Archibald nobleman began to take his leave, Henry no longer holding the man back. Boarding a horse-drawn carriage, Tobias left Ingfried's house with two soldiers and Mark. Henry and Caroline accompanied Tobias' departure, just until the front yard of the house.The farther Tobias' carriage travelled, the two Ingfried nobles could no longer see Tobias ca
Several patrol soldiers ran into Tobias' residence. The front door was completely unlocked and appeared to have been forcefully broken into. Some other soldiers caught the mysterious person who attacked Tobias, a woman in her teens.Tobias lay unconscious with his body leaning against the doorframe, his perforated stomach continuing to bleed profusely until his body felt cold and pale."Hurry and get a doctor!" said one of the soldiers, ordering his colleague to call the village doctor.They hurriedly left the village chief's residence to reach the village clinic, where the only doctor in the village lived. The noise attracted the attention of the patrolling soldiers and Elisa, who appeared to be coming out of her house.Elisa's house was not far from the village head's residence, allowing her to see the damage on the balcony. Elisa's eyes couldn't hide her shock at finding Tobias being lifted up by three soldiers in a limp condition."What happene
Tobias widened his eyes, not expecting Jeanne to commit such a cruel act. In his opinion, this would further worsen the agreement between Tobias and Henry.That's why Caroline and Henry arrived at this place, to conduct further negotiations in order to prevent Tobias from canceling the agreement. Both of them had no time left to cooperate in various places, considering they had spent more than two weeks in Equestria.According to Henry's calculations, Ingfried and the Northern Isles would suffer tremendous losses if Tobias canceled the cooperation between the two. In Henry's opinion, it would be difficult to find people willing to give so much of their food in a partnership.Tobias tried to sit, lifting his body slowly. However, he was still not strong enough to do so. The wound on the right side of his abdomen was painful when flexed, so for the time being, Tobias would continue to lie down while receiving treatment from Elisa."Tell her to come in," Tob
Tobias was shocked to hear this information, considering he hadn't heard any news from outside since he had been focusing on healing. Elisa didn't say anything. Whenever Tobias asked her a question, Elisa denied it with the excuse that she didn't want Tobias to think about it too much."Please... open the balcony door," Tobias pleaded.The soldier who approached Tobias did so well. He walked slowly over to the repaired balcony door, opened it, and a crowd appeared before the soldier's eyes.The man turned his body around, reaching out to indicate the people who were about to join Tobias' soldiers. Tobias smiled happily, especially after hearing the cheering crowd at the sight of the open balcony door."Do me a favor, Giselle," Tobias said.Giselle, a little hesitant, finally agreed to Tobias' demand. Both women's hands were seen holding Tobias' right hand, while Marcela focused on Tobias' left.The two women stepped slowly, guiding the shirt
***One month later."You have ten more months to complete all the equipment I need. Can you do it?" asked Tobias.The man was sitting upright in a chair behind his desk, receiving a visit from several blacksmiths from Rachdale and Edinburgh. They had come to Leafvile intending to target the village for their weapons sales, as word of Leafvile raising an army had already spread.Every week, more than 50-100 men came to Leafvile to register as soldiers. Many of the men were unemployed from their previous jobs. Of course, Tobias couldn't accept them all.Some were accepted, while others were rejected. The age and physical fitness of the soldiers were important points the man considered. He didn't want old men who couldn't lift up their armour to fight on the battlefield, which would be troublesome for the medical troops.That's why the selection was done by Roman to every man who wanted to apply. Fortunately, there were far more adult men than old ones, so Roman set a minimum and maximu
Tobias prepared the horse he would use for the trip by himself. The horse was black all over, and its size was larger than most horses. The man was seen hooking a bag on the horse's back behind the saddle."There are only three major cities in the western territory; Rachdale, Edinburgh, and Westwind. Leon will explain the details to you," said Elisa.The woman came after she had completed all the trade work she had done. The carriages carrying the harvest began to drive down the hill, heading to different places.This afternoon, all the carriages would return to Leafvile with the money from last month's selling. Elisa had already calculated the predicted income Leafvile would receive from the previous month's sale."If you are burned out, take some wine and enjoy. However, I advise you not to make any decisions when drunk," Tobias advised."Ever since I was assigned to be your right-hand, I've started to ease up on my drinking," Elisa said.
"What?" asked Tobias, surprised."Westwind is a big city, even bigger than Rachdale. It would be difficult for you to offer cooperation on the name of Leafvile, which is just a village," Leon said.Leon sat on a single sofa, looking at Tobias, who sat on the other sofa. If Leon had to be honest, Rachdale had many times proposed a partnership with Westwind, but it always failed.Even if it succeeded, Rachdale would only get a small profit, all based on necessity. However, Leon saw great potential in the partnership offered by Tobias."Undoubtedly, all places have been affected by the food crisis, Westwind being one of them," Leon replied."They are in desperate need of a large supply of food. Rachdale and Edinburgh can provide it, but not as much as Leafvile can," Leon said."If the House of Ingfried can even come to Leafvile to cooperate, then there is no reason for the lords of the western territories to refuse this partnership," Leon added
***The next day."I'm sure I've heard that name before," Leon said, walking through the corridors of the municipal building, toward the second floor where the administrative offices were located.Tobias kept Leon company, walking right behind the young man. He could delay his departure for Westwind, but he could not wait for news of Akihiko's whereabouts.After all this time of searching through the village visitors, Tobias did not expect he would find Akihiko from Leon. The two arrived at the administrative office door, Leon reached out, opened the doorknob and walked in with Tobias.A female staff working behind the desk was surprised to see Leon's arrival, as he was leaving today along with the Mayor of Rachdale for Valestria."Are you not leaving yet, Mr. Leon?" asked the female staff, Leon shook his head."The mayor is getting ready. I brought my friend here, he needs the data of a person named Akihiko," Leon said.The st