Chapter 551: Chapter 21: Upright and Incorruptible

Whether it was because the Marquis feared another accident or for some other reason, Robson and Valentino’s departure was delayed by a night. The Marquis sent someone for them again early the next morning.

Robson and Valentino had gone to bed late the previous night. Coupled with their exhaustion from the past several days, they were sound asleep.

They were only awoken by the messenger the Marquis had sent.

After getting ready, Robson emerged from his tent.

The messenger was an old acquaintance: Viscount Luke of the Guterres Family!

"Viscount Luke, it’s great to see you," Robson said with a smile.

"Didn’t you return to the south? What are you doing on the central front?" Robson asked.

Viscount Luke looked at the man before him.

If not for the expensive armor he wore, Viscount Luke might have mistaken him for that Little Knight from back then.

The former Baron of Qimo Fortress had soared to such heights that he was now someone Luke himself had to look up to.

Such a rapid promotion was something one could probably only witness in the Frank Kingdom.

"It’s all thanks to your good fortune, sir."

"My family has put me in charge of future commercial affairs in Novovich Province. I expect we’ll be seeing each other often from now on," Viscount Luke said with a smile.

"Oh? No wonder," Robson nodded.

Novovich Province was almost entirely under the control of the Fengman Clan.

The Guterres Family had previously promised Robson they would expand their commercial affairs beyond the pass.

Normally, such things couldn’t be rushed; trade routes aren’t established in a day or two.

But there was no helping it. Robson had grown far too powerful, far too quickly.

Before the Guterres Family could even make a concrete move, Robson had already become a towering figure.

In the past, Robson had been the one begging them to invest, so naturally, they were in no hurry.

Now, however, they were the ones begging Robson to let them buy a stake. If they maintained their nonchalant attitude, they would lose out; the Guterres Family was hardly the only major merchant guild in the kingdom.

That was why the Guterres Family had specifically promoted Viscount Luke, who had a long-standing acquaintance with Robson, to handle their business with him. At the end of the day, they were hoping Robson would show favor based on their old connection.

Robson was the type to value old ties, so with the Guterres Family now actively extending an olive branch, he certainly wouldn’t give them the cold shoulder.

After chatting with Viscount Luke for a while, a coughing sound came from inside the tent.

Seemingly remembering something, Robson looked embarrassed.

"I understand. I’ll go see Marquis Oscillate as soon as possible," Robson said.

Viscount Luke nodded.

"I’ll take my leave, then."

After Viscount Luke left, Robson summoned a guard and told him to find some cloth.

.....

After using magic to fashion the cloth into clothing, Robson entered the tent.

The previous night had been a bit wild. Even the Countess’s Magic Cloth garments were now in shreds on the floor.

Magic Cloth didn’t need to be washed, and Valentino only owned that one outfit.

Of course, Valentino wasn’t naked; she was wearing her armor, but it was *only* her armor.

Robson entered the tent and looked at the blushing Countess. The thought of the figure beneath her armor stirred something in him.

He had thought that as a Legendary-tier individual, his self-control would be much stronger.

"What are you looking at? Give me—"

Valentino instantly knew what Robson was thinking and snapped at him, her face flushing red.

"We’re getting married next month. Is there anything I’m not allowed to see?" Robson teased.

Despite his words, he obediently handed the clothes to Valentino.

"You..."

"Aren’t you leaving?" Valentino stared blankly at Robson.

Before Robson could reply, the Countess huffed, grabbed the clothes, and turned her back to him.

"If you’re not going to leave, you might as well help me."

.....

Changing clothes took some time.

Bo Yang and the others had already assembled the army. By the time Robson and Valentino were dressed and ready, a group of Robson’s old subordinates and Prince Noah were already waiting for them.

"So? How was last night?" Prince Noah teased.

Robson shook his head.

"It was fine. The grasslands are quite beautiful, indeed."

"See? Told you."

Viscount Luke and Earl Lu Wen were growing impatient. At their urging, the main army quickly set out.

.....

Marquis Oscillate hadn’t gone south with the army to suppress the rebellion; instead, he had remained at Bronze Pass.

Once Riliman Fortress was captured, he moved there.

There wasn’t much distance between Riliman Fortress and the Bronze Plains.

Along the way, Robson listened as Valentino and Earl Uman briefed him on logistics.

Valentino had mentioned some of it the day before, but not in great detail.

It had to be said, the Frank Kingdom had it easy in this war against the Beastmen’s southern invasion.

In the past, a single war could end with the King having to sell his own bed to pay off the debts.

This was no joke. Louis III had actually sold a bed to pay off a debt once. The beds in the Crystal Palace were antiques passed down from the era of the Knight King, and they were highly sought after by collectors in the Tilia Kingdom.

This year, the Frank Kingdom had again taken on massive debt. In total, the Kingdom Government owed at least thirty million, though not all of it was in Gold Coins—much of it was settled with provisions and materials.

Adding the still-unpaid debts from when Louis III first took the throne, the total came to sixty million—four times the Kingdom Government’s annual revenue. It looked like Prince Noah would have a tough time figuring out how to repay it all in the future.

But unlike in the past, this time the Frank Kingdom had a large surplus of strategic materials.

Adhering to the principle that it was better to use resources than let them sit idle—especially since no one else seemed to want them—Robson conducted a major inventory of these supplies.

Aside from the Steel Armor for the two thousand men of the first three regiments, which Valentino had mentioned, the most significant surplus was leather armor.

Robson took all the captured and surplus leather armor from the inventory and used it to equip the nearly twenty-thousand-strong Jackal Wolfman Legion.

Due to the intensity of the fighting, all of that equipment had already been lost on the battlefield.

In addition to that, equipment losses during this period included twelve Magic Crystal Cannons, one hundred crates of Magic Crystals, and five hundred right-hand warhorses...

After listening to their detailed report, Robson nodded in satisfaction.

Later, Prince Noah approached him again, wanting to discuss the details of his proposed reforms.

Amidst cheerful conversation and ambitious talk, the army gradually approached Riliman Fortress.

「August 29th.」

The Beastman Grassland was far to the north, and by now, the feeling of autumn had almost completely faded.

The common soldiers could already feel the encroaching chill.

「Before Riliman Fortress.」

Marquis Oscillate, leading a crowd of Frankish Nobles and nobles from other nations, had been waiting at the fortress gates for a long time.

It was safe to say that now, the war was well and truly over.

The Frank Kingdom had won a resounding victory, and all the matters that had been postponed now had to be addressed.

For instance, the victory banquet celebrating Prince Noah’s slaying of the Beast Emperor.

There was also the post-war division of spoils, and the matter of a future campaign into the grasslands.

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