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𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 (𝟕)
While the merchants were feeling embarrassed, Johan read aloud. It was a message about a few members of the city council colluding once the army entered.
“Not a surrender?”
“Neither the current captain of the defense nor those in command are thinking of surrendering.”
“Well, that makes sense.”
It was unlikely that those who proposed rebellion against the duke and now leading the city would easily surrender. Their heads would surely hang from the gallows.
However, other council members had different thoughts.
Why should they die alongside them?
With the vanguard already here, it was only a matter of time. Once the siege began, surrendering would become even more difficult. Therefore, they secretly asked the merchants of the Katana Merchant Guild to deliver a letter to Johan.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴. . .’
Johan thought so, but it was an impossible notion. The council members, treated as nobility within the city, weren’t actually nobility.
They couldn’t raise an army for rebellion. It was madness to think of attacking with the city’s vagrants, laborers, and servants. . .
“Understood. Give the merchants some wine. I need to gather people and talk. . . Oh, wait.”
“?”
The merchants, who were looking forward to the wine, looked at Johan curiously.
“You’ll stay in the camp until the siege is over, right?”
“Yes. . . It seems better that way. . .”
“Good. I have a favor to ask.”
Johan led the merchants to a tent. It was where the scribe, in charge of finances for the expedition, and the priests were.
“Help them with the calculations.”
“. . .Us?”
“Can’t you Count ?”
“No, it’s not that.”
In a noble-led army, financial duties were usually handled by low-ranking nobles or priests skilled in arithmetic.
Low-ranking nobles typically learned useful skills like law or theology if they didn’t become knights, so taking on such financial roles wasn’t unusual.
Priests, trained in various knowledge at monasteries, were a natural fit.
Merchants were adept at numbers too. However, nobles rarely employed them due to trust issues.
“I’m sick of calculating with ancient Empire numbers. Merchants use Eastern numbers, right?”
“Yes.”
The merchants of the peninsula used Arabic numerals, referred to here as Eastern numerals, influenced by trade.
“Take charge of the calculations. The scribes may take a rest.”
“Thank you!”
Those who had been forced to handle finances due to some education or because they were from the priesthood sighed in relief. They didn’t want to do it either.
Moreover, if the counterpart was illiterate, it would have been more comfortable, but Johan, as if possessed, kept finding errors in the calculations.
━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.
━𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐰? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝?
━𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.
Originally, such financial calculations couldn’t be exactly precise. It wasn’t because they were embezzling.
There were errors in manually doing it every day, and with the additional complexity of ancient Empire numerals, discrepancies were inevitable.
So, they would usually conclude with an approximate level of accuracy. . .
But the counterpart was Johan. Johan couldn’t accept such roughly done calculations.
“Can we really do the calculations?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“T-Thank you.”
The reason merchants weren’t used in such roles was due to distrust, but Johan didn’t care about that.
After all, he could catch most things with just one glance at the ledger, especially when written in Eastern numerals.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
“Great! Isn’t Sir Knight currently blessed with good fortune?”
“We must be ■ ■■. The ■ ■■ forces are formidable.”
The opinions of the people gathered in the meeting room were divided.
Achladda, Stephen, and Caenerna thought it was a good opportunity, while Suetlg, Euclyia, and Marco thought they should be careful.
Caenerna asked, seemingly not understanding.
“You said it was okay to capture the ship, didn’t you?”
“That was something we could try. We actually succeeded, didn’t we?”
“. . . . . .”
What can you say if you succeeded? The one who didn’t guess is an *sshole.
“Capturing the ship didn’t seem like it would fail, and even if it did, it didn’t seem that dangerous. The opponent was a merchant ship, and there were many soldiers here. But this is a completely different matter. Even if the opponent doesn’t betray us, a single mistake could be dangerous. It’s different from Sangdarju Castle.”
Sangdarju Castle was a small fortress, and this was a city, even if it was an ancient one.
“I think we can get away even if something happens. . .”
Suetlg whispered to Johan so that only he could hear.
“Think carefully. The tribal warriors you brought with you are all well-respected in the tribe. If they get hurt or captured, you’ll be in trouble.”
“. . .!”
Those who were summoned by the duke and received a knighthood were quite good tribal natives. If such people were to die in large numbers, Johan’s relationship with them could be in danger.
‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴?’