NOVEL NEXT Now Roan just simply smiled.
At the sight of this, Ian Phillips, who had been fussing about, became even more excited.
“During the monster outbreak, the only place that had taken no damage was the Tale region.
His face was flushed red.
And the voice matched his facial expression.
Finally, Roan smiled brightly and spoke.
“You are quite well-informed in the kingdom’s affairs.”
Ian clapped at Roan’s words.
Unmistakable pride appeared in one corner of his face.
He motioned his hand towards a corner of the diner.
Soon, a young man quickly walked over.
A familiar face.
It was someone who Roan had already met.
“It has been a long time since my last greeting. It’s Oren.”
He reintroduced himself with a polite speech and manners.
The young man was Oren, the head of the information agency Evishun, that Ian founded.
He was the very same man who fought with Pens over the location of the supply storage facility during the last war against the Istel Kingdom.
Smiling brightly, Ian pointed at Oren.
“After hearing Sir Baron Tale’s advice, I created an information group and I’m gathering a variety of news through it.”
Roan wordlessly nodded.
His gaze naturally turned toward Oren.
‘It’s a face full of confidence.’
Most likely, he grew one step further after the previous event
Noticing Roan’s gaze, Oren bowed once more.
“I learned many things from the last experience. Thank you.”
“If you think so, then I’m glad.”
Roan nodded as he slightly smiled.
Seeing this, Ian slapped his knee.
“Didn’t Sir Baron Tale also create an information agency? I heard our Evishun learned a lot from it.”
“It was simply luck.”
A modest demeanor.
But Ian once again chattered on for a long time with a feverish look on his face.
“No. It’s truly amazing. At this moment, the best information group in the kingdom is probably Sir Baron Tale’s agency.”
Even he didn’t knew the exact name of the Agens.
Roan happily smiled and shook his head.
“Evishun is also excellent.”
He was being honest.
If Evishun, which used the capital, Miller, as the base, and knew information about the East, it meant that its influence was incredibly large and precise.
In case of Agens, the agency’s organization, information collection, and abilities of analysis were extremely superb but was still small time; currently it was only collecting information from the kingdom’s east, centered around the Tale region.
‘Let’s slowly expand.’
He must have the entire Rinse Kingdom and later, the entire continent’s information in his hands.
An unusual smile formed on Roan’s mouth.
It was a smile that was mixed with expectation and confidence.
‘If it’s Chris, he can definitely pull it off.’
After that, Roan and Ian talked for a long time.
From about creating the information agency, to its uses, the tactics and strategies in the war and punitive expeditions, the towns and roads’ maintenance, and even about the region’s management, the topics of discussion were numerous.
“Hu, it’s really amazing. To think that you managed to do so many things….”
Ian’s expression was one of astonishment.
He was truly impressed.
Because he knew very aware of how amazing and difficult the things that Roan had done within such a short amount of time.
Roan simply smiled without a word.
Then.
“Ah!”
Ian cried out with a low voice as if he suddenly had a good idea.
With a mischievous expression, he spoke with a quiet tone.
“If there’s perhaps a good time in the next few days, would you please visit Tron Academy?”
“Tron Academy?”
Tron Academy was located in Miller, the capital, and was the most prestigious, and oldest, academy in the Kingdom of Rinse.
Ian was a student at Tron Academy, and Simon Rinse, Tommy Rinse, and Kallum Rinse had all graduated from Tron Academy.
“Yes. Incidentally, it’s searching for someone to give a special lecture. If one of the most renowned people within the kingdom at the moment, Sir Baron Tale, were to give a special lecture, all of the academy’s students will surely be thankful.”
“Hhm.”
A special lecture.
It was something he hadn’t expected at all.
‘It it’s lectures then it’s troublesome.’
Usually, he would’ve definitely declined.
But.
‘It’s a good chance to find out about academy management.’
For Roan who planned to create an academy in the Tale region, it was an excellent opportunity.
He contemplated for a moment, then cautiously asked.
“Would it be alright for a countryside nobody like me to have this opportunity?”
At these words, Ian shook his hands with a shocked facial expression.
“What do you mean a countryside nobody? The Kingdom’s hero shouldn’t be saying such words.”
Certainly, Roan’s popularity at the moment was greatly significant.
The nobles couldn’t easily approach because of their pride and standings, but other people of significance greatly yearned to meet Roan.
Roan smiled lightly and nodded.
“Then. I will visit three days later.”
“Thank you. I will inform the director beforehand.”
Ian’s expression was jubilant.
‘I might be able to learn something brilliant just like from the previous discussion about the information agency.”
His chest jumped from expectation.
Ian was a genius but wasn’t conceited or overconfident.
He was a boy who could see what he lacked and learned by himself.
Perhaps it was this quality that gave birth to the strategist of the future generation.
Ian laughed in happiness then coughed after he noticed Roan’s gaze a bit late.
“Hm. Then I’ll anticipate the day three days later.”
“If the anticipation is big, the disappointment will be just as big.”
Roan shook his hand as he smiled bitterly.
Thinking back upon the various events from Roan’s words, Ian shook his head.
“I’m not sure. Sir Baron Tale has been going beyond my expectations until now. So this time……”
His eyes bent to become crescent shaped.
Unmissable happiness rose from him.
“I’ll have even more anticipation.”
Even then, Roan seemed as if he would go even further.
Ian looked at Roan with a composed gaze.
‘A person whose growth limit is imperceivable.’
His heart beat rapidly.
‘Viscount? Count? Marquis? Duke? Lieutenant General? General? Supreme Commander? Or perhaps …’
Ian soon shook his head.
Thoughts beyond that point were disrespectful and dangerous.
But the thoughts remained.
Although the head kept pushing it out, the heart passionately burned.
Roan was a person like that.
‘A person who can make people’s hearts excited.”
Ian’s lips slowly crept upwards .
*****
“Idiots!”
A sharp voice yelled out.
“Apologies.”
Five clean looking young men lowered their heads.
Utter terror could be seen on their faces.
“Chandler. Are these fools really apt?”
The tension moved towards somewhere else.
The elderly man watching from the side, Chandler Hughes, quickly replied back.
“Amongst the ones who aren’t known, these guys are amongst the top ten.”
“And they’re still in this sorry state?”
The sharp voice poured down once more.
The owner of the voice was Count Jonathan Chase.
At the moment, he had called and was yelling at the spies sent to infiltrate the Amaranth troop.
One of the young men spoke with a distressed voice.
“But if we could come to the capital Miller with Commander Roan, we should be accepted a…”
“Shut it!”
Jonathan shrieked.
He clicked his tongue while looking at the young men.
“Tch tch tch. Don’t be satisfied just because they came alongside him to the capital. Just what can I do while trusting these things… tch.”
His disgust and irritation was palpable.
The young men became further dispirited and cowered in fear.
Then, Chandler spoke up in a cautious tone.
“What if we help them raise up merits?
“Merit?”
Jonathan asked back while he was frowning.
Chandler shook his head.
“Yes. Make them raise up merits large enough to come into Roan’s eyes. Then, wouldn’t he assign them important works?”
“Hhm.”
Jonathan quietly mused.
It wasn’t a bad idea.
Chandler didn’t miss this chance.
“According to these men’s words, Roan is recruiting more blacksmiths, engineers, and alchemists and is trying to maintain a magic tower. Furthermore, he seems to be preparing this and that to build an academy.”
“Hmph! The greed of a mere brat who just became a baron is quite excessive.”
Jonathan shook his head with a flabbergasted look on his face.
Chandler continued on with a slight smile.
“Certainly his greed is exorbitant. Most likely it won’t be easy.”
He spoke in a subtle voice.
Jonathan realized the meaning of Chandler’s words at once.
“You are suggesting that we should use these guys to help one of Roan’s plans succeed?”
“Yes. That is so.”
“Hhm. Not bad.”
Jonathan nodded as he rubbed his chin.
Soon, he twisted his fingers at Chandler.
“Do it. But in return……”
The look he gave off and his voice turned cold.
“You will have to produce results this time.”
At those words, Chandler, as well as the dejected young men, bowed.
“Yes. Understood.”
“We shall do the best that we can.”
Their voices shook at the end.
The young men knew that this was their last chance.
‘If we were to make a mistake……”
‘We might die.’
That couldn’t happen.
The five young men curled their fists.
It was an expression of their will to definitely succeed, or perhaps to not die.
The tightly clenched fists shuddered quietly.
*****
The royal palace dance hall.
A splendid hall and beautiful tune, the sound of young men and women’s laughs and chatter.
A vicious battle of aura between the nobles that could decide the kingdom’s prosperity and downfall.
New meetings and the thirst that always followed.
In short, the royal palace’s dance hall was a place that everyone dreamt of at least once, and everyone wished to attend at least once.
‘I’m a bit anxious…….’
Roan fixed his cuffs many times in front of the hall’s entrance.
Including his last life, he lived on the battlefield.
A place where life comes and goes with a single gesture.
But there wasn’t a time when he felt this nervous even on the battlefield.
‘I’m also unused to these kinds of clothes.’
A clean suit.
With a design similar to the kingdom knight’s uniform and with the strong contrast of black and white, the suit gave off a strong vibe.
The suit’s design complemented Roan’s masculine looks well and gave off a clean look unlike when he wore armor.
The words clothes are wings fit perfectly.
“Sir Baron Tale. Are you not going in?”
The attendants guarding the hall entrance carefully asked.
Roan awkwardly smiled and took in a deep breath.
And after checking his clothes one more time, he nodded his head.
“I’m going in.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the attendants pressed against the gigantic hall door.
The large door soundlessly opened left and right.
Roan unknowingly exhaled.
At the edge of his ears, he could hear beautiful music.
The wide open entrance.
Roan slowly moved his feet.
A fearless and confident expression and gait.
The look of nervousness from just a moment ago had completely disappeared.
“Hhm?”
“Eh?”
“Is he perhaps?”
“It’s Baron Roan Tale.”
The people’s gazes suddenly poured down on Roan.
The high nobles, who had already met Roan before, attempted to show indifference and leisure, while the nobles below and the invited figures of influence showed great interest.
Roan didn’t panic or act timid under the people’s gaze.
He stood at the center of the hall and looked around at the people.
‘Brilliant.’
He wasn’t talking about the hall itself.
He was talking about how the faces of the people filling up the hall were brilliant.
‘It feels as if all the main characters of the future historical events are gathered here.’
Various small events and incidents quickly went through his head.
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.
“Baron Roan Tale! Over here.”
The owner of the voice was Simon.
As Roan turned his gaze towards the voice, he briefly shuddered.
‘The rumor was true.’
The story he had heard from Ian.
He could see that the rumor about Simon’s abysmal fashion sense was true.
He definitely wore a clean-cut suit, but Roan’s eyes shook.
From the top to the bottom, and even down to the shoes; even imagining how many different colors went into it was impossible.
It was the very definition of an awkward color palette.
‘I’m glad that I met Ian.’
Instead of the store that Simon recommended, Roan got his clothes from the Ropil Boutique that Ian recommended.
If he hadn’t, he would undoubtedly be wearing a suit just like Simon’s.
Pacifying his shocked heart, Roan moved his feet.
“Aren’t your clothes a bit too colorless?”
Simon outright critiqued the outfit.
“It seems that the Airin clothes store was closed.”
Roan lightly excused himself and changed the topic.
“The dance hall is larger than I imagined.”
Io, who was standing nearby, lightly smiled at those words and answered.
“Not only the expedition from this time, this dance hall is also for celebrating the victory against Istel Kingdom.”
“Come to think of it, what happened to the postwar remunerations?”
The one that invaded first was Istel Kingdom and the one that lost was also Istel Kingdom.
But the war took place inside Rinse Kingdom’s territory.
As a result, the kingdom’s east took considerable damage.
The postwar settlement was an important issue.
“It seems to be proceeding with a good condition. From what I heard……”
Io’s voice grew quieter.
“We might be getting the western region of Istel Kingdom.”
“I see.”
Roan made a reasonably shocked face.
But inside, he was unperturbed.
‘It was like that in the last life.’
Istel Kingdom currently didn’t have enough wealth to pay war reparations.
Because the crop harvest took an enormous dive due to the Poskein Exodus, the entire kingdom’s economy was bankrupt.
In the last life as well, the Istel Kingdom settled the reparations by handing over the western region to Rinse Kingdom.
‘And war started once again thanks to that region.’
Roan smiled bitterly on the inside.
‘Come to think of it……”
As he reminisced of the last life, he remembered the things that he temporarily forgot.
‘I need to buy the Istel Kingdom’s farmland before it’s too late.’
Currently, Istel Kingdom’s farmers couldn’t take on the drop in crop yield and were selling the farmlands that they owned cheaply.
Even then, there was no one who went up to buy them.
Because everything dried up regardless of whichever crops they planted.
And as a result, the price of the farmlands continued to fall.
‘But starting next year, the crop yield will increase exponentially.’
Even after the Poskein Exodus had ended, the harvest continued to be extremely successful.
Thanks to that, in his last life, there was an event where the farmers who kept their farms in the end became big time farmers.
‘To increase my power, there must a plentiful supply of food.’
There was a need to feed the region’s people and to keep the soldiers well-fed.
Roan began to build a plan to buy the farms inside his head.
Then.
“Roan. What are you thinking about?”
Simon tapped his shoulder and smiled.
“Ah, I must’ve tensed up because I’m new to dance halls.”
After skillfully answering back, Roan looked at Simon.
‘Hhm?’
Suddenly, the light in his eyes shook.
It was because an unfamiliar woman stood next to Simon.
The woman was very beautiful and attractive.
Especially her soft looking eyeline and the slightly raised mouth ends gave off a pleasant vibe.
Seeing this, Simon brightly smiled.
“Do introduce yourself. She’s my fiance. Rodite of Marquis Page’s house.”
Soon as the introduction finished, Rodite Page slightly bowed her head.
“I am Rodite Page. It’s an honor to meet Sir Baron Roan Tale, the hero of the expedition.”
“Ah……”
Roan quietly exclaimed.
It wasn’t because Rodite’s voice was beautiful.
‘Rodite Page……”
The reason Roan was shocked.
It was because of her name.
‘So this woman is……”
He unknowingly frowned.
‘The one who turned Prince Simon into the mad monarch.’
The start of the abysmal future was this Rodite.
“Roan?”
Simon tilted his head at Roan who didn’t move despite Rodite’s greeting.
“Ah.”
Roan composed himself a bit late and quickly lowered his head.
“I am Roan Tale.”
Simon chuckled at the sight.
“Aren’t you a bit strange today? You seem a bit off for some……”
But he couldn’t finish his words.
Because he heard a high-pitched voice from behind him.
“Big brother!”
Suddenly, Simon’s face crumpled.
Forming a bitter smile, he shrugged.
“The tomboy lady seems to have arrived.”
At those words, Roan’s expression solidified once more.
The one Simon called a tomboy lady.
‘Princess Katy Rinse.’
Among the many princesses, there were two reason why Roan remember Katy’s name.
One was that she was the only sister of mad monarch.
And the other one.
‘Ten years from now, she becomes Pierce’s wife.’
Mad monarch and Pierce.
The two who had the most tragic relationship even amongst the big four of Rinse Kingdom.
The link between the two was Katy Rinse.