The Founder of the Great Financial Family

“That’s why, to make sure that everything ends in one blow, I didn’t bother hiring whoever I could. Instead, I spent a lot of money and even took out a loan to make sure I could get the Hound Mercenaries,” 

Carter began to react to the words, 

“As expected, the lord’s judgement is remarkable. If you hired just anyone and they failed, it would have been a waste of time and money. After all, I hear mercenaries still charge half the price even if the job fails,” 

The lord nodded with a satisfied expression, 

“That’s right, that’s why I called them to make sure the job gets done – since we can be sure this is within the Hound Mercenaries’ strength,” 

Although it wasn’t his place to interfere in the conversation, Rockefeller decided to courageously ask something that had been bothering him about the Hound Mercenaries. 

“So, did you mention the Orc Sorcerer to the Hound Mercenaries?” 

The lord looked at Rockefeller with an uncomfortable gaze. It was because a child had intervened in a conversation between adults. 

“Rockfeller, you have no manners! How dare you pose questions to the lord!?” When Carter spoke up and got angry, the lord became more generous. He raised a hand and waved lightly at Carter,

“He’s young, so he must be full of curiosity. Were you that curious about it?” 

“I’m sorry if I was rude. I was just concerned since it isn’t unrelated to us,” 

“Unfortunately… I haven’t been able to tell them yet,” 

“What? You haven’t told them?” 

“Right,” 

The fact that there was a sorcerer among the orcs was extremely important information, but to think he hadn’t told the mercenaries about that yet – it was Carter, this time, who raised the question. 

“But why haven’t you given them such important information? If they unexpectedly encounter an orc sorcerer, wouldn’t it be the Hound Mercenaries who get beaten?” 

The lord shook his head and said with a confident face,

“They’re not fools, nor are they any random mercenary group – even more so, they are the reputable Hound Mercenaries. So even if I don’t tell them, they will naturally find the information regarding the Orc Sorcerer while they are collecting information about the orcs,” 

“Then… Did you do it on purpose?” 

The lord smiled at those words, 

“You tell me, how would they have responded if I had asked them to subdue a herd of orcs with an Orc Sorcerer in the mix?” 

To subjugate orcs that had orc sorcerers included demanded more specialised manpower. They would need to wear magic gear and also would need to bring in a talented mage to counter the orc sorcerer’s magic. 

“They probably would have refused the request. They would have made some random excuses because it was too much trouble, but once they’ve taken on the job, it’ll be harder for them to give up easily since their reputation would be on the line. There shouldn’t be rumours that the world-renowned Hound Mercenaries had given up on a job out of fear of an Orc Sorcerer.” 

“So you were aiming for that,” 

The lord did not deny it. 

“It’s all for the sake of this Fief. Of course, they will make noise and protest, asking why we didn’t mention the Orc Sorcerer sooner, but if we say we didn’t know about it, that would be enough. It’s their job to deal with these things anyway,” 

Carter seemed to be convinced when the lord explained it was for the Montefeltro Estate since he had thought it might have simply been a matter of payment, and the lord did not seem to feel guilty about it either. 

“Well, if they say the price is higher because of the sorcerer, I’m willing to pay a little more. It’s a sacrifice that’s expected if we want to subdue the orc herd that has a sorcerer among them.”