Chapter 90

Just as citizens express their will through voting in a democracy, the political sphere requires the active political participation of its members.

However, even now, several days after calling for the creation of the Southern Alliance in the last negotiation, there was no discernible movement from Pescara and Messina.

I didn't know if they still didn't understand the situation or if they had no intention of complying with the treaty, but there was a need to awaken their spirits.

Anyway, the easiest way to encourage active participation from the members is to give feedback.

Whether it's beneficial to participate or there will be a loss if they don't.

It doesn't matter if the direction is positive or negative.

What I want most is for a startled Pescara and Messina to show a reaction.

I hadn't planned on going this far, but seeing the listless state of my subordinates, my heart ached and I couldn't help it.

“Spread a rumor that the enraged Cavaldi might set policies disadvantageous to the defeated nations. Then they'll catch on and send people over like Urdino did.”

“Such a method!”

Selvi was impressed after hearing the explanation.

“But I don't think they'll be dispatched with only good intentions.”

“Of course not, right? They'll probably try to swallow the company from within, or try to steer matters in a direction favorable to them.”

In the first place, Cavaldi himself must have joined the company with such a purpose.

Cavali is not as clueless as he looks.

The problem is that his purpose is too petty for a duke.

“As expected of a duke, his schemes are formidable. Then do you perhaps have a countermeasure?”

It was a little annoying that he was asking without thinking for himself, but I smiled and said.

“Selvi, what's the name of our company?”

“Fasa Free Company.”

“Not that one.”

“Black Company?”

“That's right.”

Selvi had a face that said he didn't know what the company's name had to do with the plan, but I, having lived a past life, knew the answer.

The destructive and apostolic method passed down from the skyscrapers of the 21st century.

The forbidden secret art that could even ruin people.

“The answer is simple. Just throw so much work at them that they can't think of anything else. Then it will solve itself.”

That's why I deliberately gave Cavaldi a hard time, punishing him by overwhelming him with a lot of work so he couldn't have other thoughts.

As I revealed my intentions, Selvi was horrified.

“Heok. I see, so that's it! But if there's a lot of work, won't there be people who get scared and try to run away?”

I shed a small tear inwardly.

Perhaps due to a drop in intelligence from overwork, Selvi hadn't yet realized that this method also applied to him.

I'm sorry for being a bad employer.

“That's nothing to worry about either. The personnel dispatched to the company are practically representing their nation. For the sake of face, honor, or pride, they won't be able to think of running away from here.”

The Urdino people working on the floor below are proof of that right now.

Of course, those people can't say a word, especially since their head of state is being brutally worked right next to them.

“Still, if they seem to be resisting, just poke their pride a little. Like, how can you be worse at your job than the people from the neighboring country.”

That's just human psychology.

It's one thing not to be able to look good, but no one wants to deliberately look bad.

And if you sprinkle some regional sentiment on top of that, you get an invincible, semi-permanent, perpetual motion machine.

Being compared to the neighboring country you've always disliked?

How can you stand that?

Isn't that too evil?

That's right.

I think so too.

The reproduction of society's members?

The quality of life of individuals?

Randolfo being dumped by his girlfriend after being asked if his work or she came first?

I'm sorry, but that's not my concern right now.

My survival is far more urgent.

Isn't there a saying that when you live in a different place, the scenery changes?

I feel a little sorry for Matriarch Costanza, but.

I have to live first…….

After hearing my explanation, Selvi clapped his hands and was pleased.

“As expected of the Captain. You are second to none when it comes to coming up with evil plans.”

“Hey. What's with you today? Do you want to try some overtime alone?”

“Please spare me.”

I glared at Selvi and then sighed.

It seemed his head was broken from being overworked, so I couldn't say anything.

“For now, go and get some rest. Then proceed with the work.”

“I love you, Captain! I will always be loyal to you!”

Selvi, having received a vacation, cheered and ran outside.

It seems even vampires, creatures of the night, are fed up with overtime.

As I watched him with a bitter smile, an anxious Theo next to me gave me a look.

“Then shall we go home now too?”

“……Alright.”

Anyway.

***

A single carriage was passing down the highway.

It was a shabby carriage with only one coachman as an attendant and only one passenger.

“Young master, we've arrived. Look over there. It's Fasa!”

At the coachman's words, Luca Orso lifted the curtain and looked outside the carriage.

As he said, Fasa, the most famous city in Apennia recently, was there.

Luca was surprised by the sight.

“Is the city only that big?”

To Luca, who was from Pescara, Fasa was nothing more than a satellite city of Pescara.

It had a shabby feel to that extent.

“It's only recently that Fasa began to prosper.”

At the coachman's reply, Luca recalled that Fasa had gained its fame recently and was very remote before that, but they had eventually seized the position of hegemon of the southern peninsula.

Now Fasa was about to take a leap forward as the center of the southern peninsula under the banner of the Southern Alliance.

‘That's exactly why I'm going to Fasa.’

Even though they had signed a pact, the leadership of Pescara didn't pay much attention to what Fasa was doing.

Rather, they were always belittling it, saying, ‘Fasa simply seized hegemony through military means, so it won't last long.’

In Luca's opinion, they should have said such things after winning the war.

The moment the rumor spread that the Duke of Urdino was frequenting Fasa, they hastily selected personnel to dispatch.

That sight spoke of where the true core of power lay.

‘No. Actually, the Black Company is far more important than Fasa.’

To dismiss it as a mere mercenary company like others did, the Black Company had done too much.

It had contributed the most to Fasa's seizure of southern hegemony, and its members were spectacular.

To put it simply, Luca didn't even know who was in Fasa, but he knew the Black Company inside and out.

Leaving aside Leon Gryph, who had now entered the ranks of Apennia's famous figures,

Theo the Snow Elf, who defeated the south's number one knight, Cavaldi; Eleonor, who defeated the coalition army; Rhom, the valiant charge leader; Ishmael, the first pirate-turned-navy captain;

and even the recently joined Duke Cavaldi of Urdino—each and every member of the company could be called a giant.

So it was clear that the one leading the situation was not Fasa, but the Black Company.

There was no way an idea like a regional cooperative body could have come from a backwater like Fasa.

Yet, the Pescara leadership was just spouting nonsense.

“Don't work too hard, just play along and come back. What's the point of going to that backwater?”

‘Damn old fools.’

In the first place, the fact that Luca was chosen for such a crucial matter of national diplomacy meant that the Pescara leadership had no expectations for Fasa's proposal.

It was because the Orso family had belonged to the pro-peace faction in the last war.

Luca's father was lynched in the street for opposing the war, and their mansion was half-destroyed after being attacked by citizens.

In the end, everything turned out as he had predicted, but the Orso family had already lost its power.

His political enemies had decided to get rid of the troublesome Luca by sending him to Fasa.

‘Just you wait. Who do you think will just take this lying down? I will survive and return to Pescara.’

Luca overcame his uncomfortable feelings and strengthened his will to survive.

In the meantime, the carriage entered the city of Fasa.

“Behold! The end of these national traitors. They deceived the quality and price of goods delivered to the government……”

“Beef is cheap, cheap! Slaughtered today!”

“Recruiting people to work on the east wall repairs. First ten people!”

Luca was impressed by the lively conversations he heard through the carriage window.

Fasa seemed much more vibrant than the more populous Pescara.

He felt like he had seen a glimpse of how a city with no presence had come to seize hegemony.

Of course, it wasn't all good.

The streets were so crowded and chaotic that the coachman got lost.

The coachman asked a passerby for directions.

“Excuse me, which way do I go to get to the Black Company headquarters?”

“Ah, the Lighthouse?”

“The Lighthouse? Is the company headquarters by the sea?”

“You must be from out of town. Not knowing that famous nickname. The people of Fasa call it that. See that big 5-story building over there? Go there.”

Luca and the coachman looked at each other in bewilderment.

They couldn't understand at all why it had such a nickname.

“To have a nickname like the Lighthouse is truly strange.”

“The level of humor of the Fasan people is truly incomprehensible.”

Not knowing what a harbinger of disaster it was, the carriage Luca was in headed in the direction the passerby had indicated.

As they approached the company headquarters, the road began to get blocked.

It was because of other carriages.

“They're all from different families. A lot have come from Messina and Pescara.”

Thanks to the Orso family's active social life, it was not difficult for Luca to recognize the crests of other families.

“The road is blocked, so it will be difficult to proceed further.”

“I can't be later than the scheduled time. I'll get off here and walk. You can head back.”

“Please take care of yourself. Young master. The revival of the Orso family depends on you.”

Luca's expression turned bitter for a moment, but he soon nodded with a resolute face.

That was right.

The future of the Orso family was on his shoulders.

Luca walked towards the company.

In front of the company entrance, the young men from other families who had arrived first were gathered.

The young men were chatting in sparse groups of acquaintances.

Luca's gaze naturally went to the person with the loudest voice.

A big, thick-jawed young man was conversing boisterously with his peers.

“So I told my father! That I, the eldest son, cannot be left out of such a matter. That a man of Messina takes risks and steps forward.”

‘That's Rene of the Calaci family.’

The Calaci family was one of the great families of Messina.

He hadn't expected someone from such a family to come to Fasa.

Although he knew him, he was reluctant to go near.

Basically, there were too many people around Rene, and it was too noisy.

It didn't suit Luca, who liked quiet.

Just then, Luca's eyes met Rene's.

At that moment, Rene grinned, and Luca instinctively felt a sense of displeasure from him.

‘I feel like I won't get along with that person at all.’

Not wanting to cause trouble on the first day, Luca looked away to avoid him.

After waiting for a short while, the iron-clad gate of the company headquarters opened, and a troll knight in a black uniform walked out from inside.

The dark-colored uniform combined with the troll's large build naturally exuded an intimidating aura.

Moreover, the appearance of the most famous troll in the company caused a stir among the young men.

“That's the guy, right?”

“Yeah, that's right. The one who charged head-on into the Urdino duchy's army……”

The young men showed respect to the valiant knight, Rhom.

Although he was no match for Cavaldi, his skills could not be belittled.

It's impossible to charge head-on into the enemy's ranks without ordinary skill and courage.

Moreover, since he had returned alive, Rhom deserved to enjoy the glory.

“Hey, move!”

At that very moment, with a sharp voice, Rhom staggered.

In the spot where Rhom had moved aside, a small-statured woman in a company uniform shot out.

The young men were horrified that someone had dared to kick Rhom, and were horrified again when they recognized who it was.

“I, I know that person! It's Dame Eleonor of the Phoenix Knights! I enjoyed reading the journal she submitted to the University of Bologna before.”

“Really? Since she's a knight, it must have been about military science, right?”

“What are you talking about? Dame Eleonor is also the historian of the Phoenix Knights.”

“A historian? I heard she played a big part in this war. As expected, heroes have many talents.”

Publicly, it was known that the night battle that decisively broke the Urdino duchy's army was commanded by Eleonor.

Therefore, the young men thought it was not strange for such a person to kick the valiant knight, Rhom.

As the two conversed with serious faces and Rhom fidgeted, the young men became convinced.

Of course, if they had known what they were actually talking about, they would have been horrified.

“Hey, you're not a troll, you're a pig. Be honest, you're not a troll, are you? You're a walking pig species, right?”

“Ah, I said I was sorry, didn't I?”

“Then how could you eat all the sausages Duke Cavaldi brought by yourself?”

“They were so delicious, I just……”

“Are you seriously saying that now!”