Chapter 104: Day before the departure for Military Service

This chapter is sponsored by Logan Kerr. Enjoy reading!

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When I entered the tent, which has the fanciest style inside the garrison, I saw two familiar faces. The first one is Marius of course. And the other one is Marius’s colleague. Both of them are dressed in luxurious clothes and they both affixed my high-end model short sword in their hips. There is no one else other than them inside the tent.

“Thank you for coming here Eizou.”

Marius extended his right hand. I then shook that hand.

“Well, I heard that it’s a job that pays well.”

I said that with a laugh. I feel relaxed facing the Count but that is because aside from me, his colleague is the only one here. Besides, based from Marius’ attitude, I guess they probably had a conversation about me to some extent (I don’t think that he told him that I forged a new heirloom for him though).

“It’s good to see that you are also doing well.”

After shaking hands with Marius, I faced his colleague and said that to him.

“Yeah. It’s been a while.”

His colleague also extended his right hand to me. I shook his hand and greeted him again.

“My name is Eizou. As you already know, I am a blacksmith.”

“I’m Leroy. I’m Marius’s adjutant now. Nice to meet you again. Also, you don’t have to be so polite to me. From my standpoint, nothing is different from before you see.”

“Alright then, I’ll do so as you wanted.”

Having gotten Leroy’s permission, I decided to feel relaxed in addressing them when it’s only the three of us. Originally, I know him by sight so I guess we both feel comfortable to each other already.

“So, this time I’ll work on repairs, is that correct?”

I asked Marius.

“Yeah. There will be no work along the way, but once we get there, I’ll leave the repair of any damaged armor or weapon to you.”

“And, as for the remuneration?”

“You’ll have enough food during the expedition, an allowance for the expedition similar to a normal soldier and there will also be a commission reward for each piece of armor you repair.”

The next answer came from Leroy.

“Hohoh-”

That’s not a bad deal at all. I wonder if this condition is applied whether it’s me who’ll do it or not. Well, it will be pointless if I can’t earn more than what I normally work for. Since I can repair things faster than most blacksmiths, it’s likely that I can get a higher commission than that of a normal blacksmith, which is a little different from the norm.

“How will you compute the total of the items I repaired?”

“A civil official from the supply unit will do it. He is in charge of income and expenditure of supplies as well you see.”

This time, Marius was the one who answered me.

“I see. I understand. Lastly, when is the departure?”

“We just finished a series of training yesterday. I had them take a day off today.”

Ah-, so that’s the reason why I didn’t hear the sound of training huh.

“We will be leaving here tomorrow.”

“Understood”

With this, all the prior confirmation I needed to know is settled. Now, all I have to do is wait for our departure. Marius called one of the soldiers and ordered him to lead me to my tent. I felt sorry towards the soldier that was asked to take me to the tent where I would be sharing with the rest of the supply unit.

The supply unit’s tent is rather large. There were wagons and horses securely tied separately nearby. A short distance away from here, there is a simple cooking stove with steam rising from it. I thanked the soldier for leading me here and I decided to head towards the stove first. There is a burly man with a moustache and two other young men struggling with a pot.

“Hi, my name is Eizou. I am the blacksmith invited to join the supply unit. Nice meeting you.”

Though I’m a little worried that I would disturb them, I spoke with a loud voice.

“Oh! I’m Sandro, I’m the head cook! That’s Martin and Boris! We will be the ones taking care of the meals!”

My worries seemed to be unfounded, with a voice so loud that seemed to make the ground rumble, Sandro-san actively introduced the two younger ones ―Martin is the taller guy and the shorter one is Boris. The two gave me a slight bow as they stir the pot. I waved to them in response.

“The one over there with the horses is Matis!”

“I see. Thank you very much!”

Since he introduced himself with such loud voice, I also replied with a loud voice and then I headed towards the horse stable. There are many horses tied up around that area and it’s quite noisy. A tall man is slowly walking to and fro between the horses. This time I waved my hand so that he could notice me. If I called out to him with a loud voice, the horses would surely be startled so I did not do so as I feel bad for them.

The man who noticed that I was waving to him, approached me unhurriedly.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your work. My name is Eizou, I’m the blacksmith invited to join the supply team.”

“You are too polite. I’m Matis, I manage the wagons. I’m just looking at the horses so don’t worry about it.”

He is tall and quite handsome but the way he talks is somewhat relaxed. I get this impression that he is a laid-back person.

“The horses of the knights are not here, right?”

“The knights have their own horse groom.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Thinking about it, it is indeed a given. People above a certain level of status have a variety of personal assistants. Marius could also have a personal cook or blacksmith, but since he was previously a guard, he said that he wanted to be the same as everyone else even though he is the third son of a Count. And at least for appearance sake, maidservants and horse groom are with him.

“Is the civil official inside the tent?”

I asked Matis. Then he replied,

“Ah-, as for that person, I think he is back at his home today.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Unlike the soldiers and us, there aren’t many reasons for him to stay here in advance.”

“I see. I’ll just do my greeting tomorrow then.”

“Yes, that could only be the case.”

After I excused myself to Matis, I headed towards the tent.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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