And what was Ryuji doing at this moment?
"I forgot to take the money from Raddle's house."
Looking at the people waiting to die in the slums, Ryuji rubbed his chin, feeling somewhat frustrated with his own actions.
When he arrived here, he realized there were many able-bodied young men and women in these slums. For various reasons, they had no work. To put it bluntly, these people were the potential recruits for mercenary bands.
He had also found quite a few mercenaries in the city. A little inquiry revealed that most were either farmers who had lost their land or children from families that couldn't feed them.
"Isn't this the foundation for a force?"
Ryuji had no illusions about his potential force being particularly upright or efficient or anything. He just wanted to recruit some subordinates to see if he had any talent for leadership.
If he did, he would proclaim himself the Harem King!
The king who maintain harems!
The problem was, he lacked sufficient funds.
"Looks like I'll have to pull off another job tonight."
Ryuji rubbed his chin, made some inquiries, and soon learned the locations of over a dozen notorious nobles. Then, late at night, right under the noses of the patrolling soldiers, Ryuji wrote down the crimes of these individuals on the city walls. After that, he descended into the mansions of these nobles like a bat.
The killings proceeded silently, and once again, Ryuji was disgusted by what he found.
Again, it was women. A large number of beautiful women. Men were imprisoned in basements; some could still be saved, but others had already broken mentally, and some had even lost body parts.
Ryuji saved those he could, but for those beyond help, he could only grant them a dignified death as best he could.
He didn't take these people with him, as he had no established force yet. He only took enough gold, silver, and jewels before moving on to another noble's residence.
In one night, Ryuji visited three noble households, eliminating dozens of disgusting beasts.
So the next day, the entire city was placed under martial law.
But looking at their disorganized formations, Ryuji still considered them idiots.
Sitting in the tavern of the Mercenary Guild, Ryuji watched with a light laugh as mercenaries eagerly accepted contracts from the nobles and excitedly headed out.
They wanted to find the person who had killed the nobles, or earn a hefty sum by protecting them. But Ryuji felt most of them wouldn't get what they wanted.
Especially the female mercenaries and adventurers.
When he had troubled those nobles last night, he hadn't found few female mercenaries and adventurers in their basements, some were physically mutilated, others driven insane. These women's bodies had either been altered or their minds broken through torture, turning them into complete bitches.
It was truly tragic.
"Forget it, why should I care about these things."
Ryuji smiled and walked towards the counter to post his commission.
His commission was very simple. Anyone who considered themselves a mercenary could accept it: become his long-term mercenary. They would train outside the city daily, and during the training process, they would receive monetary rewards each day. Those who persisted for a month would receive an additional bonus.
He was also recruiting enough cooks, craftsmen, and doctors. Anyone willing to accept his long-term employment was welcome.
When he stated his requirements, the official in charge of review was taken aback, then smiled at Ryuji.
"What exactly are you planning to do? Surely you know only established mercenary companies can do this? And you might not have the qualifications for a mercenary company, right? You must realize doing this threatens the security of the First Fortress?"
The official's eyes held an inexplicable gleam. Although Ryuji hadn't seen this in any rules or regulations, he understood perfectly what the other party wanted.
"Of course. Here are my documents."
Ryuji adeptly pulled out a pouch and handed it over. The other party accepted it without any pretense of discretion, then nodded with satisfaction.
"Excellent. So, Mr. Ryuji, what is the name of this legitimate mercenary group of yours?"
"The Holy Rome!"
"A fine name! You are truly a patriot!"
Although he didn't know what 'Rome' was, since Ryuji was willing to pay, it was a good name.
The other party's directness also surprised Ryuji. He felt the official had guessed his intentions, but never expected him to be so unconcerned.
So, unable to contain his curiosity, he asked,
"Aren't you worried I might do something... unusual?"
But what truly astounded Ryuji was the official's jovial response.
"Hahaha... There are many mercenary companies. If we had to scrutinize every one, the work would be overwhelming... By the way, do you need a base? From the looks of it, you're probably aiming for a noble status in the upcoming war, right? You can't do that without your own base. Here, take a look at this map..."
"Of course."
Ryuji handed over his pouch of gold coins.
"Ohoho! And would you require fine equipment? Full plate armor, excellent swords and blades... all standard issue for the Knight Order."
"....."
Ryuji found it absurd, but reality proved even more far-fetched than he imagined. Within an hour, he was granted a large plot of land as his base. Apart from paying taxes to the local lord, he could do pretty much anything on the land, even build his own camp and buildings.
Furthermore, he obtained the contact information for a merchant who could sell him the standard-issue armor and weapons of the First Fortress's Knight Order. Ryuji even learned that this merchant could supply enough provisions for an entire army!
He even met this merchant in person.
And after meeting him, Ryuji knew exactly who this so-called merchant was.
The pair of pig-like brothers from the original story! Those orc brothers who were utterly obsessed with the little princess!
It was unbelievable. In a fortress frequently attacked by orcs, an orc could openly become a big merchant!
"The First Fortress is truly doomed."
Ryuji couldn't help but shake his head.
The conditions for rebellion here were just too favorable. As long as he established some semblance of order, he could easily...
Behind him were the novice mercenaries he had recruited and the commoners enlisted from the slums.
He was heading to his base to start construction!
The construction of his base was successful, more so than he had imagined. By simply providing three stable meals a day and basic food, the craftsmen recruited from the slums worked with tremendous effort.
Especially after Ryuji told them they could bring their wives and children. If one person worked, the family could eat here. If all three members of a family were here, they could even earn wages. After that, these people worked even harder and even brought in more people from the slums.
Nobles from the area naturally came to visit Ryuji. But Ryuji indicated he could ensure their families wouldn't be harassed by the Black Knight. And when, that very night, several neighboring noble households were attacked by the Black Knight, the local nobles suddenly became much more... understanding.
Ryuji knew this would reveal some of his information, but he didn't care.
His life suddenly became quite simple. At night, he went out to target nobles. Occasionally, he'd even see messages on the city walls that he hadn't written himself.
The mercenaries under his command finally began to look the part. At the very least, they could march in orderly formations, and their armor gradually became the Knight Order's standard issue.
Of course, some people developed other ideas, even wanting to kill Ryuji or sideline him. But their fates were always miserable. usually, they'd cause trouble with Ryuji during the day and end up dead in a ditch with their accomplices by night.
In a very short period of time, he had gathered over two thousand people under his command, filling his base to capacity. Not only that, but schools and hospitals had also begun to take shape...
And it took Ryuji less than a month to accomplish all this.
What he did remained as simple as before: ensure their families had enough to eat and pay the wages he promised. Ryuji didn't even manage things much himself; he handed tasks over to randomly selected leaders. He'd just replace them if they did poorly, and cut them down if they tried to sideline him.
It was that simple. He had reestablished order here. And the money spent was less than one-twentieth of the treasures he plundered on the first day.
"Not rebelling really seems like a waste of such perfect conditions. No wonder the Black Beast's success feels so unnervingly justified."
Looking at the account books, Ryuji uttered these words with complete seriousness.
He genuinely hadn't done much. Many of his orders were arbitrary. But these people, desperate to eat under his command, took the initiative and built the camp up themselves.
Even things like sanitation and road leveling required just a single word from him.
Because here, whoever he wanted to be well-fed would be well-fed. Whoever he wanted dead would die.
"I feel like I'm ruling a country as a superhuman or something."
Scratching his chin in bewilderment, Ryuji didn't have any grand illusions about his leadership skills. He was well aware that the prosperity and harmony here existed solely because no one could defeat him in combat, and he killed without hesitation. Otherwise, there would be no order at all.
To put it simply, he used force to guarantee a relatively fair environment where those who followed the rules could eat their fill.
"And yet," he muttered, "the people of this First Fortress couldn't even provide such a basic environment."
Ryuji couldn't help but sigh.
He stretched lazily, planning to cause more trouble in the First Fortress tonight.
After all, that money was just going to waste with those nobles. Better to let Ryuji use it to feed more people and then chop off those idiots' heads.
"Thinking about it this way, I really do have a talent for rebellion! It's just a shame there aren't many women here."
This was another point of frustration for Ryuji. After all he'd done, he found that most of the women he could come into contact were those who had been forced to sell their bodies just to survive. While some were decent-looking, they just didn't meet Ryuji's... standards.
However, just as he was about to head out and stir up more trouble, a cloaked figure arrived at his camp.
Ryuji, who was on his way out, froze. Because the person in this cloak felt very familiar to him. Upon seeing him, the figure quickly approached, took Ryuji's hand, and pulled him towards a shadowy spot.
It was then that Ryuji recognized her.
It was none other than the princess of the First Fortress, Princess Alicia!
So, once they reached the dark corner, Ryuji swiftly pinned the princess's arms against the wall, lifted her cloak, and revealed her lovely face, along with the frustrated expression of someone biting her lip.
Looking at this pitiful face, he couldn't help but ask,
"Princess Alicia Shouldn't you be preparing to attack Queen Olga's territory? What are you doing here?"
He was genuinely curious about this.
"You... what exactly are you trying to do!?"
Alicia couldn't help but glare at Ryuji. She knew perfectly well that Ryuji was the one wreaking havoc in the First Fortress lately. But because he had saved her, she didn't want anything bad to happen to him. So, despite Thomas Beardsley's constant pressure, she never revealed Ryuji's name, instead making concession after concession. In just one month, she had allowed the Knight Order's pay to be cut in half!
Yet Ryuji showed no signs of stopping. So, she decided to confront him personally and find out what he intended to do.
"Wasn't killing Raddle enough?! Even if it's for money, the wealth from all those nobles should be plenty for you to squander! Ryuji! What do you really want?! If you want me, I'm here! You can use me however you want! But you must stop targeting the nobles! Ryuji! The most important thing right now is Queen Olga!"
Alicia spoke with heartfelt distress. She was truly at her wit's end, which is why she had come to find Ryuji.
In her view, no matter how much Ryuji hated the nobles, he should deal with Queen Olga first!
Ryuji could only look at the woman before him with utter speechlessness.
"It seems you really are stupid."
Alicia gritted her teeth. She had decided not to indulge Ryuji any further, but she still issued an ultimatum.
"If you don't stop your actions and lead your men to join the forces against Queen Olga, I will tell everyone that you are the Black Knight and put a bounty on your head! Ryuji! I've covered for you for a long time! If you truly want this kingdom... I can marry you after we defeat Queen Olga! Only then, only then can the people of this kingdom have peaceful lives!"
She looked at Ryuji with utmost seriousness, but Ryuji was now certain: this princess had a brain, but not much of one. Moreover, Ryuji was sure this woman was truly foolish in politics.
Though filled with passion, she was being played for a fool.
"It seems you still haven't grasped the situation, and you're completely unfit to be a ruler. My previous refusals of your requests were indeed correct."
Ryuji patted the princess's cheek, producing crisp pat pat sounds.
"Those sent to eliminate me are probably already on their way."
Having said that, Ryuji looked towards the outskirts of his camp. With his keen eyesight, he could already see numerous figures and hear the sound of approaching hoofbeats.
Clearly, there were smart people in the First Fortress who knew the princess's secret departure was definitely related to this matter.
But the princess refused to believe it.
"How is that possible! I only told the Minister!"
For her own safety when she came, she had informed only one other person: the very minister who had betrayed her in the original story, Thomas Beardsley.
He couldn't have leaked the information.
"Just be a good little sow and act like one."
Ryuji was speechless. So, he simply punched the princess, causing her to double over and fall to the ground, clutching her stomach, unable to comprehend why Ryuji had struck her.
Ryuji casually summoned flames to form a protective barrier around the princess. He then called two women to guard her and addressed his subordinates, who had also noticed something was wrong.
"You two, tie up the princess. Also, notify everyone..."
As soon as he finished speaking, flames erupted around Ryuji's body. He hadn't been idle this past month. Since he intended to conquer this world, he naturally needed to delve deeper into his own power.
After all, if he fully explored the power of the dragon fire, he could transform into a dragon.
And he never expected the people trained for just a month to have any real loyalty. Not deserting immediately was already worth the wages he paid.
He never expected these people to fight enemies from the start!
The flames formed a feathered mantle around Ryuji. Unbeknownst to him, as he pushed the flames to their maximum, his eyes shifted into serpentine slits.
Or perhaps, draconic pupils.
"Watch me kill the enemy!"
~~~~~~~~~~
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