Chapter 18: A Windfall

Speaking of loot, George and Hiren got excited. After all, Hiren was about to become a Knight, and there were many places to spend money, but it seemed that Sir Val would not support him much in this regard. Although George controlled a large amount of funds, these were basically “public funds,” at least until he officially inherited his title. Although skimming a little off the top wouldn’t matter, there were so many places in the Territory that needed money, George really felt too embarrassed to line his own pockets. The remaining monthly stipend was too little, so George was also particularly concerned about opportunities for extra income.

Yesterday, most of the trio’s loot was piled separately on a freight wagon on the east side of the camp. The two lifted the tarp covering the wagon, and the first things that caught their eyes were sets of high-quality Scale Armor. The fish-scale-shaped metal pieces were connected directly to each other and tightly covered the leather base. George stroked the smooth metal pieces on top and tried to flip them open in reverse. After discovering that this required great force and might damage the armor, he gave up.

“Good stuff, really good stuff,” George said as he touched it, “but it’s a pity it’s hard to sell.”

“Good stuff but hard to sell, how does that work?” Hiren was completely confused.

“Yesterday, those seven Bear Goblins left behind these six sets of Scale Armor in total, of course, one set is too badly damaged, I don’t know if it can be repaired.” Saying this, George glared at Hiren, just short of calling him a spendthrift.

Hearing this, Hiren also had a pained expression on his face and scratched his hair vigorously.

“Let’s ignore the broken one for now, let’s calculate the price according to the market conditions before we left. For this kind of high-quality, large-sized Scale Armor tailored to the body, the cost to commission a Craftsman for each set is probably between two hundred and thirty-four Gold Coins and two hundred and sixty-five Gold Coins. The selling price in shops is definitely above three hundred and twenty Gold Coins.” As he spoke, George also used the “Shake” technique to pat the surface of the armor, and it did not make the clattering noise that some Scale Armor makes.

Hiren came from a Knight family and was not someone without insight. At the very least, he had put some effort into understanding armor and weapon s. He rubbed his hands together and said: “It really is nice! Even if sold cheap, five sets would still be worth around one thousand to one thousand two hundred Gold Coins.”

George sighed and said: “But the problem is they are very hard to sell. These were simply not made for Human bodies; even among the tall Barbarians of the Northern Lands or Orcs, few would fit. In a situation like this, ordinary Adventurer shops won’t take them. If we want to take them apart and resize them, not only would we need to find a good Craftsman, but the quality would also clearly drop after the modification.”

“Is there any other way then?” Hiren was dumbfounded.

Looking at Hiren, George said: “The Territory has an equipment shop in Karada; I’ll abuse my power a bit and leave them there on consignment. Who knows when they will sell.”

“Won’t this have a bad effect on your reputation?” Hiren was a bit worried.

George waved his hand: “This isn’t a big problem. If I made the shop buy the goods directly, that would make people gossip. It’s a pity we can’t get much cash from this in a short time.”

Having cold water thrown on his excitement right at the start, Hiren was a bit worried “How about the other loot?”

“Weapons might be better. Tsk, tsk, there are a few Masterwork pieces again. Although they are a bit large, they can at least be sold as two-handed weapons. Of course, the target audience isn’t big, so we’ll have to wait to sell them for a high price. However, there should be good buyers for the shields. I think the Duchy’s ‘Earth Bear’ Heavy Infantry regiment wouldn’t mind having a few extra all-steel Tower Shields. These six shields should sell for eight hundred to nine hundred Gold Coins. As for the Priest’s slightly smaller Flail, I think someone will be interested.” George knocked on a large Flail, roughly calculating the items in the wagon. “As for the loot from the Goblins and Ogres we killed, although not worth much, they are easy to sell. This part can probably be valued between two hundred and five hundred Gold Coins.”

Hiren was so shocked by this big gift package that he lost control a bit: “That means, the three of us will soon have a profit of almost one thousand one hundred to over one thousand four hundred Gold Coins. I really didn’t expect so much money; no wonder so many people like fighting wars.”

“Don’t be happy too early; the bulk of it this time is mainly the armor and Masterwork weapon shields, and we haven’t found buyers for two of those categories yet! Wait until everything is sold, then you can be happy.” George said to Hiren with a mix of amusement and annoyance.

Looking at these equipment, a question lingered in George’s mind “I just can’t figure out who equipped this group of Goblins with such luxurious gear. Especially those few Bear Goblins; during the battle before, I didn’t pay much attention and just thought they were custom equipment, but looking closely now, they are actually all Masterwork. This is too big of an investment, unless he can guarantee that these guys will obey his commands forever. Also, what is the point of using Goblins with this kind of equipment to attack a small town like Greywood Town?”

George looked around and found something wrong, turning his head to ask Hiren “By the way, there are a few things you took from that Priest, why aren’t they here?”

“Oh my! After coming back last night, I went straight back to the tent; the light ones are all in my tent. Wait for me, I’ll be right back.” Saying this, Hiren suddenly remembered something and ran back.

George touched his chin: “It seems he has indeed recovered, but I didn’t expect him to be in a trance to such an extent last night.”

Hiren, carrying a bag and waving a wooden pole in his hand, shouted: “Hey—George, it’s all here.”

George looked at the sky and said: “Hurry up, or the sun will have set by the time we finish.”

Since they needed to appraise these various items, they naturally had to find the team’s chief appraiser and valuer, Thomas, who was familiar with these matters. But that restless Gnome had run off somewhere again. The camp was only this big, yet after walking around once, they couldn’t find him anywhere for a while.

Having no choice, the two had to ask Sir Bart for help.

“Of course you can’t find that guy. Didn’t Isolde distribute some Cider this morning? Somehow, after just two sips, he got drunk and started acting crazy, so we had to find a cellar in the Mayor’s house to lock him up temporarily. We’ll let him out when he sobers up.” Sir Bart showed a gloating expression.

Hiren asked anxiously: “Mr. Bart, how long do we have to wait?”

“No one can say for sure; after all, Thomas has never been drunk before. But it shouldn’t be too long, he actually only drank a little.” Saying this, Sir Bart stretched out his index finger and thumb to gesture.

“It looks like there’s no chance today.” George immediately thought of Craig, who was said to be unconscious for a day or two, but that was uncertain; he could wake up anytime within these two days.

Seeing that Sir Bart still had the mood to make fun of Thomas, George felt that Craig should have woken up by now. So he tried asking: “Sir Bart, how is Craig doing now?”

Speaking of this, Sir Bart immediately beamed with joy: “He woke up in the morning; Isolde’s skills are really trustworthy. Daniel’s ointment and Divine Arts were also very effective; at least Craig’s wounds have completely healed now. However, he can’t get out of bed yet and is still lying in the tent.”

Following Sir Bart’s words, George asked: “Oh! That is really great. We’ll go see him later, so he doesn’t get too bored alone in the tent. I heard that after last night’s battle, some members of our Guard can no longer serve on active duty, is that true?”

Sir Bart said with a sigh: “It is truly a pity. Dude was a very good soldier; in the future, he might have had a chance to enter the Red Iron Rank and become an elite warrior. But after last night’s injuries, he can no longer engage in long, high-intensity combat.”

“Do you know exactly what happened?” Hiren asked curiously.

“When Dude was injured last night, neither Isolde nor I were at the scene. So how should I put it?” Sir Bart stopped and thought, “Never mind! You’d better ask Anson directly; he was both an eyewitness at the time and the leader of that team. I can’t explain it clearly to you in a short time.”

George felt a bit troubled: “It would indeed be clearer with an eyewitness explaining, but Mr. Anson should be very busy right now. I think I’ll ask him about this question at dinner time.”

Sir Bart said in surprise: “Oh! Don’t you know yet? It seems you just woke up. Anson’s arm is injured, and he is also recuperating. Isolde performed magical healing on him this morning, but it looks like it will take at least three to four days for him to fully recover his combat ability.”

George asked: “So, Anson isn’t the one commanding the Guard today? Then who is in charge now? Mr. Bart, you were drinking just now? And Mr. Val is not here. As for his injury, we knew about it before; when I saw him from a distance in the camp just now, his arm in a sling was still very conspicuous.”

“We have to thank you for vigorously carrying out basic officer education and training over the years; currently, there are a few good seedlings. The team is now being dispatched by Apprentice Officer Kanidy.” Sir Bart explained.

George’s mind moved: “They were put into actual combat so soon? I thought it would take a while before that was possible.”

“You actually think we are so old-fashioned; that really breaks our hearts.” Saying this, he covered his chest, “We Knights are still young, at an age where it’s easy to accept new ideas and new technologies. However, if it were other Territories or if we were all a bunch of old men—these new changes, what do you call that in your words? Right! Reform, it wouldn’t be so easy to succeed. Even implementing it would meet serious obstruction.” After speaking, Sir Bart looked very proud.

George’s eyes were a bit moist: “Thank you very much for your trust and support over such a long time.”

Sir Bart patted George on the shoulder: “Your performance in Territory governance these past few years has been good, oh, I should say it exceeded everyone’s imagination. That’s what gave us the determination to take a gamble on you. So all of this is the result of your wisdom and hard work.”

George said with a smile: “When we get to Karada, I’ll treat you to drinks at ‘The Spear and Rose’.”

“‘The Spear and Rose,’ ah, then it’s a deal.” Sir Bart stroked his mustache “That’s right, it’s a deal.” George turned his head, “Hiren, let’s go find Sergeant Major Anson first.”