54.
The world is unfair, and no one can have everything they want.
“I’ll make you a knight.”
But Yu Jin’s words shook Blando’s heart.
“I was thinking of creating a knightly order anyway.”
Creating a knightly order now? A newly formed knightly order. What could such a foundation-less order possibly have?
“What do you think?”
Even knowing that a newly formed knightly order would have nothing, Blando couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
“You don’t have to make me your lord. If you find a lord you want, I’ll let you go.”
Is this person a devil? How can every word be so sweet? Finally, Blando closed his eyes.
It’s fortunate that at the very end, a forgotten memory surfaced. Yu Jin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered the content because he had enjoyed reading the novel, but how many novels had he read? The detailed parts had sunk into the depths of his memory, so it was nothing short of a miracle that information about Blando came to mind.
Yu Jin’s first impression of Blando was simple.
‘His eyes are dead.’
But now, after closing his eyes and opening them again, his eyes were alive. They had changed from dead fish eyes to the lively eyes of a flopping fish. Now it’s done. Blando had taken the bait Yu Jin had thrown.
“Can I really become a knight?”
“Of course.”
Yu Jin gave Blando the final push. Then, the corners of his mouth, which had been down all this time, turned up, and a smile appeared on his face.
Like Blando, Hans, who had been ruling part of the back alleys, looked like a burly chainsaw killer from a horror game. Gee looked better than that, but still like a typical villain. However, Blando, being an important position who would later become Jinhyeon’s subordinate, had quite a decent appearance.
He didn’t have a superhuman appearance like Jinhyeon, but his honest and diligent-looking face was very attractive. You could say he had a “church oppa” vibe.
“Then I will follow you.”
Even his low, husky voice matched his appearance well, likely to make many women cry.
Yu Jin was still in the process of overcoming his trauma. Although he had improved a lot, he was still afraid of people other than Jinhyeon. But he felt he could trust this man speaking honestly right in front of him. In the novel, he was a loyal man who worked for Jinhyeon until the end. The Blando that Yu Jin knew was someone who could do anything for the person he had given his heart to.
“Alright. Then our negotiation is over.”
Since Blando never went back on his word once spoken, Count Lumine wouldn’t be able to achieve what he wanted now. Yu Jin spoke to the guard standing a little distance away.
“Release his restraints.”
“It could be dangerous.”
“It’s fine. Nothing like that will happen.”
Yu Jin assured, and eventually, the guard did as he wished and released Blando. Regaining his freedom, Blando immediately got down from the chair and knelt before Yu Jin. Even without the title of knight, he was a perfect knight.
“Thank you. I will strive to repay your trust.”
Seeing him, Yu Jin smiled contentedly.
“I’ll arrange a position for you, so from now on, think before you act.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was fortunate that things had worked out more easily than expected. Now all that was left was to share important schedules with Blando and send him back. Jinhyeon, who was already familiar with the schedule, explained it. He pulled a table from the corner of the room and spread a map of the back alleys on it.
The map was one that San had added various things to the original. Yu Jin thought it would be enough just to give advice on the situation in the back alleys, but San was more capable than expected. He used children of similar age or younger to fill in the map of the back alleys and provided even more information.
‘Is this the protagonist’s buff?’
Since both San and Blando would later work for the protagonist Jinhyeon. In a way, it was enviable.
“This map is very detailed.”
Blando admired the map San had made. However, there was no expression on Jinhyeon’s face across from him. With a stiff face, he talked about the current situation.
“Hans died by my hand, and Gee is alive but not functioning properly. They both had deputy commanders right below them, but most of them are dead too, so now there’s no central figure.”
“I know. We’ve absorbed some of them.”
It seemed Blando had moved during the few days Jinhyeon was away for Yu Jin.
“That’s impressive.”
When Yu Jin unconsciously uttered words of praise, Blando’s eyes widened round.
“Is it impressive?”
“It is. But you said you only absorbed some, do you plan to bring in more?”
“No.”
Blando answered firmly.
“Hans was an excessively immoral person. Gee was the same. Not everyone who worked with them is bad, but most have committed irreversible wrongs. There are also some with natures that simply can’t be changed.”
It was a standard that could be seen as picky, but Blando didn’t want to break the standard he had set.
“Alright, then it’s better to deal with the rest in a different way.”
It would be better to deal with only those with severe crimes and leave the rest alone. Yu Jin was now close to the map, conversing with Blando.
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“What?”
“Even such guys could be useful.”
Since they had already killed and tormented others, they could be useful in that aspect.
“It’s fine. Our ultimate goal is to create a proper information organization. What good would it do to bring in guys who commit crimes as easily as eating?”
Blando nodded at Yu Jin’s words.
“I see. That’s a wise approach.”
“However, to achieve your dream, you might have to hand over the information organization to someone else later. Is that okay?”
“I’m fine with that. But I have one friend, would it be alright if he moves with us?”
“Is that friend also an aspiring knight?”
“He’s not, but he fights well so he’ll be helpful in combat. However, he hates using his head, so he’ll be terrified if you ask him to do anything in that direction.”
Then we can bring him and make him a knight too. Given Blando’s personality, his subordinates would likely be similar to him, so maybe we could bring a few more from among them. We can’t fill a knightly order right away even if we want to create one.
We can attract a few experienced retired knights with money and have them train the new knights. We can also educate Jinhyeon on related matters while we’re at it. We’ve already drawn up a list of teachers to instruct him, but we’ve been too busy to find the time.
“Ah, and I’m going to send a child for the future, so teach him what he needs to know.”
“A child?”
“He’s quite smart, so he’ll do well with the information organization work too.”
There was the issue of his young age, but that wasn’t without solutions either. We can maintain an air of mystery until San grows up and establishes himself. We’ll dispatch personnel for that purpose.
‘There really is no end to the work.’
Thanks to Blando’s cooperation, the back alley matters had taken some shape, but there were still many problems left.
And that was money!
Yu Jin was wealthy for an abandoned noble’s son, but that was partly because his spending wasn’t as large as one might expect. He didn’t have a separate knightly order to operate, nor did he buy expensive artworks or jewels. He occasionally called in merchants for shopping, but he didn’t buy anything that would shake the household.
‘But now it’s different.’
How much money would go into just one knightly order? First, knights basically need weapons and armor. There are suitable armors on the market, but you can’t put those on a knightly order. Properly, you need to have a blacksmith custom-make each piece.
The armor needs to fit well for ease of movement in battle. The next thing needed is horses.
‘There are separate horses for combat.’
They needed to buy horses born from breeding good combat horse bloodlines and train them. And the price of those horses was enormous. Add to that the various ancillary costs for the horses, and even all the things commonly used by cavalry had to be prepared.
They might need to move mansions too. The current mansion isn’t very large. There are two training grounds, but one is exclusively for Keith and is small, and the other is too narrow to train more than ten people at once.
Along with the training grounds, they needed dormitories and larger stables. Some knights commute from their homes, but for proper initial training, it’s better to stay at the mansion. And if you consider the staff needed to take care of these knights…
We need to earn more money!
But since that wasn’t something for Blando to worry about, Yu Jin decided to send him back for now.
“I’ll send someone soon.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
They didn’t blindfold Blando on his way back.
