Week 8 of the northern deployment.
Resting in the carriage, Danil looked at the person sitting across from him.
‘Hard at work again today.’
Irina was engrossed in studying, a magic tome open before her.
She, too, must have been fairly exhausted from the expedition mission, yet seeing her do that every single day without fail was enough to make admiration come naturally.
‘Blood will out, is that it?’
At first, he had thought of her as nothing more than a “well-connected academy applicant” who had come along to add a line of experience to her application.
He had been wrong.
Irina was far more capable than Danil had expected.
While carrying out the expedition mission, Danil visited several territories.
Most of them were lands belonging to Viscount Karon’s faction.
“Imp. Dark Bolt!”
“Kieeek!”
The magic with which Danil had defeated the Flying Demon tribe and the Steel-Scale tribe proved tremendously effective here as well.
Countless barbarians were routed and driven back.
The nobles who were saved from crisis welcomed Danil with open arms.
“Ohh, Sir Danil. Thanks to you, we survived.”
“Not at all. I merely did what I had to do.”
“How modest of you. It may be humble, but we have prepared a banquet as a token of gratitude. Please, do attend.”
“I’m sorry. I would like to accept your kindness, but there are many places in need of my help, so I cannot stay long.”
“Oh dear. My apologies. I was so relieved to have survived that I failed to consider the others.”
“It’s all right. The ones at fault are the barbarians, after all.”
Most nobles backed off on their own at a single word that he was busy.
But persistent people existed everywhere.
“Hehe. Don’t be like that. Just one night. Let us share a drink for just one night. I do not mean to boast, but the ladies and liquor of our city are truly exceptional. Surely this much counts as rest, no?”
“No. I really am busy.”
“If you say that, I will be hurt, Sir Danil. It is only a day or two. How much hardship have you endured all this time? If things have built up, you must let them out! I will provide everything!”
“No, I mean.”
Danil was frustrated.
For Danil, who was in a position where he had to make up for his mistake with work performance, their stubbornness was nothing but a hindrance.
The one who helped him then was Irina.
“Please step back now.”
“Irina?”
“If you insist any further, I will have no choice but to regard this not as courtesy, but as an imposition.”
“What?!”
A warning in which calm and firmness coexisted.
The noble’s face flushed red as he flew into a rage.
“And who are you, wench! How dare you intrude upon a conversation between Sir Danil and me?”
“I am Sir Danil’s esquire. I believe that gives me more than enough right to intervene.”
“E-eh? Esquire?”
A knight appointed through investiture, even if it was an honorary post, had the formal authority to keep an attendant, an Esquire.
Of course, that too was an honorary position, but the qualifications of an esquire themselves still applied.
Irina spoke to the speechless noble.
“Sir Danil is currently carrying out a mission as a knight of Karta. Telling him to rest for a day is no different from telling Sir Danil to ignore the orders he received for a day. My lord, with what intention are you urging Sir Danil to commit such irreverence?”
“What?! No, no. I had no such intention whatsoever—”
“Then may I ask what you meant by such a remark?”
Danil was inwardly impressed.
She was truly an outstanding talent, using the knightly qualification he had thought of as merely honorary to actively fend off a noble who had been trying every possible way to entertain him.
He also could not deny that he gave her high marks for how skillfully she made a noble, who was practically no different from a malicious complainant, flounder with her eloquence.
“My apologies, Chief Danil. For impersonating an esquire, please forgive me.”
“Don’t worry about it. It worked out, so that’s what matters. Still, next time, tell me in advance.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“But Irina, you’re quite the speaker. Where did you learn that sort of thing?”
“I studied it, of course.”
“You study that too?”
“I’m more surprised that you didn’t study this, Chief Danil. Didn’t you attend the Imperial Academy? They teach all of that there.”
‘Ah. Was it that class I ignored because it was politics-related?’
“As far as I know, it’s a required liberal arts course for students aiming to become mages of the Magic Tower.”
“I dropped out.”
“......Ah.”
“Don’t worry about it. And it doesn’t matter, does it? A Magic Tower mage on an indefinite contract is still ultimately a mage of the Magic Tower, right?”
“That’s a statement regular employees and indefinite-contract workers would never acknowledge.”
From then on, Danil met with the nobles while bringing Irina along.
He had already been desperately wanting someone to take charge of political matters like this after what happened last time, so it was fortunate.
‘What in the world should I give the department head for it to be appropriate?’
For some reason, the longer he stayed in the north, the higher the grade of the gift he would have to give Titania seemed to leap upward, but it could not be helped.
He had received something, and he had sinned, so he would have to bear it.
After finishing his rest, Danil unfolded the map.
The eyes of the indefinite-contract worker, running about to cover his sins with achievements, flashed sharply.
*
Irina glanced to the side.
She saw Danil pondering the next battlefield.
‘Just what is Danil, really?’
While carrying out the expedition mission together for two weeks, they had naturally grown close enough to call each other by name and even joke around.
Thanks to that, she had come to know new sides of him that she had not known before.
That was why she was confused.
Because Danil was an existence far removed from Irina’s standards for a mage.
‘Why is he a mage of the Magic Tower, yet ignorant of Magic Tower politics? If he wants to become a regular employee, taking an interest in it is basic, isn’t it?’
If he had no interest in becoming a regular employee, that would explain it, but common sense said that was impossible.
An indefinite-contract mage with no desire to be converted to regular employment! Such a fantasy creature was something she had never seen, let alone heard of.
‘From what I can see, it’s not as if he has no talent for politics at all.’
She recalled what had happened three days ago, when she began to suspect, “What if Danil isn’t bad at politics, but simply doesn’t do it?”
*
Danil, who entered Rohenberg while being welcomed by the citizens as the hero who had driven off the Pug-Nose tribe, immediately met the castellan.
“I am in your debt, Sir Danil. I do not know how I can repay this grace.”
Baron Rodney bowed his head.
“Please do not concern yourself. I merely did what I had to do.”
“Hoho. I had heard plenty of rumors about you, Sir Danil, but it seems the rumors were rather lacking. You are truly a model knight, Sir Danil.”
“You praise me too much.”
Danil called forward the knight standing behind him.
“This is Sir David, who leads the Iron Cavalry, comrades-in-arms who fight alongside me. I imagine you are acquainted with one another.”
“Indeed. It has been a while, Sir David.”
“Yes. It has been a long time, Baron Rodney.”
The Iron Cavalry was a cavalry unit under Viscount Karon.
Baron Rodney had belonged to Viscount Karon’s faction.
There was no way they would not know each other.
The reason Danil brought the two face to face was simple.
“There is a matter I would like to consult you about regarding supplies for the Iron Cavalry. Would you be able to spare a little time?”
“Of course.”
And so, in the castellan’s office, a meeting began between Danil, Irina, Baron Rodney, and David.
But before long, the meeting stalled.
Because negotiations between the two sides were not progressing.
“If we are to carry out proper operations, we need at least this much in supplies.”
“I’m sorry, Sir David, but that is impossible.”
Baron Rodney shook his head.
“For the past two weeks, the barbarians have attacked day and night, and we too have suffered tremendous damage. Considering the budget needed to restore that, anything more than this will be difficult.”
“With this level of supplies, we won’t last even a week!”
“This is the best I can do.”
“Kh!”
David clenched his teeth and lowered his head.
‘If only Viscount Karon were still all right, he would never have dared say such a thing!’
His body trembled with misery.
Viscount Karon had fallen.
In order to bring in Danil, the relief pitcher in a crisis, he had committed a wrong.
He had thrown away his own position and honor, breaking the rules of noble society in front of everyone watching.
After returning to his territory, he handed over command of the Iron Cavalry to Danil under the pretext of taking responsibility, then stepped down from all duties.
Lastly, as he converted his family’s wealth into supplies for the Iron Cavalry, Karon said this:
“This is the responsibility I must bear as the man who was the head of the faction. Sir David, please, together with Sir Danil, protect the people who believed in me and followed me, and protect the citizens.”
The people Karon had sought to protect by throwing away the honor and rights he had built with his own hands.
The reality that those very people were now turning away from Karon’s final efforts was colder than the northern winter.
“Baron Rodney! You are...!”
“Just a moment.”
Just as David, whose patience had run dry, was about to raise his voice, Danil, who had been silent, cut in.
“At this rate, we won’t get anywhere. Then how about doing it this way?”
“Sir Danil?”
Everyone’s eyes turned to him.
Danil smiled brightly.
It was a suspicious smile.
*
“I understand Baron Rodney’s difficulties. Any city is ruled by its budget, after all. However, it is also true that we need supplies for our mission. Therefore, we will request support in another form.”
“Another form of support?”
Danil looked at David.
“Sir. You are certain that this much supply volume is necessary, correct?”
“That is correct.”
“I see, I see.”
Danil nodded, then turned his eyes to the baron.
“To be frank, Baron, just give it to us in money. Let’s see, this amount should do.”
“What?!”
Baron Rodney was horrified when he saw the amount sheet placed on the desk with a tap.
A number that nearly made his eyes pop out.
In terms of the amount alone, it was even more than the supplies David had requested.
“What, what kind of tyranny is this!”
“Tyranny? You misunderstand.”
Danil smiled gently.
It was a smile that brought a fox to mind.
“I am merely trying to do something ma~gical where everyone benefits.”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“If you give us this money, we will take it into the city and meet with the merchants. Then we will give them the money and buy supplies.”
“What?”
Everyone blinked.
They could not understand why he would deliberately do something so troublesome, cumbersome, and disadvantageous.
Danil leaned forward and spoke low, yet clearly.
“Baron, next year, you can attach a tax officer or two to those merchants. If you squeeze some taxes out of them, won’t you be able to recover a considerable portion?”
“......!!!”
At the unexpected remark, the baron’s eyes grew as round as saucers.
The air in the room changed.
David was flustered, and Irina unconsciously drew in a breath.
“If we purchase a large quantity of supplies, the merchants may collude and attempt to raise prices, so as long as you prevent that, we will handle the rest.”
“S-so... that is...”
“Ahh. What a joyous day!”
Danil spread his arms in an exaggerated manner like an opera singer and raised his voice.
“The Iron Cavalry has obtained the supplies it wanted. And I have met a trustworthy and loyal noble by the name of Baron Rodney. Is this not a truly fortunate day?”
Danil spoke as if for Baron Rodney to hear.
“Even though you yourself are in difficulty, you are willing to donate a large sum to uphold your loyalty to Viscount Karon and for the sake of the north. You are truly a magnanimous man, Baron. Grand Prince Rainer would surely be very pleased with someone like you.”
“.......!”
This was a threat.
This was a proposal.
Sometimes, a gathering of the weak, who lived when they banded together and died when they scattered, took on the name of a faction.
Viscount Karon’s faction had been like that.
Now that it had lost its leader, Karon, and the faction had been dissolved.
Baron Rodney was in desperate need of a new “umbrella” to protect him.
To such a baron, Danil was saying this:
[Take my hand. I will introduce you. But if you refuse, there will not even be scraps for you.]
The card Danil had pulled out was the big name of .
Baron Rodney was flustered.
But he had no time to agonize over it.
“The sun is about to set.”
Red sunset light shone through the window.
“We must depart tomorrow morning, so I would like to finish the resupply before night falls.”
“.......”
“So, Baron Rodney. Decide.”
Decide now.
To Baron Rodney, standing at the fork in the road of choice, he asked:
Accept or refuse.
Answer.
Quickly.
“...Wait here. I will go to the warehouse.”
“I will wait as long as you need.”
The next morning.
Danil left Rohenberg together with the Iron Cavalry, pulling wagons loaded full of supplies.
At that moment, Irina’s mind was a whirlpool.
A negotiation mixed with cunning and coercion.
Even the exquisite balance of pressuring the other party while presenting a benefit.
This was the skill of one who knew schemes and stratagems.
A magic of politics that only a politician could use, something that could never be wielded by one ignorant of politics!
‘Was this person not bad at politics? Has he perhaps been deceiving everyone until now?’
Irina, who had begun to harbor fundamental doubts about her mission as Danil’s political bulwark, ultimately could not hold back and asked a question.
“You are quite good at politics, Chief Danil. Where did you learn that?”
“Politics, my foot. I just copied what others did in the field.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
At Danil’s indifferent answer, Irina asked back.
“When you work as part of a foreign legion, politics gets involved whether you like it or not. At those times, the excuse that you’re bad at politics doesn’t work. So what do you think you have to do?”
“...I-imitate?”
“Correct. You remember what your seniors or other colleagues did and copy them. That’s how the work moves forward.”
“...That works?”
“It does. After experiencing a few times where even easy work got tangled up like hell because I couldn’t do that.”
Irina closed her mouth.
Danil’s field-oriented and practical answer was understandable, yet at the same time not understandable.
He knew politics, but had pretended not to all this time?
If so, it did not explain why he knew nothing of Magic Tower politics and had done absolutely no lobbying or similar activity to become a regular employee.
Then did he really not know politics and had merely copied what others did?
For that, the political skill he had shown in the negotiation with Baron Rodney was far too seasoned.
Did it not reveal the proficiency of someone who had rolled around in the political arena for more than ten years?
‘Just what is this man?’
Irina could not know.
That Danil was in fact a reincarnator, and that in his previous life, he had been a ranked player in office politics who had made it all the way to section chief at a major corporation.
That after dying from all the suffering he endured back then, he had been enjoying a casual run this time as an indefinite-contract worker, but because of a recent mistake, he had no choice but to pull out his old skills and go hard mode.
Danil, who had returned to being a professional practical worker who would use any means and methods necessary to cover his sins with achievements, prepared for his next task.
A task that would make the northerners cheer and the barbarians scream.
Only God knew what results this preparation would bring.