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Chapter 360 – Chrysanthemum War II (1)
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The Empire organized an army of 30,000 as an expeditionary force.
Rather than say that they were organized, it would probably be more accurate to say that they were hired. I wasn’t going to send even a single member of the Demon Lord Army out in this war. I intended to go to war while using nothing but mercenaries.
Mercenaries strangely give off the impression that they are lower quality than national soldiers, but the truth is the exact opposite. A majority of the people in this era are farmers. As the saying goes that only ‘those with experience know’, mercenaries that live off of fighting are naturally better than farmers that farm all year.
However

mercenaries are expensive.
Extremely expensive.
It’s different by country, but a normal mercenary soldier receives a salary of 500 gold a year. Not 50 gold. 500. This is important, so I said it twice.
Let’s assume you were to hire a mercenary unit of a thousand strong consisting solely of regular foot soldiers

that would mean a whopping 500,000 gold coins per year! 10,000 soldiers would result in five million gold being drained out. At this point, you’d be waging war with money and not soldiers.
Adding to this, cavalrymen are much more expensive than foot soldiers.
To put it simply, they are usually twice the price.
Now then, let’s do the math.
I want to hire 20,000 foot soldiers and 7,000 cavalrymen to conduct this war. 500 gold per foot soldier and 1,000 gold per cavalryman. That’s 20,000×500 and 7,000×1,000.
In conclusion, I would have to pay 17 million gold in mercenary fees every year.
“That is too expensive.”
Lapis gave a short answer.
I consulted with Lapis about how we were going to process this huge sum of money. I could have relied on the expert economist Ivar, but she was currently busy trying to organize all the money we had collected from the archdukes. I felt bad about it, so I called Lapis instead.
“We have ninety million for taking care of those archdukes, so this much should be fine

.”
“That is the money you will be using to manage the Empire. It would be best to save as much as possible.”
Lapis coldly moved the beads on an abacus.
“From my calculation, we can lower the cost of foot soldiers down to 300 gold.”
“Huh? How?”
“Hire most of our mercenaries from Helvetica.”
I tilted my head.
“Aren’t the Helvetica mercenaries the most expensive?”
Helvetica is a federation of other races.
The elves and dwarves, fearing persecution from humans, took refuge in the mountains and established their base there. Over time, they honed their skills and began creating highly trained mercenary forces, which became the main source of their livelihood. As a result, the entire nation essentially transformed into a massive mercenary company.
Dwarves are physically capable fighters while elves are hunters by nature. The mercenaries of Helvetica are known as the best mercenaries thanks to their superior combat power, high morale, and, most importantly, their loyalty to their employer.
Lapis narrowed her eyes as she turned my way.
“You truly are ignorant when it comes to money, Sir Dantalian. Is the structure of your brain different from that of normal people? You are surprisingly excellent when it comes to certain areas, but I struggle to understand why you are so below average when it comes to economics.”
“

.”
Lapis is probably the only person in the world who would call me an idiot

.
I pouted.
“Yea, I’m an idiot. In any case, what sort of magic trick must be pulled off to lower it to 300 gold?”
“Did the Helvetica Federation not voluntarily submit themselves to us after we set an example by purging those archdukes? They are currently afraid that you may try to purge them as well.”
I let out an “Ah”. I hadn’t thought about that.
“They submitted themselves to us, so I can tell them to prove their loyalty!”
“Of course, if you do not offer any pay, then there will be backlash. However, there should be no problem with hiring them for a reasonably low fee.”
“And that’s why you said 300 gold

.”
Lapis nodded.
“I looked into this matter. In Habsburg and Teuton, foot soldiers can be hired for approximately 500 gold. In the Kingdom of Castile, it ranges from 450 to 475 gold. In Batavia, 300 gold is the common price.”
“Huh?”
Batavia was surprisingly cheap.
Once I gave Lapis a curious look, she immediately gave me an answer.
“It is because the payment method is different. Batavia requires their pay to be given in cash every 10 days. On the other hand, the other nations often receive their pay through credit after 3 to 6 months.”
“I see. So it is a matter of trust

.”
I understood now.
Batavia is a wealthy country, so they give their pay at the proper times. ‘Work and you will be rewarded,’ this was their form of trust. Compared to them, the other nations carried the risk of not being paid even after risking your life.
Naturally, mercenaries would want to be hired in Batavia. That was why you could hire them for such a low price.
“Therefore, 300 gold is the lowest acknowledgeable amount.”
Lapis’ blue eyes glimmered.
“Although there is not much trust built between you and the Republic of Batavia, you still have the right to make them prove their loyalty. I am sure Helvetica will understand as well.”
“All right!”
I gave a satisfied nod.
“Lapis, go have a match with the leaders of the Helvetica Federation! I will give you the Emperor’s seal, so use it however you see fit.”
“As you command.”
The very next day, Lapis was appointed as the Emperor of Habsburg’s universal agent. She was dispatched to the Helvetica Federation and managed to settle all of the contracts within a week.
I don’t know the details, but Lapis actually managed to hire foot soldiers for 300 gold per soldier, and cavalrymen for 600 gold per soldier.
This was already enough to receive a bravo, but this wasn’t all that she had managed to do.
I have no idea how she threatened them, but the leaders of Helvetica must’ve been quite terrified as they went as far as to promise to cover the wages of 2,000 cavalrymen themselves! Now I only had to pay 5,000 cavalrymen out of the 7,000 we hired.
Thus, the expenditure that could have potentially been 17 million gold was successfully brought down to 9 million by Lapis. She had basically cut down the cost by half!
That’s right. I have to be modest and acknowledge it here.
Compared to Lapis, I am but a firefly underneath the moon. A mere child reciting a poem before Charles Pierre Baudelaire. A novice performing necromancy before Barbatos. I must look like an idiot who was about to waste 8 million gold in Lapis’ eyes. Praise the great Lapis Lazuli, the azure succubus!
“Lapis! You are the best!”
I ran out barefooted the moment Lapis returned from Helvetica and pulled her into a hug. The barefooted part wasn’t some sort of idiom. I was quite literally barefooted. I wasn’t wearing shoes because I had just been having sex with Gamigin.
“Truly, I appointed the best person as my prime minister! No one else can possibly compare. Lapis is the best!”
Lapis gave a curt response while being held in my arms.
“

Sir Dantalian, this is the imperial palace where proper etiquette is highly valued.”
“The Empire is an extension of me, so it is fine to ignore that kind of etiquette!”
“The maids are watching. This is embarrassing.”
Her tone was blunt with not even a hint of embarrassment.
I was willing to go as far as to put her on my back and do a lap around the palace, but I held myself back because Lapis looked at me as if I were a piece of food waste. That gaze made me realize why the leaders of Helvetica must have been terrified. Lapis is a terrifying girl

.
“It must have been tiring going to and from Helvetica, right? Do you want some refreshing wine?”
“My trip was carried out through teleportation magic. I have no fatigue whatsoever.”
“Ah

that’s right! Then how about a back massage? Despite my appearance, I am someone whose massaging skills were praised as even Barbatos suggested that I should stop being a Demon Lord and become a masseuse instead.”
“I am fine. Also, Her Excellency was not praising you, she was being sarcastic, Sir Dantalian.”
I was so proud of Lapis for saving us 8 million gold that I wanted to do something for her.
I suddenly felt a gaze.
I turned around to see Daisy sideglancing me with a bleary look. It was almost like she had witnessed something she shouldn’t have.
I erased the expression on my face as I faced her.
“What are you looking at? Is there something you want to say?”
“

Nothing.”
Daisy spoke with an expression that appeared as if she were holding back a sigh.
“Should I bring some wine from the storage, Father?”
“It is a relief to know that you have at least some tact left in your brain. If you did not suggest that, then I would have started to suspect whether your head contained a skull or a bucket. Stop dawdling and go fetch the wine.”
I then turned back to speak affectionately to Lapis.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t given you a vacation yet. How about taking one now? You’ve been working non-stop for over five years, so it’s high time you took a break. I actually had a mansion built in Niflheim, and I’d be more than happy to lend it to you as a vacation home.”
“

Haa.”
I heard Daisy let out a sigh behind me.
That girl is a gloomy child anyway. She probably felt the irrationality of life again. It didn’t matter to me whether she despaired over that irrationality or not, so I ignored her.
Thanks to Lapis’ outstanding performance, I was able to greatly reduce our spending. Feeling invigorated, I ordered our troops to advance.
With a total military strength of 27,000, and Laura de Farnese as the commander-in-chief.
It was the best mercenaries being led by the best commander.
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“Your Excellency Consul, the imperial army has set off for war.”
Kurtz Schleiermacher promptly gave his report after entering the office. Elizabeth took a sip from her beverage that had vinegar in it before posing a question.
“This is later than anticipated. Their numbers?”
“We estimate that it is between twenty to forty thousand.”
Elizabeth furrowed he brows.
“That range is too wide. Twenty and forty thousand are comparable to heaven and earth, General Schleiermacher.”
“I am ashamed. We released as many spies as possible, so we should be able to get a more precise number

. Furthermore, there is a reason why it has been difficult to estimate their numbers.”
“A reason?”
Kurtz nodded his head.
“The Crescent Alliance has not been rallied. Be it Barbatos or the troops under her command, neither of them has moved. Your Excellency, it appears that the Empire intends to go to war with only mercenaries.”
“Hm

.”
“We still do not know why they have decided to do this. No matter how easy mercenaries are to use, they cannot compare to an army of demons.”
Elizabeth fell into a long silence after Kurtz finished speaking. She continued to think with her glass against her lips even after finishing her glass of vinegar water.
“

I see. He is trying to obtain the goodwill of other nations, Kurtz. Dantalian is paying mind to his diplomatic reputation.”
“His diplomatic reputation?”
Elizabeth brushed her silver hair behind her ear.
“They are not rallying their own citizens to go to war. They are using only mercenaries. This is not an all-out war between the Habsburg Empire and Sardinia. This is simply a duel between nobles where only their honor and money are on the line

 He is trying to give off this impression.”
Kurtz thought audibly as he stroked his chin.
“Then that means Dantalian is using a huge sum to hire mercenaries all for the sake of improving his image. Would this really have that much of an effect?”
“Think about it. What is the justification for this war? It is for the sake of preserving Laura de Farnese’s honor as a noble. If the Emperor goes to war after personally hiring only mercenaries, then this would make it so that he is keeping her honor while not forcing his people to sacrifice themselves. In all respects, this will appear as an honorable duel

.”
Elizabeth let out a sigh.
“Their justification is not remaining as such and is substantially supporting their actions. Habsburg’s justification will undoubtedly grow stronger. Adding to this, this also has the effect of preemptively preventing them from being criticized by international diplomacy.”
“Criticism from international diplomacy, is it?”
Her complexion became dark.
“If they had mobilized the Demon Lord Army, then we could have embellished this as another demon invasion. This would have also given the Kingdom of Sardinia a justification. Dantalian prevented this from ever happening

. A meticulous man through and through.”
“But we are also well prepared, Your Excellency.”
“Indeed.”
Elizabeth stood from her chair.
“It is our turn to move, Kurtz. Have our troops be on standby at the border. We most likely will not have to wait long.”
“Yes, as you command, Your Excellency.”