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The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 6
The butler training held at the Saleon family was a kind of test.
It was an occasion to select those without disqualifying factors by having butler candidates stay at the mansion.
The criteria were quite strict and unreasonable, making one wonder who would do this, but as expected for the position of a duke’s butler, not only the first annex where I was staying, but the second annex was also full of butler candidates.
However, since most of them, like me, came for other purposes, the atmosphere was rather dull.
Unable to bear the boredom of an 8-week ban on going out, the prospective butlers started flirting with the maids of the annex, resulting in a rather disorderly situation.
The butler candidates went around bragging about seducing maids as if recounting martial exploits, and the maids boasted about dating a scion from a certain house.
I was a victim of this disorderly atmosphere.
“Elaine. May I have a moment?”
“Ugh.”
How many times has this happened?
The head butler Joan called me over with a sigh.
“What is it?”
She, in charge of training the butlers, spoke with a stern look.
“I heard you were talking to Serena a little while ago. What business did you have? You also spoke to Alisa before that.”
“It wasn’t so much talking as being called over. I know what you’re worried about, but it definitely wasn’t my fault.”
I felt wronged.
It seemed to have become a kind of achievement among the maids to seduce me, and the invitations never stopped coming.
Whether I was reading a book alone in the study or resting alone in the garden, I was constantly being invited to talk, driving me up the wall.
Joan seemed to vaguely know about this situation too, as she gently held her forehead, saying it gave her a headache.
“If that’s the case, I can’t really advise you to be more mindful of your behavior. I understand. I’ll have a stern talk with Serena and Alisa.”
Judging that she couldn’t just leave it be, Joan said, “Starting tomorrow, the ban on going out will be lifted. It’s a good opportunity to broaden your perspective, so don’t miss it.”
She was telling me to go out and have fun outside the mansion.
That was what I wanted too.
What annoyed me about this butler training was the ban on going out.
For the initial 8 weeks, I had to stay at the mansion except for times when going to the academy.
And today.
After the primary butler training ended and the personnel selection was completed, the ban on going out was finally lifted.
To put it positively, I gained freedom; to put it negatively, I was practically eliminated as a butler candidate.
“So this is the taste of freedom… It reminds me of a hundred-day vacation.”
After leaving the mansion, I headed to the central square, the promised meeting point.
Master Ilya was waiting there.
“Master!”
“Hm, you’re early.”
“Thank you for coming despite being busy.”
“What, I also happened to receive a request from Grancel, so don’t worry about it.”
Master agreed to accompany me today as both a guard and a guide. Since she knew a lot about the streets and underworld at night, she was well-suited for the role.
“How is the butler training going?”
“It’s not fun. Well, there are some useful parts, I suppose.”
There were quite a few things to learn related to the etiquette of the nobility. That was about it, which was the problem.
“The etiquette of nobles, huh. If I get a chance, I’d like to learn it too. These days, I often encounter nobles.”
“Oh, that’s right. You mentioned receiving a request from a Count’s family.”
Master was raising her reputation as a mercenary. She had already reached the highest rank of S-class among mercenaries.
By now, her fees had become so exorbitant that our family couldn’t afford to pay for her tuition, but master kindly continued to serve as my tutor whenever she had time without asking for additional payment.
“Yeah, it is for the Kingdom of Alvard. It was just a simple escort mission, but being an escort mission, the formalities were important. They were so loud and noisy, let me tell you.”
“Well, if they’re high-ranking nobles, they may be particular about unnecessary things.”
“Heh, if you don’t mind, I’ll have you teach me later. I think I’ll be motivated if you teach me.”
“I’d be happy to.”
I led master to the back alleys of Grancel.
Our territory was small and didn’t have such a red-light district, but this large city was different.
The evening streets had become even busier.
As soon as we entered the streets, the faint smell of alcohol wafted over, and people’s attire was clearly different.
“But you actually agreed. Given your personality, I thought you’d say it’s still too early for this kind of thing.”
“This level is cute.”
“Cute, you say?”
“Compared to cities like Karten or Etera, this is nothing. At least here, there are no slave markets or underground fighting pits.”
“That’s true. It seems they’re intensively managing public order.”
Usually, when red-light districts grow large, they tend to give up on public order to some extent.
They strictly control the surrounding areas but don’t heavily intervene in what happens inside the red-light district.
This place hadn’t reached that level yet. Territory security guards were standing in every alley, and if a fight broke out, they immediately rushed over to stop it.
As a result, there were many entertainment venues for the upper class here.
High-end bars and horse racing tracks targeting nobles, for instance.
“It doesn’t look like the horse races are happening now. We’ll have to come back during the day.”
“That’s fine. There’s somewhere else I want to go. But before that…”
I needed to conceal my face.
I tried to buy a mask from a nearby street stall, but didn’t see any suitable items.
Seeming to read my intention, master pointed out something else.
“If you want to conceal your face, how about using a helmet? Since I’m also here, we can pretend to be mercenaries.”
“It might obscure my vision quite a bit… But I guess it doesn’t matter.”
I bought a grayish helmet and put it on, then proceeded to tour the streets of Grancel in earnest.
***
The purpose for me wandering the streets at night was largely two things.
Finding talented individuals. And an experiment to increase wealth.
Both of these were weapons to avoid the scheduled destruction in the future.
‘In the end, I have to nurture power.’
The decisive cause for Ars’s destruction was the traitor’s trap, but fundamentally it was because there was no backup support.
There was no innate bloodline, no family’s glory, and no wealth possessed.
In such a situation, with unsatisfactory achievements as well, it was only natural to be criticized as an incompetent fool by other colleagues.
‘If Ars had had a reliable supporter, the situation would have been different.’
And it was not that such a supporter was completely absent.
‘Ars’ major supporters that could be known through in-game knowledge were seven.’
They were the figures who believed and followed him even after Ars was branded a traitor, even after he illegally escaped from prison.
In a sense, they were figures who trusted Ars more than the protagonist.
I planned to quickly make these figures my allies first.
Based on that, I would establish a solid foothold so that when I joined the protagonist, even the traitor would not dare expel me.
After that, by finding and expelling the traitor from within the forces, I could surely avoid my own destruction.
‘There is a possibility that a traitor exists among the seven supporters, but…’
Since there is no basis to judge that now, I decided to think about that part after gathering all of them.
‘Strictly speaking, in the Karrlax war they decided to abandon the protagonist and follow Ars…so it would be good to tentatively name them Ars’s seven vassals.’
The in-game keywords for those seven vassals were:
– Ironwall
– Saint
– Rescue Squad
– Wyvern
– Rabid
– Master Artisan
– The ‘mercenary’ Ilya Anfei
– ???
In addition to those seven, there was also an unidentified armored figure who helped Ars escape from prison, but since I didn’t know that one’s identity either, I decided not to think about it for now.
‘So if it’s like that, out of the eight, six remain now…’
That’s right. One of them.
The one-armed mercenary who came to help Ars with her mercenary troops, questioning Ars’ downfall.
Ilya Anfei was already by my side, with the title of master.
The moment I met Ilya, I felt a strong sense of destiny, and this was the reason.
“May I have a moment?”
Having visited the black market, I decided to collect information about them.
‘For the Saint, Wyvern, Rescue Squad, and Master Artisan, I can naturally meet them by following the main story line, so there’s no hurry… But’
Rabid and Ironwall are different.
If the story changes even slightly, there is a possibility the encounter event itself may disappear.
So just for them, it would be better for me to gather them in advance instead of the protagonist.
“Hm, all but one of those names are new to me.”
“The one you’re referring to?”
The information broker shrugged and continued speaking.
“If it’s about the whereabouts of Rosenberg, then I know. Though it’s news from a few days ago.”
“As expected.”
Rosenberg of Ironwall. He has been found.
This was encouraging news. In Rosenberg’s case, since he was a person with special circumstances, if I could meet the conditions, I would likely be able to scout him.
“Would you like to hear that information?”
“Tell me.”
“Give me 5,000 sillan.”
After paying the amount, the information broker handed me a letter-shaped document.
“Anything else you want to know?”
“Then can you tell me the location of the secret salon in Grancel?”
“10,000 sillan. Think of this not as an information fee, but an entry fee.”
Although the entry fee was quite expensive, I decided to think of it as an investment.
After paying the amount and receiving the location of the secret salon, I went to my waiting master and told her about it.
Master was dumbfounded, saying there is no such thing as a good troublemaker, but still followed me behind.
The secret salon of Grancel was a kind of casino.
It gave off an elegant vibe, as it seemed to be frequented by many nobles.
And sure enough, the gambling that involved the most money was chess.
And this was precisely the reason I had come here.
‘Where should I earn some pocket money?’
There was another purpose besides earning pocket money.
It was to gauge the overall level of chess players in this world.
“Ars, what in the world are you doing?”
“What am I doing? I’m trying to participate in a betting chess game.”
“No…”
Master held her head as if she had a headache, but soon nodded.
“Well, this will be a good experience too.”
Master seemed to think I would be badly defeated.
From my perspective, it would be more surprising if I lost even one game.
And so I barged into the game hall, but was naturally turned away.
“Only those with proven status can participate. Please leave.”
“Tch.”
Well, they can’t just let any dog or cow play, can they?
“Doesn’t my status work?”
“You are…?”
“Ilya Anfei. An S-rank mercenary belonging to the Mercenary Association.”
“I, Ilya Anfei!”
The gatekeeper was startled.
There are less than 20 S-rank mercenaries across the entire continent. Especially since she mainly operated in the eastern part of the continent where the Calliper Kingdom belonged, she was quite well-known.
“You wish to play a match?”
“No, the one who wants to play is over here…”
Master hesitated on how to address me.
I quickly cut in. I roughened my voice as much as possible and said, “I’m a mercenary called Wade.”
It was the moment when Wade, the free-to-play god of Athena War Tales, made his appearance.
“Good. Tell me the amount you wish to bet. Then I’ll guide you to the game hall.”
“100,000 sillan.”
It was the amount I had saved up over 2 years with no allowance.
It’s about 1 million won in Korean currency.
“100,000 sillan… Then go to game hall number 21.”
“Thank you.”
Since 100,000 sillan wasn’t a huge betting amount, he guided me to an obscure place.
There sat a man with shifty eyes.
He was wary of master, but seemed a bit relieved when I, not master, took a seat.
“How much do you want to bet?”
“How much? Of course all 100,000 sillan.”
“I don’t like that. How about starting with 50,000 sillan.”
It’s the same whether I lose 50,000 sillan twice or 100,000 sillan at once.
Well, I understand the feeling of wanting multiple chances.
“Then let’s do 50,000 sillan.”
“I’ll take white first, since I was sitting here first.”
“Do as you please.”
The man started with the white pieces.
I played somewhat carelessly but still managed to win.
“Check.”
“I lost… Let’s start the next game right away.”
“But you have to give me 50,000 sillan first.”
“Damn it.”
Thud! I received the money pouch he threw and handed it to master.
Master stared blankly, as if she couldn’t believe my victory.
After taking all 100,000 sillan from the man in front of me, I put aside my initial investment of 100,000 sillan and used the 100,000 I had won to find another opponent.
It became 200,000 sillan, 400,000 sillan, 800,000 sillan, and when it reached 1.6 million sillan, the surroundings began to grow noisy.
Once the amount reached this level, I could no longer find any opponents.
‘It’s about time for the bait to be taken.’
Just then,
“May I have a moment?”
It was an old man who seemed to be in charge of the salon.
“You seem quite skilled. Are you interested in playing a match against our salon’s champion?”
“Of course, I’d be happy to. The ordinary matches were getting quite boring.”
“What a spirited friend! I like that. Prepare the game hall right away!”
Along with him, the entire salon began to stir.
It was as if a long-awaited event had finally occurred.
‘Good, they’ve taken the bait.’
This was not a simple betting chess, but real betting chess.
The real gambling was about to begin.
LELOUCH?! IS THAT YOU? DID YOU GET ISEKAI’D?!