Chapter 58: 30.2

Chapter 30-2: Forced Arrangement (2)

Onean had no interest in hearing him lament his own ill-fortune. Instead, she turned to him and asked, "If my father clashes with Prince Lazaar, what are you going to do? You're a noble of the Effer Kingdom, but your heart lies with Miss Lana, doesn't it?"

"What can a minor figure like me possibly do?" Erwin asked with a resigned sigh, but deep down, he was thinking to himself that if such a day were to come, then he would most likely go and find her. If they could get away, then he would run away together with her. If they couldn't, then he would just have to die with her.

"I bet you're already thinking about going to find her, right?" Onean was once again able to read his thoughts like an open book.

"Looks like I can't keep any secrets from you," Erwin said with another resigned sigh.

This was perhaps what was so captivating, but also terrifying about smart women, particularly a smart woman who was also as breathtakingly beautiful as Onean. Erwin felt like he was going to die at the hands of such a woman sooner or later.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do if Prince Lazaar wins?" Onean asked as she turned to look at him with a meaningful expression.

He thought about this for a moment before heaving a long sigh. "I don't know."

He stretched lazily against the sofa, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he continued, "If that happens, then I'll have to run away with you instead."

Onean couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this, and it was the first time that Erwin had seen a smile on her face since he walked into the room. "Should I thank you in advance? At least you're a fair man."

In reality, Erwin was terrified. Regardless of whether King Cameron or Prince Lazaar came out on top, the outcome was terrifying to him. Unfortunately for him, he was just a minor figure. In the face of an epic power struggle that could lead to the rise of a new ruler of the kingdom, he would only be a powerless bystander who was unable to change anything, and that thought made him feel very hurt and dejected.

"Let's not think too far into the future. My main concern is that if you join our mercenary legion, what if the soldiers of the Skycourt Kingdom discover your true identity on the front lines?" Erwin asked with furrowed brows. "With your silver hair and golden eyes, aren't you a little too recognizable? When the time comes, you might end up being abducted by the Skycourt Kingdom before you can even get to His Majesty!"

"Have you forgotten that I've already been studying under Master Piro for many years? With my expertise in brewing magic potions, changing the color of my hair is a simple matter," Onean chuckled.

"But we're all a bunch of men in the mercenary legion. Are you planning to dress up as a man as well?" Erwin asked with a troubled expression.

"I'll see. It depends on what I feel like," Onean said with a smile. "Also, keep this to yourself, there's no need to tell those friends of yours about this. The more people that know about this, the more prone the secret is to being leaked. I'm sure you wouldn't want that to happen, either."

"But they're not blind or stupid! They'll figure out something's not right sooner or later," Erwin exclaimed with wide eyes.

"That doesn't sound like my problem, you'll need to find a way to address that issue." Onean was dumping everything onto him, and he was completely powerless to refuse.

Erwin heaved a faint sigh, then asked, "Your Highness, who's going to look after you during the trip? You're still recovering from your injuries, so you need extra care. Should we bring along some of your servants with us?"

"No, I'm not going to take a single one of my servants," Onean said with an amused smile. "You will be my sole carer for this trip. If something happens to me along the way, then you'll have to think of a way to explain yourself to my father. If we take too many people with me, it'll be likelier for us to be busted, so I'm going all on my own."

Looking at Erwin's troubled expression, Onean was feeling quite pleased, but shortly thereafter, she erupted into another violent fit of coughing. Erwin reached out to help her up from her recliner chair so that she could go to her bed to rest, but she slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me! I'm not someone you can just lay your hands on as you please!" she said in a cold voice.

Just a moment ago, she had been warm and approachable, yet she had become extremely cold and forbidding all of a sudden, and Erwin didn't know what to do.

Onean quickly tucked herself into her own blankets, leaving only her face exposed.

Erwin could only shake his head with a resigned expression, then asked, "Where are we going to meet up tomorrow, Your Highness?"

"Aren't you the deputy commander? You call the shots," Onean replied.

Erwin thought about this for a moment, then suggested, "Then how about we meet up outside my father's manor at 8 AM tomorrow?"

Onean nodded in response, then turned her gaze away from Erwin before giving him a dismissive wave as a silent instruction for him to leave.

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After leaving the royal palace, Erwin traveled to the markets in the outer city, where all mercenary legions of different sizes had been sourcing supplies for the past few days. The markets were absolutely packed with people, and Erwin's knees immediately began to feel weak at the sight of such a crowded scene.

Thankfully, Erwin didn't have to squeeze through the crowd for very long before he spotted Lanyon, who was standing in front of a military rations shop that sold things like jerky, bread, and flour. He was in the process of bartering with someone, and he nodded to acknowledge Erwin, then continued to barter with the owner of the shop. Erwin left Lanyon to himself, then began to examine all of the types of dry rations that were available. He picked up a sample before having a taste, then heaved an internal sigh as he thought of the hard times that were to come.

Only after Lanyon had issued a deposit and given the shop owner the delivery address for the purchased goods did Erwin have a chance to speak to him.

"Did you instruct them to deliver the supplies to the horse farm owned by Chase's family? Erwin asked."

"That's right, Master Erwin. Everything has already been taken care of, all we need to do is give them the remaining sum that we owe once they deliver the supplies this afternoon," Lanyon replied.

"How many days' worth of food did you buy?"

"For 500 of us, the food that I bought today will be enough to feed us for 20 days. We'll require roughly five carts to carry all of the food."

"Then what are we going to do after those 20 days?" Erwin asked.

Lanyon turned to Erwin with an amused smile as the two of them made their way out of the market. "I can see that you don't make long journeys very often, Master Erwin. 20 days will definitely be enough for us to reach the next town or city, and we can purchase more supplies there."

"Oh, I see," Erwin said as an enlightened look appeared on his face. "All of the mercenary legions in the city are currently purchasing dry rations, so the price must've been driven quite high. If we purchase dry rations along the way instead, it would be cheaper."

"It won't be cheaper by a lot, but it'll definitely be cheaper than buying dry rations in Sarus," Lanyon replied with a smile. "These 20 days' worth of supplies will be enough to last us until we reach the next town or city."

Erwin nodded in response. "Looks like you have a lot more experience and foresight than me when it comes to things like this. By the way, have you bought the horse-drawn carts required to carry the dry rations?"

"Yesterday in the stables, I saw several horse-drawn carts that could be used to carry supplies, so I didn't buy any today. Can you speak to Master Chase to see if he'd be willing to donate his family's horse-drawn carts to our mercenary legion?" Lanyon asked with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Erwin turned to Lanyon with a stunned expression. "How could you do that? You've set me up!"

"We have to be conservative with our money, Master Erwin. We only have so few Loonies available, and we have to buy a lot of things, so we have to save wherever we can," Lanyon said in a resigned voice. "Weren't you and the others complaining about the tightness of the budget yesterday?"

"Surely we're not going to be able to save much from this," Erwin said with a wry smile.

"Well, a horse-drawn cart will generally cost around five Loonies, and even the worst ones will cost three Loonies. If we save up those Loonies, we'll be able to buy more things like dry rations, supplies, and tents," Lanyon explained.

"Lanyon, if I ever become king someday, you're definitely going to become my minister of finance. Just make sure you don't embezzle all of my royal court's funds into your own pocket," Erwin chuckled.

Lanyon was rather embarrassed by Erwin's jibes, and he replied with a wry smile, "I guess my future role as minister of finance is secured then."

Throughout the rest of the day, the two of them were so busy that they barely even had any time to drink water. It took them a long time just to barter with the merchants at the market, and the more they spent, the more Erwin realized that Lanyon was right. With so many things that had to be bought, the bag of Loonies that they had was growing lighter by the minute, so they really did have to be as miserly as possible with their spending. The supplies for the 500 people alone cost close to 1,000 Loonies, and that was coming directly out of the 28,000 Loonies that Erwin and his friends had pooled together.

That night, the two of them parted ways. Erwin had to go home to pack up his luggage, while Lanyon had to return to the horse farm to go through the delivered supplies. Prior to parting with Lanyon, Erwin instructed Lanyon to remind Larwood to take the Four Winds mercenary legion's flag to the department of military affairs for registration.

After returning to Count Friar's manor, Erwin immediately collapsed onto the sofa, and he felt like he never wanted to move again. The butler immediately approached Erwin upon seeing his return, and it was clear that he had something to say.

"Young Master, Master Friar will be staying in the barracks outside the city tonight, so he won't be returning today," the butler said as he pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "He asked me to pass this onto you."

Erwin accepted the envelope before taking a look, then asked, "Isn't the army only setting off tomorrow? Why does he have to go and stay in the barracks today?"

The butler was quite taken aback to hear this. "On the night before an army has to set off for battle, the generals of the army have to live in the barracks with their troops to establish a closer bond with them. Are you not familiar with this, Young Master? "

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