Kid grinned—the more generous the new leader of Holylight was, the better. Kid saw an opportunity and took it. “Surely, you must host some form of celebration of your victory. Besides, there’s no need to spend all of that money solely on the party.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even I can see that your soldiers’ armaments have seen better days. Their armor has been patched up over and over... How much of it is really as effective as it should be?”
“You certainly don’t beat around the bush...” Harts turned his back on Kid. He might have had no idea what to do with the gold medallions, but that didn’t mean he had to stand there and let a merchant mock him.
“If you’ll allow us, we can provide all new gear for your soldiers: chain mail, scale armor, lamellar armor, leather armor... Whatever you need,” Kid said, finally getting to the heart of his visit.
Harts returned his gaze to Kid, having been baited hook, line, and sinker. New equipment was the thing Harts had wanted more than anything. He had no interest in items nobles traditionally longed for, but this offer had certainly grabbed his attention. “In that case, I want all the gambesons we can get. And new saddles, horse armor, stocks of arrows... Lumber and good iron. Durable rope from the City States and oil. Not to mention...” Harts went on, rattling off his wish list.
A gambeson was a sort of protective jacket that absorbed impact, meant to be worn under a suit of armor. The poorer Militant soldiers had only worn street clothes under their armor, and Harts had dreamed of providing better protection for his army. Once this can of worms had been opened, Harts showed no sign of stopping. After fighting for so long without the funds, his wish list had had plenty of time to grow.
Satisfied with his response, Kid nodded along. “You can leave it all to the Kid Company. To be honest, we have an overstock of weapons we acquired during the peaceful seasons, and other military supplies we seized to settle loans.”
“B-But I’m not sure I could use those precious gold medallions for my personal wants...” Harts muttered, sobering from his excitement.
Alas, Kid had already squeezed his foot in the door. “My guess is that this Tahara’s goal is only to pour money into the economy of the North. There are plenty of ways to achieve that.”
“He did mention a concern for our economy...” Harts admitted.
Kid was right. As long as most of the region relied on bartering because there wasn’t enough currency to go around, there was no hope for economic prosperity. In fact, Tahara was looking to shock all economies in Holylight by injecting them with copious amounts of gold.
“In that case, you should source the food and libations for the party from around the North,” Kid said. “If that is too time-consuming for your people, we shall scrounge in your stead.”
“Your offers are very generous. I can’t help but think you have an ulterior motive beyond this deal.”
“I merely speculate that Holylight will soon decide to march northward. It seems inevitable that once the fractured Holylight is unified, it will storm its neighbors with furious vigor,” Kid said.
Harts felt something cold run down his spine. Kid spoke as if he had sat in on the leadership meeting himself. “March north...” Harts repeated. “Until a few days ago, I never would have dreamed of it.” It had been impossible to turn his attention outward while Holylight’s factions had remained at war.
Kid, an elite merchant, could foresee a good deal of what was going to happen next. “And when Holylight marches north, the militant nobles will be the core of that invasion. You may feel like a small fish in this vast continent, but you will soon become a whale that will require all the weapons and supplies you can get.”
“You need to practice the art of subtlety, sir,” Harts said, even though he found Kid’s bluntness refreshing. He had long found conversations in high society tedious when they were stuffed full of pleasantries and innuendoes that left him clueless as to their point.
“Trite, surface-level pleasantries aren’t your style. And my company likes making friends with the little fish of this world so we can reap the rewards when they grow into whales.”
“At least you’re straightforward...” Harts said. Even though his brain was geared toward military applications, he was able to understand Kid’s strategy—giving up on competing with Suneo when it came to selling to the rich to focus on military deals that Suneo did not take part in. He’s quite a strategist... He’s willing to give up the battle before him to flank another front. It couldn’t have been easy to leave the business against the rich when that had been the Kid Company’s bread and butter for so long. Kid seemed more like a decisive battle strategist than a merchant.
“We have been ordered to expand our forces. To ten thousand,” Harts said, putting some trust in Kid.
“Ten thousand...! Now that smells of battles to come!” Kid said, making mental calculations. Even the Tzardom’s army, the largest in the continent, only reached twenty thousand members. The new king of Holylight wasn’t wasting time reaching half of that. Kid could hardly imagine how large Holylight’s army would grow in the end. Naturally, an enormous army needed an endless supply, which meant an endless source of revenue for Kid. He smiled, dreaming of the exciting days ahead. “My company will use every resource available to us to help pave a path for the new king of the world.”
“King of the world... No, you’re right. I just hadn’t realized our nation had gotten to this state.” Harts gazed northward from where he stood atop the castle wall. The vast Northern Nations lay before him. His battleground was really expanding...to the entire world.