Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Lord Robson Takes Office at Qimo Fortress

Qimo Fortress, Inner City.

Robson stepped into his private office, feeling quite emotional.

’I never thought I’d get this far so quickly.’

He approached his desk. On it lay a single document concerning the handover of troops for Qimo Fortress.

After opening it and confirming the contents, Robson signed his name.

"DING! 601 Tier-1 Frankish Peasants have joined your force."

"DING! 511 Tier-2 Frankish Militia have joined your force."

Robson had already managed the transfer of new recruits upon entering Qimo Fortress, but signing this document made it official.

These Soldiers were the very foundation of Lord Robson’s power. How much territory he could snatch and what noble title he could acquire after the war depended entirely on these men.

Unfortunately, the Fengman Clan hadn’t left many troops in Qimo Fortress. Even with the soldiers Valentino had promised, Robson still couldn’t fill his ranks.

Whenever he thought about this, Robson was reminded of his deal with Viscount Luke. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

If someone were to pay him to train their troops, Robson certainly wouldn’t refuse.

For one, it wouldn’t waste the open slots, and Qimo Fortress was going to have plenty of expenses. Not to mention, this current batch of Soldiers couldn’t even be fully outfitted with leather armor, and their weapons were nothing more than the most basic iron blades.

Only when you were in charge did you realize how expensive everything was. He had to take what he could get.

For another, Robson had also discovered that while the system didn’t show it, his training efficiency had clearly improved with experience.

Besides, even if the troops were well-trained, they would most likely die in this war anyway.

Unfortunately, while Robson had grown to love the idea of being a ’power-leveler’, Viscount Luke was the only client he knew.

Robson resolved that the next time he met Viscount Luke, he would have to get him to introduce more customers.

A set of footsteps sounded. It was Viscount Fuman.

"Sir, the accounts have been sorted. Please take a look."

So fast? Robson was quite surprised. ’Can becoming an Extraordinary strengthen your mind? I’ve never heard of that...’

Viscount Fuman placed a document on Robson’s desk, then took a seat in a leather chair in the room.

"I never thought that after just a dozen days, I’d be back to my old trade," Viscount Fuman remarked.

Robson didn’t mind Viscount Fuman’s impudence. ’Who has time for so many rules in a time of war?’

"I thought your old trade was dancing among young ladies while wearing Eastern silks, sir," Robson joked.

"Indeed. I was supposed to be a merchant..."

Amid their banter, Robson opened the ledger. The more he read, the deeper his frown became.

"Viscount Fuman, are you certain there’s no problem with this ledger?" Robson questioned.

It wasn’t that Robson doubted Viscount Fuman; it was that the ledger was so ridiculous it defied common sense.

’Never mind the other entries. How could the 1,000 units of Magic Crystals, which were just restocked last month, have been completely consumed by the Magic Crystal Cannon?’

’Do we even have a Magic Crystal Cannon?’

’Actually, we do...’ Robson suddenly remembered. There was indeed one on the wall, long fallen into disrepair and covered in a thick layer of dust...

Believing that thing could fire was less plausible than believing Count Offman had just breached Marda Palace and captured the Beast Emperor Dog Head alive.

"You’re not joking, are you? Some of these entries seem problematic," Robson said.

"To be precise, the question should be which of these entries *don’t* have a problem, Sir. I’ve done a rough comparison, and you barely even need to look at them.

The numbers don’t add up at all. It’s too ridiculous.

I asked Bruce Priest. Before the previous Officer left, there were at least 1,000 sets of weapons, 50,000 arrows, and enough food for a large army for two months in the warehouse. These supplies were meant to last until... hmm, the end of the war.

But now, in just a few short days, they have been completely depleted!

Sir, these people have been far too greedy. If we can’t make them spit it back out, forget about securing Qimo Fortress. The next time the Beastmen attack, we’ll be completely out of food and ammunition!" Viscount Fuman said with a helpless shrug.

Robson’s brows knitted together. He had expected that a portion of the fortress’s supplies would have been embezzled, but he never thought they wouldn’t leave a single thing for him.

Robson knew it was impossible to completely root out corruption, nor did he have any intention of trying. These nobles wouldn’t lift a finger without being paid, and investigating too harshly in the current situation might even be counterproductive.

But for the nobles of Qimo Fortress to be this brazen, it was already seriously compromising the fortress’s basic operations.

"There’s a celebratory banquet tonight. All the nobles in the fortress will be there. I’ll deal with it then," Robson said.

"In that case, I will disturb you no further." Viscount Fuman nodded.

All he could do now was hope that Robson could make those greedy nobles cough some of it back up. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to do his job in logistics.

...

"Sir, you called for me?" Bruce entered the room, his heart filled with apprehension. Although he had chosen to ignore Robson’s initial actions, Bruce had still taken the time to learn about the situation in the fortress.

Not knowing was one thing, but finding out was a shock. He knew this group might have been a little greedy, but he never expected them to leave nothing at all.

As the one responsible for Qimo Fortress during this period, Bruce had nearly stormed over and cursed the nobles to their faces.

’No matter what, you could have at least left a little something behind!’

"Priest, you’re here. I have a ledger I’d like you to look over," Robson said, producing the document Viscount Fuman had left behind.

Bruce took it. The more he read, the more horrified he became, until he could barely hold the document steady.

In his mind, Bruce was already cursing every last noble in the fortress.

’Fine, be greedy, but who did they think they were fooling by cooking the books this badly? They left evidence everywhere!’

Bruce wiped the cold sweat from his brow with a trembling hand.

"Sir, I’m sure there must be some misunderstanding here," Bruce said, at a loss for words.

’With the entire fortress this rotten, he, the man in charge, couldn’t escape responsibility.’

"Naturally, I believe you, Priest. The followers of the Lord of Dawn are known for their integrity.

However, I heard from the Earl that Marquis Brant and Prince Noah have already begun their work in the Royal Capital.

As you know, Priest, ever since the great defeat thirty years ago, His Majesty has had a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.

This time, while Marquis Brant is overseeing the logistics for the defensive line, he also carries an anti-corruption mandate, directly from the King.

Currently, the Marquis has no leads. Now that such a thing has happened at Qimo Fortress, I trust you understand the gravity of the situation, Priest?" Robson said.

Valentino had drilled all this information into him before he took up his post.

’The King did indeed have a zero-tolerance policy on corruption, but that was decades ago.’

’Marquis Brant was indeed here for an anti-corruption campaign, but unfortunately, he had brought Prince Noah with him.’

’Marquis Brant hadn’t made a move yet, most likely because no voices of opposition to Prince Noah had emerged on the Western Front.’

’If this situation were to continue, the "anti-corruption" campaign would likely just become powerful proof of Marquis Oscillate’s effective command of his troops.’

’As long as Qimo Fortress didn’t cause any trouble, Marquis Brant likely wouldn’t have cared. After all, this was a political mission; he couldn’t just arrest anyone and everyone who was corrupt, could he?’

’If he really did that, they might as well give up on building a defensive line and just start discussing how to overthrow Louis III.’

’Clearly, that would be chaos.’

But that had nothing to do with Robson.

At least on the surface, Marquis Brant was on an anti-corruption mission, and by that measure, Qimo Fortress was a prime target for a purge.

Bruce Priest’s face fell. A Marquis! He had never even seen a Marquis in his entire life.

Bruce knew Robson had no reason to lie to him about this.

"My lord, I... I didn’t do any of these things, my lord."