Chapter 10

'As one would expect from Master Ark." Lampard nodded his head in admiration as he looked at the peaceful Garum territory. 　It is a scene that was unthinkable just a few years ago. In just a few years, the territory has grown significantly. Although it is still in its early stages of development, it has progressed to a degree that is incomparable to the Garum territory when it was ruled by the previous ruler. Bandits were a particular problem for the people of the territory. The soldiers in Galum had previously been of low caliber, and the bandits had been able to run rampant as they pleased. This was a source of great worry for the people of the territory. Ark's military reforms had improved the quality of the army, but because the army had been reduced in size at the same time, the bandits were still running rampant. Ark himself, however, took the risk of taking down the bandits, and the number of bandits was greatly reduced. Ark's bandit hunts were so severe that the bandits left Garm territory in flight. Nowadays, bandits are rarely seen. 　Furthermore, Ark's reputation among the people of the territory has risen steadily. Combined with the development of the territory, Ark came to be revered by the people as if he were a hero. Soldiers who saw Ark's successes became more motivated, and their morale improved, and the army's strength increased., "A falcon begets a hawk," as the saying goes. Since Ark became Count Galum, the territory has been growing. Lampard was excited about the future, even though he was old. By the way, some of the bandits Ark defeated were from the Dark Forces. Arc had, without a doubt, destroyed the Dark Forces' base of operations. As an aside, the Dark Forces had a stronghold in the Devil's Mine. 　The mines were a source of funding for the Dark Hands. Not only did Ark succeed in destroying the bandits, but he was also able to obtain a large source of money by acquiring the Devil's Mine. Incidentally, the red magic stone found in the mine is a key item that strengthens the protagonist. In the original story, the protagonist would visit Galum territory in the middle of the story to obtain it, but in this reality, Ark was the one who obtained it. 　And that's beside the point. So far, the main territorial reforms that Ark - or Lampard, to be precise - has carried out have been to control the bleeding. Although Ark wanted to reduce unnecessary expenses and use surplus funds for investment, the lack of a key source of funds had made territorial reform difficult. However, with the discovery of the devil's mine, the Garum territory gained a large source of funds, and it is set to make remarkable progress in the future. At the beginning of the original story, Galum was in a state of ruin and infested with dark forces, but with the intervention of Arc, its fate was about to change drastically. Thus, the original scenario was changed little by little due to the intervention of Ark. When I found the mine, a wicked man approached me. He had a face, a scar on his forehead, and he seemed to be a rogue. 　He seemed to be an arms dealer. An arms dealer is just like that, isn't it? 　He is a merchant of death, isn't he? In other words, a villain! 　Hmmm... This could be useful. I'll let him sell the magic stone from my devil mine. 　Of course, I'll get a big chunk of the profits! 　Ha-ha-ha-ha! 　Other people came to me wanting to do business with me. They all looked earnest. 　They were dressed in expensive clothes and looked sincere. 　But no. I couldn't make money on such a straight deal. So I decided to make a deal with the most evil-looking guy I could find. "I'll sell the magic stone to your trading company first." "Hee-hee. Thank you, Master. ir." 　The villainous merchant smiled wickedly. 　I am sure I have the same look on my face. Let me make some money, all right? 　Sell me lots of weapons and make me rich! 　Hahahaha! The guy Ark called a villainous merchant is named Tamagire Weapon (T/n yup his name is kind of related to his business), the head of the Weapon Trading Company. 　He is the head of the Trading Company. 　The Weapon's Trading Company often appears in the original story. It is an association that sells weapons to the main characters and, conversely, buys materials from them. The Weapon's Merchant Association has a significant impact on the story. The demand for weapons is increasing day by day due to the large number of monsters in this period.d With the expectation that the need for weapons will increase even more in the future, a shortage of magical stones has become a problem. For the Weapon's Trading Company, the mines that suddenly opened up were like mountains of gold. Upon hearing the rumors, the Weapon immediately went to Ark and sealed the deal. However, it was a deal that was also valuable to Ark. Since Weapon was a man of action, he was offering a deal on terms that were rather favorable to ARC. Also, although the Garum territory has become a little better over the past few years, it is still a land with little value for the merchants. 　There was no telling when the land might fall into disrepair again in the future. Few people were willing to do business with Ark in such a situation. If there were any, it was a genuine ・・・・ villainous merchant. In fact, of all the merchants who came to Ark, all but Weapon, They are brats who don't know how to do business anyway. ' 　"I'm going to squeeze them out of the market." They all had earnest, good-natured looks on their faces. The bad guys are the ones who look rather evil-looking. Amongst the many big losers, Ark had hit the jackpot with the Weapon's Trading Company. Thus, Arc unknowingly got a good deal and a good business partner. And with the funds obtained here, the territory of Galum would continue to grow and expand in the future.