Waiting for the Right Moment

Judging from the descriptions in the diary, being an apothecary made money as easily as robbery. It was an extremely lucrative technical monopoly.

Hearing that, Saik's eyes actually grew a little misty. He knew he had not chosen the wrong person to follow. Compared to the royals he had served before, this lord had practically given everything he had to the Commoner Army.

Whenever Saik had previously asked those royals for money to train the army, they had always been miserly. Even with vast treasures in their possession, they would rather let them rot in their vaults than take them out. Lord Westland, on the other hand, not only did not privately appropriate taxes from his territory, but was also willing to invest the funds he gained through his own adventures into the army.

"My lord, I will definitely handle this matter properly! We will never lose this war..."

"I trust you." Mel nodded. If he doubted someone, he would not use them. If he used someone, he would not doubt them.

The winged scouts had already been sent to the front lines to monitor the Noble Army's movements. Once war broke out between the prince and the princess, they could immediately dispatch troops to attack.

Even if the prince and those nobles realized what was happening by then, they would not be able to return to reinforce their lands at once. Otherwise, their main battlefield would collapse.

It was certainly taking advantage of a crisis, but Mel was not worried. Those nobles' territories had already been squeezed dry. Once he took them over, he would probably have to slowly restore production anyway.

The nobles' usual practice was to raise taxes during wartime, allowing them to squeeze out more soldiers.

Of course, this time Mel was after the nobles' assets.