145 -) Hazarhans
There were 5 people in the carriage where the Grand Prince was making a speech. One of them was Beric Vandemir, cousin of the Grand Prince and the acting lord of the city, Vanore. He was sitting down after his opening speech and quietly listening to the Grand Prince’s words with a slight smile.
Two of them were also Beric’s blood relatives: the son and daughter of the Grand Prince, Varian and Valene Hazarhan. Varian Hazarhan was the current crown prince.
Even though he is not as outstanding as his father, he is a decent person and works hard for his image. Since most of the lords of other cities and influential Ahrims prefer stability, he should be the next Grand Prince at the next election.
***
Varian Hazarhan
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Status: Normal
Equipment:
Orichalcum Dagger ◙+◙+
Mythril Amulet ◙+◙+
Mythril Ring ◙+◙+
Job: Soldier Level 35
***
He is said to be attracted to the military and fond of soldiers. He is also liked by the soldiers as he spends much time with them. He has the Soldier job with a level of 35. Therefore, it wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption to think of him trying to get the captain or commander job.
The high echelons of the hierarchy mostly prefer monetary-focused jobs. However, it doesn’t mean the military is disregarded. The only reason they chose to become merchants or artisans was that they could see their profits more concretely. Additionally, the increase in merchants and products also increases the volume of trade. If managed well, it would increase the wealth of all people involved collectively.
The person sitting beside the crown prince was his sister, Valene Hazarhan. She had lighter brown hair compared to her father and brother, who both had dark brown hair. She looked uptight and had a faint and elegant smile on her face as if she had trained to keep it like that.
Despite being a princess, her dress was not extravagant, but simple, more like a business suit. It is said that she is a role model for women in business. As a woman, being a candidate for the throne was extremely rare and frowned upon; instead, she had dedicated herself to becoming a merchant.
***
Valene Hazarhan
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Status: Normal
Equipment:
Mythril Dagger ◙+
Platinum Pendant ◙+◙+
Platinum Ring ◙+
Job: Great Merchant Level 2
***
Her job shows how much effort she puts into her work. Although she is still in her early twenties, she managed to attain the Great Merchant job. Many other merchants work with her, like her subordinates. In a sense, she is like a banker or investor.
She is the sister of the future Grand Prince and the daughter of the current one. She is also engaged to an influential jewelry artisan. Since she is not the rival of the prince, she will continue to get the support of the Grand Prince in the future. So it is only natural for people to flock around her.
The last person other than the Grand Prince on the caravan was the Sage and the advisor of the palace, Arkut Manas. He is a Sage, one of the rarest jobs in the Union, not in the whole continent. He has also been the advisor of the Grand Prince since his childhood, so he is both trustworthy and wise.
***
Arkut Manas
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Status: Old (Early-stage)
Equipment:
Mythrantite Wand ◙+◙+◙+◙+◙+
Mythril Amulet ◙+◙+◙+
Mythril Ring ◙+◙+
Job: Sage Level 5
***
He had held the Sage class for a while, but he was still only level 5. This showed how hard it had to be to level up after unlocking a Tier 5 class. It would be hard even for me, but I could just climb higher floors since I would become incredibly stronger with Tier 5 jobs, and my experience multiplier skills would naturally help.
He is mostly by the Grand Prince’s side as his closest aide and advisor. Aside from that, he must be responsible for the usage of the magical tools to inject his mana or use some sort of magic. Considering the gesture he displayed instead of holding or pointing toward an item, it must be the latter.
All 5 of these people were among the most influential people in the Hazaroth Union. However, the top one was making a speech, so all people, including them, were focused on him and listening to what he was saying.
***
Harkon Hazarhan
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Status: Normal
Equipment:
Orichalcum Dagger ◙+◙+◙+
Bastion One-handed Sword ◙+◙+◙+◙+
Bastion Chainmail ◙+◙+
Bastion Enforced Footwear ◙+◙+◙+○
Mythril Enforced Gloves ◙+◙+◙+
Mythril Amulet ◙+◙+○
Mythril Ring ◙+◙+
Job: Mercenary King Level 20
***
He is certainly not a simple man. He has a level 20, tier 4 job. He must be busy with his duties as a Grand Prince, but it seems like he doesn’t neglect leveling up his job. He has the Mercenary King job. So he must be entering the dungeon with his high-level guards regularly. There is no way to increase a high-tier job otherwise.
It would not be strange for him to have a job related to business at all. Since he would be able to reach all sorts of goods and items, he could attend a higher-tier job more easily. However, he would be nothing more than a mere businessman in a job sense and get just those benefits.
As its name implies, the Mercenary King job gives him an aura of majesty befitting a king. Aside from that, a ruler, whether it is a city or a whole nation, should be apart from neither finance nor the military.
“The children of the great Hazaroth Union,” Harkon Hazarhan called people who were listening to him again. “Our ancestors built our cities, made them prosper, and left us a great fortune. When conflict arose, they solved it with their tongues instead of with their fists.” He spoke while making gestures toward his mouth and his clenched fist. “When one of them fell, they helped them and got what they gave severalfold instead of trying to rip one small piece like hyenas.”
He continued to count what their predecessor had achieved. “They were like one even when they were all separate cities. However, they decided to unify when a colossal enemy called the Empire started to show its greed toward us.” He pointed out why and how they act together with his every example as he continued, “In the end, they succeeded in blocking that enemy as well.”
He paused as if he had reached the point and looked around. Someone would have thought that he could see and read every person’s face from afar. While the silence hung in the venue, a soft wind blew, and the Grand Prince’s dark brown hair fluctuated as dust rose in the air.
“We are strong when we are one. We are rich when we work together. We are happy when our problems are solved through words alone. Thus, we should not keep this ridiculous situation continuing.” As he said, he stated the main reason for the event. “Three hundred soldiers of the Silver Regiment! Even if you are a military man, your purpose is not to solve problems through raw prowess alone. You will be there, so there won’t be any conflict that escalates to the military level.”
“Sir! Yes, Sir!” All units in the Silver Regiment stomped their heels on the ground at the exact same time while shouting in unison.
“Silver Regiment!” He shouted again, and he raised his hand toward the Silver Regiment as he pointed toward the eastern gate. “Protect the peace of the great Hazaroth Union!” He said, then he quickly lowered his arm as if trying something with his hand as he added, “Advance!”
“Ha!” They stomped their heels on the ground again in response.
The leader of the regiment turned his horse and shouted before starting to move, “Silver Regiment, advance!”
“Ha!” They stomped their heels on the ground one more time before following suit in an even manner.
A few hundred horses were waiting before the gate, so it is highly likely for them to be used by the members of the Silver Regiment. They must be unmounted for the event. Considering the Hazaroth Union is fond of mounts, especially horses, it would be a shame for them not to provide any for their elite soldiers.
The people cheered them until they mounted their horses and left the city. After that, the Golden Guards escorted the Grand Prince and others back to the inner city, most probably to the castle.
People waited without leaving until the Grand Prince and his guards were out of sight, then started to scatter. Some of them remained as they chatted about the event, and some used this chance to buy or sell around the venue. Some must be foreigners, so they started to tour around the city.
As for me, it was a good experience. But most importantly, a new thought appeared in my mind. I always knew that money and the military were essential for one’s safety and to protect what they have. However, I can now clearly see what it means.
I was preparing and was extremely busy building my own power for a while to achieve this. When I saw how the Grand Prince mobilized an entire division of elite units and was being protected by even more elite guards, I understood what the power meant.
I imagined what would happen if he were to be hostile toward me. What would happen if he were to send such troops to hunt me down, or I had to reach him to be safe? There is no way I could get rid of all of them on my own. Even though I have insanely superior stats and various skills, even some of them like cheating, it would be impossible.
My stats were multiple times those of individuals, even with high-tier classes. However, a horse also had several times the strength of an average human. So, I could at most take down a dozen of them.
When equipment is involved, it becomes even more complicated. It doesn’t mean much even if I were to have superior equipment, as it would just give me more advantage. It doesn’t mean I can cut them down with their armors, not even with an orichalcum sword.
The fortunate thing is that, even though I can’t win against them, they also can’t win against me. More accurately, they can’t capture me, neither alive nor dead. I can always use my cheat skills like the Warp, even with the concern of it being discovered.
The problem is that it would only save me, or a few more people at most. I can’t protect all the things I have accumulated. So I need something that makes my enemies at least hesitate to take immediate action. That is why I am working to my bones to establish a guild.
It won’t be enough, but… Well, we will think about the rest later.
***
Soldier:
- Villager level 10 and being appointed by a knight are preconditions of this job.
- A normal job for the battlefield.
- Strength increase (minor)
- Endurance increase (small)
- Vitality increase (minor)
- You increase your endurance (1 + 0.02 * level) for 20 seconds
- Skill cost = 20 mana
***
Mercenary King:
- The mercenary job at level 50 is the precondition for this job.
- A great mercenary who is experienced in various challenges.
- Strength increase (medium)
- Endurance increase (medium)
- Agility increase (medium)
- Sense increase (medium)
- Intelligence increases (small)
- Wisdom increases (small)
- Charisma increases (small)
- You can store your coins in an invisible bag.
- Max number of coins that can be stored = (300 + 2 * level)
- You can calculate any transaction instantly.
- Skill cost = 5 mana
- Half of the endurance stat will turn into the agility stat for (1.5 + 0.1 * level) seconds.
- Skill cost = 20 mana
- You can form a party whose number of members is as many as 100 + your level count.
- Your charisma stat affects your band’s loyalty toward you.
***
Sage:
- The precondition is having a level 50 high mage job.
- An epic job that mages dream of.
- Intelligence increase (massive)
- Wisdom increase (large)
- Sense increase (medium)
- Charisma increase (small)
- Use the 4 main elements for attack or defence, like Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth Balls or Walls.
- Skill cost = 10 mana
- Use the 4 main elements’ combined forms for attack or defence, like Electricity, Magma, Sand Storm, Quagmire, Blizzard.
- Skill cost = 50 mana
- Use non-elemental spells like Mana Shield, Temperature Control, Earthquake, Spatial Collapse, and Time Distortion.
- Skill cost = 200 mana