BXBX NOVEL Vol. 7 - Chapter 371 - Soldiers and salaries
"Is everyone ready?"
Allen asked some members of his party in the room next to the entrance of the boss room on the last floor of the S Rank Dungeon.
"Yeah, I am."
Dogora answered as he bit off the last remaining pieces of meat stuck to a bone. That had been his lunch. Lately his appetite had started growing, and was eating more than before.
It was hard to tell whether that was because he had entered Extra Mode, or because he had become Freya's apostle, or simply because he was still a growing teenager.
Just like the time they had an audience with Baukis' emperor, a magic ship was already underway to Giamut where the meeting would take place. But Allen's party had no intention of staying inside the magic ship doing nothing for multiple days before the meeting. Allen had been busy setting up his army, so he joined the Iron Golem hunt a bit later than Merle. This time the meeting was being held in Vertias, the capital of Giamut. The Demon King's Army's attacks had subsided considerably, so it was a good time for such a meeting. Back when Allen became a S Rank Adventurer, he had been invited to a meeting too, relayed through Guild Master McCarran, but he had been unable to attend because of the distress signal from the Holy Land. Now Allen had created Allen's Army too, so he planned on talking about that in the meeting as well.
First he went to their new base near the S Rank Dungeon.
It was located in the city around the entrance to the S Rank Dungeon, and while it was a considerable distance away from the center of the city, they had succeeded in buying up two blocks of the city for 150'000 gold coins.
That base was mainly in use by beastmen and elves at the moment. The beastmen had successfully started going through the Talent Change Dungeon in the Academy City, and then they headed to the B Rank Dungeon near the S Rank Dungeon to level up. Sometimes they would join a group of dark elves to clear those, since their levels were still low.
"I see Shea and Luck are here too."
He said while looking at Shea and Luck who were ready to depart too. The two of them had not entered the S Rank Dungeon yet.
"Yeah, is it already time?"
"Yes, though it's not like we're going to war or anything."
Shea answered with a resolute tone and by clenching her fists tightly, but Allen reminded her that they were not going there to fight. He was slightly thrown off by Shea's reaction, as if she was about to head to war.
(We're just seeing her family again.)
"I know. Let's get going."
Shea struck her fists together and jumped on her feet. They were going to see the Beast King and her brother Zew there. Prince Zew was together with the Ten Heroic Beasts, who helped fight in Rosenheim, and then went to help out in the Central Continent. The Ten Heroic Beasts were known as the strongest weapon of their country, and he led them. His accomplishments had not gone unnoticed by Albahar's Beast King, and he insisted on him taking part in the Five Continents' Alliance meeting. Meanwhile Shea, who was also part of beastmen royalty, had been focusing more on various fights.
(I'm glad Luck is getting used to life in the army as well. Though it's still a bit too soon to have him in our party.)
He looked at Luck next.
At first, Luck would constantly glare at Allen or look around nervously, but he seemed to have gotten quite used to living there now. According to the dark elf general Bunzenbark, it was Luck's father, King Arbus's idea for Luck to join Allen's Army. It was all new for him, but as his Level increased and he gained more confidence, he settled into his new life.
Luck and the other dark elves had already cleared 3 C Rank Dungeons, and were in the middle of working their way through the B Rank ones. Their parties were always composed of 48 members, they had rings to raise their stats, and Allen's summons helped go through faster as well, so they just breezed through the dungeons.
Luck gently patted Fabre, who looked comfortable in his arms.
"Do you have everything you need?"
"Yeah, don't worry."
As Allen spoke with Luck, the way he spoke had also gotten rather casual and direct. Luck looked like an eight years old boy, but he was actually the same age as Allen. Allen held the highest position in the army, but he always insisted on others using more casual speech with him. It would still be a while before everyone could go hunt together, but he wanted him to get used to life in his army early.
There were not even two million dark elves in the world, but that did not change the fact that Luck was a prince. The Spirit King Fabre was also proof of that. He held such a high position, so Allen felt it was appropriate to take him to the Five Continents' Alliance meeting.
The entire party was gathered, so Allen used the Bird A summon's Awakened Skill [Homing Instinct] to return to the magic ship. He had left a [Nest] inside it, so there were no problems in returning to it.
Peromus was waiting for them alone, doing some accounting work.
"Sorry Peromus, we left you here alone."
"Ah, welcome back. It's alright, I needed some time to calculate everyone's wages after all. We'll need to hand out a total of around 150'000 gold coins a month for everyone. Once they're done with their Talent Changes it'll be twice that."
Allen said that as soon as they arrived in the magic ship and Peromus quickly showed him a piece of parchment where he had written down various calculations. Allen had asked Peromus to calculate more or less how much it would cost to pay all the 5000 people in his army. With the number of people in Allen's Army, he would eventually need to spend twice as much as the two city blocks cost every month, only in paying out their salary.
"Well, I guess that sounds about right."
(It is what it is.)
Allen had armed Heavy User Island with an army of 5000. They all had their own lives outside of the army, including relatives and family they had left behind on the surface. While defeating the Demon King and saving the world was a courageous and honorable task, that did not mean they did not deserve a good salary. They had Talents and had honed their skills to be there, so they would be paid what they deserved. That was the obvious thing to do. Money was always important.
Allen was comfortable with the salaries Peromus had calculated.
-Baseline rate for those with Talents: 1 Star: 10 gold coins 2 Stars: 20 gold coins 3 Stars: 40 gold coins
-Bonus for higher ranking members: Sergeant (leader of 10): Extra 5 gold coins Commander (leader of 100): Extra 10 gold coins Captain (leader of 500): Extra 20 gold coins General (leader of 1000): Extra 50 coins Chief General (leader of multiple thousands): Extra 100 coins
-30% of the earnings made in a dungeon would be split amongst the participants too
Peromus said that giving them a cut like that would motivate them to continue going to the dungeons. He had his own unit of mercenaries, so that was something he would come up with too.
Allen was supporting them with summons and equipment like weapons and rings, so they could speed through dungeons without much issue. That was why only 30% would go to the participants, since the equipment and summons had done a lot of the heavy lifting. The 70% Allen took would then be invested into the island's development and the guards there.
Peromus had based the salaries on what he saw in the Grandvelle territory, with Knight Commander Zenov being paid 15 gold coins, and Vice-Knight Commander Raybrand 10 gold coins. The Grandvelle family had been ascended from baron to a viscount family, so those salaries were probably higher now too. Just in case, Peromus had contacted Viscount Grandvelle in Latash to make sure of the numbers before suggesting that to Allen.
Peromus already had experience leading a group of 200 mercenaries. They worked as part of his company, and all had started as adventurers. He was paying them a similar rate as what he suggested to Allen. They all had Talents, and cost Peromus around 5000 gold coins each month. But since Peromus had been going to dungeons himself, he never went into debt to pay them.
The guards in the cities would also need to be compensated according to their Talents and skills. Not to mention that the cities were still in development, so giving them food rations ate away at Allen's savings too. But he calculated that it would not be too much of an issue for his accounts.
"Hmm, maybe we should still talk with the Beast King and see what he suggests as well?"
"I don't think that's needed, his involvement ended when we decided to make our army independent, Shea."
Shea had been given 3000 men to go bring down the leader of the Evil Cult. During that time, the king of Albahar had been paying their salaries. A thousand had perished in battle, and their funerals had been covered by him as well.
Now they had chosen to join Allen's Army, so there was no need for the Beast King to continue supporting them. That was the same for those coming from Rosenheim or Fabraze.
Heavy User Island would watch for everything the soldiers might need. Allen wanted to have full control over everyone in the army, so 300'000 or 500'000 gold coins a month was a fair price to achieve that.
'We're about to land in Vertias, capital city of Giamut. The magic ship might shake, so please try to remain seated.'
A broadcast was heard through a magic device. The magic ship began its slow descent onto the capital city.
"We've been waiting for you, I presume you're Allen and company? I'll guide you to the imperial palace."
After the magic ship landed, Allen's party descended the stairs and found a gorgeous carriage watched by knights waiting for them. They were sent there to bring the party to the imperial palace, so they boarded the carriage and headed there.