Claude didn't attend the banquet hosted by the viceroy, Viscount Kris. As colonels, the two seniors were the highest-ranking officers of the first batch of Ranger reinforcements, so they had no choice but to attend.
They needed Tyrrsim to provide Ranger with supplies and reserve troops. Refusing to attend the governor's banquet would easily offend the local tyrants.
The problem was that the highest military officer of Tyrrsim, Baron Strasson, used the excuse of being bedridden and refused to receive any guests. The situation there was also a mess.
Under such circumstances, the Lower Cavalry would need to discuss with the viceroy, Viscount Cruz, on how to resolve the issue of armaments in the colony.
The two seniors brought a third of the high-ranking officers to attend the banquet while Claude stayed at the camp to supervise the soldiers to set up camp and set up a perimeter.
Claude felt rather uncomfortable to see the mixed-blood natives peeking at the camp from afar. He realized that the heavily guarded camp was like a piece of juicy meat in their eyes. Their gazes were filled with greed.
That night, Baron Strasson's aide, Captain Hinks, came to the camp again.
When Claude mentioned the mixed-blood natives around the camp, Captain Hinks didn't seem to mind at all. He said that they only watched the camp because they wanted to earn some money, such as running errands or introducing young women to the camp to sell meat.
Actually, they didn't have to be paid much. One or two pieces of black bread would be enough to keep them busy.
Of course, they had to be careful when running errands, as they were all thieves and swindlers. The slightest bit of carelessness would cause them to lose their valuables and valuables.
Hinks said that when the local garrison was stationed there, almost every soldier would have one or two nikancha serving them. After all, it was much more enjoyable to have someone to serve them than to do the work themselves.
The word 'nikancha' in ancient Hez meant 'hybrid' or 'mixed-blood'. It was also a derogatory term for 'bastard'. Captain Hinks said that on Nubissia, these mixed-blood natives were called nikancha, a race that wasn't recognized by the government.
On the other hand, the natives of Nubissia were called Etate, meaning dark red.
The nikancha, or mixed-blood natives, were easy to distinguish from the original natives like Etate.
Because they were of mixed blood, the nikancha's skin color was lighter. It wasn't brownish-red, and it would darken under the sun.
On the other hand, the pure-blooded Nubissia Etateans would never tan. Their skin would always be reddish-brown.
In the sun, it looked as if its body was covered with a thin layer of red light.
After chatting with Claude for quite a while, Sinks finally revealed his intentions. He hoped that Claude would sell him some of Tribe 131's spare firearms to rearm the port garrison.
Sinks was willing to double the price and hinted that he could report some losses during battle. That way, he would be able to pocket the money he earned from selling the firearms.
Claude couldn't help but find it odd. As the commander of Tyrrsim's colony, Baron Strathern shouldn't be lacking in firearms.
Even though the kingdom didn't have a gunsmithing workshop in the colonies, every colony had twenty thousand firearms to equip the local garrison. They could even replace the damaged ones every three years.
Yet, Sinks asked his seniors to buy some firearms the first time they met in the afternoon. After being rejected, he came to the camp to ask for more. There had to be a reason for that.
Feeling suspicious, he tried to figure out Captain Hinks's real motive for buying firearms and firearms.
However, although Captain Hinks was not like a soldier, he was a qualified businessman. He was tight-lipped and only said that he had always admired guns with accurate aiming and shooting performance. He wanted to replace the Aubass Mark 3 standard matchlock for the admiral's guards and not use the Aubass Mark 2 standard matchlock issued by the kingdom to the colonies.
Naturally, Claude wouldn't sell his stockpile of firearms just because he offered a high price. In the end, Sinks had no choice but to leave without anything to show for it.
Another hour or so later, the officers who attended the banquet returned.
Compared to the officers whose faces were flushed from drinking and who were in high spirits, the two senior commanders were frowning and had angry expressions on their faces.
After entering the tent, Claude asked the two seniors about it and understood why Captain Sinks was in such a hurry to buy Ranger's spare firearms and armaments at such a high price.
What a fantastic idea!
It was horrifying!
As it turned out, Baron Strathern, as the governor of Tyrrsim and the highest-ranking military officer, had been selling off twenty thousand firearms and embezzling the kingdom's military funds in the past few years.
The so-called garrison of Port Cobicus didn't even have two battalions of strength. The other four towns in Tyrrsim used to have one battalion each, but they were reduced to two companies by the admiral.
On paper, it was a full quota of troops, but in reality, the extra quota of soldiers had been taken up by this admiral …
"How is that possible?
Claude didn't quite believe it. "Doesn't the ministry of the army conduct a census every two years? If that's the case, they would've discovered it long ago. Why would they let Baron Strathern do as he pleases?
Also, even if he wants to sell firearms, he has to have buyers, right? Who did he sell them to? "
Colonel Bolonik only said one sentence, "Baron Strathern is Her Majesty's nephew …"
"Ugh …" Claude didn't know what to say.
Line 034's Jarl Sevict added, "Baron Strathern is Her Imperial Majesty's most beloved nephew. He came to Tyrrsim as a governor under the care of Her Imperial Majesty. It's been eight years now.
"During the five years of the eastern war, the ministry of the army sent people to investigate the local garrisons. Because they were wary of Her Imperial Majesty, they were fooled by him.
"In the three years after the war, the ministry of the army didn't have the time or energy to pay attention to the garrisons of the seven colonies.
"Baron Strathern wanted to usurp Viscount Kris's position and the two never got along.
"That's why Viscount Kris conducted a private investigation to protect himself and found out that Baron Strathern was embezzling the military's pay and selling all the firearms in the armory.
"As for the buyers, they're everywhere. Most of the commoners who set up farms outside the city have firearms from the garrison. Some even bought quite a few."
"He actually dares to sell firearms to commoners?"
Claude hadn't considered that possibility at all. Aueras had strict control over firearms. Non-citizens weren't allowed to buy firearms. Commoners without a citizen's guarantee would be caught and sentenced to forced labor.
"This is the colonies," Bolonik reminded him.
Bolonik reminded him, "Commoners who come to colonize the colonies are indeed given the right to carry guns to protect themselves and their families from the natives' violence.
"However, all the commoners who buy firearms have to join the security patrol team of the colony as a reserve force for the local garrisons.
"Baron Strathern used that as an excuse to sell the firearms and firearms in the armory without restraint. At the same time, he reduced the quota of the local garrisons so that he could earn more without paying.
"Since most of the commoners in the colonies have firearms at home, he doesn't have to worry about native riots.
If a native riot were to happen, the commoners would be the first to suffer.
"The fatty commander of the local garrisons, Lieutenant-Colonel Alvelad, is his trusted aide. All the firearms and firearms are sold by him in the name of strengthening the reserve force.
"Also, they make false reports about the battles to suppress native riots two to three times a year, using the opportunity to report the loss of a thousand firearms and the casualties of nearly a hundred garrisons. The firearms that are replenished every year are sold by them again and the pension money goes into their pockets."
"Then, why is Captain Sinks asking us for spare firearms?" Claude still didn't understand.
"It's simple. They need to replenish the local garrisons.
The Ministry of the Army required that every garrison in the colonies should have at least 3,500 men. However, there were only 1,500-1,600 men in this garrison, a shortfall of nearly 2,000 men.
The other four towns require 800 men to be stationed there. Now, there are only about ten companies. Even if they're short, they still have around 2,000 men.
"Recruitment might be easier, but the problem is that they don't have that many firearms to equip the recruits.
The viceroy, Viscount Kris, has sent his men to check the armory. It's said that there are less than a hundred firearms in good condition.
"During times of peace, Baron Strathern could hire some commoners with firearms to pretend to be garrisons and fool the people sent by the ministry of the army. With the empress backing him, nobody would be willing to offend him.
"But we're at war now and hiring people isn't going to work.
The scouts and envoys from the ministry of the army will be coming with us to Tyrrsim. They'll be in charge of coordinating and setting up a logistics command center, reorganizing and training the reserve forces of Tyrrsim to support Ranger in battle.
"That's why Baron Strathern has set his sights on our batch of reinforcements. As long as he buys enough spare weapons from us and recruits a batch of new soldiers, they'll be able to hide everything before the people from the ministry of the army arrive." Sevict's answer made Claude understand why Captain Sinks wanted to buy firearms.
"Did the viceroy, Viscount Kris, tell you all this?" Claude asked.
The two senior leaders nodded with a solemn expression on their faces.
"His personal secretary also showed us the evidence they found. According to their statistics, as the governor of Tyrrsim, Baron Strathern earns twelve to fifteen thousand crowns every year from military expenses, empty pay, reselling firearms and weapons, and false claims of compensation for casualties," Colonel Savitt said.
That was a huge sum of money …
"Since the viceroy has already found the evidence, why didn't he report it to the royal court or the ministry of the army?"
Claude felt that something was amiss the moment he said it. He quickly understood the gist of it.
"Darn it! That old bastard wants us to take the blame for him!" Claude cursed.
The two seniors smiled bitterly at each other. If even Claude could figure it out, how could they not? That was also the reason why they were a little angry when they returned.
Alright, that old bastard Viscount Kris was indeed a sly old fox. His idea was quite ingenious. The viceroy would only be in charge of civil affairs and not military affairs.
If he found evidence of Baron Strathern's crimes, he could use it to threaten him to be obedient and not cause trouble for him.
During wartime, Baron Strathern would blame himself for being unlucky. He could use the evidence to prove Strathern's crimes and clear his name of being an accomplice. He could just stand by the side and watch the show.
As for Claude's request for him to report it to the royal court and the ministry of the army, he wouldn't do it even if he was beaten to death.
After all, Baron Strathern had the support of Her Majesty the Queen. Who knew if Baron Strathern had given Her Majesty the Queen a share of the embezzled military funds?
It was easy for him to report Strathern, but that would make him a loyal subject of the kingdom and offend the empress at the same time.
Having stayed in the colonies for so many years, the viceroy had plenty of opportunities to earn some extra income from civil affairs. If the empress really wanted to pursue the matter, there would definitely be people who would come forward to deal with him.
Finding trouble with him was a simple matter. All they had to do was go through the accounts of the colonies and they would definitely find traces of him carelessly doing things.
If that happened, all the wealth he had accumulated over the years would be gone.
So, no matter how bad his relationship with Baron Strathern was, Viscount Kris wouldn't reveal any evidence of his crimes.
Now that Ranger had arrived as reinforcements to defend the colonies against the invasion of Shiks, they were also in charge of organizing and reorganizing the local forces.
As the general, Strathern was supposed to cooperate with them. But he couldn't even protect himself at the moment, so he could only pretend to be sick to stall for time.
The viceroy, Viscount Klaus, had simply brought out the evidence so that the officers of Ranger could find trouble with Baron Strathern.
If the empress wanted to pursue the matter, she would only have to blame her nephew for his incompetence and Ranger's lack of respect. She wouldn't blame the viceroy.
After all, it was impossible to hide Baron Strathern's doings during the war. He might as well hand over the evidence in his hands as soon as possible to prevent himself from being accused of incompetence and being held responsible for not noticing what was happening around him …