065: Rune Knight, 2,000 gold!

"Is this also an ability of the Red Priest?"
Unable to figure it out for the moment, Richard could only make a mental note to ponder over it once he got home.
......
Maple Leaf Detective Agency.
Third-floor office.
Richard had already prepared himself to continue doing heavy labor.
To his surprise, behind the rectangular desk, Freya—her long hair tied back and dressed in professional attire—was not waiting for him downstairs.
Next to the deeply familiar sleep-inducing sofa, a steaming lunch was quietly sitting there.
Freya: "You're here."
Richard: "Mm."
"Have you considered what we talked about yesterday?"
Richard smiled slightly: "Sister, I think I am exceptionally well-suited for the profession of a Magic Swordsman."
Hearing this, Freya smiled as well.
And it was quite a pretty smile.
Good grief, this woman actually knew how to smile?
Richard had assumed she wore the exact same expression twenty-four hours a day.
This miraculous discovery felt akin to the Cultists of the Black Fog claiming the God of the Black Fog was the older brother of the Goddess of Light, only to eventually discover their deity was actually a girl.
What was even more absurd was that, observed with the naked eye, Freya's smile genuinely gave Richard the impression of happiness and joy.
Freya said: "Very well. Coming over at this hour, you must be here for a free meal. Eat first, and we can discuss training afterwards."
Richard: "......"
He retracted a portion of what he had just thought. It didn't matter how attractive the woman across from him was, or how pretty her smile was—the crucial point was that her personality was utterly unlikable.
However, the food at the detective agency was exceptionally good. The dishes were fragrant, the meat portions were generous, and the chef's culinary skills were far superior to those of ordinary restaurants.
Richard sat down and heartily partook in the meal.
In the middle of eating, he used the corner of his eye to observe Freya a few more times.
He discovered that Freya's good mood lasted for a mere five minutes.
Five minutes later, her aura, to Richard's perception, shifted to intense focus.
She was deeply engrossed in her work.
The presence of a second person in the office failed to influence her in the slightest.
Suddenly,
Richard realized: "Emotional shifts are abstract, what I am seeing... what I am seeing are color changes!"
Take anxiety, for instance; what Richard saw was accompanied by a faint ring of red.
Frustration appeared as a grayish-black.
Just now, when Freya was happy, what Richard saw was orange.
Now that Freya was engrossed in her work, the aura surrounding her body had shifted to blue.
"Well, what is it? Is there something dirty on my face?"
Freya noticed someone's gaze.
Richard said: "Nothing, I've finished eating."
Freya stated: "You could add 'Sister' to the end of your sentences. That would make me much more willing to impart knowledge to you."
Richard: "Very well, Sister Freya."
Hearing this, Freya smiled again, and reached out to ring the small bell on her desk, instructing the maid to clear away and wipe down the coffee table.
This time, facing the radiant smile, Richard remained completely immune, his mind and emotions experiencing not a single ripple.
Freya sat back in her usual resting position, hands folded and resting across her abdomen, and asked: "Are you more interested in the Magic Swordsman, or the Runemaster?"
Richard replied: "The Runemaster."
As the saying goes, he who has no desires is strong. The relationship between him and Freya was simply that of superior and subordinate.
It was Freya who had stated her willingness to help Richard become a Magic Swordsman and Runemaster.
Conversely, there was also the possibility that she harbored some unspeakable ulterior motives toward him.
Therefore, Richard saw no need to conceal his thoughts or act overly modest.
Freya nodded: "I figured as much. After all, you have already seen my Runic Knight Order."
"Runic Knights are high-tier combat units on the Loren Continent. Because they are human, possess intelligence, and boast formidable mobility, their destructive power surpasses that of heavy artillery."
Saying this, the Tier 3 Runemaster of MI6 deepened her tone: "But do you know how much money it takes to assemble a single Runic Knight Order?"
"Take the Tier 2 Knight Order under my command as an example: my expenditure on each and every one of them exceeds 2,000 gold coins."
Two thousand?!
Yesterday, Richard had waved his hand and spent 200 gold coins.
Prior to that, having cash reserves exceeding 10 gold coins was enough to make him ecstatic.
To scrape together those 200 gold coins, Richard had borrowed money from three different people.
Among them was someone's entire life savings, as well as funds staked by a noble young lady who gambled away her future.
And then, Freya was telling him that just sustaining a single Runic Knight cost 2,000 gold coins?
With that kind of money, wouldn't it be far better to directly buy a piece of territory and become a minor lord?
Freya: "Otherwise, why do you think Runic Knights are so powerful?"
She held up one finger: "A standard set of Tier 2 runic equipment costs 800 gold. The runic equipment on their mount accounts for another 500."
A second finger: "Nurturing someone with the talent for a Runic Knight into a qualified professional costs 500 gold."
A third finger: "A qualified Runic Knight warhorse costs 200 gold."
Freya smiled: "And that is merely the cost for a Runic Knight to mount a horse and enter combat. Afterward, the knight's salary, the warhorse's feed, battle losses, and the repair and maintenance of equipment—all of these must be paid by you, their master."
Richard twitched the corner of his mouth: "Who on earth can afford to maintain such an expensive military unit..."
Freya said: "That is why Runic Knights are mostly the private armies of nobility."
Nobility.
Those two words were a towering mountain pressing down upon the entire Loren Continent.
They possessed the most fertile lands, along with vast numbers of laborers and slaves.
These people ceaselessly generated wealth for the noble lords.
The noble lords then used this money to forge war machines to safeguard their own interests.
Through this cycle, the strong grew ever stronger, and the lower classes could never escape their tragic fate.
Richard asked: "Do all nobles possess Runic Knight Orders?"
Freya: "Of course not. Cultivating talent takes time, and Runemasters are an even rarer profession.
Take myself, for instance. Ever since I advanced to a Tier 2 Runemaster, I began assembling a Runic Knight Order, yet to this day, my order numbers a mere 62 people.
And until I am satisfied with them, I will not sell runic equipment to outsiders."
Richard understood.
Runemasters were scarce, advancing was exceedingly difficult, and their output was limited.
Consequently, noble lords could not afford to equip every household with a knight order.
"Does the Royal Court permit Runic Knights to run rampant within the borders of the Redwood Empire?"
What Richard actually wanted to ask was whether, given this trajectory, the King of Redwood wasn't afraid of someone staging a rebellion.
Freya: "The Empire possesses a supreme pillar of the nation. As long as that mighty powerhouse continues to support His Majesty the King, the banner of Redwood will never fall."
A supreme pillar of the nation...
Ah, right, this was a world where deities existed.
The Goddess of Light, the God of the Black Fog—since the King of Redwood dared to suppress the Goddess's Church, even if there were no true gods backing him, there must have been entities of a comparable caliber.
In reality, a Runic Knight Order was a steamroller profession that obliterated whatever it encountered.
When divine authority was involved, dropping a meteorite from thousands of kilometers away—just ask yourself, wouldn't you be terrified?
Wait a moment!
Richard recalled another matter: "Since Runemasters are a scarce profession and Runic Knights are so formidable, putting a piece of runic equipment up for auction would surely fetch a sky-high price."
Freya: "Indeed.
However, every Runemaster starts out as an apprentice, and nurturing a Runemaster apprentice costs easily more than ten times the money required to cultivate a knight.
Richard, have you prepared your tuition fees?"