Barth's righteous words, listening to Claire's ears, the subtext is very obvious, that is, you have to add money.

Things that can be solved with money are not a matter for Claire at this stage, and Claire waved her hand to show that she was willing to add money.

It's a pity that Bart doesn't mean that he wants more benefits, but that he really doesn't want to wade into this muddy water.

It's not that Bart is too afraid of the royal family, but that he remembered the news he got earlier, and there is about to be turmoil within the kingdom, and the east will definitely not be calm. At this time, if you are too involved in the affairs of the nobles, it is easy to be targeted by the royal family.

The royal family directly acts against the nobles, which is easy to arouse the common hatred of the nobles, but for people like the mercenary group who do not belong to the ruling group, there are not so many concerns, and it is easy to become the chicken in the monkey of killing chickens.

Claire didn't expect that Bart would not be able to enter the oil and salt, and Norman obviously figured out the key to it, but because he and Norman essentially chose different directions, he didn't have much fear.

Compared to Bart's family, Norman is a mercenary group full of professionals, and it is very popular everywhere, so it is a big deal to leave the kingdom.

Claire persuaded again, but Bart still didn't change his mind, no matter how much money he had, he had to spend it.

After that, Claire could only watch Bart leave.

"Captain Norman, are your men sure that they will complete this task alone?"

Norman spread his hands out, expressing helplessness.

"Your Excellency, you should be very aware of our manpower, now that I have formed a small mercenary, I can only use seven or eight people at my disposal, can you ask me to take this person to Batantown?"

This does seem to be a bit insufficient, but Batantown has no defense, and with Norman's strength, there should be no decent resistance.

"Then I'll give you another 100 soldiers, can you see it?"

"100 recruits?" Norman took a sip of tea and smiled. "These recruits, how much combat power they have, Your Excellency Baron probably knows better than me."

Claire touched her nose in embarrassment, and felt that she was a little unkind, but she had to continue to talk cheekily at this point.

"I believe in the strength of the Norman regimental commander, even if it is a new recruit, he must have enough combat strength under your men. Besides, their main role is also to escort iron ore, and I didn't think about relying on them. ”

"That's right." Norman tapped his fingers lightly on the table, looked at Claire with a smile, and said nothing.

There was something Claire didn't understand at this time, and immediately patted her chest and promised.

"Captain Norman, don't worry, according to the payment I said before, I will give you three times!"

Three times, after thinking about it in his heart, Norman felt that the price was about the same, and immediately smiled and raised the teaglass.

"Thank you, Lord Baron, for your generosity."

"Where, where, I wish Norman the commander success." Claire also raised her teacup and laughed in response.

After each of them had a drink, Claire began to ask Bart why he didn't accept the commission.

In Claire's opinion, Bart's behavior is too suspicious. Mercenaries are a profession that takes money to sell their lives, and there may be good and evil in individual mercenaries, but there can be no such difference in the environment of the entire profession.

Then, there is only one reason why Bart refused his commission, that is, Bart believes that the benefit is not proportional to the risk, even if Claire gives more money, this benefit cannot offset the risk.

This made Claire very puzzled, just a small viscount, and he was also a marginal figure in the royal family, and he had never heard of any great deeds, why was Bart afraid.

There must be other reasons behind this.

In the face of Claire's doubts, Norman implicitly said that although he knew this problem, Bart was his friend, and he couldn't say it explicitly.

After Claire sensibly offered 5,000 dinars for this reason, Norman told Claire about the news of the royal capital that he heard that day.

At this time, Claire finally understood why Norman asked for such a high price, this was not knocking him off, but the value of this information was too high.

This news, if put up for auction outside, would be worth far more than five thousand dinars. It seems that this is still the friendship price given by Norman.

Timely sources of information and intelligence can often change a lot of things.

For example, in the face of the imminent unpredictability of the kingdom, Bart sees that he should be a man with his tail between his legs, so as not to be used as a scapegoat for the power struggle.

Claire, on the other hand, sees a vast number of opportunities.

The struggle between the royal family and the aristocracy, the struggle between the central and the local, Claire has seen countless examples in her previous life. In such a struggle, it is difficult to distinguish the winner in a short period of time, and there will often be a long tug of war and repetition.

Turbulence is the key to Claire's ability to fish in troubled waters.

If the kingdom has always been a country and a people's peace, it is almost impossible for Claire to become a big lord in a short period of time.

And if the situation is turbulent, quietly expand the territory and expand the strength, it is no problem at all. Because such a move is what everyone is doing, no one will notice Claire.

This is the big environment, and for the small environment at the moment, it means that the conflict between Count Wright and Count Marcus will probably be controlled within a small intensity. If the two of them were not stupid, they would not fight at this time and let the royal family or others pick up the cheap.

At the same time, both sides should shrink relatively and hit the strength to deal with the chaos that may arise next.

Then, that means that if Claire is bold enough to expand more, Count Wright and Count Marcus are likely to ignore him at all.

Earl Wright, for his part, not only will not blame him, but will be happy for Claire. After all, no matter how you look at it, Claire is a force that belongs to Count Wright.

At the same time, if the current window is missed, when Count Wright and Count Marcus actually truce, and the surrounding minor lords also hear the news, Claire will not be able to expand her territory for a long time.

Three baronies, still too small for what Claire wants to do.

Norman watched Claire frown, then thoughtfully, and finally her eyes lit up, and he was intensely curious about Claire's psychological changes.

He didn't ask after all, telling Claire the news was also a way to invest in Claire in advance. Although it seems to be information obtained in exchange for money, he believes that Claire must understand the value behind this information.

After so many days of contact, it has been proved that Claire is a smart person with ideas.

So, next, will Claire expand as desperately as he thinks, Norman is eager to know the answer.