Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 238 - 36 Resignation

Chapter 238: Chapter 36 Resignation

"Is this month’s salary being disbursed?" Hood asked in astonishment.

"Yes, it’s almost the end of the month," Aske said.

Having just settled the mission payment with the Duke of Carinthia, he then distributed this month’s earnings to everyone—Eleanor was dragged away by her brother, so her share would be given later.

"That’s right," Hood hesitated for a long while before finally speaking, "Just now, Viscount Gotting, Eleanor’s brother, was here."

"Oh," Aske responded.

"He wants to recruit me as a craftsman for the Weisbach family, offering me four pounds per month," Hood said.

"What’s your opinion?" Aske asked.

"I accepted," Hood admitted guiltily.

"You traitor!" Mia immediately jumped up, but was pushed down by the hand of Aske who spun her around.

"I’ll get you for this!" she turned around, fuming, but Aske pressed down on her shoulder and spun her back again.

"I remember your dream, Hood, to build a set of Power Armor of your own, right?" Nora inquired.

"Yes," Hood nodded, "Viscount Gotting said he could let me join the Weisbach family’s design bureau to be responsible for improving their Power Armor."

"That job suits you very well then," Nora said with a gentle smile, "Congratulations, Hood."

Immediately, Hood felt an urge to cry; Angel sister really was too understanding!

"If that’s the case, then it can’t be helped," Aske stood up, "Luckily, we just got the bounty, let’s all gather nearby for a meal."

"A banquet? Great, great!" Sigrdrifa nodded repeatedly.

"I’ll go call Eleanor," Mia quickly escaped Aske’s grip and dashed out of the tent.

Although no one said much, it made Hood feel even worse—he had actually come to treasure the time spent with everyone at The Azure Longsword.

Of course, as much as it pained him, he didn’t regret his choice, after all, it was his life’s dream.

To the northwest of Lunfield town lay the city of Lifilah, within the Carinthia Duchy.

Having booked a private room in the best hotel there, the group noisily found seats and started ordering food.

"Does this meal count as Hood treating?" Mia said with ill intent, "Moving to a higher-paying job, huh? Viscount Gotting must have offered you a hefty salary. It wouldn’t make sense not to treat us, right?"

"Don’t, don’t," Aske waved his hand, "As the Squad Leader, I should be the one to treat everyone."

He had just checked the menu; the prices at this hotel were quite steep. He worried that this meal might consume Hood’s entire month’s salary. Considering everyone had just made a substantial profit from the Mutant incident, it would be best to use public funds for reimbursement.

"No problem! It’s on me!" Hood immediately declared, thumping his chest, "My salary doubled after the switch! So everyone just order away, it’s all on me."

"Hey! Your former boss is still here, you know!" Nora joked.

"Seeing as that’s the case, I really did set your salary too low," Aske agreed.

"Not at all, not at all," Hood hurriedly poured drinks for everyone, saying with a laugh, "If it weren’t for the Squad Leader bringing me out, I may not have had such a good opportunity."

"You’re quite self-aware!" Mia clamored, "Squad Leader, you should order the most expensive dishes and bankrupt him!"

This grudge-holding brat! Aske looked at her annoyed and said,

"Is that necessary? Expensive doesn’t always mean delicious, let’s start with a few cold dishes..."

Before he could finish, someone pushed the door and came in.

"Sorry for being late," Ludwig tipped his hat in a bow to greet everyone in the private room.

At this moment, he had changed out of his travel-worn attire and was donning a well-tailored noble suit, his coat elegantly draped over his arm.

This graceful and composed demeanor clearly indicated that he had been trained in high society etiquette from a young age, always presenting the proper poise to the outside world.

Following Ludwig in was Eleanor, who immediately brightened up the room.

She was no longer in her cumbersome brass armor but in the refined casual attire commonly worn by high society ladies, her lustrous golden curls draped over her shoulders, and a black velvet hat with a veil covering her face, resembling a beautiful and ethereal noble young lady.

Then everyone remembered that she was indeed a noble young lady.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh." The girls couldn’t help but gasp.

Eleanor awkwardly pulled off her veil and threw it onto the chair next to her, "Brother, everybody is so familiar with me, there’s no need to dress up like this..."

"Cough, cough." Ludwig shot her a glance.

Eleanor could only sigh helplessly, pulled out the chair next to Aske, and sat down with a gloomy face.

"Have you all not ordered yet?" Ludwig smiled, "This meal is on me."

"How could we accept that..." Aske said politely.

"No worries, it’s rare for you all to come to the Empire, I should at least show some hospitality," Ludwig said with a smile.

"Just let him pay!" Eleanor said impatiently.

"Alright then." Aske picked up the menu and said to the waiter at the door, "We’ll start with these three dishes."

"Your order, please." The waiter nodded, taking up a pen and paper.

"Asparagus with lobster, truffle-stuffed capon, and grilled elephant clam," Aske perused the menu and said casually.

"Do you require anything specific regarding the origin?" the waiter asked.

Some high-class restaurants specially imported quality ingredients from certain origins, and of course, the prices were higher. Ludwig thought that this Mercenary Corps Commander wouldn’t know the intricacies and was about to speak up:

"That would be..."

"The asparagus should come from the Hessian black forests in Stuttgart, which is already out of season and there’s not much wild fresh produce left, so we need the ones taken care of in local greenhouses. The lobster must be blue-shelled from the coasts of Brittany, baked with white wine," Eleanor said coldly, "The white truffles should be imports from Elmont, and since you probably don’t have any high-end capon, let’s go with the Bresse chicken from West Francia. For the elephant clam..."

"The elephant clams should be from the Pearl Islands," Ludwig hurriedly said.

"Very well," the waiter nodded and withdrew.

"Why didn’t you let me choose the last dish?" Eleanor said, annoyed.

"It’s not proper for a lady to order such a dish," Ludwig joked elegantly, though he was secretly relieved. If his sister had blurted out that the elephant clams should be from Basnia Bay, the price of the meal would have skyrocketed to several hundred pounds.

Basnia Bay geoduck is a Spiritual Material after all!

It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford the price, but using Spiritual Material for cooking... even the Weisbach family wouldn’t indulge in such extravagance, that would be like tossing coins at a feast.

Eleanor didn’t say much, just slightly pursed her lips. Nora watched amusedly from the side; she was seeing this side of her friend for the first time, revealing such girlish emotions.

"By the way, I hear that our Hood is going to take a high position at your place?" Aske asked casually.

Even with Ludwig’s thick skin, being directly questioned about poaching in public caused his face to redden slightly as he smiled, "Yes, Mr. Hood has extensive experience and outstanding potential in the design of Power Armor..."

"Wait a minute!" Eleanor interrupted, "How am I not aware of this? Are you poaching from our team?"

"Weisbach is your family, isn’t it?" Ludwig hinted.

"That’s different!" Eleanor slammed the table, "He joined our team first!"

"Mr. Hood and The Azure Longsword have a terminable employment contract," Ludwig’s face struggled to maintain composure as he said solemnly, "It’s his right to resign whenever he wishes..."

"If it weren’t for your poaching, he wouldn’t have resigned!" Eleanor protested loudly.

The girls looked at each other in confusion, while Hood lowered his head as if wishing he could disappear under the table. It was Aske who came forward with a smile to smooth things over:

"Eleanor, people have their own aspirations, you can’t force them. Hood is willing to go to your brother’s design bureau; it’s his choice for his career."

Eleanor glared for a long time before slowly exhaling and saying:

"Even so, you shouldn’t use such underhanded methods..."

Where have I done anything underhanded! Ludwig could hardly laugh or cry, then suddenly he realized.

Wait a minute, my sister, who has been spoiled by our father since childhood, is always arrogant and stubborn. How could she possibly listen to this man?

Who on earth is this guy!

His eyes suddenly filled with horror.