Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 245 - 43: Large-Scale Poaching

Chapter 245: Chapter 43: Large-Scale Poaching

While Aske was being courted, the other girls also encountered similar requests.

"Surgical Chief Doctor?" Nora asked in astonishment.

"Indeed," said the middle-aged woman standing in front of her, dressed smartly and claiming to be the Dean of Mingxing City’s Maximilian Hospital. "In our hospital, the title of Chief Surgeon comes with an annual salary of over 50 pounds."

"Why choose me?" Nora smiled. "Well, I’m not a famous doctor, nor have I ever published any articles in medical journals..."

"Our background checks have shown you possess enough potential," the Dean replied with a smile.

"Potential..." Nora immediately understood. "It’s the Weisbach Family that asked you to do this, isn’t it?"

"Viscount Gao Ting is very optimistic about your potential, and Maximilian Hospital trusts Viscount Gao Ting’s judgment," the Dean implied meaningfully.

"Sorry, but I’m not considering changing jobs at the moment," Nora replied with a smile.

This time it was the Dean’s turn to be shocked: "Dear, won’t you reconsider? An annual salary over 50 pounds—many veteran doctors who’ve been with us for over twenty years don’t enjoy such generous compensation..."

"I’m not short of money," Nora replied with a slight smile.

The Dean still wanted to persuade her, but her eyes suddenly fell on the mechanical watch on her wrist, and she became speechless as if a rooster that had been choked, unable to utter a word.

It was a Lysine high-precision cesium atomic wristwatch, the "Emperor of Watches" in the watch world, renowned as the pinnacle of "cutting-edge technology" and "exorbitantly high prices." Her husband’s lifelong dream was to own that watch, and he had been saving up for it for over thirty years.

"What’s up?" At another corner of the Weisbach Palace, Medea, who was searching for books in the library, turned her head.

"Hello," said the butler of the Weisbach Family, "Miss Medea..."

"Not interested," Medea cut him off.

"I haven’t even said what it’s about..." the butler said with a wry smile.

"Whether it’s job offers, matchmaking, seeking knowledge, or asking for temporary help, I’m not interested," said Medea.

Butler: ......

He had prepared four reasons to start a conversation, planning to segue into corresponding topics based on Medea’s responses, ultimately cleverly leading to the invitation to become the "Court Mage Advisor."

Unexpectedly, she outright rejected all four reasons as soon as he began... This redhead girl, seemingly young, was surprisingly difficult to deal with!

At the landscape-viewing courtyard of Weisbach Palace, Sigrdrifa was lying under the shade of a tree, daydreaming.

"Miss Sigrdrifa?" A middle-aged man greeted her.

"Oh, hello. And you are?" Sigrdrifa sat up.

"I am John Wolfgang, the Knight Captain of Mingxing City Guard," said the middle-aged man, introducing himself. "You seem like a Northland samurai who wields a battle axe."

"Heh, not to hide it from you, but I’m quite skilled with an axe," Sigrdrifa declared confidently.

"I can see that, but I would still prefer to see it with my own eyes," the middle-aged man gestured. "Would you be willing to spar with me? Allow me to witness your axe technique?"

"Hmm, then I’ll let you get a glimpse of my prowess," Sigrdrifa stood up.

Knight Captain John frowned slightly. In his view, the young girl in front of him, who spoke quite arrogantly, was likely one of those samurai who had just started practicing martial arts, beat a few peers, and began to get a big head.

Once she faced a knight whose physical condition was at its peak and whose combat consciousness was superior to hers, she would undoubtedly be defeated. Then she would become discouraged, blame the world, and take a long time to recover from the emotional slump.

Regrettably, in the upcoming duel, Knight Captain John had no choice but to intentionally hold back, pretending to be defeated by his opponent during the fight, then naturally praise her prowess and subsequently invite her to take up the position of the City Guard Martial Arts Instructor.

This was an instruction from Viscount Gao Ting.

Although he did not quite understand this command, the loyal Knight Captain John still planned to carry it out meticulously. He just had to prepare himself for the inevitable embarrassment.

So, he drew his sword, adopting a combat stance while also readying himself to go easy on his opponent.

Sigrdrifa pulled out the North Wind Axe and began with a horizontal slash.

Knight Captain John agilely moved backward to evade, not attempting to block the battle axe. To his surprise, Sigrdrifa used the momentum to spin her body, with both hands wielding the axe like a fierce wind sweeping toward him.

Tornado Slash!

Facing this move that was even more powerful than a standard axe strike, Knight Captain John obviously could not meet it head-on, so he had to retreat swiftly again, only to end up with his back against the wall.

It was then he realized that he was in the courtyard of the castle, with very limited room for evasion. The opponent’s sweeping Tornado Slash had an incomparable advantage in such an environment.

Although temporarily at a disadvantage, Knight Captain John leveraged his rich combat experience. He quickly focused his mind to cool down, his gaze fixed on the opponent’s Tornado Slash.

Seizing the moment between the axe swings, he thrust his longsword fiercely!

But Sigrdrifa suddenly came to a halt in the midst of her Tornado Slash, leaped back, and dodged his thrust with the speed of lightning, tossing the North Wind Axe at him from mid-air.

Caught off guard, Knight Captain John could only try to parry upwards with his sword, attempting to knock away the battle axe. In the instant when metal clashed against metal, an extreme coldness spread along the longsword to his arm, immediately numbing his muscles and rendering them immobile.

He forcefully twisted his muscles, trying to regain sensation in his right arm. However, Sigrdrifa, holding another battle axe, quickly closed in again, striking his abdomen heavily with the blunt end of the axe handle, causing him searing pain. He involuntarily fell to the ground, curling up like a shrimp.

I should have worn armor... In the throes of gut-wrenching pain, Knight Captain John was overtaken by intense regret.

"Oops, no good, no good, you’re not my match at all," Sigrdrifa laughed heartily and recalled the North Wind Axe with a wave of her hand, "Go back and heal, train some more. Your strength is still far from being up to par."

Knight Captain John recovered from the pain and attempted to speak of official business (inviting her to be a Martial Arts Instructor), but Sigrdrifa had already swaggered off with her axe on her shoulder.

...

"So all three from The Azure Longsword failed to be recruited?" Ludwig inquired.

"Yes," confirmed the butler Judith.

Nora was not at all lacking in money; more precisely, the Weisbach family couldn’t offer what she wanted. Ludwig knew her status as well.

Medea was crafty and impenetrable, immune to flattery. No chief butler, skilled in persuasion, could even approach her; all were defeated.

As for that Sigrdrifa, she was a complete fool, yet possessed extreme combat prowess. Ordinary knights could not defeat her, let alone communicate with her to attempt to coax her over.

In summary, the three were nearly impossible to recruit, and it was not due to a lack of ability in Judith’s subordinates. This was already made apparent through repeated probing and was clearly stated in the butler’s report.

"Should we try someone else?" Judith attempted to offer a solution.

"Other people?" Ludwig pondered, "The remaining four members, they all haven’t come of age, have they?"

"Yes," Judith was also rather speechless.

You can persuade adult women with the lure of benefits, but how do you sway underage girls? Lollipops? Take them to see goldfish?

"Let’s still give it a try," Ludwig deliberated for a long while before finally deciding.

Half an hour later, Eleanor stormed in furiously:

"I told you to stop trying to poach the girls from our team!" Her roar, seething with anger, echoed endlessly in Ludwig’s study.