Chapter 108. Big Brother Is Watching You (2)

Even if he's not an official guild master guaranteed a noble or city council position, a master is a master.

So in this slum where dark money gathers, he's probably living a life no less enviable than nobles.

But humans are creatures that can never be satisfied with their circumstances, unable to be content.

Also, the fact that he's risen to be called a guild master in the slums anyway means he has an enormous desire to rise higher.

Could he refuse an offer of a chance to live better?

'I don't think he'll be able to refuse.'

"Shall I speak more honestly? How long will you live as a king of the slums? It's not bad living like that, but."

I deliberately paused and looked over the man before me.

Even among beggars, it's normal for someone who used to do well to have a certain dignity in their speech and behavior, while someone born a beggar clearly shows their lowliness at a glance.

Like how putting an awl in your pocket will inevitably make a hole in your pants.

Of course, as a guild master, the king of this alley, he was wearing expensive clothes that nobles wear...

But he didn't show signs of being excessively decorated with gold, silver, and various jewels that newly rich people often like.

It was clearly noticeable that he paid attention to cleanliness and appearance management.

As Sebastian said, this guy is indeed a descendant of a fallen noble family.

'And one that fell quite recently.'

Then should I scratch him a bit with words fallen nobles can't stand the most?

"Seeing even lowly craftsmen and worthless soldiers who couldn't even look you in the eye before now ignore and mock you, your insides must still be turning."

Surprisingly, you get used to contempt and disdain if you experience it constantly from childhood.

Conversely, people who have lived in wealthy environments tend to have their insides turn even with just a little disrespect.

The man before me glared at my mockery.

If he didn't know I was a baron, he probably would have drawn his knife and threatened me.

"I'll give you a way out of that cursed and despised situation."

I took off the hood of the robe I was wearing.

In an era without the internet or photos, it's practically impossible for someone to recognize who someone is just by showing their face.

I should let the man before me know who I am.

Although it's hard to sell faces in this society, the fame of our Rothschild family alone surpasses that of most count families.

'A young master of a baron family rising to baron in just a few years is an achievement of mythical proportions with slight exaggeration.'

If I rise to count from here, it'll be evaluated as a great achievement on par with the Dangun myth during my lifetime without exaggeration.

"I am Baron Fabio de Rothschild."

It's been barely 3 days since I started using the Rothschild surname.

So the sign 'Medici Trading Company' is still hanging at our family's trading company office.

So most people probably still know me as 'Baron Medici'.

People very sensitive to information like information guilds would know the reality.

As if to prove my guess right, sounds of shock came from around.

"Why on earth has the famous Baron Rothschild come here?"

"Now that you've become a baron, have you come to hire us?"

"Seems like he's come to ask us to dunk someone in the river."

The man before me opened his eyes wide as if to show his surprise.

"Until 3 days ago, I was Baron Medici."

Until just before coming here, I had to go around greeting numerous nobles saying I changed my 'family name'.

Of course, with plenty of 'friendship money'.

"What business brings the famous Baron Rothschild to this humble place?"

"I'll say it straightforwardly. Serve me."

Usually noble families just hire such information guilds.

Even if they're quite capable, they only contract them in 'long-term employment' form at most.

If they like them and make them serve as retainers, they'll be talked about behind their backs for having lowly information guilds as retainers.

From the perspective of long-serving retainers, they can't help but dislike such worthless things daring to stand in similar ranks as them.

'Who likes a rolling stone displacing an embedded stone?'

"Did you really not come to hire us?"

"Thanks to our family having many vacant retainer positions, there's no particular problem in greatly selecting you."

99% of nobles participate in war, achieve great merits, and receive territories.

They rise step by step like viscount, baron, viscount.

And initial retainers are mostly filled with capable officers under them or professionals excellent in practical work.

'There's no room for poor people to enter from the start.'

Of course, our Rothschild baron family has almost no hereditary retainers, or more precisely vassals, because I myself don't like the hereditary status system very much.

'In fact, there's none except Sebastian?'

Well, there are guys with just knight titles who have been governing territories from before.

But I didn't particularly give those guys real power.

"Of course, others are also hired as retainers of the Rothschild family."

A retainer is equivalent to at least a 9th grade civil servant or public service worker no matter how low.

It's a huge status rise from a beggar without a proper job to a civil servant.

Hearing my proposal, everyone shouted hurray, but the guild master kept his cool and asked:

"So what should we do? From what you're saying, it doesn't seem like you're just going to entrust us with simple requests like gathering rumors or killing someone like before."

As he said, if I was just going to entrust simple requests, there's no need to bother hiring them.

There are plenty of guys who can do such roles in this slum anyway.

It's very admirable that he grasped my intention without me saying.

It'll save me the trouble of saying things several times.

"It's not that gathering information like that is useless. But the quality and quantity of information will inevitably be low."

Looking anywhere in the world, the biggest source of loss for companies, militaries, and countries is insiders.

If an internal employee or executive takes confidential information and sells it to a competing company or another country, it can cause economic losses of up to trillions of won in large cases.

If you sell semiconductor technology to China, it causes a huge uproar.

Well, our country also caused losses to others by taking various technologies through 'illegal channels' via spies...

Anyway, if you can plant reliable people and use them as spies, it's a great help.

Because we can detect signs and counterattack before they screw us over from the inside.

"Then can't we just educate reliable people and plant them in various organizations?"

The guild master couldn't hide his shock hearing my words.

In this era, the basics of espionage and information gathering are just using poor people to gather rumors, and bribing greedy people to extract information.

But educating employees from the start and planting them inside organizations to continuously steal information actually circulating?

It's an innovative idea ahead of its time.

"It would be possible to place numerous spies in organizations and steal information bit by bit, and also possible to use insiders to plant false information and confuse the other side."

Although different from injecting fake information through insiders that I use, deception showed its true value in the Normandy landings during World War II.

They used all sorts of tricks to make Nazi Germany believe that Pas-de-Calais was the real target between the port city of Pas-de-Calais and Normandy.

They deployed 'balloon tanks' made by Hollywood model making experts near Dover, and even had the crazy dog Patton personally inspect them.

They spread all sorts of wireless information (nonsense) to draw all of Germany's attention, etc.

Thanks to using such severe deception, it's said that even in the Allied forces including Britain, many people couldn't believe the radio reports that the Normandy landings had succeeded.

We could also deceive by spreading fake information internally like that.

'Well, since I'm not an espionage expert, it'll be clumsy...'

But those who can't even imagine what that clumsy operation is have no choice but to be beaten with both hands and feet up.

"Guild apprentices, noble family servants, trading company employees, etc. I'll provide free education so they can have all sorts of occupations. Since they'll be performing spy work, I'll give very generous bonuses in addition to the pay they receive there."

I'll make this bonus into a 'savings' to be paid in a lump sum when they retire or leave work.

Or send some as living expenses for families placed in my territory to use.

'Everyone gets suspicious if spending increases.'

"Will you change your fate? Or will you quit?"

For reference, if they say they'll quit, these friends here will 'voluntarily enlist' with the Marine Captain and guard soldiers I'm close with 'the next day'.

But I don't know where they'll voluntarily enlist.

"We'll do it."

"Good, then you come with me first. The remaining guild members prepare to leave here. Organize and come out within a week. You're now retainers of the Rothschild family."