The instructors who arrived first in Florence were wrestling with similar worries.
"To faint at the thought that even ten thousand is too many…"
"They’d probably pass out if they heard about the Liaodong War."
"Some don’t even want to believe it."
Giovanni had already been briefed in Seoul, but the empire's Ministry of Defense expected that the standing army Florence could organize would number around fifteen thousand.
The military officer reporting on this added the following:
"Of course, this isn't exact. It’s based on rumors we’ve picked up from imperial merchants staying in Florence and Italians docking at our trade ports. If we can get accurate population data directly from Florence and recalculate, the numbers could change."
Taking that to heart, the instructors who had arrived in Florence requested the problematic data from the city hall officials.
With troubled expressions, the officials asked back,
"Is it absolutely necessary right now?"
"Isn’t it obvious? We need to know precisely how many we can mobilize for the army to adjust troop proportions and coordinate training."
"Hmm… the truth is…"
The officials let out long sighs, filled with embarrassment, and tried to explain the issue.
Hearing this, the instructors looked utterly baffled.