Chapter 59

On that day, Kyle's office had turned into a battlefield.

With Kyle's call for help, I rushed over, only to find the room buried in paperwork.

"What the heck is this?"

"Brother Craft! Please help me!"

"Alright, but first, explain what happened."

"Actually..."

Due to the attack by the Cockatrices, it was decided to establish Kyle's army earlier than planned, and recruitment began immediately. However, for a quota of 300, nearly 2,000 applications were received.

What percentage of the settlers is that...

"I think this shows how much Kyle is loved, but should we increase the quota?"

"No, the budget would be strained."

"Yeah, soldiers are money pits."

Basically, soldiers are provided with food, clothing, and housing, given equipment, and paid a salary. Considering training and other expenses, the budget for each soldier is not trivial.

We can't just increase the number of soldiers lightly.

"So, I have no idea how to select them..."

Alphard, who was working on paperwork with Kyle, also raised his head.

"I'm supposed to be the head of the army, but I've never selected people from outside noble or knight families, so it's quite difficult. Craft, do you have any good ideas?"

"Right, Alphard, you were part of the Holy Knights, weren't you?"

Recruiting for an elite force and a regular army is quite different.

I took a stack of the documents piled in front of Alphard and started flipping through them.

Occupations included farmers, woodcutters, hunters, and adventurers...

"Hmm? There are adventurers too?"

"Yeah, quite a few. They might want citizenship."

"Isn't it easy to get citizenship in Golden Dawn?"

Normally, to get citizenship, you either have to be born in the town or pay a large sum of money, but in the frontier village of Golden Dawn, it's quite easy to obtain.

Basically, you can get citizenship by owning a residence, having a steady job, or buying a house.

Moreover, rooms are available for rent to those who want to settle, making it very easy to get citizenship.

"Right now, we don't treat adventurers as having a steady job, but we welcome more adventurers."

Indeed, many adventurers are wanderers who frequently change their bases, so it might be difficult to consider them as having a steady job.

However, I didn't think adventurers would join the army just for citizenship.

"This is my opinion as a former adventurer, but I think most of the adventurers who applied want to protect this Golden Dawn, which they like. Normally, they wouldn't give up the freedom of being an adventurer."

If they were low-ranking adventurers who couldn't make a living, it would make sense, but from the application forms, it seems that some fairly high-ranking adventurers are also included.

"First, let's pull out the adventurers. Next, we should look for those with some combat experience."

"Got it."

"Thank you, Brother."

As I was checking the documents of the adventurers, I found someone extraordinary.

I placed the documents of two people in front of Alphard.

"These two are definite picks."

"Who are they?"

"Degard Bismarck and Tygar Gaidal. Both are C-rank adventurers with mercenary experience. They were the ones who led the defense against the Cockatrices."

"Oh, them. One is a beastman, right?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No... not really."

Alphard hesitated for a moment, probably because he had reservations about including beastmen in the army. However, Kyle's policy was to not discriminate against beastmen or demi-humans.

"I think Degard should be Alphard's deputy."

"Agreed. That's not bad."

"C-rank and above adventurers should all be accepted. For those below, we'll cross-reference with investigation reports."

"Got it."

Since we're forming an army, we need to conduct at least basic background checks, including political beliefs and family relations, but with over 2,000 applications, it's impossible to handle them all.

We'll narrow it down to a certain extent and then conduct thorough investigations.

The clerks sent by the Margrave, along with the academy teachers, will now have a very busy schedule.

Yeah, I'll bring them some potions later.

After about a month of selection, Kyle's direct command army was finally established.

300 might sound small, but some lower nobles only have about 10 soldiers, so 300 is quite a significant number.

In case of war, if the king orders troops to be dispatched, conscripting farmers would be necessary, but Kyle disliked this and increased the number of professional soldiers.

This is also related to the dangerous nature of this frontier.

With the town's population growing, maintaining law and order required this many soldiers.

The soldiers are divided into three groups: active duty, standby (training), and rest, so 100 are active during peacetime.

Kyle is the commander-in-chief, Alphard is the de facto general, Degard is the deputy, and Tygar is the front-line leader.

Kyle looked down from the mansion at the training ground, where Tygar was conducting Spartan training, and sighed in relief.

"Finally, it's all coming together."

"Yeah, it was tough."

"But now we don't need to hire adventurers for town security, so monster hunting in the surrounding areas will progress."

"Right. The walls will be completed soon, too."

Once the walls are completed, the defense capabilities will improve, and the number of adventurers needed for defense can be reduced.

"Yes, everyone has really worked hard."

"I can't fall behind either."

"Brother Craft, you should rest more."

"Alright, alright. You too, don't overdo it."

"Perseia won't let me overwork, so don't worry."

"Got it."

Perseia watched Kyle and me laughing together with a frown.

◆

The second wall, which was incomplete, was now complete.

All buildings are now protected by alchemically reinforced stone walls.

During the Cockatrice attack, the completed sections were undamaged, so this wall provides a sense of security.

Today, Reifan, Kyle, and Perseia are inspecting the area.

"The North Gate faces the river, so it's currently closed. The West, East, and South Gates are planned to be open until night."

"Isn't a small area being created outside the North Gate to be adjacent to the river?"

"Yes. We are currently working with the construction guild to determine if a bridge can be built over this river. If a bridge is built, it will become a gate leading to the bridge, and if not, a port will be constructed."

"According to the report. Everyone is really working hard."

"Yes! I'll let everyone know!"

"Thank you. How is the third wall coming along?"

"We are currently working on the foundation. The third wall is on a different scale."

"Right."

Even the current second wall is on the same scale as the capital, but the third wall will be several times larger. It's so vast that three capitals could easily fit inside. Normally, construction would take decades, but with alchemically reinforced stone, it will be completed in a much shorter time.

Kyle inspected the completed walls and gates with satisfaction.

A red bipedal lizard ran up. It must be Alphard's Red Flame.

"Master Kyle!"

"Alphard, what's wrong?"

"It's a letter. A letter has arrived!"

It was clear from Alphard's panic that it wasn't an ordinary letter.

"Let's go back to the office. Brother Craft, come with us."

"Got it."

We hurried back to Kyle's office.

Once Kyle sat at his desk, the butler, who had been sent to reinforce the staff, respectfully handed over the letter.

Kyle's eyes widened at the seal on the letter.

"This is... the royal seal."

"What? Not from the Margrave?"

"No, it's from the capital."

Kyle, slightly trembling, opened the letter and read it several times.

"What does it say?"

Carefully folding the letter and putting it away, Kyle looked up.

"An inspection team is being sent from the capital."

A force of 300, even if they are the Margrave's relatives, is quite large.

Normally, it's difficult to support professional soldiers financially.