Chapter 42

71,900 points... thank you.

Bookmarks have also exceeded 26,000... thank you.

With gratitude to everyone, I will update.

And then go to sleep.

"Apprentice Knight, Nord has arrived!"

"Take a rest."

This happened a few days after receiving a letter from Johan.

After training, Nord was called to the barracks and spoke to the instructor sitting across the desk.

The barracks, which was busier than usual as evening approached, had dragon knights moving around. The instructor's desk was piled high with documents. Following the instructor's instructions, Nord relaxed his posture and listened to the conversation.

"There has been a decision from the upper echelons of the kingdom."

"Yes."

Nord felt a sense of déjà vu about his current situation. It must have been summer last time, right?

"They plan to significantly increase the number of dragon knights."

"Expand, you mean?"

"Yes, well, this has been decided for some time now."

The instructor, rubbing his tired eyes from paperwork, explained the situation to Nord.

Last year, when Nord brought back the dragon egg—Neut—the expansion of the Iron Dragon Knights was already decided.

The issue was how many to increase by, and the upper echelons of the kingdom had been debating the number—essentially the budget for expansion—vigorously.

"You will eventually become a full dragon knight, so you should know," the instructor explained. Currently, in the Kingdom of Hamil, there are multiple factions involved in the budget for the Iron Dragon Knights, which extends to the entire army, including the Hamil Kingdom Knights.

The largest faction is the status quo faction, which includes the current king, and they are neutral. They are considering a reasonable expansion based on the kingdom's increasing revenue in recent years.

The second strongest faction is the austerity faction led by the first prince. They oppose increasing the military budget and argue that it should be allocated to domestic development to boost the kingdom's economy.

However, when they received news last year that the Kingdom of Loire, which borders Hamil to the west, had established a dragon knight corps, and it was almost confirmed, they withdrew their previous stance and agreed to a similar level of expansion as the status quo faction.

"I see. So, a small expansion has been decided, then?"

"No, that's not it."

Nord nodded, thinking he understood, but the instructor shook his head and negated his statement. Surprised by the unexpected reaction, Nord widened his eyes and refocused on the conversation.

Despite the agreement between the neutral status quo faction and the austerity faction, the faction that ultimately won the debate was the expansion faction.

This faction, led by the second prince, argued that expanding the dragon knights was essential for defending the western border.

The second prince also cited the previous war—eighteen years ago, against the eastern nation. Hamil won that war and gained extensive territory east of the Eastern Mountains—and argued that the dragon knights should be expanded to defeat the Kingdom of Loire to the west.

The Kingdom of Loire and Hamil have been in conflict for years, with small-scale skirmishes occurring frequently.

Hamil's national power increased after defeating the eastern nation, but it was only then that it could match Loire. Loire, which also has an enemy to the west, has never been attacked by Hamil with full force, but the western lords have paid a heavy price in the numerous border disputes.

The nobles who have held territories in the west for generations, under the pressure of powerful nations, have long wished for a fundamental solution—defeating Loire and expanding the western territories—and have supported the second prince, known for his militaristic stance.

Despite this, the austerity faction led by the first prince resisted, trying to keep the expansion to a minimum.

Dragon knights have two inherent problems. One is the high cost of maintaining a dragon, and the other is the high skill level required of the knight.

The former is mainly due to the high cost of raising a grown dragon.

Dragons eat a lot—terrifyingly so. Even Neut, who is still classified as a juvenile, eats twice as much meat as Nord in a day. For an adult dragon, the food cost is even higher, and the expenses are astronomical. If Nord had to pay for Neut's food himself, the Felis family would go bankrupt in no time.

The latter is a problem stemming from the nature of dragons as a combat force.

Dragons are considered silver-rank monsters by adventurer standards, and a dragon knight must have the same silver-rank strength to subdue them.

Thus, expanding the Iron Dragon Knights means pulling combat forces from the existing Hamil Kingdom Knights, who are the backbone of the defense. The Hamil Kingdom Knights are said to be of the highest quality, if not better, compared to neighboring countries. This quality was a necessity due to the presence of equally strong or stronger enemy nations to the east and west, and Hamil has relied on the combat power of its knights to maintain the nation's survival.

Conversely, even though Hamil defeated the eastern nation, as long as the threat from Loire to the west remains, weakening the Hamil Kingdom Knights would be a matter of national survival, and expanding the Iron Dragon Knights would be counterproductive to national defense.

The austerity faction led by the first prince argued this and tried to keep the expansion to a minimum.

However, that changed.

"The one who resolved the year-long debate was Nord."

"Me?"

"Yes."

Called unexpectedly, Nord felt caught off guard. Surprised, Nord listened as the instructor nodded solemnly and continued.

Nord, appointed as an apprentice knight under the authority of Deputy Commander Goldwin, had been training as a dragon knight, but his true role—what the Iron Dragon Knights were seeking—was the records of Neut's upbringing.

The new research compiled by the dragon researcher—reducing the difficulty of raising a dragon compared to a normal one—was still in progress, but it was recognized as sufficient to lower the "qualitative conditions required of a dragon knight."

This research, which overturned the core argument of the first prince, was presented at a meeting of the kingdom's upper echelons by the second prince. As a result, the debate shifted in favor of the expansion faction led by the second prince, leading to a large-scale expansion of the Iron Dragon Knights.

"I see. That's why everyone is so busy with work."

"That's right..."

Nord looked around again.

Documents were being brought into the barracks, not just to the instructor's desk. The knights of the corps were approving them one after another, but there was no sign of it ending.

Even the young dragon knights, who were relatively junior, were struggling with unfamiliar paperwork, battling mountains of paper.

The instructor, who had been rubbing his eyes vigorously while talking, was undoubtedly tired from the paperwork.

"So, how many are they planning to increase by?"

"Ultimately, it will be fifty, in addition to the current force."

"Really! That's a lot, isn't it?"

"The gradual increase is a relief."

Currently, the Iron Dragon Knights have about forty dragon knights and the same number of dragons.

There are also dragon caretakers, guards, and administrative nobles, but the number of active combat forces, the dragon knights, is around that.

Adding over ten more at once is significant. Since a dragon is equivalent to ten knights, it's like adding a hundred knights.

No wonder the barracks were bustling from morning. With the organization's personnel increasing by more than a quarter, there would be a lot to do, including expanding the dragon stables and barracks.

Nord decided to offer his help to the instructor, thinking if there was anything he could do.

"Instructor, if there's anything I can do, please let me know."

"Appreciated, but Nord is still an apprentice. There's no work I can assign you."

"I see... I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"Don't worry. I'll take your offer of goodwill."

"Still, it's quite an increase, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"By a quarter, after all."

"No, that's not it."

"Huh?"

"Can't you do simple math?" the instructor pointed out, but Nord didn't understand what he meant.

He realized his mistake when the instructor spoke next.

"Adding fifty to about forty means more than double, doesn't it? Ridiculous."

"......What?"

Finally, Nord understood the true reason why the barracks had turned into a battlefield of paperwork and was speechless.

Seeing this, the instructor finally realized Nord's misunderstanding and said, "Ah, I see."

"You thought it would be fifty, didn't you?"

"Yes, well..."

The instructor chuckled and said, "It's understandable."

A dragon knight is equivalent to ten knights in terms of combat power and cost. Therefore, a plan to increase fifty dragon knights, even gradually, is equivalent to increasing five hundred knights.

"Is it really okay to increase that much?"

"From the kingdom's revenue, it should be fine. Hamil's income has increased over the past twenty years."

Counting on his fingers, the instructor explained the situation in Hamil.

Production and export of magic stones from artificial labyrinths, stabilization of the eastern territories, increased trade with trading cities, and increased tax revenue from population growth.

Hearing this, Nord remembered the port town of Port Els he visited as an adventurer last year. The port was bustling with numerous—almost overwhelming—trading ships, and the port was thriving.

He also remembered that the number of cargo carriages on the main southern road was high. It was probably the same or even more this year.

It wasn't just the south. This summer, he had only been active as an adventurer for two months, but there were many requests for escorting caravans on the roads.

This indicated that a lot of gold and silver coins were circulating, and it seemed they were flowing into Hamil.

However, the instructor, rubbing his head, muttered, "The problem lies elsewhere."

When Nord asked what the other problem was, the instructor continued.

"It will take a few years for the newly raised dragons to become combat-ready, but the problem is after that."

"After that... Do you mean war?"

"Small skirmishes are fine, but the next conflict will undoubtedly be a large-scale war with Loire."

The instructor nodded, affirming Nord's conclusion.

"As knights—warriors—we should welcome war. Defeating Loire and bringing glory to the Kingdom of Hamil will be a great achievement. The expanded Iron Dragon Knights will be of great use then."

But—

The instructor paused, glanced around, and gestured for Nord to come closer. Nord leaned in to hear the instructor's whispered words.

"Who will get the credit for defeating Loire? It certainly won't be the first prince, who opposed the expansion. The second prince, on the other hand, has now officially entered the succession race."

The Iron Dragon Knights, to which Nord belongs, have now become indebted to the second prince.

In other words,

"We are now inevitably involved in the political struggle for the throne."

The instructor's hushed, tense voice conveyed the seriousness of the situation more than his words.

§

"The conversation has been long."

"No, thank you for the valuable information."

The instructor, who had been leaning forward and speaking in a low voice, sat back in his creaking chair and said so.

"So, then—"

"Yes."

"As you can see, I, and the other members, are completely swamped."

The Iron Dragon Knights are so busy that they would even borrow a hand from a cat—or Neut.

Neut, who was lying beside Nord, seemed to notice his gaze and tilted his head in confusion.

Nord, ignoring Neut, returned his gaze to the instructor, and Neut, losing interest, flopped back onto the barracks floor.

"Your training is still ongoing, but your reconnaissance training has progressed to some extent. Therefore, you will continue with self-training for a while."

"Self-training?"

"Well, we can't give you another long summer break."

When Nord asked how long, the instructor shrugged, saying it was unclear.

"Given the unprecedented scale of this expansion, it's hard to predict. We're adding over ten this year alone, which is overwhelming."

The instructor's tightly closed eyes conveyed a strong desire to escape from the reality of the piled-up work.

Nord felt helpless at not being able to help but was also grateful to be an apprentice. He was good at fighting monsters and had combat experience, but he didn't think he could handle paperwork.

"Acquiring eggs is also a challenge."

"Yes, I was wondering about that map."

The instructor glanced at a large map of the Kingdom of Hamil on the wall, marked with several red 'X's.

These marks likely indicated the locations of dragon nests.

"Will the instructors be collecting them?"

"Yes, we considered hiring adventurers, but there's a risk of leaks."

Nord's method of raising dragons was simple.

By covering the body with the strong scent of the mother's feces, the newly hatched dragon would mistake the person for its parent.

While this method, discovered by Nord by chance, was simple once understood, it had never been thought of before. All that was needed was the dragon's feces.

Previously, adventurers capable of retrieving dragon eggs could also defeat dragons, so there was no need to get covered in feces.

However, if adventurers were asked to retrieve both eggs and feces, they might talk. No matter how much they were warned, they might mention it over drinks. "It was a strange request, wanting both eggs and feces. Maybe they want to cover themselves in feces?" It wouldn't be hard for someone astute to deduce that Hamil had developed a new method and that dragon feces were involved.

Given the opportunity to expand the dragon force and gain a military advantage, it would be disastrous if the method leaked to other countries.

Therefore, the Iron Dragon Knights decided to handle the collection of eggs and feces themselves.

"Huh?"

"What is it?"

Nord, feeling guilty for not being able to help, noticed something while looking at the map.

The instructor, noticing his reaction, asked what was wrong.

"It's nothing major, but—"

"Go ahead, speak."

"My brother, who has a territory in the east, mentioned in a letter that dragons have made nests in the Eastern Mountains."

"That's concerning. It could affect the mines."

Nord pointed to the mountainous region in the east of the capital and relayed what was written in Johan's letter, adding that the information was unverified. The instructor, however, was not concerned.

The Eastern Mountains, now fully within Hamil's territory, were once the border with the eastern nation. The region is rich in high-quality mineral deposits, and conflicts over these resources were common in the past.

If dragons made nests in the mountains, they would hunt for prey in the surrounding areas.

This could lead to attacks on the horses transporting minerals and supplies, affecting the operation of the mines.

Nord recalled a quest he and Elsa took on as novice adventurers to slay rock wolves, which was also due to similar reasons. However, the impact of dragons would be much greater.

The instructor marked the Eastern Mountains with a large red 'X' and added "Urgent action required."

Seeing this, Nord remembered that the instructor was from the east and likely knew the economic impact of the Eastern Mountains on the surrounding areas.

"Thank you for letting me know."

"No, I feel like I've added to your workload."

"We'll manage."

The instructor, returning his gaze from the map, resumed the conversation about self-training—essentially a break.

"Do you have any plans for self-training?"

"I have a brother with territory in the east, and I plan to stay with him and work as an adventurer."

"Good. Reconnaissance training ultimately requires practical experience."

Nord thought that quests in the Alba Forest and nearby towns and villages would be good training.

Johan's letter invited him to visit Alba Village anytime, and the opportunity came sooner than expected.

Recently, I've noticed that the odd writing and content issues might be due to writing through the night.

I always worry, but I ended up writing a long explanation after staying up for six hours again!

Sorry if it's hard to read.

I wonder if this story will ever come in handy.

I'll plant foreshadowing as I think of it, and try to follow up.

Also, if you notice anything strange, please point it out. I'll reflect as much as possible. (No guarantees on fixing it, though.)

I've started buying books and studying novel writing, but haven't received much feedback yet.

I'm going to go to bed and watch Ad Astra when I wake up... zzz