Chapter 57

Character count (including spaces and line breaks): 2401 characters

Character count (excluding spaces and line breaks): 2314 characters

A bit short. Well, this part was originally supposed to be attached to the previous one, so it's fine.

In the Kingdom of Hamil, there exist seven knight orders.

There are the four knight orders, each named after the cardinal directions, the Hamil Kingdom Knight Order, which is the kingdom's greatest military force, the Royal Guard Knight Order, which protects the royal family, and the Iron Dragon Knight Order, the kingdom's strongest, which achieved remarkable military honors in a war that took place about ten years ago.

One of these, the Eastern Knight Order, which is responsible for guarding the eastern region of the kingdom, has been in a continuous decline since its victory in the decisive battle against its long-standing enemy, the Kingdom of Lemuria, which shared a border with the eastern part of the kingdom, about ten years ago.

The reason is simple: after the war, there was no longer any need for the Eastern Knight Order.

Before the war, the Kingdom of Hamil and the Kingdom of Lemuria had almost equal national power. As a result, while there were occasional skirmishes that led to slight territorial changes, the two countries shared a border along the Eastern Mountains, which served as a natural stronghold.

However, everything changed with the last war.

Thanks to the efforts of the newly established Iron Dragon Knight Order, the Kingdom of Hamil successfully defeated numerous high-ranking officials, including the King of Lemuria, securing a great victory. Furthermore, the relentless pursuit by the Kingdom of Hamil led to repeated defeats for the Lemurian army. In the end, the Kingdom of Lemuria lost nearly half of its territory and was finally able to end the war with the Kingdom of Hamil by retreating to the eastern side of the Siena River, which flows through the easternmost part of the current Kingdom of Hamil, in the Siena region.

After the war, the kingdom's territory expanded significantly, and new noble lords, primarily young nobles who had distinguished themselves in battle, emerged in the eastern region. However, this ultimately led to a decline in the training level of the Eastern Knight Order.

Before the war, the Eastern Knight Order was mainly composed of nobles who owned territories around the Eastern Mountains. The Eastern Mountains were rich in high-quality minerals, and conflicts over these resources with the Kingdom of Lemuria were frequent. The war's outcome had a significant impact on the management of their territories, so the nobles who participated in the Eastern Knight Order at the time had very high morale.

However, after the war ended, the threat from the enemy country to the nobles around the Eastern Mountains not only decreased but disappeared entirely.

Moreover, it was argued that it was inefficient for nobles with territories west of the mountains to be part of the Eastern Knight Order, which was responsible for guarding the new border far to the east. It was suggested that they should instead join the Hamil Kingdom Knight Order to prepare for the still-threatening Kingdom of Loire to the west. This view was also shared by the kingdom's upper echelons, and it was decided that the Eastern Knight Order would be reorganized gradually once the governance of the newly acquired territories stabilized.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Kingdom of Lemuria, deeply scarred by its defeat, was barely able to defend its remaining territory and had no resources left to reclaim its lost land from the Kingdom of Hamil. As a result, the anticipated war to reclaim lost territory did not occur, and the new eastern region enjoyed a period of peace until the present day.

The Eastern Knight Order was, of course, reorganized as planned. The new nobles, who had gained territories in the new eastern region, were able to focus on managing their lands without the threat of war. The new lords worked hard to win the hearts of their people, and as their governance stabilized, soldiers were conscripted to form the Eastern Knight Order.

Thus, a knight order with no practical combat experience was formed.

Many of the new nobles who gained territories in the new eastern region were young nobles who had distinguished themselves in the war. Most of them had participated in the knight order as individuals, achieving feats through personal bravery. They were known as "common knights," and their command experience was limited to leading a few soldiers, at most a small squad. Few had experience leading large units.

Therefore, they lacked the experience required of "unit commanders" by the noble lords, who needed to gather soldiers from their territories and form units.

As a result, after the experienced noble lords from the old eastern region, who owned territories near the Eastern Mountains, were reassigned during the reorganization, the newly formed knight order was, in a sense, a motley crew.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the lack of combat experience did not become apparent because the Kingdom of Lemuria lacked the resources to wage another war. Since there were no wars afterward, the Eastern Knight Order never gained any collective combat experience.

§

(They seem to be conducting drills after drills in an attempt to regain their training... but...)

These drills were also a concern.

The Alba territory belongs to the old eastern region, but due to its location, it remained under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Knight Order after the reorganization. Therefore, Johan knew the exact location of the Eastern Knight Order's base.

The nearest Eastern Knight Order base to Alba Village is Baram Fort, a fortress on the eastern side of the Eastern Mountains, located to the southeast of Alba Village.

(If we go directly, it would take nearly a day even on a fast horse.)

However, even if it takes that much time to send a message, if the knight order is out on drills, it will take even more time to recall them. Moreover, Johan, who also lacked combat experience, did not know the current level of training of the knight order.

(If the request for assistance from the Eastern Knight Order turns out to be in vain, the only hope left is the capital.)

The distance from Alba Village to the capital is much farther than to Baram Fort. However, if Neut can move faster than a fast horse, the travel time can be significantly reduced.

(Even if he can't fly as well as an adult dragon...!)

Johan tied the letter to Neut's neck while staring intently into the dragon's eyes.

"I'm entrusting everything to you!"

The fate of the Alba territory was now in the hands of a young dragon with green scales.

This is the third consecutive update. Please forgive me for the shorter text.

I've written about 12,000 characters over these three days, averaging 4,000 characters per day.

Following yesterday's explanation, the story will likely start to move forward from here... (hopefully)

By the way, as a continued promotion, the comic adaptation of my work, "The Great Adventure of the Poor Noble Nord," is currently serialized on Comic Earth Star. Please check it out if you haven't already. Details are available in the activity report titled "Comic Adaptation!"

Also, this story may have some contradictions with the beginning of the second part, but please don't worry too much. I'll probably fix it.