Poor Noble Nord’s Adventure

42.1. Busy

“Apprentice knight, Nord reporting!”

“You’re dismissed to rest.”

It was a few days after receiving a letter from Johan.

Called to the barracks after training, Nord addressed the instructor sitting behind the desk.

The barracks, as evening approached, were bustling with dragon knights moving about busily. The instructor’s desk was piled with stacks of documents.

Following the instructor’s order, Nord relaxed his posture and listened.

“The upper ranks of the kingdom have made a decision.”

“Yes.”

Nord felt a strange sense of déjà vu about the situation he was in now. Hadn’t this happened once before, perhaps last summer?

“It seems they’ll be increasing the number of dragon knights significantly.”

“An expansion?”

“Yes, though this was something that had been decided for a while.”

The instructor, rubbing his tired eyes from paperwork, began to explain the details to Nord.

The expansion of the Iron Dragon Knight Order had been decided last year when Nord returned with a wyvern egg—Newt.

The issue was how much to expand, and the upper ranks of the kingdom had fiercely debated the numbers—essentially, the budget increase required.

“Since you’ll eventually become a full-fledged dragon knight, you should know,” the instructor explained. In the current Kingdom of Hamil, several factions existed concerning the budget for the Iron Dragon Knight Order—and, by extension, the Hamil Kingdom Knights.

The largest faction was the status-quo faction, which included the current king—essentially a neutral stance. They favored modest growth within the reasonable limits of Hamil’s rising revenue.

Next in influence was the austerity faction, led by the First Prince. This group opposed increasing the military budget, advocating instead to redirect funds toward domestic development and further energize Hamil’s economy.

However, at the end of last year, news arrived that the western Loire Kingdom, which bordered Hamil, had established its own dragon knight order. Once confirmed, the austerity faction retracted their earlier stance, agreeing to a modest increase in numbers.

“I see. So, a small increase was decided?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Nord, thinking he’d understood the instructor’s explanation, nodded, but the instructor shook his head to deny it.

Surprised, Nord blinked and focused again on the continuation of the conversation.

Even though the neutral faction and austerity faction had aligned their views, the faction that ultimately won the debate was the expansionist faction.

The leader of this faction was the Second Prince, who argued that expanding the dragon knights was essential for defending the western borders.

The Second Prince referred to the previous war—eighteen years ago against the eastern nations, where Hamil emerged victorious and gained expansive territory beyond the eastern mountains. Using that success as an example, he claimed that the dragon knights should be expanded to overthrow the Loire Kingdom to the west.

The Loire Kingdom and Hamil had been at odds for many years, divided by a border that frequently saw small-scale skirmishes.

Though Hamil gained strength after defeating the eastern nations, this only brought them to parity with the Loire Kingdom. The Loire Kingdom, occupied with enemies to its own west, had never attacked Hamil at full force. Even so, every border conflict resulted in heavy losses for the western lords of Hamil.

For generations, nobles with lands in the western regions had endured the pressure of powerful nations, secretly wishing for a lasting solution—the defeat of the Loire Kingdom and expansion of western territory. Naturally, they rallied behind the Second Prince, known for his militaristic stance.

Even then, the austerity faction, led by the First Prince, resisted, trying to limit the military budget increase as much as possible.

The dragon knights, due to their nature, presented two major issues: the high cost of wyvern upkeep and the skill level required of their knights.

The first problem stemmed largely from the cost of feeding grown wyverns.

Wyverns eat—frighteningly so.

Even Newt, who was technically still a juvenile, devoured twice as much meat as Nord ate in a day. An adult wyvern required even more, and the food costs alone would amount to a staggering sum. If Newt’s food expenses were not covered by the Iron Dragon Knight Order but instead by Nord himself, the Ferris family would be bankrupt in no time.

The second issue arose from the nature of wyverns as a military force.

Wyverns were considered silver-class monsters by adventurer standards, and dragon knights required a similar silver-class level of ability to dominate them.

In other words, expanding the Iron Dragon Knight Order would mean drawing capable knights away from the existing knight order—Hamil’s main defensive force.

The Hamil Kingdom Knights, by comparison, were not only on par with neighboring countries but were considered superior due to necessity; they had long faced strong enemies on both eastern and western fronts. Hamil had maintained its existence through the combat ability of its knights.

Thus, even with the victory over the eastern nations, the continued threat of the Loire Kingdom meant that weakening the knight order would threaten the kingdom’s survival. Expanding the Iron Dragon Knight Order, which required pulling skilled knights away, was argued to be counterproductive for national defense.

Holding onto this position, the austerity faction tried to minimize the expansion.

However.

“The one who settled this year-long debate was you, Nord.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Hearing his name at such an unexpected moment, Nord was caught off guard.

Seeing Nord’s shock, the instructor gravely nodded and continued.

Though Nord had been appointed an apprentice knight under Vice-Captain Goldwin’s authority and had been training as a dragon knight, his true role—the real reason the Iron Dragon Knight Order wanted him—was to record Newt’s growth.

The new research compiled under the wyvern researchers, showing lower difficulty in raising wyverns compared to before, was not yet complete but was enough to suggest a relaxation of the “quality requirements for dragon knights.”

This research, which overturned a core argument of the First Prince’s faction, was presented to the kingdom’s upper ranks by the Second Prince. As a result, the tide of the debate shifted toward the expansionist faction, leading to the large-scale expansion of the Iron Dragon Knight Order.

“I see. That explains why the senior knights are so buried in work.”

“Exactly…”

Nord once again looked around the room.

Beyond the instructor’s desk, numerous documents were being brought into the barracks. Knights, despite their efforts to sign off on the paperwork, showed no signs of progress.

Even the relatively young dragon knights, senior to Nord, struggled with paperwork they weren’t accustomed to, wrestling with mountains of paper.

It was no wonder the instructor kept rubbing his eyes as they talked—he was exhausted by the paperwork too.

“So, just how many will be added?”

“In the end, it will be fifty knights, including the current forces.”

“Fifty? That’s quite a lot!”

“The fact that it’ll be done in stages is the only saving grace.”

The Iron Dragon Knight Order currently had just under forty knights and an equal number of wyverns.

In addition to that, there were handlers to care for the wyverns, guards for the facilities, and bureaucrats handling paperwork, but the core fighting force consisted of the dragon knights.

Adding more than ten at once meant effectively boosting the knights by the equivalent of a hundred regular troops, given that one wyvern equaled ten soldiers.

It was no wonder the barracks had been in chaos since morning. Expanding the staff by over a quarter—alongside the necessary expansions to facilities like the dragon stables and barracks—left no shortage of work.

Nord decided to offer his help to the instructor.

“Instructor, if there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”

“I’d appreciate it, but you’re still an apprentice. There’s nothing I can give you.”

“I see… Sorry I can’t help.”

“Don’t worry. The thought alone is enough.”

“Still, that’s quite an expansion.”

“Indeed.”

“By a quarter, no less.”

“No, you’re wrong.”

“…Huh?”

When the instructor criticized him for being unable to do basic math, Nord couldn’t understand what he’d done wrong.

He only realized his mistake when the instructor spoke again.

“Adding fifty knights to just under forty… means the force will more than double, you fool.”

“…What?”

Finally understanding the true reason the barracks had turned into a battlefield of paperwork, Nord was left speechless.

Seeing his reaction, the instructor finally smirked.

“You thought it would only increase to fifty, huh?”

“Well… yeah…”

“Understandable,” the instructor said with a wry smile.

Since dragon knights were worth ten soldiers in both strength and cost, the plan to add fifty dragon knights—gradually—was effectively the same as adding five hundred knights.

“Can the kingdom really afford to expand this much?”

“From the kingdom’s revenue, it shouldn’t be a problem. Hamil’s income has been growing for twenty years.”

Counting on his fingers, the instructor described Hamil’s situation.

The production and export of magic stones from artificial dungeons. The stabilization of eastern territories. Increased trade with mercantile cities. Enhanced tax revenue due to population growth.

Hearing this, Nord recalled the bustling port city of Port Else, which he’d visited last year as an adventurer. The harbor had been packed with trade ships, and the city was alive with energy.

The number of caravans along the southern highway had also been remarkable. That trend was likely unchanged or even growing this year.

Not only the south—though Nord had only been active as an adventurer for two months last summer, many escort requests were posted on the quest board for highway protection.

This indicated an increased flow of money and goods—much of which seemed to be concentrating within Hamil.

Yet the instructor, gesturing as though holding his head, muttered, “The problem lies elsewhere.”

When Nord asked what he meant, the instructor continued his lecture.

“It’ll take a few years to turn new wyverns into viable forces, but the real issue comes after that.”

“After that…? Do you mean war?”

“If it’s just a minor skirmish, fine. But the next one will undoubtedly be a major war with Loire.”

The instructor nodded, confirming Nord’s deduction.

“As knights—soldiers—we welcome war. If we defeat Loire and bring glory to Hamil, the expanded Iron Dragon Knight Order will prove invaluable.”

But—

Here, the instructor fell silent, looked around cautiously, then gestured for Nord to lean in closer. Nord complied, lowering his ear toward the instructor seated at the desk.

“—When we defeat Loire, who do you think will claim the credit? It certainly won’t be the First Prince, who opposed the military expansion. The Second Prince has now formally positioned himself to compete for succession.”

This meant that the Iron Dragon Knight Order, to which Nord belonged, was now indebted to the Second Prince for this expansion.

In other words—

“We’ve been dragged into the royal succession struggle, whether we like it or not.”

The instructor’s hushed voice, so unlike the tone used in training, carried a tension that spoke volumes about the severity of the situation.

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