Chapter 101. Revival (2)
Countless boxes were stacked neatly on one side of the vast snowy plain.
The boxes filled the entire field of view, their seemingly endless rows stretching far into the distance.
It was enough to make one wonder when they had managed to transport so many boxes here. In front of them, the soldiers of the Count’s Castle stood in orderly formation.
When the boxes were finally opened, the gleaming items inside were revealed.
Thick blankets and sturdy leather boots.
Winter clothing made from waterproof fabric, leather armor, and much more.
The recruits’ eyes sparkled as they followed the supplies with their gazes.
“Whoa...! Those boots look really warm.”
“And look at those clothes. With those, we wouldn’t have to worry about freezing to death.”
And that was not all.
There were neatly arranged loaves of bread and fresh meat. Bottles filled with warm water. There were also simple provisions such as dried meat.
They were foods the recruits could never even have dreamed of obtaining in Violess—
“All personnel, form ranks! Step forward one at a time and collect your supplies!”
The soldiers of the Count’s Castle suddenly shouted.
All the recruits stared at them with wide eyes.
“....Y-Yes?”
“What did you just say….?”
“I said to step forward one at a time and collect your supplies.”
Their eyes blinked blankly.
“Are you really giving those to us...?”
“Come forward quickly, unless you want Lord Adrian to reprimand us.”
“I-I’m coming!”
One of the recruits stepped forward on trembling legs.
He approached the supply boxes, reached out, and collected the various items.
“Next!”
At the soldier’s shout, another recruit stepped forward.
As the distribution of supplies continued smoothly, Adrian sat off to one side behind a table, supervising the proceedings.
Whenever a recruit received his supplies, Adrian would glance at him before writing something on a sheet of parchment.
If a recruit appeared to be elderly, had a relatively gentle-looking face, or seemed physically impaired, Adrian would separate him from the others.
“You there, move over to that side.”
Adrian even remembered their names.
“Leopard, I’m talking to you.”
Amazingly, Adrian knew the names of every recruit.
In any case, most of them simply followed Adrian’s orders without understanding why.
However, there was always someone who could not overcome his curiosity.
“Um…. Why are you separating only us….?”
One of the recruits courageously asked.
Even so, Adrian must have frightened him, because the soldier swallowed nervously.
It was not only that particular recruit. All the recruits trembled.
It appeared that every recruit possessed some kind of deeply ingrained fear of Adrian.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—Adrian did not rebuke the recruit for his boldness.
Without lifting his eyes from the parchment, he merely said,
“You are military cooks.”
Military cooks.
Soldiers responsible for the army’s food.
Simply put, it was the branch responsible for preparing meals within the unit.
The distribution of food was one of the most essential requirements for maintaining an army.
It was not merely a matter of handing out meals.
Military cooks had to oversee the supply and distribution of provisions, manage ingredients, and even make strategic decisions to minimize losses during transportation.
They could be called the army’s lifeline.
That made them indispensable.
However, there were no fewer than 2,132 recruits.
The human resources of the County alone could not provide enough military cooks to sustain an army of that size.
Adrian lifted his crimson eyes from the parchment.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and move.”
“Y-Yes, sir...!”
The recruit swallowed nervously, hoisted the supplies onto his back, and hurried away.
Distributing all the supplies took a considerable amount of time. Adrian returned to his tent, saying that he had other work to do.
Later, after Kai finished overseeing the distribution, he headed to Adrian’s tent.
“All the recruits have received their supplies.”
“Good work.”
Adrian replied without even looking at Kai.
For some reason, Adrian had his eyes tightly shut.
A large pile of parchment covered the table inside the tent. They were the same sheets on which Adrian had been writing earlier.
“What is all this?”
“....Hmm? Oh, I reorganized the County’s military administration system.”
“You did all of this yourself, Lord Adrian?”
“Who else would have?”
Adrian answered with a question of his own, and Kai pressed his lips together.
To be honest, he found it difficult to trust Adrian’s work.
Adrian was no longer a delinquent, of course.
However, that did not necessarily mean he was exceptionally capable as a lord.
More importantly, military administration was an entirely separate field.
It encompassed military organization, chains of command, personnel management, the maintenance and repair of military facilities, military training, and numerous other responsibilities.
In other words, it was completely different from territorial administration.
Anyone unfamiliar with the army’s operational system could not—and should not—interfere with it.
There was a reason territorial and military administration were managed separately.
There was also a reason Kai, rather than Seraphia, had managed the County’s military administration until now.
Kai picked up one of the sheets from the pile.
It was filled with detailed information concerning the organization of the units.
However—
[Infantry]—1,521
[Archers]—315
[Scouts]—56
[Medics]—22
[Military Cooks]—218
==
....It was flawless.
There was nothing to criticize.
“Th-This is...?”
The more Kai read, the more convinced he became.
The personnel had been assigned after considering the individual characteristics of every recruit.
The command structure meshed together seamlessly, like perfectly fitted gears.
There was truly nothing he could criticize.
That was precisely why Kai found it so astonishing. Even he was not confident that he could accomplish something like this.
As the chief knight of House White Wolf, Kai had commanded the soldiers of the Count’s Castle.
He had led an army of approximately six hundred soldiers.
However, he was not confident that he could organize an army nearly four times that size with such perfection.
Adrian was now pressing a hand against his forehead, seemingly suffering from a headache.
If he had done all of this alone, it would have been stranger if his head did not hurt.
“The recruits will be organized separately from the soldiers of the Count’s Castle. Kai, finish the training you’ve already begun. Once that is done, organize the recruits into units based on what is written here.”
When Kai completely lowered the parchment, Adrian continued.
“Assign knight-class instructors from the County as the commanders of each unit. You will personally take charge of the infantry, Kai.”
“....Understood.”
Kai could only nod.
“I have also assigned those who previously served as officers to the noncommissioned ranks in each unit.”
“By noncommissioned ranks, do you mean...?”
“I mean soldiers of the Centurion rank. From now on, they will collectively be called sergeants.”
“Understood.”
“If you believe any changes among the sergeants are necessary, you may make them at your discretion, Kai.”
“Understood.”
Kai nodded sharply.
Adrian lowered the hand that had been pressing against his forehead.
“Also, these men used to fight among themselves constantly. More importantly, they grew up in a lawless city, so conflicts will inevitably occur.”
“I will discipline them strictly according to the County’s military law.”
“That is fine, but whenever possible, leave such matters to the discretion of the individual sergeants. You may turn a blind eye to ordinary brawls.”
“Understood.”
“However.”
Adrian’s crimson eyes gleamed as he continued.
“If those fights lead to abuse, harm the County’s residents, or escalate into heinous crimes, kill the perpetrators without mercy.”
“......”
“Do you understand?”
“....I understand.”
When Kai nodded gravely, Adrian rose from his seat. He then began walking out of the tent.
“Where are you going?”
“I still have a Craulgarr’s worth of work to do.”
Leaving behind those incomprehensible words, Adrian abruptly departed from the tent.
* * *
The County’s expansive square.
Hundreds of women had gathered there and were moving busily about.
On one side, hands worked tirelessly to weave fabric. Elsewhere, people pulled cloth from enormous jars filled with dye.
Some shaped pottery. Others carved household goods from wood.
However, the results were unimpressive.
“Ah…. A-Ah!”
The fabric was crudely tangled.
“W-Why did it turn out like this...?”
The dye was covered in strange blotches.
“Oh dear….”
The pottery was cracked in several places.
It was a complete mess. Everyone was dejected and did not know what to do.
At that moment, Adrian suddenly inspected the dyeing work and spread out a piece of cloth.
“Adjust the concentration of the dye. Some of the color will fade during distribution, so the finished product must be darker than this.”
“....Ah, yes!”
Following Adrian’s instructions, the women carefully adjusted the dye.
Adrian then examined the crudely tangled fabric—
“This part will become sturdier if you cross the strands. Make a habit of using slightly more strength in your fingers.”
“Ah, yes...!”
Following Adrian’s instructions, the women calmly unraveled the tangled threads.
They continued by painting intricate patterns on the pottery and carving wood into household goods.
Every stage of the work proceeded in an orderly manner under Adrian’s guidance and supervision.
Although their work was still clumsy and unrefined—
“No one is skilled from the beginning. Success is merely the sum of small efforts repeated every day. Every ruined dye job and shattered piece of pottery will eventually contribute to the creation of a masterpiece.”
Adrian encouraged the women—
“What you are doing now is not merely labor. You are creating prosperity and a future for your children.”
He instilled pride and motivation within them—
“You are the roots and foundation of this County.”
And he gradually brought confidence and familiarity to their hands.
Seraphia watched the scene from a distance.
Her eyes were filled with indescribable admiration and pride as she gazed at Adrian.
‘Big Brother, you’re so amazing...!!’
There was no longer any trace of the Adrian from his delinquent days.
He truly seemed like a completely different person.
However, his long eyelashes and sharply defined jawline, his cold yet mysterious atmosphere, the strands of hair falling slightly over his forehead, his striking features, and his intense charisma that seemed capable of seeing through everything—
He had merely become far more handsome while she had not been watching.
Adrian was still Adrian.
Perhaps that was why she wished,
‘I hope things remain like this forever....’
Seraphia wanted moments like this to continue in the future.
After all, Adrian had once said that he had no intention of becoming either the head of the House or the lord of the County.
Of course, the present Adrian did not appear that way.
Anyone who saw him would believe he was the head of the House. Anyone who saw him would believe he was the lord of the County.
However, Seraphia honestly did not know whether this meant Adrian had changed his mind....
‘He said he still had something to do.’
She still did not know what that was.
However, Adrian had said that once his work was finished, he would leave the family.
He had said that, regardless of what happened, he would never meet Seraphia again.
But until then, she could continue staying by Adrian’s side.
‘I absolutely will!’
She would make certain that Adrian changed his mind.
Seraphia clenched both fists tightly.
The remedy Adrian had made for her had made Seraphia stronger and more resilient than before.
She had studied and learned without distinguishing between day and night. She had stayed awake through entire nights, practicing, failing repeatedly, and accumulating experience.
Now was the time for Seraphia to devote everything she possessed so that those efforts would not go to waste.
“Try smoothing this corner a little more. That will make it feel much softer in your hand.”
“Ah...! I see. Thank you, Lady Seraphia.”
“I think the pottery’s patterns should be more elaborate than this. That way, they will immediately attract attention in the market.”
“Then what about a pattern like this?”
“That looks wonderful! However, you will need to finish this kind of pattern more delicately.”
“Um…. Lady Seraphia, could you look at mine as well?”
“Of course!”
Seraphia tirelessly moved around the workshop, using her own delicate sensibilities to address the minute details Adrian had overlooked.
* * *
The Count’s Castle overlooked the entire County.
Night had descended over the County.
However, the lights of the tents on the snowy plain and those in the square remained brightly illuminated.
I sat in my room within the Count’s Castle, firmly massaging both temples.
There were 2,132 recruits and 391 settlers.
A total of 2,523 people.
I had used Predatory Instinct [S] on every single one of them.
That was because no two people were exactly alike.
Even the Visters who had spent practically every day brawling were not all the same.
Some Visters lacked combat skills, while others were advanced in age.
Some had also become Visters because they had no other choice after being unable to endure exploitation.
Consequently, there were Visters with less violent dispositions, as well as many who possessed physical limitations or were unsuited for combat.
It would have been unwise to ignore all those differences and organize them into units indiscriminately.
Therefore, I used Predatory Instinct [S] to identify each individual’s specialties.
Based on that information, I assigned them to the most suitable military branches and occupations.
My head was throbbing so fiercely that it felt ready to split apart, but—
The recruits were under Kai’s command, while the settlers were under Seraphia’s supervision. Everything was proceeding remarkably smoothly.
“Still, the overall framework and system are almost complete....”
It was only a matter of time before I completed the Territory Quest, which would grant me a massive amount of experience.
Just as I was trying to ease my headache—
Knock, knock.
A sudden knock sounded at the door.
—Lord Adrian. It is Bernard.
“Come in.”
At my permission, the neatly groomed Bernard, whose hair was slicked straight back, cautiously entered.
However, something about Bernard’s expression seemed unusual. It appeared that something serious had happened....
“What is it?”
“It is nothing else…. A guest has just arrived in the County.”
My eyes widened involuntarily.
After all, the Viscounty of Venenon, which had caused me so much confusion, no longer existed.
Therefore, only one person would visit this barren and remote County at such a late hour.
“Ian!”
Ian had returned.
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