In The Name Of Ingrad! (3)

On the morning of the day the final successful applicants were announced, I had no choice but to return to the castle without being able to stay in Rad City. The reason was nothing else.

It was because a welcome party had been prepared for those who could be called new employees.

First of all, the final number of successful applicants was 35,112, and among that large number, a welcome party had been prepared for the top one hundred scorers, that is, those who would be appointed as quasi-retainers, so I had to show my face.

I had received a report from Matilda that they were effectively scheduled to receive additional education as middle managers and then be deployed to the field.

“Quite a lot of people passed, but how are the rejected applicants being treated?”

It was a question I asked Matilda and Wijel at the retainer meeting that had been prepared first, and the first answer came from Wijel.

“In the case of Aura Users, since even that alone makes them considerable combat power, we proposed that they enlist in the military. And nearly all of them, roughly eighty thousand people, are scheduled to be additionally recruited.”

It was a considerable number. I found myself thinking that there could be that many Aura Users, and I looked at Aenia, who had been additionally called in today, and said,

“When the Academy students reach the time of graduation, about what level of ability do you think they will have?”

Aenia, who received an unexpected question, flinched, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

“I judge that they can grow to around the level of lower-grade Aura Experts. The Knight Department was originally selected around talents with potential, and since the majority of them possess considerable talent, I can say so confidently. Moreover, through Ingrad’s greatest advantage, we will certainly… produce people so exceptional that they will be difficult to imagine.”

“It seems there is a child with such talent?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

I chuckled at Aenia’s flustered expression and said,

“Because you had an expression as if you were dying to praise a student. So, who is it?”

Aenia’s face turned red. The other retainers also showed light smiles and waited to hear Aenia’s answer, and soon, she said that there were two of them.

“Among the beastkin, there is a female student from the Arang Tribe named ‘Sillape.’ She is a strong and brave child who currently bears the description of being the strongest in the Academy due to her absurd talent. Moreover, I am certain that she has reached the top grade of Aura User.”

I did not really know what realm that was, but judging by the expressions of the retainers who emphasized martial power, who showed curiosity as if they thought it was impressive, it seemed considerable.

“And the other child is the child of a slave directly under Ingrad, a student named ‘Rilbeoteu.’ He is almost the only rival to Sillape, and they could be called rivals to each other. And… the amusing part is that the two children are lovers.”

“Kukukuk.”

When I asked Debik, who burst into laughter, why he was laughing, he said,

“I thought it would be something to see if they grew up and had a marital quarrel.”

Well, Debik was sometimes hit by Hirna. And this couple was famous for having a good marital relationship, and Debik was also quite famous for loving Hirna greatly despite being hit like that.

So after turning away from Debik, I said to Aenia,

“Those two children may have the possibility of reaching an even higher realm, then?”

“They likely will. I think they will try to aim for the position of strongest in the next… the following generation.”

At the word strongest, energy began to rise from the bodies of the retainers present, but Hare scolded them as she looked at them.

“You are blowing the documents away! Are all of you going to pick them up?”

Only then did they realize their mistake at Hare’s words as she pressed the documents down with magic, and they apologized to me.

I gave Hare a look of thanks and said,

“I think a competitive spirit is good. However, they are your next generation. There is no need to discourage those children. Visit the Academy from time to time and share your experiences with the children. Only then… will a brighter future be made, will it not?”

Starting with Wijel, the retainers focused on martial power said they understood my words. In truth, where else would there be an academy where one could receive teachings from Masters? Moreover, I remembered hearing that Aenia had also recently entered the realm. Since there were so many Masters, news of it had somewhat been buried, but I said to her as well,

“Congratulations on entering the realm. I thought you would bear fruit, and as expected, you have.”

“It is all thanks to Your Majesty’s care. I shall devote all my sincerity.”

I looked at Aenia with a face that asked what more sincerity she could possibly devote than she already was, but seeing her face turn slightly red made my head grow complicated.

In truth, I was in a situation where I had slept with most of the unmarried women among my female retainers. At least Aenia and the others had recently not shown their faces often on my schedule because of Academy work, so I had thought I had a little leeway, but…

It was a moment of stirring up trouble for nothing.

“Ahem, anyway… Matilda, do you have anything to say?”

When I hurriedly changed the subject, the retainers burst into laughter, and since I was suddenly in a situation where I would be teased, I coughed once more to silence them and said,

“I am not in such a relaxed situation either. Please understand a little.”

At those words of mine, Wijel wore a deep smile and said to me,

“Would it not rather be the subjects who must ask for understanding?”

“What do you mean by that?”

The retainers looked around at me and Wijel with tense expressions.

“I mean that Your Majesty must soon have an heir.”

Wijel certainly could not be unaware that I was making an effort. So when I was about to open my mouth to point that out, Wijel spoke first.

“I know that Your Majesty has been making tireless efforts. However, rather than continuing relationships broadly with various women, how would it be to take ‘wives’ and concentrate the possibility on a small number?”

“….”

Honestly, I was in a situation where I had no thoughts about marriage itself, so Wijel’s words came to me with quite a weight. Because of that, Wijel had to receive sharp gazes from the women among the retainers, but seeing Wijel calmly accept all those gazes without being bothered, I merely thought that he was impressive.

“Ingrad is no longer a simple ‘minor kingdom.’ It possesses powerful military strength and land and population on a scale that can sustain an internal economy. Furthermore, I understand that it will soon possess a powerful naval force that has no equal on the sea. A country like this is rare in continental history, and the fact that Your Majesty, who can be called the head of such a country, is still alone can be regarded as a major problem!”

Wijel spoke firmly, and Gamung also agreed with Wijel’s words and spoke.

“Wijel’s words are correct. Your Majesty must accurately recognize your own position as you are now. Furthermore, please understand that our Ingrad can even place the Empire beneath its feet!”

I thought it was a little excessive, but the fact that no one raised an objection to Gamung’s words felt shocking.

I had only thought of it as a slightly advanced “weapon.” However, the possibility it had created was being expressed with pride in the shouts of the two retainers, and after realizing that all the retainers had the same thought, I said,

“I understand what all of you are thinking. I will consider it… This was not the topic of this meeting. Do you understand?”

“I shall arrange a proper meeting as soon as possible. Your Majesty!”

At Wijel’s words, I realized that I would end up holding another meeting in the near future after all, and I asked Matilda,

“….Matilda, how are the selections for lower-level officials?”

“It would be fair to say that everyone invited this time is ‘top class.’ They are outstanding in ability, possessing administrative processing ability, cognitive ability, and learning ability in balance, so I believe they can quickly finish additional education and be deployed to the front line.”

“How long are you expecting the additional education period to be?”

“First, in the case of the one hundred people, they will undergo three months of education and then be sent to each administrative district. And as the heads of the personnel deployed in advance, they will put what they learned in education into practice and take full charge of managing the administrative districts.”

While replenishing personnel, Matilda had proposed dividing the territory into six large regions, and then dividing the interior into one hundred administrative districts for separate, subdivided management.

So I had readily permitted her to try it that way, and this was Matilda’s report after she decided on a direction and added personnel accordingly.

Moreover, after thinking about how, aside from manager-level personnel, most would be deployed to the front line in advance and receive separate education there at the same time, I looked at Hare and asked,

“How did the gate installation for the six regions go?”

“First of all, ten round-trip gates have been installed in each region. The total number of people who can move per day is twenty thousand, and across the six regions combined, they have been set so that one hundred twenty thousand people can move to different regions.”

“No matter how much money it costs, let us raise the daily movable population up to one million.”

Hare looked horrified at my words. That was because Hare was the person who would have to suffer that much. At least Mia had entered the realm and was being a great help, so it stopped at the level of her looking horrified. If not for that, I thought she might have collapsed on the spot.

“I am trying to create a flow of logistics. Moreover, we are planning to charge fees according to gate movement. This will be charged to a degree that is not excessive, and the money earned from this will be used for gate maintenance and management personnel, so please keep that in mind.”

But Hare seemed unable to listen any further and said a word.

“Your Majesty, at this rate, all the mages will collapse! We need mages. With our current numbers, this is nothing but an absurd act!”

How nice it would be if we could stamp out mages… but magic was in the realm of talent. The reality was that if one had no talent, no matter how long one learned magic, one could not use it.

It was the same for me as well.

I had so much magic power that it could be said to be greater than anyone else in Ingrad, but I could not use magic. At most, I could imitate “earth magic” by using Construction, which was a power similar to magic.

In reality, if one examined it, they said that “Construction” itself was also a kind of earth magic, and after investigating it together with Hare, we had been able to conclude that I had talent for only that.

It was possible to go find the Demon Dragon and ask her to teach me magic, but the question was whether she would accept.

Moreover, even if there was a way to ask the Demon Dragon, if I had no talent and it ended as nothing more than an attempt, I would only waste the opportunity.

As a result, it was a neither-here-nor-there situation. So after thinking carefully, I offered one proposal.

“By any chance, would there be a way to recruit mages from the Kingdom of Antaf?”

It was a sudden remark, and when no one could answer my words rashly, Hare asked,

“Why Antaf?”

“Is that place not the kingdom of labyrinths and the kingdom of mages? If rumors openly circulate that most of its citizens can easily use magic, I wondered whether they might also have some leeway in hiring talent.”

“….Even if we stirred up lower-grade mages all day long, it would be useless… That is what magic is like…”

I looked at Hare with an expression asking what the problem was, and Hare began to grumble.

“Magic is everything about talent. It begins with talent and ends with talent. If someone is a lower-grade mage, that means the talent he possesses is only that much. Even if there were hundreds of such people, they could not handle a single upper-grade mage. And it is the same as how even dozens of upper-grade mages cannot do anything about a top-grade mage. And… an Archmage is a being in a different domain, to the point that they are called a fate determined by ‘God.’”

Hare explained it clearly, but in the end, it meant we needed someone exceptional. However, remembering Richard’s case, I thought differently from Hare.

‘Richard was an intermediate-grade mage. Now, he has surpassed upper-grade and is looking toward top-grade. According to Hare’s words… it would be normal for him not to grow. But that is not the case. What is the reason?’

I could think of several things, but in the end, I wondered whether it was because of the closed-off tendencies of mages that they ended up stopping at that level.

And while recalling the environment Richard had been in, I said to Hare,

“Let us hire eccentrics. We will drag them in recklessly, as many as we can.”

Hare had an expression as if she had heard every kind of madness, but my thoughts merely continued. Picking up stray mages—how hard could it be?