The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Chapter 96

As Raul glanced over the faces seated in the meeting room, a slight smile appeared on his lips before he spoke.

“Shall we get started then?”

Upon those words, Bernard activated the magic screen at the front of the room, bringing up the presentation.

“Let’s begin with the current state of our domains. Currently, our First Knight Order holds a total of four domains. Our main domain, located here, is [Calix]….”

Raul’s domain currently spanned across four areas.

First, the [Calix Domain].

This was a land Raul had received from the count upon reaching adulthood. It was situated at the very southwestern tip of the kingdom, the southernmost among the lands under Count Ashton’s control.

For a baronet’s domain, it was considerably large, with a total population of around 30,000.

Central to the domain was Calix Castle, around which five small villages, each with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, were subordinate.

To the northwest was a forbidden area, a monster-infested forest, while plains bordered by rivers lay to the south and north. To the east, a moderately sized mountain and forest made for a suitable terrain for the city.

However, further south lay a wasteland and desert, below which lived barbaric tribes—that was the crux of the problem.

These barbarians would occasionally emerge at the end of the harvest season, plundering villages and attacking the castle.

The previous lord had died in battle against these barbarians, and since then, only managers had been dispatched until it became Raul’s domain.

The reason the count had granted such a perilous domain to Raul, despite discouragements, was because Raul had requested it himself.

There was naturally a reason for his choice.

‘When the scenario unfolds, this place will become the hottest spot.’

Once the forbidden area is unlocked and the Southern Continent scenario emerges, this location will become a critical transport hub.

Furthermore, the specialty goods and resources available for extraction here were of exceptionally high utilitarian value.

Thus, since initially receiving the domain, Raul had steadily been developing the city, and now, it had a somewhat established foundation.

The other three domains were acquired after the outbreak of a Gate Outbreak incident that had severely affected the areas.

These were the Francois, Louisin, and Bates domains, all of which belonged to baronial families and shared the commonality of being located in the southwest of the kingdom.

The problem was that these domains were not contiguous but isolated like islands, with other domains nestled in between them.

So, although there might be difficulties in mobilizing troops and moving supplies, Raul was not overly concerned.

If a problem arose, he could instantly deploy an elite group of knights using a portal he operated directly, and there was almost no threatening fief nearby to begin with.

‘Even if a threat arises, it’ll probably happen after the monsters and dungeons have stabilized. That should give us at least a year.’

There was sufficient time to normalize the fief and develop military forces.

Not to mention, the primary reason for acquiring those scattered fiefs with much difficulty was precisely because of the ‘gates’.

Right now, these gates may have been a disaster, devouring countless residents and laying waste to the land, but soon the situation would change drastically as players started to pour in.

Mana stones, monster corpses, and various resources that could be obtained from the gates held tremendous value.

Especially the gates that contained rare materials needed for crafting power armor or magical items, were so valuable that their worth was nearly incalculable.

Eventually, wars would even break out among lords over these precious gates. Raul had preemptively secured a fief where such valuable gates appeared.

He would have liked to acquire more fiefs, but realistically, any further attempts were impractical.

“…therefore, currently, 30,000 in Calix, 12,000 in Francois, 8,000 in Louisin, 6,000 in Bates, totaling 56,000 residents have settled,” one of his subordinates reported.

“How about the refugees from the free cities?”

“Although not precisely counted, it’s estimated to be over 100,000. They are temporarily staying in encampments prepared by our branches, but there are reports that we’ll run out of space soon.”

“Do we have enough food and supplies?”

“We had prepared in advance, and with the cooperation from various markets buying at cost price, we still have some leeway.”

Nearly half of the baronies fell to monsters after the gate incident. Many lordships had fallen, and even if not, it was fair to say that the small villages were almost completely annihilated.

Naturally, countless refugees emerged, many becoming fodder for monsters before reaching the safety of large castles or cities.

However, there were those who were rescued, specifically the residents near the free cities.

Raul had established First Knight Order branches in four free cities and gathered forces well in advance.

After the situation in the capital stabilized, he sent knights and commanders to each branch to save the nearby fief residents.

More than five months had passed, and during that time, over 100,000 residents were rescued.

While some refugees were employed at the construction sites of the free cities and paid wages, most depended on the rations provided by the First Knight Order to survive.

It was an enormous budget that was being expended, but he considered it an investment for the future and bore the cost willingly.

“Have we made enough progress in preparing to receive immigrants?”

“Construction of the outer wall of Calix Castle is expected to be completed soon. It will be able to accommodate up to 100,000 people. Francois and Louisin will also finish their repair works in about a fortnight. That should allow us to accommodate at least 30,000 people.”

“I see. Make sure the staff develops a relocation plan to safely transfer the refugees.”

As the brief on the territorial situation concluded, Pierce reported on the status of the knights and the military forces.

“We’ve expanded the order by 300, bringing our total to 500 members. Out of these, 180 are full-fledged knights of expert level or above, and the remaining 320 are completing their apprenticeship. With our current rate of growth, we expect all of them to reach expert level within six months.”

In the last five months, the trainee knights who have been absorbing experience through actual combat with monsters have rapidly reached the expert level.

It was natural for them to grow quickly, given they were selected for their potential from the start and trained under the Count Ashton’s prestigious swordsmanship, method of training, and combat experience.

With the aid of a system, their growth could have been faster, yet there was a limit to the number of guild positions, preventing everyone from benefiting.

‘We really need a major guild update soon…’

Thanks to consistently building reputation and investing gold, the guild level has reached the maximum medium size of Lv. 10.

However, the number of guild members was capped at 500. This was a source of frustration for Raul.

Nevertheless, it was good news that the knights were accelerating in growth even without the system’s aid.

Eventually, players would catch up, but being on the same level did not mean possessing the same skill.

‘It’s absurd to think that players who grew comfortably with the system’s aid could beat knights who’ve been through years of hard battles.’

That was why Raul insisted on continuously expanding his knight order.

He intended to grow the order to 1,000 members before the full-on chaos began.

“Counting the order, we have 3,000 elite troops, 6,000 territorial soldiers, and 5,000 mercenaries, making a total of 14,000. We plan to recruit more once the relocation is complete.”

“Good. Continue expanding our forces as the budget allows. But we don’t need any mediocrity, so focus on training the recruits. And as our forces expand, reduce the number of mercenaries to eventually transition to all regular troops. Woo useful mercenaries early and encourage their settlement.”

“Understood.”

After discussing the forces, the next topic was the budget.

“Bernard, are there any problems with handling the budget?”

“There are no problems at present. However, frankly, there are many concerns.”

“For example?”

“The military forces are too large for the size of the territory. Last year, the total revenue of the Calix territory was only 200,000 gold. Yet, the current military operating expenses exceed 350,000 gold a month. This is absolutely not a normal budgetary expenditure structure.”

There was logic in Bernard’s words. The annual budget for a typical barony was on average between 100,000 to 200,000 gold.

To be spending more in a month than what a barony would in a year…

“If we’re only looking at the territory, that seems to be the case. But what do you think if the four territories normalize and the planned restructuring efforts are completed?”

“If we base it on a population of 100,000, and if manufacturing and distribution are revitalized as the Master has suggested, we could somehow secure enough for the maintenance costs.”

“Well, that should be sufficient, right? After all, that’s not where the main income comes from.”

“That is true, but I’m worried about how things will turn out once the foreigners you spoke of start to arrive. The prices of mana stones and various magical materials are bound to plummet.”

“It’s okay. We still have a comfortable buffer, and by then, we’ll be able to secure other sources of income.”

The current, unsustainable budget operation was being maintained primarily through revenues from the sale of monster by-products, including mana stones.

Especially mana stones, which are an essential strategic material for the use of various magical circles and power armor.

Normally, mana stones are mined from mana stone mines and very rarely acquired from the bodies of monsters.

However, the monsters inside gates and dungeons had a one in ten chance of containing a mana stone.

Thanks to consistent efforts in conquering gates and dungeons, Raul and the First Knight Order had been able to secure an enormous quantity of mana stones and by-products.

Then, a gate outbreak had occurred.

The already expensive mana stones’ prices had surged drastically, and Raul had been able to make a tremendous amount of money.

And for the foreseeable future, this would continue to be a robust source of income for Raul.

“If we’re short on budget, just say the word. If need be, we can even dip into the high-grade mana stones we’ve stored for later.”

“Understood, Master.”

This was a situation where no matter the cost, time had to be bought. Once players started to flow in, maintaining the current monopolistic status would not be easy.

“Let’s now discuss the oracle, Kane.”

“Yes, Master. I obtained the information just yesterday. The Holy See has declared the highest level of oracle.”

Kane displayed the content of the oracle on a magic screen.

[As the year turns and from a distant place, saviors who will rescue the continent from calamity shall arrive. Welcome them at the place blessed by God.]

The time for the players to appear was drawing near.

(To be continued)