The Knight's Grand Estate
Balibali gave the order. He told me to send people to every corner of the tribe to recruit resource enlistees. The ones we gathered would become industrial soldiers, sent to foreign wars to earn foreign currency.
However, three days later, I was left in utter shock.
“This… is all of it?”
Resource enlistees had gathered in the barracks.
The number was so small it could be counted with the eyes.
Only sixteen.
“Out of thirty thousand, only sixteen resource enlistees?”
“Sorry, chief. People aren’t gathering.”
“Why?”
“Think about it, chief. If you just plow the fields, you get your own land. Countless people already own land. In that situation, who would take the risk of becoming a mercenary?”
“Wow… It’s completely fucked.”
The welfare was so good it had backfired. I never imagined this situation would arise.
I immediately called Hilde for consultation.
Next to me stood several experts, but Hilde was the most reliable.
Yet the Hilde who appeared wore a bizarre white mask.
Her clothes were not the usual military uniform but simple black casual wear.
A long coat and black long pants.
“…What is that appearance?”
“In the empire, I’m a well-known figure. To avoid recognition, I decided to hide my face.”
“Hilde, you’re that famous?”
“Before long, you’ll know everything.”
She spoke with casual ease.
“So, what’s the matter?”
“Ah, that’s what I was saying.”
I explained everything so far. The mercenary business, how it was failing, and how the excellent welfare had left us with no resource enlistees.
“Hmm… That’s a problem.”
“Yes. A serious one. Farming is too successful, making it difficult to move into other fields. If we keep going like this, our planet will become a backward one focused only on primary industry.”
“Because farming doesn’t bring money, right.”
A sigh escaped me. She continued.
“But there’s one thing you’re mistaken about.”
“A mistake?”
“The root of the problem isn’t lack of resources. It’s lack of desire.”
“Desire?”
I was taken aback by the sudden remark.
“Human greed is endless. Kings, nobles, and tycoons in history wanted more power even with power, more money even with money. More, more! Endless greed is human nature. It hasn’t changed in any era.”
“…So there’s nothing to stir greed in resource enlistment?”
“The story’s moving along nicely.”
She was right. Enlisting in the military to earn money offered no greater benefit than farming. Without merit, no one would do it. Primitive people aren’t fools. Early humans and modern humans differ in accumulated civilization, but their intelligence is not vastly different. Primitives can still calculate gains and losses.
“Then… what if we offer a large amount of wheat when they enlist?”
She laughed softly.
“Naive.”
“Naive?”
“It’s not about property. What warriors going to the battlefield truly want is something deeper. They want to stand above others. They want to prove they are superior. They want to change their own lives. That is the expression of such desire.”
“Then, how should we…?”
“Feudalism.”
“…!”
Now I understood her plan.
It was barbaric, pre-modern, and discriminatory.
Yet it was also efficient.
“The idea of granting knightly titles or noble ranks to those who excel in battle?”
“Yes. The Galactic Empire has exemplary cases for operating a feudal system. We should follow that.”
It was the Galactic Empire. She wanted me to copy its class system as is.
“The Galactic Empire has five major classes: slaves, free citizens, knights, nobles, and imperial family. If divided more finely, it can be ten or fifteen, but legally it is divided this way.”
“Yes.”
“Copy that exactly. Then discriminate according to class. With that alone, people will work hard, believing they can rise to a higher rank. The number of resource enlistees, the fastest path to advancement, will also increase.”
“That’s right.”
“But that alone is not enough. People who have lived in an equal society will not suddenly adapt to a class society. Therefore, we must show something visible. Something that makes feudalism instantly understandable.”
I thought for a moment. An idea came to me at once.
“Give Kumpa a mansion.”
“A mansion?”
“This time, the hired Dr. Fabian discovered a limestone mine. We can extract large amounts of limestone here and build proper stone buildings. Originally I planned to construct a palace for myself, but I canceled that and decided Kumpa would build the mansion.”
“Hahaha!”
She laughed as if genuinely amused. Though her expression was hidden by the mask, I could tell.
“The plan is to give Kumpa the title of noble, along with a stone building and many servants, so people will envy him?”
“Yes.”
“If you build your own mansion, Sihyun is originally the chief. A high-ranking person. But if you give a mansion to Kumpa, the warrior class, people will think ‘I will also excel like Kumpa!’”
“That’s right.”
“After all, you are…”
Her voice was warmer than usual.
“The one who saved me.”
---
Three months passed. Three thousand laborers were sent to the construction site. The result was a mansion that was grand but not quite luxurious, yet it was still impressive.
Most importantly, the place we had lived in until now was a small wooden house or a hut. This mansion stood out far more.
Many people whispered while looking at it.
“Wow, it’s cool…”
“Who would live in a mansion like that.”
“It’s the chief, idiot. Who else would live in a place like this besides the chief?”
However, a reversal soon followed.
Sihyun did not move into the mansion he had built. Instead, he gave it to his close aide Kumpa.
Along with twenty servants to manage it.
Also, Sihyun announced a law.
[To the chief’s guard Kumpa, along with the position of chief of the personal guard, the rank of knight is granted. Also, not only Kumpa but anyone who excels in war will be granted the rank of knight. Those who become knights will receive a mansion, a manor, and servants to manage the mansion, and the knight’s position will be hereditary.]
Balibali easily explained the law and spread it throughout the tribe. As a result, rumors about knights spread among many people. Shepherds, hunters, former warriors, and others confident in their skills flocked to become knights. The following month, the number of resource enlistees exceeded two thousand.
Of those, only those who passed the physical and body tests to become suitable soldiers enlisted, and the number was 1851. Edwin said this with surprise.
“That’s strange. In a civilized planet, usually 50 to 70 percent drop out in physical tests, but here less than 10 percent dropped out.”
“Ah, you don’t know?”
I smiled meaningfully at Edwin.
“On a primitive planet, you can’t survive unless you’re strong.”
These people had only recently been carrying a spear and hunting giant animals over three meters tall.
---
The resource enlistees began receiving rigorous training under the guidance of trainer Edwin and the officers he brought.
Through the limestone quarry created, a large amount of stone arrived.
First, following the words of unknown technicians, the arsenal and barracks were all demolished and rebuilt as stone buildings. The stone buildings were beautiful. It felt as if we had gone to a traditional European city.
“Originally we should have used cement and concrete, but let’s use what we have first. Traditional architectural style isn’t bad either.”
The laborers nodded at the architect’s words. So, laborers from Brontes and local workers cooperated to change many buildings in the village to stone structures.
Next, the buildings built were the hospital and school. The hospital was essential to maintain the population. The school was needed to teach Arcadian language to children or adults with learning motivation and to train local-born administrators.
However, the problem was the lack of manpower. They built many hospitals and schools, but without doctors and teachers, the buildings remained empty.
Bringing people from Brontes made round-trip costs high, and our money was gradually decreasing. Money was limited but there were too many places to spend it. At least, thanks to catching many pirates last time, we had some funds. Otherwise, we would not have been able to develop the peninsula now.
“Should I wait until the next harvest season…”
Thinking like that, I smacked my lips while looking at the empty hospital and school.
However, it did not take long for doctors and teachers to enter the empty hospital and school.