Growth's Time (1)
Even though my body still felt stiff and creaky, I approached the treasure chest without delay and reached out without hesitation.
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My wealth was growing at a frightening pace.
With this latest addition I now held roughly 635 billion rutes. It might not amount to much compared to the vast fortunes still hidden inside the lucky encounters, but to me it was an astronomical sum.
More importantly, the next stages would inflate my holdings into the trillions, so I needed to start thinking seriously about how to manage it all.
The treasure that followed the subspace pouch and the elixir was placed in my hands, but the unexpected object left me puzzled.
What is this?
The item called Mankyung was, of all things, a pair of glasses.
I immediately examined its detailed information.
Glasses with built-in functions: Appraisal, Observation, X-ray Vision, and Farsight.
Identifies the purpose, usage, and ability scores of living beings and objects.
Verifies the truthfulness of a living being’s emotions and spoken words.
Sees what lies beyond obstacles.
Views objects or locations from hundreds of meters to dozens of kilometers away.
I couldn’t hold back a gasp of admiration.
For someone as naturally suspicious of people as I was, this artifact was perfect.
With it, I could clearly separate friend from foe.
As expected of a gift from Grand Duke Lucas, it was no ordinary trinket.
Mankyung will now be transferred to reality. Please check your inventory after logging out.
Just like when I had obtained the elixir last time, the item in my hand dissolved into light and vanished, followed by the notification.
The 4th Circle has been generated.
As always, the circle creation message triggered the synchronization and adjustment of my physical body.
Because this was the first time I had generated a circle in the middle of so many knights, I felt a flicker of worry. But, just as before, no one noticed anything strange.
The circle concealment technique was functioning perfectly.
Before long we arrived at our destination, the Western Command Headquarters. When I stepped forward to report our joining the army, the local staff officers tilted their heads.
“Hmm? The second son of the Lawrence viscount family?”
Their expressions clearly asked who the hell I was.
Unlike me, who was merely acting lord, they were all nobles who held proper titles.
“I thought the Lawrence family would send that strapping eldest son.”
“Right. Cedric, wasn’t it? I heard he showed exceptional learning ability from a young age and gathered everyone’s expectations at once.”
“No, I think that was the younger brother. Didn’t they say the older one ate poison and turned into an idiot?”
“That’s right. Now I remember.”
“Wait… the younger brother you’re talking about…”
No matter how precious a noble might be, there were hundreds of families across the entire kingdom. The Lawrence viscountcy was a lord’s house, but because it sat on the frontier it wasn’t particularly famous.
Even though their conversation contained unpleasant details, I kept a smiling face and nodded.
“Yes, I am the younger brother who ate the poison as a child.”
“Ah, so that’s it.”
“You don’t look like an idiot at all. As expected, rumors can’t be trusted.”
You’re the ones who remembered it wrong.
“Nice to meet you. I am Evans, chief operations staff officer of the regional army.”
“And I am Miller, chief support staff officer.”
As the main staff officers introduced themselves, I kept bowing and repeating, “It is an honor to meet you.”
Nobles could be divided into two categories: those who possessed their own lands and those who did not.
Lords passed their titles down permanently, but most ordinary nobles held single-generation titles.
A single-generation title was not inherited by children and was usually granted to high-ranking officials in the administrative or military branches.
That was why lords were called the nobles among nobles.
These men had probably been dispatched from the central army to manage the regional forces efficiently. Even though their titles were single-generation, they were still fifth-rank nobles, so showing them the utmost courtesy was only natural.
“Let’s see… for a viscount territory’s conscripted force… five Vanguards and fifty Vanguard candidates, correct?”
“Vanguard candidate” was simply another way of saying regular knight.
Because the Force Armor and Force Sword that formed a Vanguard’s basic equipment were extremely expensive, it was impossible to outfit every knight with them.
When an active Vanguard was injured and couldn’t deploy, a regular knight would don the equipment and take their place. So calling them reserve Vanguards wasn’t entirely wrong.
When Support Chief Miller asked, I nodded and reported our troop status.
“Yes, correct. Five Vanguards, fifty knights, and one thousand soldiers.”
“Ah, there’s no need to mention the soldiers. The war will be decided at the Vanguard level anyway.”
His overly frank statement made me smile awkwardly.
Even in a fantasy world, the soldiers of this highly advanced civilization would never simply swing spears and shoot arrows.
They were an army armed with firing-type artifacts.
Our territory’s soldiers were elites equipped with artifacts that could fire up to three hundred Magic Arrows of the second class without recharging, with an effective range of one kilometer.
Under normal circumstances I should have been angry at such dismissive treatment…
Unfortunately, everything he said was true.
No matter how expensive the equipment, soldiers were no different from medieval troops holding bows when faced with a Vanguard’s defense and firepower.
This was also why modern mages were reluctant to participate in war.
A Vanguard could not be opposed unless the enemy had a great mage of the seventh circle or higher.
The Vanguard system was also created by Grand Duke Lucas.
That said, mages were not looked down upon simply because they had fewer opportunities to shine on the battlefield.
As the term “Magic Era” suggested, magic was the very foundation of this society.
While knights dominated the battlefield, mages held far greater influence in society.
“Hmm, let’s see…”
Support Chief Miller projected a hologram in front of him and began searching for something.
He soon found the desired file and spoke with a deliberately solemn expression.
“The Lawrence territorial army will be organized as the 2nd Independent Brigade under the 3rd Division of the 2nd Corps. As brigade commander, make sure to support Division Commander Count Otis well.”
“Understood.”
There was no need for nobles to salute one another.
I politely placed my right hand over my left chest in the aristocratic style of greeting, then left the regional army staff barracks.
Outside, Knight Haman, the knight order, and Arsia were waiting.
For reference, I had dressed Arsia in the territorial army commander’s uniform so she would draw less attention.
“The Lawrence territorial army has been assigned to the 232nd Independent Brigade.”
“That means the second independent brigade under the 3rd Division of the 2nd Corps.”
“The division headquarters is at Denin Fortress, thirty kilometers north.”
“Understood. Please board the train.”
Although we had answered the kingdom’s call, we were still a noble house’s private army. As expected, we were not mixed with other units but organized as an independent brigade.
This matched my father’s prediction.
The only variable was the personality of the division commander, Count Otis.
If Count Otis is the great lord of the east…
If his personality was as nasty as the rumors said, we would have a hard time.
Hoping he would at least be somewhat flexible, I once again boarded the medical train.
Because the area we were in was a military zone, the medical train ran at reduced speed. It still took a full thirty minutes to reach the division headquarters thirty kilometers away.
I had already decided to slip the division commander a hefty bribe if necessary, and headed straight to greet Count Otis.
However…
“Hmm?”
A handsome young man greeted me as he stepped out of the division commander’s office.
Whatever else he might be, the fact that he was not a count was obvious from his attire alone.
“Are you perhaps the brigade commander of the 2nd Independent Brigade?”
“I am.”
“His Grace the Count has returned to his territory due to poor health. There is no need to submit a separate deployment report.”
Returned to his territory?
I couldn’t understand it, so I asked.
“By any chance, are you the young lord of the Otis count family?”
His clothes didn’t seem fitting for the son of a great noble house, but he might simply have a modest personality, so I remained cautious.
If a lord could not participate in the war, it was the son’s duty to hold the position, just as I was doing.
“No, I am Count Otis’s staff officer.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, if you’re worried about His Grace’s absence, there’s no need. He plans to commute via teleportation until the war begins.”
Leaving troops on the front line and commuting while a war might break out at any moment?
As expected, the scale of great nobles was on another level.
It completely shattered common sense.
If war broke out while he was away, enemy spatial interference would make teleportation impossible.
In other words, there was a chance we would have to fight without our commander at the critical moment.
That could only mean he was either confident he could detect an enemy attack in advance, or confident that even if something went wrong he would not be harmed.
I barely suppressed a dry laugh and asked.
“Understood. Could you tell me where our brigade headquarters is located?”
“Of course. I’ll assign a guide right away.”
Count Otis’s behavior was absurd, but from my standpoint it wasn’t bad at all.
If the commander himself is acting like that, he probably won’t complain if his subordinate plays a few games on the front line.
The start was better than expected.
If the war never began and we simply dragged out time like this, it would be ideal.
Count Otis truly was the best commander.
After sharing a single lunch with the various commanders the day after our deployment, I never saw his face again.
Each subordinate unit had assigned patrol and reconnaissance duties, but those could be handled by Sir Haman. Thanks to that, I was able to immerse myself in the game without any interference.
My login time was almost the same as when I had been at the mansion.
As a result I leveled up quickly. One week later I stood on the verge of reaching level 120, the requirement to create my fifth circle.
I had expected it would take two months to reach level 200 given the location, but at this pace I could drastically shorten the time.
“Master.”
While I was absorbed in Chronicle Online as usual, Arsia’s unexpected words startled me badly.
“Someone has entered the room.”
“What?”
“It does not appear to be with good intentions.”
Arsia’s warning, linked to reality, made me hurriedly log out of the game.