Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Black-Haired Knight King
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The long summer had finally passed, and autumn arrived.
The lush green leaves turned brown, and the wheat seeds planted with hope ripened fully.
As if to compensate for all the hardships and pains we'd endured, Mother Northland granted us a bountiful harvest.
Of course, behind it all were the prime minister's meticulous plans and the farmers who toiled from dawn till dusk, sweating tirelessly.
The rationing system naturally faded away.
All the grain, save for the year's taxes, was fairly distributed back to the people, and laborers bought their food with their wages.
You reaped what you sowed.
The kingdom's residents came to appreciate anew just how precious this simple truth was.
And stability formed the foundation of prosperity.
The reclaimed White Gate brought not just geographical advantages but also the social peace of no longer fearing orc invasions.
Farmlands expanded rapidly.
New villages sprang up like mushrooms after rain as farmers relocated to those fields.
With public order secured, commerce flourished, and merchants and caravans who profited long-term from buying and selling began to emerge.
Snowgarden, the capital slowly regaining its former glory. Culture showed signs of budding anew.
The legacies of the old kingdom, once thought lost forever, were being rebuilt at a startling pace.
This was the kingdom's most rapid phase of growth.
Having swiftly refurbished the White Gate and the coastal fortress, the prime minister issued a bold decree.
'Return to your families.'
Thus, those among the Northern Army recruits and trainees who were ill or wished to retire were sent back to their loved ones.
Of course, they remained reserve forces, ready to be called up at any time.
But the many young men returning to cities and villages injected vitality into labor-short sectors everywhere.
Leveraging the freed-up military budget, the Northern Army began essential restructuring.
Soldiers with proven merits were promoted, command structures realigned, and preparations made to form a professional standing army.
From now on, they would devote themselves solely to combat, wielding spear and shield gladly to defend the Northern Kingdom.
'Toward a golden age.'
A wise king who cherished his people, valiant generals leading the army, capable administrators cultivating and advancing the realm to abundance.
On the once-barren Northern lands filled only with exploitation, the radiant seeds of civilization were sown.
Those seeds would melt the frozen wastes, freeing us from oppression and granting true liberty.
A Northern Kingdom for humans, by humans.
The world for all that I had so longed for was slowly drawing near.
"Next!"
But I, the very person at the center of it all, was too busy tackling the problems right in front of me to care whether that world arrived or not.
The moment the knight order announced recruitment for aspiring knights, thousands flocked from across the kingdom and various units.
Even cutting into our sleep time, the three of us could barely see the end after a fortnight.
I swapped out my worn quill, its tip frayed, and called the next applicant with a weary face.
"Y-Yes!"
The knights of the order who had flung open the White Gate amid blazing flames had become legends of the North.
Thanks to them, everyone in the kingdom now revered and aspired to the name of knight.
This young girl, stiff with tension, seemed no different from the rest.
Though she couldn't meet my eyes, a spark of passion gleamed in her gaze.
Judging by her clothes, she was a farmer's daughter.
I eyed the girl brushing dirt from her bashful face and gauged her build.
This frame would suffice.
Northerners, born hardy, weren't greatly hindered by gender differences.
Finishing my quick assessment, I wrote "First Round Pass" on her form and handed it to the girl, who had bowed her head deeply.
"Bring this to the physical test day."
"Huh...?"
"Don't lose it, or you're done. Make sure you do."
Her face lit with disbelief as she took the paper with the date and signature.
She gaped for a moment, then grabbed me just as I was about to call the next one.
"I passed?"
"Any issue?"
"I-I've never even held a sword in my life! Can I still take the test?"
Perhaps she'd probed just in case.
I asked the girl, whose voice trembled with uncontainable joy.
"Isn't that why you came?"
"Of course it is...!"
"Then you're good. Just pass the fitness criteria."
The three-round exam could be cleared with enough stamina and focus.
Those unfit to be knights anyway dropped out or were weeded out during the progression from aspirant to probationary knight.
Emboldened by my words, the girl nodded vigorously and stepped out.
Thus, I found pearls in the mud once deemed worthless, accepting applicants regardless of background or trade.
Knock knock.
"Captain."
Glancing out the window, twilight had fallen. Richard, fresh from training, informed me it was time to wrap up.
"It's time to go. They've been waiting since thirty minutes ago."
"Already?"
With my memory lately fuzzy, I'd left all my appointment schedules to Richard.
Apparently, the audience I'd set a fortnight ago coincided with this busy evening.
Ugh.
I stood, tidied the papers, stretched refreshingly, and ruffled Richard's prickly chestnut hair.
Richard had fully shed his princely airs to become a proper knight of the order.
Sensing the aura surging rapidly within him, I asked.
"You've made progress."
"Yes, Captain."
Having been raised in the royal family, Richard had trained with the sword since boyhood.
Now, that foundation and talent were blooming; lately, he'd entered the initial stage of sensing aura.
Snow-Covered was such an outlier that it downplayed it, but this was truly impressive for Richard.
I praised his efforts lavishly as we walked the quiet palace corridors together.
Step, step, step.
The trade route linking the East and Empire had long been a mess, thanks to our dispatched White-Horned Deer Cavalry.
Slave trading humans had taken a hit, and the caravans that fattened corrupt officials were bankrupted and slunk home.
They lodged formal protests via letters, of course, but Knight King Snow-Covered brought the victim slaves in person and made the merchants confess every crime from start to finish.
A king with justice coursing through his veins.
Before her stern rebuke, the Eastern delegation could only bow their heads in silence.
Yet the Northern Kingdom had no intention of sustaining such poor relations indefinitely.
We had Prince Richard, after all, born of legitimate Eastern blood.
"Don't you miss home?"
"...Sometimes."
No matter how many Northern brothers he made or Northern foods he ate, Richard had roots.
Like salmon ascending rivers to the sea, he'd return someday.
But since the White Gate battle, Richard seemed changed, hesitating more whenever Eastern matters came up.
Walking silently beside me for a while, he asked in a subdued voice.
"What if I don't go back? Would the king be disappointed?"
"Hm, probably."
"I thought so..."
"But if that's what you want, stay in the North. Wherever you are, you're our brother."
To me, Richard wasn't some Eastern prince—he was a comrade who'd shared the battlefield, a brother.
If he wished to remain a Northern knight, I'd respect that gladly.
"Haha."
Reading my sincerity, Richard nodded with a bright smile.
From his arrival in the North to now, he'd never once forgotten his purpose.
"I'll return to the East. My brothers must be hoping for that too."
"Good."
As we chatted, we reached a fork.
Richard bowed politely and headed to his quarters down the right path, his back much broader than when we'd first met.
I can't say how shocked I was to hear that Black Arrow, my old comrade, had returned.
Unlike other heroes whose ties were mostly official, Black Arrow and I shared a rare bond of true friendship.
I'd thought she'd left disappointed after refusing to come along, so what had she been doing at sea instead of the Black Forest?
Pushing aside questions in favor of joy, I opened the audience chamber door where footsteps approached.
There waited Black Arrow, unchanged from the past.
"Black Arrow!"
"Ah..."
Word was she'd joined the exiles and greatly aided rear stabilization.
I approached my old hero and longtime friend, seizing her right hand firmly.
"Why no word all this time!"
I owed her many apologies.
I'd brought her to the North yet failed to stick it out together till the end.
As always, I pulled her hand to bump shoulders.
Thud!
"Mm..."
But unlike her old carefree self, Black Arrow nodded awkwardly.
Resentment from that blunt rejection still lingered like dregs.
"Hm."
I swallowed the bitterness in my mouth.
Releasing her fidgeting hand, I patted her shoulder instead.
Sorry wouldn't suffice yet.
I was grateful she'd rejoined; I didn't want to burden her further.
Unlike me, with more wrinkles and white hair, Black Arrow retained her fresh youth.
Sensing how time must feel different for her, I asked softly.
"You're the same as ever. Haven't changed a bit."
"...You haven't either."
"Haha, the black hair's mostly gone."
Decades had passed since that first meeting—too many to count on fingers.
We melted the awkwardness with conversation and warm tea, bridging the lost years.
"At sea?"
"Yeah... about seven years. No one wanted to go back to the Black Forest."
"Smart choice. Thanks to that, we're reunited. I should visit the coastal fortress sometime."
"They'd love to see you."
As our talk stretched, Black Arrow's stiffness thawed, and she smiled like old times.
Seeing her, I forgot my hectic duties for a moment and savored the day.
"Has His Majesty seen you?"
"Yes, before coming here."
"A banquet's coming up soon. I told him to bring you, so let's go together."
Unlike the victory feast, this gathered all officials and generals from the provinces.
I rose from the audience chair with Black Arrow, more than qualified to attend.
A special occasion where old comrades could reunite after so long.
Imagining Snow-Covered's delight, my fatigue vanished.
"...Um."
Squeeze.
Crumple.
But as we stepped out, pressure tugged from behind.
Black Arrow, following, had reached out and gripped my collar tightly.
Complex emotions transmitted through her fingertips.
I pretended not to hear the sniffles behind me, holding silent.
She wiped her tears, then finally spoke after a long quiet.
"Sorry I'm late."
I replied gladly.
"Thanks for coming."