Radiant Dragon’s Otherworldly Reincarnation

Chapter 260. Can I Do This Well? (3)

A moment later.

Count Krupa, having recovered his mental state somewhat, touched his throbbing forehead with his hand and said.

“Whatever the reason, administrative work will not function properly at this rate.”

“So what? What do you want me to do?”

“We are short on manpower. Please provide reinforcements.”

“No.”

A firm refusal.

At that, Count Krupa gritted his teeth and questioned him.

“Why not? Why?”

Then Patrick said with a serious face.

“Look here, Count. It’s not that I’m refusing to hire more people because I’m stingy with the labor costs.”

“I think that’s exactly it.”

“That is correct.”

“Don’t be fooled, Count.”

“Kaaak! Shut up!”

After silencing the knights who were interjecting, Patrick calmly explained again.

“Even if I want to recruit talent, it’s not like talented people who can handle administrative work just pop up out of nowhere, right? Most of the fiefdom’s people can’t even read or write, so where am I supposed to find administrative staff?”

“……”

“And the fact that the work is so trivial is not my fault. It’s because my father has a habit of taking care of every single one of the fiefdom’s people’s matters.”

“……”

Count Krupa clenched his jaw.

Yes. In the days when he was a country baron, it might have been possible for the lord to look after even the minor inconveniences of the fiefdom’s people like this.

There weren’t many lords like that, but let’s say a kind and diligent lord could do it.

But now, the Schneider Duchy is a proper nation with a population of over 100,000 and two large cities.

How on earth was he supposed to handle all of this?

Minor civil complaints and trivial misdemeanors like this should be handled quickly on-site by low-ranking officials.

Otherwise, the fiefdom’s people would be inconvenienced, and the administrative officials would just die from overwork.

Count Krupa said with a hardened expression.

“Then do I just have to find the people myself?”

“Hmm, well, you’ve been doing well so far, so there’s no need to go that far….”

“……”

“Again, it’s not that I’m stingy with the salaries. It’s just that I don’t know what side effects a rapid change might bring to the country, so I’m trying to go slowly….”

“I will deduct the salaries from my own pay.”

“Hahaha. Then please take care of it, Count.”

Count Krupa sighed as he watched Patrick, who was patting his back and giving his hearty permission.

‘Can I do this well?’

His life in the Schneider Duchy had only just begun.

Good luck.

Alexander Krupa was a graduate of the Harbor Kingdom’s Academy. And he was a talented individual who had graduated at the top of his class, having studied both law and administration at the same time.

He had numerous classmates, seniors, and juniors, and among them were those who were skilled but had not taken up administrative positions due to personal reasons.

Most of them were people who had quit, disgusted with political factional struggles.

Count Krupa sent letters to them asking for help, and as his network was quite wide, more than 30 administrators flocked to the Schneider Duchy in less than a month.

Count Krupa assigned them directly under him and began to divide and process the work. And the effect was immediate.

“Huh? It’s already been processed?”

“Wow…. That’s really fast.”

“To think a business permit would be issued this quickly.”

As the work proceeded swiftly, the residents’ satisfaction greatly increased.

And it was the same for the knights.

“Huh? What’s this?”

“Could this be the creature called a horse?”

“Come to think of it, I’ve heard of it. They say knights originally rode horses.”

“It’s even wearing horse armor.”

The necessary support for the knights took shape.

Warhorses, stables to care for them, and a dedicated blacksmith for the maintenance of equipment, and so on.

As a result, the Twin Dragon Knightly Order, which had been receiving terrible treatment despite their skills, now began to look quite knightly.

Naturally, the knights were very satisfied.

“Tsk, if they’re this well-fed and warm, the kids will get lazy.”

Except for one person, that is.

“You know, a martial artist. Ugh. He should befriend danger, shun luxury, not fear hardship, and live like that to have style. Tsk…. It wasn’t like this in my day.”

It was someone who really disliked the fact that the knightly order was starting to become a money sink.

In any case, with the full support of Grand Duke Schneider, Count Krupa steadily established the nation’s system, and in just 50 days, the Schneider Duchy had established a near-perfect administrative system.

Of course, a considerable amount of financial expenditure had to be made in the process, but Patrick, though he grumbled about it, did not oppose it.

“Isn’t it enough that we can eat and live without starving? Do we really need to pay such high salaries?”

“Dignity maintenance expenses? Oh my…. Should I bring them to the training ground? I’ll make them realize how dignified it is just to be able to walk on two feet.”

“You know. Ugh. An official should be clean and upright. Ugh. If they only care about money, that’s no good.”

As I said, he did grumble.

Endlessly.

But Patrick still tolerated Count Krupa’s reforms.

Because he acknowledged the positive changes that were happening in proportion to the money being spent.

Watching the nation gradually take shape, Patrick began to slowly step back from various tasks. And then….

“Now I can ignore other things for a bit and focus on my training in earnest.”

Patrick, who had been involved in and managed all the major and minor affairs of the fiefdom until now, finally had some time for himself.

And he could focus that spare time on training.

And recently, Patrick had entrusted the training of the knightly order to his wife, April, and devoted himself to his personal training.

“That pale, spotted cat bastard!”

Kwaaaang!

“The next time I see him, I’ll skin him alive.”

Kwakwakwakwakwakwa!

“And I’ll sell it for a high price!”

Kukukukukukung!

Whatever his motives, it was a rare opportunity for Patrick to devote himself to personal training after a long time.

Though that time was not long.

“Young Master. I have urgent news.”

“I told you, I’m not the Young Master anymore.”

Patrick sighed as he looked at April, who still called him Young Master.

April blushed like an apple and said.

“I’m just used to it….”

“Don’t do that, try calling me something else.”

“What title should I use?”

“Honey, darling, you, my lord, dear. Here, try it.”

“How could I possibly dare….”

There were a few words she didn’t know, but all of them were titles that were burdensome to call him directly.

At the sight of April, blushing and shy, Patrick….

“Hooo…. So you’re going to be cute about it, are you?”

Patrick grinned and wrapped his hand around April’s waist, pulling her in.

April blushed.

‘Wh… Why has this person, who was like this before….’

April had served Patrick closely for a long time. But during that time, Patrick had been so indifferent to women’s issues that it seemed he was completely chaste.

He had shown no such inclination not only to other noble ladies but also to the maids of the fiefdom mansion and even to herself, who was right beside him.

But after getting married….

“What do you want me to do when you show such a cute side? Huh?”

At Patrick’s action of pulling April closer to him, their faces became so close they were almost touching.

April blushed and said.

“I have something to report. Please listen first….”

“Go on.”

It’s probably nothing special anyway.

To Patrick, who was planning to listen briefly and then have a good time with his beautiful wife, April spoke.

“The Kaisar Kingdom has fallen.”

“…Huh?”

“And the Decator Kingdom has merged with the Yusef Kingdom.”

“…Huh?”

This was something special.

And a memory flashed through Patrick’s mind.

[Within the next two months, we will annex the Decator Kingdom and the Kaisar Kingdom.]

“That crazy bastard….”

It was what Noah Gregory had said before parting with Patrick.

But thinking about it coolly, it was a statement that lacked reality.

Devouring two countries in just two months?

Does that even make sense?

“Is what I thought, but….”

It seems he really did it.

To the dazed Patrick, April spoke.

“Red has come to report the detailed contents. Would you like to go and hear it in person?”

“I guess I have to.”

This was something he had to pay attention to.

***

Rewinding time….

From the moment Noah Gregory parted with Patrick and returned to his home country, the Yusef Kingdom began to ramp up the war in earnest.

“We must not drag this war on any longer. If the war drags on while we are short on food, even if we win, a more difficult future will await us.”

The Hegemon King Cierion said during a direct negotiation with King Arein Hamut Decator III of Decator.

King Arein also agreed with this statement.

“You are right. But how can we end this war? Should we sign a peace treaty or something?”

At King Arein’s words, the Hegemon King shook his head and said firmly.

“Let us launch an all-out offensive.”

“An all-out offensive….”

“We will take the lead. The Decator Kingdom will support us from behind. Let us capture the capital of the Kaisar Kingdom at once.”

King Arein thought.

‘There’s nothing to lose.’

If the Yusef Kingdom, led by the Hegemon King, takes the lead and they support from behind, their losses will be relatively small.

It was grateful that they were lending their strength in this war, but it was also true that the growth of the Yusef Kingdom, which had swallowed the Flame Kingdom, was frightening. So….

‘It would be good to drain the Yusef Kingdom’s strength on this occasion.’

Having organized his thoughts, King Arein agreed with the Hegemon King’s words.

“Very well. Let’s do it.”

The combined forces of the Yusef Kingdom and the Decator Kingdom played their trump card of an all-out offensive.

And to this, the Kaisar Kingdom….

“Insolent fools. Do they dare to challenge me head-on just because two small countries have joined forces?”

King Georgia Birkin Kaisar of the Kaisar Kingdom was consumed with anger.

This war was never intended to drag on this long in the first place.

After conquering the Decator Kingdom, he had planned to stop after taking about half of its territory and reparations.

It was because facing the Great Forest directly at the border was a burden, and this war itself was a war to restore the recently fallen prestige of the Kaisar Kingdom.

“The Double Dragon…. because of that damned bastard….”

The root of all evil was Patrick Schneider.

At least, that was the perception in King Georgia’s mind.

Patrick had come to the Kaisar Kingdom and sliced Count Calvin Spike in half.

That became the cause of a large-scale battle, and as a result, Kaisar was defeated.

And he even lost two more 7-star swordsmen.

For a single nation, the damage inflicted by just one person was too fatal.

On top of that, the whole story of the incident was revealed later.

The fact that the cause was originally Count Calvin Spike of the Kaisar Kingdom ruling the citizens of Andemion with tyranny spread throughout the continent, and the Kaisar Kingdom’s face was completely shattered.

As Patrick Schneider’s fame rose, the name of the Kaisar Kingdom fell to the ground in proportion.

In response, King Georgia chose war to somehow revive the nation’s prestige and status.

The Decator Kingdom.

It was a perfectly suitable and easy prey.

He had planned to find a pretext, win the war, and receive territory and reparations to raise the nation’s prestige while also gaining practical benefits.

But in that war, as Count Helios Gilsion lost his life to Marquis Dustin Robski, the Divine Spear of Decator, the story took another twist.

He had lost three to Patrick, and now another one, so he had lost a total of four.

This was no longer a hunt to save face.

The Kaisar Kingdom had entered a war with no place to retreat.

[I will wipe the Decator Kingdom off the map. Mobilize the entire army and attack!]

At King Georgia’s command, the remaining five 7-star knights and an army of 120,000 were mobilized to invade the Decator Kingdom.

When the Kaisar Kingdom attacked with determination, the Decator Kingdom had to retreat, suffering repeated defeats.

In the first place, the difference in military power between the two countries was too great.

But here, another variable appeared, and that was the Hegemon King Cierion, the monarch of the Yusef Kingdom, which had risen as a powerful nation in the north.

He, saying who dared to attack his brothers in the east, led his army himself to help the Decator Kingdom even before they requested support.

Thanks to the Hegemon King’s participation in the war, the battlefield regained its balance, and the Decator Kingdom, which had been facing a national crisis, was literally saved.

As a result, even in the Decator Kingdom, praise for the Hegemon King Cierion was endless.

And now.

Finally, the two kingdoms had launched a full-scale frontal war with the Hegemon King Cierion at the forefront.

This fact dealt a serious blow to King Georgia’s pride.

“Insolent fools. To think they can threaten me just because two small countries have joined forces….”

He shot up from his seat and shouted.

“It’s a full-scale war. Mobilize the entire army, defeat the enemy, and bring me the Hegemon King’s head!”

Even if two countries had joined forces, the military power of the Kaisar Kingdom overwhelmed the combined forces of the two countries.

This was an objective fact.

That was why King Georgia had unhesitatingly chosen a full-scale war. To him, a subject approached and said.

“Your Highness, this is top-secret information….”

As he whispered something in King Georgia’s ear, the king’s complexion subtly changed.

“Are you certain?”

“It is information that has been confirmed several times. There is no mistake.”

“Hooo…. Yes. So that’s how it is.”

A sly smile appeared on King Georgia’s face.

“The gods are helping us.”