Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 136

136.

“Thirty thousand!”

I clicked my tongue.

It hadn’t even been a week since the banquet, but the nobles had already gathered 30,000 private soldiers.

It was even more surprising because they weren’t soldiers conscripted by the Imperial Family’s order.

“I think this is enough for private soldiers.”

I nodded at Ken’s words.

“I think a total force of 50,000 to 70,000 would be appropriate, so let’s fill the rest with conscripts.”

Accepting many private soldiers from the nobles would reduce the burden on the Imperial Family, but I also thought about the aftermath of the war.

It’s only natural that nobles who send more soldiers receive more rewards in the distribution of honors.

My position, which requires weakening the power of the nobles and strengthening the power of the Imperial Family, made it important to balance the ratio of troop composition well.

“I don’t think we’ll be short of troops. The Pyreon Kingdom has already lost a tremendous number of soldiers in the First Pyreon Kingdom Conquest War.”

“The local lords’ private soldiers were annihilated, and more than half of the elite troops also died. Since the kingdom alliance didn’t support the soldiers, the number of soldiers won’t be high.”

“Are you getting information in real-time?”

“Yes. I’m sharing all information related to the Pyreon Kingdom that comes to the Imperial Palace.”

“Good. There’s no need to rush.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Are you short on people?”

Soris had already sent an official letter to the academy in the Crown Prince’s name.

Hamilton had his subordinates and existing members he brought with him.

The same was true for Gale.

On the other hand, Ken was still alone, and there was no other talent to assist him.

“It’s better to be alone right now. I’m planning to establish a framework for a professional military organization after the Eastern Expedition is over.”

This time, I offered my opinion to Ken.

“The void was great while you were away in the West. You need someone to share opinions with right away.”

“Ah!”

“You can’t be in two places at once, and it would be good to have someone to put their heads together when you’re not around, even if they’re not as good as you in making small decisions.”

Riorden, David, and Gale were also there, but the difference between a knight and a military officer was clear.

The knights of this era were all highly educated, but there was a clear difference from those who had received professional military education.

Ken hadn’t received an education, but he had a broad perspective and an excellent ability to understand human psychology and make plans.

The image of Marquis Mike praising Ken was still vivid.

“Choose from the academy graduates. Or it’s also good to scout someone you know separately. While you’re looking around, meet your sister too. She’ll be very upset if you don’t see her often because you’re busy.”

Ken joked with a bright smile for the first time in a while.

“Academy graduates are rigid.”

I shrugged.

“Anyway, fill up the people quickly. What do you think about the West?”

“I’ve also read about the Vikan Merchant Guild.”

“Did Hamilton give you information separately?”

“Yes. He gave the results of the investigation to Your Highness and also organized the data separately for me.”

“He’s someone who knows the physiology of the organization well.”

Ken also praised Hamilton.

“Yes. He’s a meticulous person.”

“What about the Vikan Merchant Guild? The guild leader seemed pretty good.”

“I heard you met him in the West.”

“The fact that he found the information first and came to me boldly… Those two things are outstanding.”

“It’s one of the top 100 merchant guilds on the continent, but it’s almost at the bottom. You can’t say it’s big.”

Ken’s assessment was cold.

“He has the ability to sell wyvern carcasses and items from the Rhinehardt family that Hamilton had when he was a lord, but his ability to distribute the Water of Purification is uncertain.”

Ken emphasized.

“The Water of Purification is a treasure that will greatly help not only the West but also Your Highness’s position in the future.”

I was very grateful to Elraim. When I first discovered the Water of Purification, I roughly felt its value.

After calmly organizing my thoughts, the Water of Purification was more precious than a thousand gold.

It’s an era where medicine hasn’t developed much.

The nobles use potions and priests to heal, but they aren’t omnipotent either.

On the other hand, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the Water of Purification has endless uses.

“The Water of Purification can be sold to nobles and also to commoners depending on the manufacturing method. It can be said to be a very reliable source of funding.”

“That’s right.”

I brought up more stories about the West.

“To develop the West, I have to use quite a lot of the rewards I received from the Atlan family and the Riverhill family. It’s a region that’s worth it, but it’ll take a lot of effort to develop it efficiently.”

“I’m thinking of opening communications. Since there’s a very high-quality crystal ball, install one in Marquis Mike’s territory and one in Hamilton’s territory and manage them.”

I exclaimed, “Oh!”

It was definitely the crystal ball I received from the Riverhill family.

“Duke Austin must be feeling a lot of pain. A communication crystal ball that can connect the Crown Prince’s Palace and the West must have taken a lot of effort to make.”

“Yes. We’ve also sent enough food to live comfortably until this year, so Marquis Mike will form an alliance and start to get a handle on monster hunting. Of course, we need to help a lot.”

If my source of funding was the Water of Purification, the fundamental solution to poverty in the West was monster hunting.

“Right. Political standing in the center is important, but so is the support of forces in the provinces.”

“Yes. When you go on the Eastern Expedition this time, attract the neutral nobles there too.”

Nobles are everywhere.

The East is traditionally a place where the influence of the Atlan family is strong.

Four of the Atlan family’s collateral relatives were there as counts.

“I should focus on the battle this time, but… opportunities don’t come often, so I have to keep an eye out whenever I have time.”

I got up.

“Okay, let’s stop here for today. I want to get a grasp on the highest class before I leave.”

While looking at Olivia, I had a feeling that I might fall for her, but the stronger feeling was competitiveness.

Is it because we’re the same age?

My desire for the highest-level spiritist also grew.

* * *

Every day was enjoyable.

The Crown Prince’s Palace training ground was also finished being renovated while I was down in the West.

The scale also increased, and two additional training grounds were created.

There were a total of three training grounds, one for me and the other two for the knights.

I was working in the morning and spending the afternoon training to overcome my post-lunch drowsiness.

I focused on training that I had neglected for a while after the banquet.

‘Red Wind Storm!’

The Red Wind Storm unleashed by Silpilen and Ignis was so powerful that it seemed to blow away the entire training ground.

The swamp fairies raised their swords and fended off the storm.

Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!

Most of the swamp fairies couldn’t withstand the storm, but some survived.

Kwaaaang-!

As I further increased the amount of mana consumed by the two skills, the explosion became even stronger.

Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!

I stopped the skill and took a deep breath.

“Hoo-woo-woo!”

Finally, I finished the training with the scattering water droplets unleashed by Elraim.

I used all the skills and had the spirits compete against each other, increasing my proficiency.

The system window didn’t change.

After becoming a master of the high-level spiritist, the system window remained unchanged.

I thought the solution was a quest.

-A Fame: Consolidate the power of the West and enhance the reputation of the Crown Prince throughout the empire.

└Bonus Stats: 10,000

It wasn’t an S-class difficulty, but it was a quest with a bonus of 10,000 stats.

‘Maybe that’s because it’s a quest that takes a long time.’

The remaining bonus stats are 1,000.

‘The West will find stability. To enhance my reputation throughout the empire, it seems like it will be cleared if I win this war.’

A lot was at stake in the Eastern Expedition.

‘Was there ever a battle that wasn’t important?’

I felt like I was more alive than ever, even though I was busy every day and everything was a series of tensions.

Calpeon’s new life was no different from being given a new life.

“Your Highness.”

I turned my head at the voice calling me.

It was Gale.

“Oh. What’s wrong?”

Gale was also training the knights every day without fail.

He showed great enthusiasm, and the reason was clear.

Gale’s words while pushing the knights came to mind.

-The empire’s prestigious knight orders are all participating. If we can’t surpass them, we can’t be called Your Highness’s knights.

-We will be the best knight order.

Gale was determined to make my knight order the best in the empire.

The knights were all passionate.

No knight would be lazy when a Sword Master was directly teaching them, no matter how difficult the training was.

“I came to ask for a sparring match.”

“Sparring?”

“Yes.”

Gale explained.

“There are still not enough knights, so please give us your teachings, Your Highness.”

“This is nerve-wracking. Who am I sparring with?”

Gale replied briefly.

“Your Highness versus the entire knight order.”

“You don’t mean to tell me to fight all the knights at the same time?”

Gale wasn’t just training the knights.

The same was true for me.

“Hey, Gale, wouldn’t that be a bit much?”

“The Eastern Expedition is different from the Western Expedition. Your Highness also needs to learn how to deal with multiple knights.”

I couldn’t refute Gale’s explanation.

“Okay…”

Gale bowed his head.

“I’ll call the knights soon.”

Gale left to call the knights in the other training grounds.

I used the Breath of the Wind to fill the mana hole to the brim.

I felt a subtle sense of tension.

‘A battle against a total of twenty-four people.’

That was the number of knights excluding Gale.

I had experienced fighting multiple people at once in the battle with the orcs.

I was always outnumbered in the battle with the undead.

I didn’t have much experience fighting multiple people alone. Slaughtering the orc shamans wasn’t enough to be called combat experience.

It was one-sided.

Moreover, the knights are not orcs or undead.

“Your Highness!”

The knights flocked in, led by Gale.

An undeniable sense of tension was revealed on their faces, but a hint of competitiveness was also seen on one side of their faces.

I felt a sense of will burning for no reason.

“Good. Let’s do it.”

As I took my place, the knights lightly gripped their wooden training swords.

“If you lose to Your Highness, it’s special training tonight. You can look forward to the intensity of the special training.”

The knights’ eyes burned at Gale’s words.

‘This is no joke?’

The knights exuded an intense aura as if they had forgotten that I was the Crown Prince.

I summoned Silpilen and said.

“Let’s start.”

At the same time as the words, I unfolded the flow of wind and earth.

My figure quickly disappeared, but the knights were not flustered.

They focused on Silpilen’s movements.

‘Hoo, are you only going to deal with the spirits?’

The easiest way to defeat a spiritist is not to deal with the spirit but to aim for the spiritist itself.

If you start dealing with the spirit, you may not be able to secure distance and be pushed back by constantly being attacked.

Or there is a way to damage the spirit itself with overwhelming power, but the spiritist’s body is much weaker than the knight’s, so it is naturally more effective to aim for the spiritist himself.

And David seemed to know that fact well, rushing towards me with four knights.

The method of directly targeting me and some dealing with the spirits was not bad.

‘I’m not going to be easily defeated.’

What’s the best way to deal with multiple people?

I thought it was to catch the leader.

‘Starting with Riorden.’

I secretly called Sylph.