Poor Noble Nord’s Adventure

42.2. Busy

“That ended up being quite a long story.”

“No, thank you for sharing such valuable insights.”

The instructor, who had been leaning over the desk and speaking in a hushed voice, sat back deeply into the creaking chair and said that.

“And so,”

“Yes?”

“As you can see, I, of course, and the other members of the unit are completely swamped.”

The Iron Dragon Knight Order was desperate for help—so much so that even a cat’s paw, no, a newt’s paw would be welcome.

The newt lying as usual beside him seemed to notice Nord’s gaze.

It tilted its head, as if asking what was wrong.

Ignoring it, Nord turned his gaze back from the newt’s limbs to the instructor, and the newt, losing interest, flopped back onto the barracks floor.

“Your training is still far from complete, but you’ve made decent progress as a scout. So, for now, I’ll assign you to independent training…”

“Independent training?”

“Well, I can’t exactly give out another long vacation like I did in the summer.”

When Nord asked about the duration, the instructor just shrugged, saying it was uncertain.

“After all, this kind of large-scale increase in personnel has never happened since the order was established. I can’t even guess how long it’ll take. Over ten recruits just this year—it’s unbearable.”

The instructor’s tightly shut eyes betrayed a strong desire to escape from reality—in particular, the mountain of work before him.

Nord felt frustration at being unable to help but, at the same time, immense gratitude for still being an apprentice. He was confident in fighting monsters and had experience in combat against humans, but he couldn’t imagine winning a battle against paperwork.

“Even obtaining eggs is no easy task.”

“Oh, so that map is about that, then?”

Nord glanced at the wall where the instructor had looked. A large map of the Kingdom of Hamil was pinned there, marked with numerous red ‘X’s.

Those marks likely indicated wyvern nests.

“Are you and the other instructors retrieving them?”

“Yeah. We considered hiring adventurers, but there’s a risk of… leaks.”

The method Nord had discovered for taming and raising wyverns was extremely simple.

By covering themselves in the mother’s dung, they could trick the hatched wyvern chicks into imprinting on them as parents.

Until Nord discovered it by chance, no one had thought of such a method. Once known, however, it was far too easy to replicate—after all, all it required was wyvern dung.

The reason it had gone unnoticed was that adventurers capable of retrieving wyvern eggs could also defeat the wyverns themselves, so there was no need to roll in dung.

But what if they were now asked to collect not just eggs but dung?

Loose-lipped adventurers wouldn’t keep it a secret. No matter how much they were warned, a little drink would loosen their tongues: “Not just eggs, but dung too? What a weird request. Maybe they’re rolling in it or something!” It would surely become the punchline of some adventurer’s tale.

Anyone observant enough would figure out that the Kingdom of Hamil had discovered a new rearing method and that wyvern dung played a part.

This opportunity to expand their wyvern forces and gain a military advantage over other nations would be wasted if the method were to leak.

Thus, the collection of eggs and dung was handled directly by the Iron Dragon Knight Order.

“Hm?”

“What is it?”

While feeling sorry for being unable to help, Nord had noticed something while staring at the map. His voice drew the instructor’s attention.

“It’s nothing major, but…”

“Speak. I permit it.”

“Here… My brother wrote in a letter that wyverns have built a nest in the eastern mountains.”

“What? There? That could affect the mines.”

Pointing to the mountainous area east of the capital, Nord shared the contents of Johan’s letter with the instructor.

He added, “Though its truth is uncertain,” but the instructor didn’t seem to mind.

The eastern mountains, now completely within the borders of the Kingdom of Hamil, were once the frontier shared with the eastern nations. That rugged, harsh region held high-quality mineral deposits and had been the source of many conflicts in the past.

If wyverns had nested there, it meant they would soon be flying about the area in search of prey.

That would endanger not only the mined resources but also the horses and carts used to transport them. The mining operations themselves would likely suffer.

Nord recalled a time during his early adventuring days when he and Elsa had taken a rock wolf extermination job for similar reasons. This time, however, the monsters were wyverns, making the impact far more severe.

The instructor drew a large red ‘X’ over the eastern mountains and added, “Immediate action required.”

Seeing that, Nord recalled that the instructor was originally from the east. He must have been particularly aware of the economic impact the eastern mountains had on the surrounding area.

“Good work bringing this to my attention.”

“No, I’m sorry for adding to your workload.”

“I’ll handle it somehow.”

The instructor looked back from the map and returned to the topic of independent training—essentially, an unofficial break.

“So, do you have any plans for this independent training?”

“My brother, the one who wrote the letter, has land in the east, so I plan to visit him and work as an adventurer there for a while.”

“Hm. In the end, scout training requires real field experience.”

Jobs in Alba Forest and nearby villages would serve as perfect training, Nord thought.

Johan had written in his letter that Nord was welcome to visit Alba Village anytime, and that opportunity had come sooner than expected.