Kingdom Simulator: I, a Fallen Noble, Build a God-Level Kingdom!-Chapter 44: Romon, It’s Time to Turn in Your Homework

Romon looked up and sized up the burly, bald man standing at the table. Golden Stone—the name rang a bell. Back when he’d first hired Talia, he’d gone over Golden Stone’s file.

This man was a specialist in earth magic and had a bit of a reputation around Stone Town.

"Welcome, ’Bedrock of Stone Town.’"

"Lord, how much would my monthly salary be?" Golden Stone asked, his demeanor honest and a little embarrassed to bring up money.

Romon thought for a moment. If he remembered right, when he’d seen Golden Stone on the hiring market before, the man’s ideal annual salary was 50 gold coins. That worked out to a monthly salary of about 4.1 gold—so rounding down, Romon set it at 4 gold, treating the leftover 2 gold as a sort of agent’s fee.

"Four gold a month, with paid leave," Romon offered.

Golden Stone did the math in his head. Four gold a month meant 48 gold a year, plus three months of paid vacation. During those three months off, he’d also get free passes to the Thune Grand Labyrinth—worth another three months’ wages. Altogether, the total value easily exceeded 50 gold.

He grinned broadly. "Lord, I can start right now."

"Fill out the contract. Five-year minimum. The terms are straightforward—ask the mayor if you have any questions."

The mayor had brought down a stack of partially filled-out contracts, with blanks for years of service, monthly salary, and notes, so they could be tailored to each recruit.

For everyone so far, Romon had insisted on a five-year term. He couldn’t have people coming and going; the three-on, one-off schedule was already a huge perk, so he needed long-term hands.

Step by step, he was going to turn these freewheeling adventurers into skilled, specialized soldiers.

A mage as focused on earth magic as Golden Stone had been on the hiring market for at least a month and was still unattached, which meant he wasn’t in high demand and had trouble finding work. The moment Romon met his expected salary, Golden Stone signed the contract without a second thought, not even bothering to look at the fine print.

To him, a five-year commitment wasn’t a restriction—it was a promise of stability.

He was 38 now, the main breadwinner of his family, and a steady income was a lot better than scraping by on unpredictable adventuring gigs.

"Next!" the mayor called out.

Golden Stone stepped aside, revealing the man behind him. This newcomer was bare-chested but wore shining silver armor on his lower half, a special medal hanging from the plates.

Romon’s brow furrowed as soon as he saw him.

The mayor leaned over and whispered, "This is Mayus, the Knight of Honor, my Lord."

Of course Romon knew him—he’d read the Knight of Honor’s profile on the hiring market, too. Mayus was, without question, the strongest in Stone Town right now. If that were all, Romon would have rolled out the red carpet for him today.

But there was more to the story.

According to Romon’s previous simulations, this Knight of Honor had taken a secret commission from the Nightingale Lord—as a contract killer, he’d ambushed Spidevs on the road.

Spidevs had been set up and killed; the Knight of Honor’s assignment had come to nothing.

Though this was their first meeting, Romon knew that Mayus had also been one of the cogs in the plot to assassinate him.

"Lord Thune, my name is Mayus—just a minor figure in Stone Town. My rank is currently full Knight, but I’m just one step away from a promotion."

Mayus’s tone had a hint of flippancy, but just standing there, his presence was palpably different from Golden Stone’s.

Much like with mages, knights had their own ranking system: Apprentice Knight, Novice Knight, Knight, Knight of Honor, Earth Knight, Sky Knight, King of Knights, Paladin, Imperial Knight, Divine Knight...

"Knight of Honor" was not just a nickname—it was a formal rank.

Mayus was now at the very peak of the full Knight rank, just a hair’s breadth from advancing to Knight of Honor.

Yet he still called himself "just a minor figure of Stone Town."

Romon stared at Mayus impassively, thoughts whirring. There were a hundred reasons not to recruit Mayus—but just one reason that made him hesitate, enough to outweigh the rest: Thune Territory was still desperately short on soldiers and talent.

Real-time readings from the simulator indicated that Mayus currently showed no signs of hostility. If he could be won over, Mayus could become a banner around which to build a proper knight corps.

"What is your expected salary?" Romon asked, already knowing the answer. On the hiring market, Mayus’s fee was seventy-five gold.

Mayus hesitated for a moment, then replied, "The same as the last gentleman."

He nodded toward Golden Stone, who had just left, and Golden Stone glanced back at him.

After all, they both operated in Stone Town, and among the top-rank adventurers, everyone knew exactly what each other was worth. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Golden Stone had confidence in his earth magic, but he knew full well that in a real fight, he’d be no match for Mayus.

With Mayus’s abilities, a seventy-gold annual salary would be no problem. But here he was, settling for just four gold a month—forty-eight a year.

Who would voluntarily underbid themselves like this?

Romon pondered the question too. Such an obvious effort to curry favor made him even more suspicious of Mayus’s motives.

Was this another mission from the Nightingale Lord?

But Mayus was here in person, and the simulator wasn’t throwing up any red flags.

After ten seconds’ thought, Romon decided to trust the simulator. Mayus clearly had his own agenda, but at least, for now, he wasn’t an enemy.

"Sign your name," Romon said.

"Yes, Lord Thune."

Mayus moved to the mayor’s table, and the next person in line stepped forward.

Romon sized up the newcomer—a woman dressed in the robes of a church nun, arriving for an interview just like that.

By common reasoning, weren’t nuns supposed to dedicate their entire being to the divine? Wouldn’t enlisting be a form of blasphemy?

Before Romon could think further, the nun smiled gently and spoke first: "Honorable Lord, my name is Janice. I am the head priestess at the chapel. Ever since the Nightingale Lord cut off our funding over a difference in faith, I prayed for guidance, and the gods showed me a new path—enlisting here."

The god worshipped in Stone Town was different from the one venerated in Nightingale Territory. Such differences dated back to ancient times—regional divides often led to huge discrepancies in customs and beliefs.

What was seen as a positive custom in one area might be considered a total taboo in another.

Romon asked, "What are you good at?"

"Purification, blessings, laundry, rituals, delivering babies, healing..." Janice rattled them off in one breath.

As she spoke, Romon appraised her magical aura. Judging by her mana, her level was on par with Talia’s—only Janice was a priest, specializing in healing and support. Talent like hers was exactly what Romon needed.

"Your monthly pay will be the same as the others. Write your name down."

"Four gold coins? My goodness, Lord, you are generous!" Janice never considered herself to have a valuable profession, and here she was, earning the same as the combatants.

With this, not only could the chapel stay afloat, she could even bring all the nuns into the fold!

Transferring directly from religious service to an official post—steady work, a generous salary. Faith was faith, but living always cost money.

...

By the end of the day,

Romon had recruited a total of 100 knights and 50 mages.

The knights varied in skill—most were Apprentice Knights, with only a handful of full Knights like Mayus among them.

The mages were much the same.

But this was no problem. Romon immediately appointed Mayus as captain of his new knight order, tasked with daily training and passing on his experience and techniques to the others.

Golden Stone, meanwhile, naturally became the head of the mage corps. Though he only specialized in earth magic, Romon valued "specialization" itself. After all, someone truly proficient in earth magic might not be able to teach another to master it—but by passing on his approach, he might inspire others to master fire, water, wind, or any other element.

In addition,

Head Priestess Janice brought over all the remaining nuns from the chapel—twenty in total. Romon gave them an official designation: the Priest Corps, which also served as the Thune Hospital.

This meant they had to handle both military and civil duties, providing services to the townsfolk as well. Romon set affordable prices for their treatments—after all, with their salaries paid by the state, they couldn’t keep draining the citizens’ pockets. Part of the taxes should naturally go toward subsidizing healthcare.

Finally,

Romon also recruited fifteen assassins—all of them at the level of full-fledged professionals. There was no room for dead weight in this line of work; bringing amateurs along on missions would only be a hindrance. He planned to put these fifteen under Nini’s command.

As for archers and warriors, he left their training to [The Ever-accurate Centaur] Pito. These two troop types formed the backbone of any standing army. If he truly wanted to develop and expand, he needed to plant the seeds for such forces early on in Thune Territory. A Lord couldn’t rely on knights alone—his grandfather’s downfall was a harsh lesson in that. It wasn’t his grandfather’s temper that had doomed him, but his reckless overexpansion.

As a transmigrator armed with a simulator cheat, Romon didn’t believe expansion itself was the problem. If the king ever tried the same tricks again... well, Romon Thune could just as easily take that throne himself!

By afternoon,

Dark clouds blotted out the sun. Sensing that it might rain soon, Romon packed up early.

He returned to the princess’s ground-dragon carriage—it was still time to head back to the castle.

Princess Angelia was already waiting inside. When Romon finally climbed in, she greeted him with a suggestive smile.

"Lord, since I’m your mercenary, shouldn’t you assign me a task as well?" she said, reclining languidly with a playful look.

Romon understood her meaning. It was getting late; by the terms of their contract, it was time to turn in his "homework."