Chapter 23.2 – How the Budget Gets Spent

Everyone down on the test range was having the time of their lives tinkering, but the Elves looking on were already a little exasperated.

“Take the Ogres, right… so heavy. After marching too long they’re wiped out, and good luck getting them onto a wagon.”

“As for us… it’s the whole turn-us-into-ammunition-then-schlep-us-around thing. Real hassle, you know?”

Watching their combat strength grow was nice and all, yet the Elves still had a few gripes.

“So, the biggest problem is… the budget.”

“More specifically, our pay.”

“The Knight Commander says we’re free to run the Order however we like, but…”

In truth, almost everyone in the Conjurer Knights—including Gaikaku—worked for practically nothing.

Gaikaku funneled nearly the entire appropriation into capital investment.

The upside was a steady stream of new gear and facilities; the downside was zero personnel costs—meaning zero salaries.

Granted, the Order covered every benefit: dorms, food, even leisure spaces like the teahouse. Call that payment in kind if you want.

They had room, board, and the best quality they could reasonably hope for, so complaining was awkward… but having no pocket money at all still ranked about a minus-one on the satisfaction scale.

“Thing is, the Conjurer Knights survive by sinking everything into equipment.”

“Except for the human infantry, we’re all bottom-rank slaves… without the illegal weapons sensei makes, we could do literally nothing.”

“At the very least, we couldn’t do knight work. Guy’s disgustingly competent.”

Had Gaikaku been siphoning public funds into some side hobby, the Elves would have blown their tops.

But his hobbies just happened to overlap perfectly with practical needs, so he never did anything unnecessary—and no one in the Order knew that better than they did.

“So it comes down to what we’d even buy with spending money.”

“Given our ‘market value,’ any real paycheck would be pretty sad.”

“And the Commander would skim most off the top anyway…”

“Even if we bought our freedom, there’s no better workplace than this.”

Everyone here understood there was nowhere with nicer conditions than the Conjurer Knights.

Run away or buy themselves out and they’d just tumble back to the bottom.

Not that they weren’t at the bottom already.

“Still, a knight is a knight, right?”

“Back home, everybody dreamed of joining an Order!”

“We can’t attend fancy ceremonies, but traveling the realm earns us thanks and even respect.”

“…Hey, girls. Just a thought…”

After all, the Elves of the Order hadn’t started out in this human kingdom.

They’d lived in the wetland forests—territory ruled by Elves, full of their own kind.

“So there’s a chance we’ll get posted to our homeland?”

“If that forest’s allied with this kingdom, sure, why not?”

Humans could turn their hands to almost anything, but other races weren’t so versatile.

Yes, if you networked with enough non-human races you could scrape by without humans… but honestly, most folks preferred the convenience of dealing with a human country that had everything.

Elves in the forest were the same: they traded with humans and, in an emergency, sent calls for aid.

Sometimes a Knight Order answered those calls.

“…What do I even say if I run into my family?”

“I can’t imagine the lecture I’ll get…”

“Nothing but bad memories…”

True, like the last two missions, they might not be deployed at all.

But if they were sent, that would be pure hell.

Please let home be safe, they prayed…

※

‘Requesting immediate aid—dispatch a Knight Order at once!’

“An SOS from the Elven Forest… The only unit ready to move is the Conjurer Knights.”