The civil war that broke out in Norway between Felix and Olaf III provided a spectacular show for the countries along the coasts of the Baltic and North Seas. As a result, some asserted that Norway would never recover from this conflict.
At this very moment, Sweden was locked in a fierce struggle with Novgorod for dominance over the Baltic Sea, leaving it no time to pay attention to the situation in Norway.
England, Wales, and Scotland were likewise embroiled in intense civil wars of their own. The only country that both harbored ambitions to seize Norwegian territory and possessed sufficient strength to do so was Denmark—the traditional hegemon of Scandinavia.
Queen Margaret I of Denmark, who once unified the Nordic region in real-world history, naturally had no intention of missing the opportunity to occupy Norway, especially given its current domestic turmoil. South of the Øresund, the Danish army had already begun its mobilization. Military camps sprung up across the outskirts of Copenhagen, the air brimming with warlike fervor.
Of course, Barnett remained largely unaware of all this. The lad was still lost in his beautiful daydream that, one day, he would unify Norway and be crowned its king. Since his victory in the Battle of Bergen, Barnett's power had grown considerably. And as his power increased, so too did his ambition.
By converting the enemies he killed during the war and the plundered goods into gold through the system, and adding in the monthly tax revenue, the treasury of Biard had gained nearly sixty thousand gold coins in income. Furthermore, the almost twenty thousand people taken during the war had boosted Biard's total population to forty thousand, with twelve thousand now residing in the city of Biard itself.
"So next, it should be time to plan the attack on Bergen," Barnett muttered as he stared at the system map. Within the entire Norwegian territory, only a few places could truly be called cities. The rest were minor settlements, not even deserving the title of town—merely the footholds of various minor nobles.
To be honest, Barnett genuinely didn't want a bunch of foolish and greedy nobles existing within his realm. He much preferred appointing officials without any background or powerful factions behind them to help govern the country. Of course, this might bring some issues, but it would definitely be far better than dealing with greedy aristocrats. That had always been Barnett's belief.
Just like now: under Barnett's control, the city of Biard already possessed a complete bureaucratic system. With tax collectors, tribunes, a mayor, judges, and their respective deputies and clerks, the administrative system boasted over 150 personnel—more than enough to ensure the city's proper functioning. Two squads of town patrol soldiers, totaling 400 men, maintained public order throughout the city and could also provide a modest defense in the event of an invasion—though Barnett sincerely hoped such a day would never come.
The research institute, constructed beneath the basement of the lord's manor, had finally been completed—only for Barnett to realize he had once again been screwed over by the system sprite.
"You damned bastard! Why didn't you tell me earlier that researching these technologies would also require scholars, philosophers, alchemists, and craftsmen? Where the hell am I supposed to find those people now? You damned bastard!" Upon learning from the system sprite that without scholars, philosophers, alchemists, or craftsmen working in the research institute, it would take two whole years just to complete the research on the Scorpion Crossbow, Barnett completely lost it and furiously cursed the sprite.
"So, did you really think a research institute could do research all by itself?" the system sprite replied calmly, utterly unfazed.
"Isn't that how it works? Look at those Viking soldiers—they just appeared as soon as the barracks were built!" Barnett shot back.
"Soldiers are soldiers. Scholars are scholars. The two are not to be confused," the sprite explained.
"…Fine. Tell me how I can get those scholars, alchemists, philosophers, and craftsmen," Barnett sighed and gave up on arguing. From past experience, he knew that arguing with the sprite was completely pointless—everything had to proceed according to the system's logic anyway.
"Very well. Here's an introduction to the entire research system. You're already familiar with the military side, now it's time to understand the civil side. Civil research is essentially divided into two categories: Production and Institutions. Production includes agriculture, industry, and commerce. Institutions include administration, law, and philosophy.
Scholars are versatile talents who can provide bonuses to both military and civil fields and reduce research time. Alchemists provide especially significant bonuses to industry, particularly metalworking. Craftsmen are self-explanatory—blacksmiths, for example, can enhance metallurgy-related research. Philosophers, on the other hand, greatly boost institutional development.
Understand now? Also, a research institute can only research one technology at a time, and each can host a maximum of three researchers. Be sure to remember that," the system sprite rattled off a whole string of information about research institutes.
"Then, is there a limit to the number of research institutes I can build? Like, could I build ten, or even a hundred?" Barnett asked.
"There's no limit. As long as you have enough gold, you can build as many as you like. However, you must keep it absolutely secret. If anyone finds out, you'll be branded a heretic, hunted by the entire European continent, and could even be executed on the spot. Unless you lead an army to destroy the Pope in Rome, there's no way around it."
"Got it," Barnett nodded, then thought for a moment—suddenly realizing that after all that talk, the sprite still hadn't answered the key question: "I asked at the beginning how I could get those researchers. You still haven't answered that."
"Don't rush," the sprite replied lazily.
"First, craftsmen. They're the easiest to obtain. However, low-quality craftsmen provide very minimal bonuses. You need at least mid-tier craftsmen to get significant manufacturing boosts."
"So, where exactly can I find these craftsmen?" Barnett pressed on.
"There are some right in your blacksmith shop. Those blacksmiths can barely qualify as weapons researchers."
"Huh? That counts too?"
"Barely. But even your best blacksmith provides only a tiny bonus, so it's not recommended," said the sprite.
"Alright then, tell me more about the alchemists and scholars," Barnett said.
"Alchemists are even rarer. This is the Dark Middle Ages, after all. Alchemists have to keep their identities hidden. Even if there's one living in your town, he wouldn't dare admit it, so you're out of luck."
"As for scholars and philosophers, there are barely a handful in all of Europe. Don't even bother dreaming."
"Then where are they?" Barnett persisted.
"In Constantinople, capital of Byzantium. Do you really think you can get scholars and philosophers from there to come to your town of Biard? Or maybe you plan to destroy Byzantium?" the sprite replied with a mocking tone.
"…When the hell is the Ottoman Empire going to wipe out Byzantium?" Barnett grumbled to himself, knowing from his past life that Byzantium was eventually conquered by the Ottomans. All he could do now was pray for that to happen soon—then maybe he could swoop in and snatch those scholars and philosophers amid the chaos.
"Of course, there is a way now. Since you've fully integrated into this world, the system will now reward you with something called 'Experience Points.' These virtual points can be exchanged for craftsmen, alchemists, scholars, and the like, and can even be traded for gold. Based on your actions since arriving in this world, the system is awarding you 30,000 experience points," the sprite finally said—just when Barnett was falling into despair. The mention of experience points immediately lit up his eyes with joy.
Barnett quickly calculated his priorities: right now, strategic materials for the war effort were paramount—improved metallurgy, armor crafting, and weapon forging were urgently needed.
"Alright. I want one alchemist, one armor craftsman, and one weaponsmith," Barnett said happily.
"Eh? Those have little to do with researching the Scorpion Crossbow, you know. They provide minimal bonuses," the sprite replied.
"Can't the weaponsmith provide some bonus to the development of the scorpio ballista?" Barnett asked again.
"Because the scorpio ballista falls under the category of engineering machinery. It's not part of the weapons research field," the system sprite explained.
"I don't care. Some bonus is better than none. Add one more scholar. That's it."
The alchemist provided a bonus to metallurgy upgrades, and the armorsmith improved armor production. As for the scholar... Barnett gritted his teeth and blew all thirty thousand experience points he had, even converting a large amount of gold coins into additional experience points — just to summon an eight-star scholar.
After that, the research institute's speed noticeably increased. Before developing the scorpio ballista, the mechanical level of the research institute had to be upgraded to level four, a process that would take five days. Then, the development of the scorpio ballista would only require one month, while the development of a light ballista warship would take just ten days. All in all, within a month and a half, Barnett would have all the technology he needed fully researched — a far cry from the original two years it would have taken. Given this drastic improvement, Barnett finally felt confident enough to set the whole matter aside.
Once the annoying affairs of the research institute were taken care of, Barnett ordered the construction of a ballista workshop. It would take fifteen days to complete, after which a few clunky ballistae could be built there — after all, Bergen's shoddy mud-brick city walls didn't require particularly powerful siege engines.
So now, all that was left was to wait quietly — or so Barnett thought. He went on to upgrade the town center, the lord's mansion, and the city walls. Then, once again, he returned to the barracks to sleep — all under the noble pretense of "connecting with the grassroots."
The entire city of Byard was shrouded in an air of peace and tranquility. The army's victories and the city's ongoing development had begun to influence even the common folk. A faint aroma of malt liquor wafted through every street and alley of Byard.
And it was in this atmosphere that Byard welcomed a visitor Barnett had never expected.
One early morning, as usual, Barnett took a cold shower with the Viking warriors, then planned to check in at the mayor's temporary office in the morning and inspect the treasury by noon. But just then, two patrol cavalrymen came rushing in, delivering surprising news: a group claiming to be envoys from the newly crowned Dwarf King had arrived at the outskirts of Byard and were preparing to enter the city.
"Oh?" Ever since learning about the dwarf tribes last time, Barnett had almost forgotten the whole affair. Now he suddenly remembered that he had accepted a system quest to establish contact with the dwarves — completing it would reward him with a thousand gold coins. Of course, to the current Barnett, who already had tens of thousands of gold coins in his coffers, such a reward was practically meaningless. Besides, the last report indicated that the dwarf tribes were embroiled in a civil war and had no time to bother with Viking affairs, so Barnett naturally hadn't given the quest much thought.
"What are they here for?" Barnett stroked his chin in contemplation.
"My lord, shall we meet them?" asked one of the knight guards accompanying him.
"Of course we will. Why wouldn't we? Come to think of it, dwarves are about the same height as Vikings, but I've heard that the proportions of their other body parts are rather... unique. I'm genuinely curious to see that for myself."
After saying that, Barnett grabbed a white fox-fur coat from the nearby rack and draped it over his shoulders. Then he turned to the guards and said, "You, pick ten men and go greet them at the city gate."