The list arrived four days later.
Adrian stared at it.
Then he looked at the Chancellor.
“That’s it?”
Lord Edmund Vale nodded.
“These are the people recommended by the ministries.”
Adrian looked back at the document.
There were thirty-seven names.
Thirty-seven people out of an entire kingdom.
He wasn’t surprised.
Most governments weren’t particularly good at recognizing talent.
Especially when talent came from people who didn’t have the right family name.
Adrian scanned the list.
Most were nobles.
A few were senior officials.
There were several military officers.
Only two commoners were mentioned.
Adrian frowned.
“Why so few?”
The Chancellor looked uncomfortable.
“The ministries recommended people they know.”
“That’s the problem.”
Adrian put the paper down.
“Then we need another method.”
“What do you suggest?”
Adrian thought.
He couldn’t simply ask every person in the kingdom to come to the capital.
That would be ridiculous.
Instead, he needed a system.
A way for talented people to make themselves known.
“Competitions.”
The Chancellor raised an eyebrow.
“Competitions?”
“Engineering.
Mathematics.
Magic.
Agriculture.
Military tactics.”
Adrian paused.
“Writing too.”
“Writing?”
“People who can explain ideas clearly are useful.”
The Chancellor nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
Adrian picked up the list.
“For now, though, I want to meet these thirty-seven people.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
The Chancellor sighed.
“It may take some time.”
“Then let’s begin.”
The first meeting was with a military officer.
Captain Elias Varen.
He was thirty-two years old and had spent most of his career stationed on the eastern frontier.
Adrian studied his file.
Seven years of service.
No noble connections.
Three commendations.
Two disciplinary reports.
Adrian looked up.
“You’ve been disciplined twice.”
Elias stood straight.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Why?”
“I disobeyed orders.”
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Why?”
“Because the orders were bad.”
The room became quiet.
Adrian leaned back.
“Explain.”
Elias hesitated.
“During a monster attack three years ago, our commander ordered the eastern gate opened so civilians could evacuate faster.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Why?”
“The monsters were approaching from the east.”
Adrian waited.
Elias continued.
“The gate opened directly toward them.”
Adrian stared.
“And you?”
“I refused to open it.”
“What happened?”
“We evacuated through the northern road instead.”
“Were people injured?”
“Six.”
“Deaths?”
“None.”
Adrian nodded slowly.
“And your commander?”
“He filed a report accusing me of insubordination.”
“Which explains the disciplinary action.”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at the file again.
“Why didn’t you leave the army?”
Elias shrugged.
“Because I’m good at it.”
Adrian smiled.
“I think you are.”
Elias looked surprised.
Adrian stood.
“How would you improve the eastern defenses?”
The captain immediately began answering.
“More watchtowers.”
“Why?”
“Anything else?”
“Better roads between the forts.”
Adrian nodded.
“Why?”
“Reinforcements.”
“Food?”
“Storage depots closer to the frontier.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“How far apart?”
Elias gave him a rough estimate.
Adrian asked another question.
Then another.
Then another.
Twenty minutes became an hour.
By the end, Adrian was impressed.
Elias wasn’t a genius.
He didn’t have revolutionary ideas.
But he understood soldiers.
He understood the frontier.
And he understood logistics.
That was valuable.
Adrian closed the file.
“Captain Varen.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I want you transferred to the capital.”
Elias blinked.
“Why?”
“I want you working with the Ministry of War.”
The captain hesitated.
“With respect, Your Majesty, I’m a field officer.”
“I know.”
“I don’t understand why you’d want me in an office.”
Adrian smiled.
“Because I don’t want you in an office.”
Elias looked confused.
“I want you helping redesign how the army handles logistics and frontier defense.”
Silence.
“You’re promoting me?”
“Not yet.”
Adrian stood.
“I’m giving you a chance.”
Elias bowed deeply.
“I won’t waste it.”
“I hope not.”
The second person Adrian met was a woman named Clara Weiss.
She was a twenty-six-year-old clerk in the Ministry of Trade.
Unlike Elias, she had no military background.
Her file was almost empty.
Adrian nearly skipped her.
Then he noticed one line.
Identified irregularities in regional customs reports.
He looked up.
“Why was this not mentioned in your recommendation?”
The Chancellor looked at the file.
“I don’t know.”
“Bring her in.”
A few minutes later, Clara entered.
She looked nervous.
Very nervous.
She knelt.
“Your Majesty.”
“Stand.”
She stood.
Adrian held up her file.
“You found errors in customs records.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I compared the port records with the merchant declarations.”
“And?”
“They didn’t match.”
“How many?”
“Seventeen.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Seventeen?”
“Yes.”
“Fraud?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“I couldn’t prove it.”
Adrian smiled.
“Good answer.”
Clara looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t pretend to know something you couldn’t prove.”
He handed the papers back.
“Would you like to investigate them?”
Her eyes widened.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve only been a clerk for three years.”
“Apparently a good one.”
Clara swallowed.
“I’d like that.”
“Then you’re going to be working directly under the Chancellor.”
She nodded.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
As she left, Adrian turned toward the Chancellor.
“Why was she still a clerk?”
The Chancellor sighed.
“She doesn’t have a noble family.”
Adrian stared at him.
“That shouldn’t matter.”
“No.”
“It does.”
The Chancellor said nothing.
That was going to change.
Not immediately.
But eventually.
By the end of the week, Adrian had met eleven people.
Some were impressive.
Some weren’t.
A few had good ideas but lacked discipline.
Others were hardworking but lacked creativity.
One nobleman was intelligent but arrogant.
Another was loyal but incompetent.
Adrian rejected several.
He recruited four.
And one meeting stayed in his mind.
A young mage named Liora Fen.
She was only nineteen.
Her mana capacity was considered below average.
She couldn’t cast powerful spells.
But when Adrian asked her to explain how she controlled mana, she gave an answer that surprised him.
“I don’t think about the spell.”
Adrian frowned.
“What do you think about?”
“The mana.”
“Explain.”
She hesitated.
“Most teachers tell us to memorize the spell formula.”
“Yes.”
“But when I cast, I imagine what I want the mana to do first.”
Adrian leaned forward.
“What happens?”
“The spell changes.”
“Changes how?”
“Sometimes it becomes weaker.”
“Sometimes?”
“Sometimes it uses less mana.”
Adrian’s eyes widened slightly.
“Can you demonstrate?”
Liora nodded.
She raised her hand.
A small flame appeared above her palm.
Adrian watched carefully.
The flame was tiny.
But its mana consumption seemed unusually low.
He didn’t understand the magic well enough to explain why.
But he could see something interesting.
She wasn’t simply following a formula.
She was manipulating the structure.
“Do it again.”
Liora did.
The flame appeared.
Then disappeared.
“Again.”
She repeated it.
Adrian watched.
The result was almost identical.
“How long have you been able to do that?”
“About two years.”
“And no one has studied it?”
Liora shook her head.
“People say my mana is too weak to become a proper combat mage.”
Adrian leaned back.
“Maybe they’re looking at the wrong thing.”
Liora stared at him.
Adrian smiled.
“Would you be interested in researching magic instead?”
Her eyes widened.
“Research?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t have the qualifications.”
“You have something more important.”
“What?”
“Curiosity.”
Liora didn’t know how to respond.
Adrian turned toward the Chancellor.
“Find her a place to work.”
The Chancellor nodded.
“Understood.”
Liora bowed.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
When she left, Adrian looked at the three names written on his desk.
Elias.
Clara.
Liora.
A soldier.
A clerk.
A mage.
Three people from completely different backgrounds.
None of them were famous.
None came from powerful families.
But all three had something Adrian valued.
Ability.
He leaned back.
Maybe his greatest advantage wasn’t his engineering knowledge.
Maybe it wasn’t his knowledge of history.
Maybe it was simply the fact that he knew how valuable good people were.
Adrian looked at the pile of reports waiting for him.
He smiled.
“This might actually work.”
Outside the palace, Valoria continued its usual routine.
People worked.
Merchants traded.
Farmers planted.
Soldiers trained.
Nobody realized it yet.
But something had begun.
The king had started looking for talent.
And eventually, those people would become the foundation of a very different Arvendale.