I, The Dragon Overlord Chapter 97 - Soldier Selection

The city’s new barracks were crowded, but the people within it remained fairly orderly in the true military tradition.

Armies were very costly forces to uphold. Regardless of the power that employed them, they were a significant financial burden. In a world of low economic productivity like San Soliel, very few people served as full-time professional soldiers. Most armies were cobbled together with farmers and other civilians ad hoc.

This bulk of part-time soldiers would only train on occasion and when war was imminent. On average their combat abilities were low, but their numbers more than made up for these deficiencies.

Wyatt followed the flow of people waiting to sign up. When he saw the dense crowd, he was shocked. Estimates placed the number of willing signatories at over 10,000. For Dragon City, with a population of slightly over 100,000, this meant that the vast majority of those eligible wanted to join the army.

‘This is the appeal of the dragon lord.’

Wyatt sighed. His heart suddenly sank. Given the number of people that had thronged to the barracks, he knew that very few of them would actually make the cut. He also saw that many of the city’s guards and former soldiers had lined up as well. While they might not have been elite, their presence raised the bar of the competition for almost everyone else.

Other than humans, Wyatt also saw many beastmen and elves. From the air they were giving off, it was clear that they were real warriors. This time, the soldiers that were being drafted were humans of Dragon City, so these beastmen and elves would be here to help in the screening process.

“Everyone pay attention!”

A large bear-headed beastman walked out of the crowd. His gaze contained a hint of bloodthirst. Wyatt shrunk back a little after seeing him. He knew that he wasn’t an ordinary soldier and predicted that he might be at the level of human great knights.

The bearman shouted loudly in a broken rendition of the continental language, “The great Lord Galakrond is not here, but he is watching this place in

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