To those wondering what happened to the kingdom's treasury, here is an explanation based on the novel, though the manhwa has deviated somewhat from the novel:
- The real backdrop is the 'Drought' which made both the Duke's & Kingdom's forces unable to exercise full strength
- In last life, Kingdom finances suffered a heavy blow due to this drought, which was as per Duke's estimates. The Duke faired better, due to their general preparedness for war (not drought specifically)
- In present life, Duke's estimates remained the same, but thanks to Magic Crystal's based bumper farm output from Fenris, and the 'tip off' to the Marquis to tell his allies to prepare for a drought, by MC, the Kingdom's finances are in much better shape.
- This factor/change introduced by MC, is yet not known to Duke's side. Nor would Marquis or any sane person reveal his hand is better than other side's estimates