Chapter 98

Chapter 98

#98 Growth and Distribution (4)

Recently, the administrative organization of Lenslet has been completely revised by referencing modern administrative systems from Earth.

With my considerable input, the newly revised organizational chart of the Northern Duchy looks like this:

First off, in High City where the Duke resides, there’s the ‘Royal Guard’ responsible for protecting the Duke, the ‘Palace Office’ managing palace staff, and the intelligence agency ‘Frosthaven’ directly under the Duke.

Next comes what’s commonly called the ‘Cabinet’, consisting of fifteen departments in total within the High City administration.

The ‘Interior Ministry’ handling law enforcement in the North.

The ‘Treasury’ managing taxation, finance, and budget allocation.

The ‘War Ministry’ overseeing Arctic expeditions, defense of the Great Northern Wall, and magical realm management.

The ‘Logistics Ministry’ responsible for recruiting, training knights and troops, and logistics.

The ‘Justice Ministry’ handling legislation and judiciary.

The ‘Lenslet Order’ taking care of childbirth, health, and welfare.

The ‘Lenslet Academy’ functioning as the Education Department.

The ‘Lenslet Mage Guild’, essentially the otherworldly version of a Ministry of Science and Technology or Magic Ministry, managing magicians and technology.

The ‘Commerce Ministry’ overseeing workers and companies.

The ‘Foreign Ministry’ handling diplomatic relations with the Empire and other kingdoms.

Other departments include Agriculture, Construction, Transportation, and Culture.

Finally, there’s the ‘Cabinet Office’ led by the Prime Minister to coordinate and manage these fourteen departments on behalf of the Duke.

This system was similarly applied across all fiefs and cities in the North.

Governors (Duke proxies) of each territory and mayors of major cities formed similar local administrative structures to those in High City, just on a smaller scale.

For example, the Logistics Ministry became the Logistics Division in Haven City. The Lenslet Order, Academy, and Mage Guild opened branch offices named Haven Branches.

Departments like War and Foreign Affairs sent personnel directly from High City to operate locally.

A system that Emperor Khanbraman and kings of the Kingdom Alliance might envy to madness.

In reality, this completed the first and only fully centralized system on the Arcadia Continent since the Golden Age.

However…

Even the most meticulously designed government is useless without people.

There still weren’t enough qualified civil servants to fill and run this organization in the North and High City.

Only time can solve this issue.

Our seniors will gain expertise through hard work now, and future generations graduating from the Academy will improve and continue their work.

“Is this what Plato meant by philosopher kings?”

Thorough centralization.

A rational and sensible ruler.

Knights and bureaucrats serving faithfully under such a ruler.

Problems like NIMBYism, partisanship, populism found in Earth’s democracies are unimaginable here.

Bribery exists but isn’t rampant.

There are social contradictions, but moderate ones provide the vitality of awareness.

This feels closer to King Sejong’s reign in Joseon than the Yao-Shun era in China.

“Of course, this too will change over time. The biggest flaw of philosopher kings is their unsustainability.”

Now, in the early growth stage with simple society, legislation, judiciary, and administration are all handled in High City.

Privileged classes are few and weak compared to the Duke of the North.

But this can’t last forever.

“Even if philosopher kings could be sustained, eventually the people won’t want it. They’ll demand more rights and freedom.”

One day, legislative battles, partisan conflicts, and populism seen in Earth’s democracies will emerge here too.

Our goal is to grow the North as much as possible before then and establish foundations so these issues don’t hinder national growth.

And this royal conference would lay the true foundation for those efforts.

“President Isabel of the Lenslet Mage Guild, known as the Spring Magician, Baron Arad Jin, president of Arad Company, and his secretary Lady Mary have arrived!”

Announcing our entrance, we entered the royal hall.

Ahead, Duchess Ariana of the North sat on her white jade throne wearing plain linen robes.

Behind her stood Valkyrie and Sun.

Below the white jade throne sat ministers of High City and summoned officials on both sides.

Between them lay a long table.

The traditional scene of a royal conference.

“Have you arrived?”

“I apologize for arriving late after being lazy. Please forgive me for making Your Majesty and the ministers wait.”

I put on a show before taking my seat, slightly overdoing it due to Isabel’s earlier joke.

“It’s fine, please sit down.”

As I prepared to start my performance upon entering, Ariana waved her hand to stop me.

“?”

Somehow, annoyance and fatigue showed in her expression and tone.

Being the Duchess of the North is practically being a ruler of a small nation – her workload must be immense.

“I’m infinitely grateful.”

Anyway, moved by Her Majesty’s cool grace, I headed to my seat.

“When will this seat change already? It’s burdensome.”

At royal conferences, my designated seat is always right next to Ariana. Originally, this should be where the Duchess or Crown Princess would sit.

Right beside that is the Prime Minister, and opposite is Isabel.

“Does it really mean anything? There hasn’t been any talk about my marriage so far.”

It doesn’t seem they view me as the Crown Princess either.

“Hmm…”

Suddenly, a suspicion crossed my mind.

Could they want me to be the Crown Princess but, due to various superstitions of the Ducal family, think I’m hesitating and thus only subtly pressuring me instead of ordering?

“Pfft… Why would noble High City do such petty things?”

That thought didn’t resonate, so I dismissed it.

“It’s just reflecting the practical nature of northerners. That’s right… probably?”

I’m extremely important in the North.

Yet I rarely attend royal conferences.

This seat is usually empty during regular sessions.

Thus, they can’t rearrange other ministers’ seating for my occasional attendance.

From the start, my ceremonial rank in High City was ambiguous, so naturally, this became my seat… at least that’s my guess.

“She probably doesn’t have feelings for me anymore, right?”

I have reasons for thinking this.

There’s been no direct talk about marriage since the Abyss of the Magical Realm.

Signs of Ariana’s rational affection toward me disappeared at some point.

“Maybe they interpreted my hesitation as being due to superstitions about the Ducal family?”

If true, I’m very sorry to Ariana.

But it’s better this way since I must return to Earth someday.

“Still, Ariana should marry soon, shouldn’t she? She needs an heir, right? Wait…”

Could this be the reason I haven’t returned to Earth yet?

That thought was interrupted by Mary’s voice.

“Sir, I’ll stand behind you.”

“Please call me if you need anything.”

Sitting down, Mary whispered in my ear then quietly moved to the wall with other attendants of present ministers.

“?”

Strange. The thought that just crossed my mind disappeared quickly after talking to Mary.

My eyes briefly caught the necklace around her neck.

Once Isabel and I took our seats as the last arrivals,

“Let’s begin the meeting.”

Ariana announced the start.

Click, whooshhh~

Ministers, magicians, and knights throughout the hall started smoking mana cigarettes simultaneously, very casually.

“Baron Arad Jin.”

Ignoring the smoke-filled hall, Ariana called me while not smoking herself.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You requested this meeting, so please proceed.”

“Understood.”

Grateful for Her Majesty’s considerate and cool grace once again, I stood up from my recently seated position to look around.

“Thank you all for coming to High City despite the trouble.”

Ministers looking at me, especially mayors of key northern cities and soon-to-be governors, gave expectant gazes.

“As you all expected, we plan to distribute Arad Company’s businesses and factories across major cities and territories in the North.”

I made a declaration matching their effort and anticipation.

“We’ll discuss which businesses and factories will go to which cities and territories.”

Remembering Team Manager Te and company executives hard at work reorganizing back at the industrial park, I began my presentation.

“Mary.”

“…”

“Mary.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Bring that out please.”

“Yes sir!”

Calling out Mary who was spacing out in the back.

She had a pipe in her mouth already.

“Here you go.”

Mary pulled out a stack of newspaper-sized papers from her spatial case and spread it on the table.

The large paper featured detailed maps of the North, organizational charts, and various graphs we prepared.

The problem was the angles weren’t ideal for everyone to see clearly.

But who am I?

“Who, me? I’m Jay Sung, known as Korea’s Elon Musk, a genius young entrepreneur.”

Great CEOs must captivate audiences with impressive presentations, aggressive interviews, inspiring lectures, witty tweets, and stylish Instagram stories – same even in this world.

Mary pulled out another item after the presentation materials – a magical device.

She activated the prepared magical device and secured it on the table.

Flash!

Light shot out from both sides of the magical device.

Mary aimed one beam at the paper on the table and projected the other onto a large white wall in the hall.

“Wowww…”

“Our magician has created another marvelous artifact.”

The appearance of this magic projector-like device left the gathered ministers speechless in admiration.

“Recently, Arad Company divided all operations and factories in the industrial park into subsidiaries.”

With sleek organizational charts and graphs below, my presentation began.

Most bureaucrats understood the advanced graphs and charts on screen since many attended my lectures at the academy.

“After dividing into subsidiaries, we’ll decentralize factories and industries concentrated in High City to various provinces and cities in the North.”

Snap snap, I signaled and Mary waiting by the table turned the page.

“So far, Arad Company has operated ten businesses: blue-and-white porcelain, Mary’s Blessing, Medi Kits, Chimera prosthetics, Northern Arts, Bluetooth Series, etc…”

Along with explanations, seventeen groups appeared on screen.

Arad Ceramics – High City, Narvik, Shuen

Arad Entertainment – Haven

Arad ManaLogics – Remme, Cadia

Arad Systems – High City, Remme, Cadia

Arad Bio – High City, Narvik, Shuen

Arad Medical – High City, Narvik, Shuen

Arad Construction – Cadia, Remme

Arad Fashion – Haven, High City

Arad Alchemist – High City

Arad Research Institute – High City

Arad Defense – Remme, Cadia

Arad Steel – Remme, Cadia, Narvik

Arad Energy – Remme, Cadia

Arad Automatic – High City, Remme, Cadia

Arad Media – High City, Haven

Arad Capital – High City, Haven, Shuen

Arad Shipbuilding – Jin, Narvik

Thirteen are existing businesses turned into subsidiaries, four are new ventures in preparation.

“Arad Ceramics is the subsidiary handling northern blue-and-white porcelain. Entertainment manages northern duchy merchandise.”

I briefly explained the somewhat unfamiliar subsidiary names to the audience.

“At Arad Systems, we’ll handle production of equipment like steam engines, printing presses, and textile machines. Arad Bio will focus on food-related aspects like artificial cultivation of weeds used in Arad Salt and production of Mary’s Blessing.”

Though it seemed like discussion, this decentralization and subsidiary transformation was essentially one-sided.

It was more of a notification than a discussion, but no one objected.

“Arad Energy will become a company processing resources including magic stones.”

Generally, the decentralization matched the characteristics of each region.

Most importantly, the company and central government were voluntarily decentralizing something that didn’t necessarily need decentralization.

Complain here? They might lose what they barely received.