Chapter 121

(121)

The members of the Imperial Assembly whispered in a murmur.

Everyone focused on the words of the sixteen-year-old girl.

“It means you intend to command a private army in the name of a vigilante group.”

“Right. It means we can all become like that.”

The 200 commoner representatives lit up with excitement after some calculation.

Most of them were wealthy individuals with significant influence in their electoral districts.

With this law passed, there would be no fools incapable of leading even a single vigilante group.

“You’ve thought this through well.”

“It doesn’t concern us too much, though.”

“Still, they’re just commoners, aren’t they?”

“It’s not that simple.”

The representatives from the direct territories and governor provinces wore puzzled expressions.

The representatives from the governor provinces had little interest in the affairs within the capital.

Their main reason for attending the assembly was to relay messages to the royal family, not to concern themselves with the capital’s matters.

They could only think how clever it was.

Meanwhile, the clerical representatives maintained a fierce calculation behind their benevolent expressions.

The Radiant Church fundamentally served as a bridge between the nobles and commoners.

It bestowed divine authority upon the nobles and royals, encouraging the commoners to offer voluntary loyalty, while simultaneously claiming equality before God, thus preventing excessive polarization, discrimination, and exploitation.

“Now might be a good time to empower the commoners a bit more.”

An elder priest nodded, and the murmuring among the clerical representatives died down.

“This is an absurd law.”

“How dare they command a private army!”

In contrast, the court noble representatives reacted as if a hornet’s nest had been stirred.

They lived in low-population-density streets lined with mansions and commanded guards.

Until now, they had sent in their guards to silence any collective actions taken by the commoner representatives.

Thus, the possibility of the commoner representatives possessing private armies meant that one of their significant cards was becoming weaker.

Even if this law passed, they couldn’t gather vigilante groups in the same streets as the nobles.

There was nothing to gain.

“We will now enter voting.”

However, the 200 commoner representatives and 100 clerical representatives held absolute favor for the bill, and the governor province representatives also focused on an individual named Konel.

Among the bourgeois commoner representatives, who were particularly close to the nobles, several votes against were cast.

“How dare you confront the elders?”

But that number was not sufficient to overturn the total.

Votes in favor: 255, against: 135, abstained: 110.

It passed.

“……!”

The noble representatives grit their teeth as they looked at Konel.

A girl with chestnut-colored bobbed hair, sharp and intelligent features.

Konel politely bowed her head and greeted them.

The momentum of the heterogeneous aristocrats was immense, but she had faced off with the most notorious bandit multiple times and was a high priestess serving an ancient god.

Several other agendas were processed, and the closing time arrived.

Konel rushed out of the assembly hall with her assistant towards the line of waiting carriages.

“Quickly!”

She couldn’t help resenting her prosthetic limb.

If she were caught by the noble representatives now, she could be dragged away under the pretense of sharing a meal and buried somewhere.

The court nobles were indeed that powerful.

Just a moment ago, the clerical representatives and commoner representatives had to side with her to pass the law, but with the law now passed, they could wash their hands of it.

There was no guarantee she would continue to propose such laws in the future.

Many would think they had gotten what they wanted and would now be satisfied with that little girl.

“Konel! Where are you going? It’s me, Representative Marcus.”

A large, bearded bourgeois representative blocked her path like a wall.

“Why don’t we have a meal together, among representatives like us?”

“I brought a carriage. Let’s go.”

Konel let out a sigh.

The main gate was right in front of her.

She only had to go down the stairs and onto the road to get in the carriage.

At that moment, the court noble representatives and their guards surrounded her against the corridor wall.

The heterogeneous aristocrats were far more agile than ordinary folk.

The guards were elites who would probably be difficult to overcome, even if they summoned werewolf combat troops.

‘I’m done for.’

She felt her staff slip from her hand as she searched for a way to escape.

“Representative Konel?”

“Lord Valenccius!”

A way to escape appeared as she entered the assembly hall.

A proud and gaunt noble, flipping his platinum hair, approached, his bright yellow eyes gleaming.

Alongside him was a mage with indigo hair and a refined face, adorned in a robe.

“Lord Valenccius, Princess Sererassie. What brings you here?”

The court nobles, flustered, loosened the encirclement around Konel.

They knew enough from their education and experience to not think Valenccius was the mad bandit he was rumored to be.

Instead, they believed Valenccius was the emperor’s closest aide.

‘He’s clearly one of the emperor’s hands.’

‘The Emperor seeks to gain the support of the commoners. Then he will need someone to take on the bad tasks and receive the blame.’

The court nobles ultimately shared and represented the interests of the royal family and upper class.

“May we take Representative Konel with us?”

“Yes? Yes.”

“Please do.”

‘Does he intend to deal with this directly?’

‘Or is this law itself something the emperor has tacitly approved? Is there something we do not know?’

‘For now, let’s delay filing against the emperor rejecting this bill.’

The court nobles made quick judgments.

They exchanged glances and retreated.

* * *

The three of them took a carriage towards the old slums.

Valenccius smiled with satisfaction after hearing about the bill proposed by Konel.

“Well done.”

“It’s just the beginning. I’m also worried that representatives from other streets will act out.”

“There are constables in those other streets. For the royal family, it would be welcome to suppress any commoner representatives that cross the line and gain a profit from them. Let the vigilante groups run rampant; before long, you’ll see my face in Wyvernfit.”

Konel sighed deeply.

“By any chance…”

“By any chance?”

“Did you foresee I would propose such a bill?”

Valenccius’s inhuman golden eyes shone.

“I’m not sure.”

Konel realized he wouldn’t provide her with an answer.

He sometimes gave off the impression of being ‘something’ that mimicked a person rather than being a person himself.

Whether it was due to his bright yellow eyes or that languid yet chilling smile, she couldn’t tell.

“I came looking for you because I had a favor to ask, and it was just timing.”

“A favor, you say?”

“Are you still hunting slimes in the sewers?”

“!”

Konel’s eyes twitched.

Princess Sererassie looked at Konel in horror.

“Are you saying you hunt those slimes? That’s illegal… If you happen to fall in, you could get eaten!”

Konel couldn’t quite meet Sererassie’s gaze as she replied.

She found it strangely uncomfortable talking about such matters with Valenccius, who seemed to ‘know everything.’

Unlike Valenccius, who had an otherworldly atmosphere detached from reality, she felt uneasy discussing this.

“Yeah. That’s right. It’s illegal. Still, going towards the Street of Learning gets us some money. Um… It hasn’t been rampant before. If you got caught, you’d truly be dead. Now, I’m stopping it.”

Valenccius smiled bitterly.

“Slimes larger than 10 cm in diameter. At least thirty of them. You can get that for me, right?”

Konel nodded.

Even though her heart was uneasy, she couldn’t refuse Valenccius’s request.

“Yes. It’s not difficult.”

“I’m also planning to build a fish farm and a processing workshop.”

Hearing his words, she thought bread would come out even if she were asleep.

You couldn’t live on bread alone, but you needed bread to survive.

Konel smiled brightly, fitting for her age, and replied.

“Investments are always welcome. Please feel free to mention anything. If you want to do a named investment or issue bearer bonds, that’s of course possible.”

Princess Sererassie gathered energy in her index and middle fingers and poked Valenccius’s wrist.

“Brother! What have you taught her?”

“She learned it on her own!”

“Is that something you should say?”

“Who taught her to poke people?”

“Well… not that.”

Princess Sererassie hesitated for a moment.

Valenccius continued with a shameless smile, as if he had laid down layers of iron plates on his face.

“A representative should be able to do at least this much. Attracting investments and workshops to the district that elected you is completely natural as a representative. Well… I might provide a bit of convenience along the way.”

Princess Sererassie grabbed her nape.

Konel continued cheerfully.

Though she had never met Sererassie properly, she knew about the golden nightmare who had been active in the casino about a year earlier.

That noble, a talent that came along once in hundreds of years, had once again caught the emperor’s eye and entered the magic workshop.

“I’ll establish the fish farm and processing workshop as a single entity. It would be better to avoid the church’s eyes, so I’ll move it to the northern outskirts. Fortunately, there’s an unallocated property available, and I’ll offer it at development cost. How large do you envision it to be?”

“Can you go see it right away?”

Sererassie asked coyly.

Konel nodded.

“Of course. If you could share the scale of the workshop and fish farm, along with the annual production targets and investment funds in advance, I could provide a more accurate estimate.”

Sererassie took out a notebook from within her robe and handed it over.

“This is the budget I have set up. With the royal support, we can have a total budget of this amount.”

“!”

Konel’s mouth fell open.

“Coachman! Change the route! Head to the northern redevelopment site!”

Sererassie continued calmly.

“Ah, by the way, is it possible to acquire additional land? Since we’re at it, I’d like to do first processing of magic scrolls and magic tools over there. I’ve budgeted this much for that workshop establishment as well.”

The final magical circles needed to be inscribed by mages one by one, but there were initial processes that required many hands.

The slime fish farm, processing workshop, primary processing workshop for scrolls, and primary processing workshop for magic tools.

All of these meant jobs and investments for the regional economy.

Konel called out in ecstasy.

“Coachman! Go faster!”

* * *

My job ended there.

Genius mage Sererassie and redevelopment expert Konel quickly devised estimates, commissioned blueprints, and began construction within a few days.

“Isn’t this shoddy work?”

“The design master is also part of my guild, and the brick factory is run by my guild. Strictly speaking, it’s not my guild, but all the executives are followers of God Amon, and since I’m a priestess, it’s practically my guild.”

“Good job.”

“Yes. Creating jobs, monitoring petty criminals who can’t forget their old habits, taking care of the newly developed magical streetlight installation sites, distributing redeveloped shared housing to married couples.”

“Hmm.”

“Crushing those who try to play games with incoming money, gathering old students from the Street of Learning to teach children letters and math, and begging to send a priest at the church. I think I’m doing well enough.”

She indeed was doing well.

“When the people here can manage on their own someday, I will gradually relinquish my authority.”

“You’ll never let go. Power cannot be shared, even between parents and children.”

“If I go too far, the lord will come and take my head, you know?”

“!”

I was at a loss for words.

“Right. That’s true.”

“So I plan to stay cautious while managing things. My power comes from support, unlike the lord’s bloodline.”

A reliable person indeed.

I smiled as I turned around.

After investing a handful of gold coins, I received adequate shares in commissions.

Once Princess Sererassie begins to generate substantial profits, my pockets would also feel heavier.

From then on, I wouldn’t have to worry about money.

I could order custom magic armor and lavishly use expensive potions.

I withdrew from the management, and for a week, I trained only with Lady Trentia.

I was sure my skills had improved, but Lady Trentia seemed to have grown stronger, inspired by Seberik, making the gap appear even wider.

“Your Excellency.”

At that moment, Rudi brought news that a fire had broken out in the northern slums.

When I rushed over, I found the large workshop under construction had been entirely burned down.

Broken bricks lay scattered everywhere.

Konel was fidgeting, and Sererassie clicked her tongue.

“It was set ablaze with magic.”

I felt I would have to intervene again.