A few days later.
The fortune-teller’s body was already starting to stink by the time it was reported.
When the news reached Aililan’s ears, she merely fell silent for a moment before burning the parchment containing the report. Then, she ordered someone to escort the fortune-teller’s family out of the city.
The fortune-teller had accumulated over 4,000 gold coins in wealth. Aililan had originally intended to seize half — not because she was greedy for such a small amount, but because the fortune-teller had exclusively served the nobility and was hardly a good man. That money could have provided some compensation for the homeless.
After a moment of thought, she reconsidered. “Forget it. Give all the money to his family. Additionally, withdraw 1,000 gold coins from my private vault to compensate those ‘unsettled ones’ listed in the files.”
Aililan waved her hand, dismissing Arkernard.
Her private vault was still quite wealthy.
As the Goddess Lady, she received 200 gold coins every month. Combined with the Sewing Workshop, and the projected income from the upcoming Blacksmith Workshop, her monthly earnings were expected to reach as high as 1,000 gold coins.
Atester’s treasury had a reserve of 60,000 gold coins. Especially since the Mutual Market had opened, the monthly surplus after taxes and expenditures had reached 2,700 gold coins.
If no accidents or wars occurred, the annual surplus would be nearly 30,000 gold coins.
As Atester continued to develop, it would only become more prosperous. In a few years, an annual surplus of hundreds of thousands of gold coins might not be a mere dream.
All of this was thanks to Aililan’s arrival. These good times only began once she took over the administration.
Otherwise, as a frontline border city, not only would there be no surplus, but they would have to take subsidies from the inner lands every year just to maintain themselves.
Furthermore, a portion of the fiscal tax surplus was supposed to be sent to the higher-ups. However, Aililan had simply waved her hand and intercepted it all. As for the people above… Hmph, she herself was a Goddess Lady of the highest social strata; naturally, no one would dare to object.
‘Maybe I should develop some more private assets?’ Aililan muttered to herself. Regarding industrial development, she was very resourceful.
Soon, she shook her head again.
As a ruler, she should avoid amassing private property as much as possible. Otherwise, if those below followed the example of those above, nothing good would come of it.
If she weren’t afraid that the voices of opposition would be too loud, Aililan would have already moved to dismantle the policies that protected noble monopolies.
But that kind of ideology had to be used with caution. To put it nicely, it was “reform for strength”; to put it bluntly, it was “shaking the nation’s foundations.” It was best not to think about it until she possessed absolute power.
—
Half a month later.
Atester’s diplomatic mission departed.
Aililan stood on the city wall, watching the procession fade into the distance. Among them was Fina Nisi, riding a tall horse and looking high-spirited.
Aililan let out a sigh of relief. ‘I’ve finally sent her away again.’
There were plenty of beauties among the Elves. They should be able to keep Fina Nisi entertained for quite a while. Perhaps she might even trigger some kind of romantic subplot over there.
As for following the original game’s plot, Aililan expressed no interest. What kind of deep plot could an H-game have? It was nothing more than helping someone solve a problem, then increasing their Favor to unlock certain scenes.
Besides, she couldn’t participate in those scenes herself. Was she supposed to watch Fina Nisi do it? She might as well stay behind and develop her own strength.
The new Diplomatic Governor looked at the departing mission with some concern. She spoke up anxiously, “Goddess Lady, do you really not intend to visit the Elves and see for yourself?”
“I am not going,” Aililan replied.
The Diplomatic Governor continued, “I heard that something happened on the Elves’ side. If we could help them… I mean, now is the perfect time to build a relationship with the Elves.”
Aililan glanced at the new Diplomatic Governor and said meaningfully, “Lady Xevia, I must remind you of one thing. Blindly currying favor will never earn anyone’s respect. Truth — it only ever exists at the edge of a sword.”
With a cold snort, she turned and walked away.
Clearly, she was not very satisfied with this new Diplomatic Governor.
Currently, most of the people holding office in the Administrative Court had figured out Aililan’s temperament. They knew she was a powerful Goddess Lady who was unwilling to compromise.
This had led the current governors to develop into a “Hawkish” faction.
Therefore, in Aililan’s view, this diplomat was nothing but trouble. Not only had she offended Aililan at the start, but she still couldn’t read the wind or the current situation.
Xevia couldn’t help but feel indignant.
She felt that helping the Elves and establishing good relations was the right direction for Atester’s future. Her idea shouldn’t be wrong; she was genuinely acting in Atester’s best interest.
But the Goddess Lady… Just as she was caught in her own thoughts, a thunderous, rhythmic sound echoed from below the city walls. Over 2,000 soldiers had gathered, radiating a sharp, chilling aura, like a row of unsheathed blades.
Xevia’s heart skipped a beat. She whispered, “They have such a murderous aura. But… how can this be? Atester has always been focused on defense.”
“To hold the line is a great merit.”
“To lose it is merely the status quo.”
The inertia of history was so strong that even Xevia, a diplomat, had almost forgotten that Atester could actually take the initiative to attack.
On the parade ground below the walls, Arkernard had finished organizing the troops and was reporting to Aililan. “2,000 soldiers, all elite warriors.”
Aililan nodded slightly.
The only thing she was slightly dissatisfied with was the lack of armor. Among the 2,000 soldiers, there were fewer than 200 sets of iron armor and fewer than 1,000 sets of leather armor. This was already the result of scraping together equipment from the entire 10,000-strong Fourth Wing Army.
One shouldn’t be fooled by movies and television; thinking that armies of hundreds of thousands could all wear shining armor was a fantasy. In reality, it was good enough if over ninety percent of the soldiers even had a uniform.
Why were there only 500 Chaste Knights? Was it because the number five hundred sounded good?
It was because the Church’s finances could only support equipping each Saintess with 500 heavy armored knights. Otherwise, no one would think that bringing 5,000 instead of 500 wouldn’t be better.
Aililan patted Arkernard’s shoulder and said in a grave tone, “Depart.”
Arkernard performed a solemn salute. “This expedition shall not fail the Saintess’s expectations.”
Aililan had already communicated with the Demon Lands and negotiated a preliminary cooperation agreement. She had selected a small-to-medium-sized iron mine at the closest distance.
These soldiers would enter the Demon Lands and march to a location over 130 kilometers away from Atester to occupy that mine.
Furthermore, the most important task was to build a trade station every ten kilometers and eventually establish a stronghold at the iron mine.
Watching the soldiers march away, Aililan turned back to meet the complicated gaze of Commander Naya of the Fourth Wing Army.
Aililan said calmly, “You don’t need to look at me like that.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you.”
“It’s just that this matter is too important to me. Moreover, you can all use this time to train the rest of the soldiers. Once things are settled at the iron mine, in two months at most…”
Aililan paused before continuing, “In fact, in as little as one month, we will begin rotations. After all, a distance of over 100 kilometers isn’t that far.”
Hearing this, the eyes of many commanders lit up. They all understood that Aililan intended to use that place as a training ground for the troops.
But Aililan was also helpless. Her trust in the Demons was severely lacking, so she could only choose an iron mine that was closest to and bordered Atester.
If anything went wrong, they could respond in time.
She turned around, and a pure white snowflake landed on her long, golden hair.
Aililan reached out to catch a snowflake, and it quickly melted in her palm.
“It’s snowing,” she said.