Chapter 199

It's the 30th day of the winter month, five days have passed since the destruction of the Volmisian Empire.

The twelve cities conquered by Yuri Empire, including Drisdal, which had been the Imperial Capital until five days ago, were suddenly being transformed into lively streets.

No, that's not the right way to put it.

Perhaps this ‘vibrant cityscape’ is what it used to be.

The wolf in the mud had destroyed all the neighboring villages around the city, leaving little supply and skyrocketing food prices that were beyond the reach of many people.

The citizens of the city were suffering from hunger and had no way of securing food for the day, let alone for tomorrow and beyond. However, thanks to the huge amount of food that the merchants were constantly bringing in through the【 Transfer Gate 】in the center of the square, the supply was stabilized and the soaring market prices were quickly corrected.

People are creatures that need to eat to have vitality.

Conversely, as long as one is able to eat satisfactorily, one can live each day with sufficient vitality.

The return of ‘vibrant streets’ to the cities meant that no one was struggling to secure food.

By quickly solving the food problem, the new rulers of the Yuri Empire were welcomed with open arms by the citizens of the cities.

Some of the citizens even took pride in being the people of the Empire. Perhaps because the new ruler, the Yuri Empire, was also an empire, there was no particular rejection from the citizens.

Perhaps it was because Empress Yuri was one of the main gods, and was also relied upon by the healing god Lydina, the most prominent main god in this world. It seems that the citizens are more than happy to be ruled by a special monarch than ever before.

―――Since coming under the rule of the Yuri Empire, the cities have undergone a dizzying array of changes.

First of all, the stench that used to pervade the cities has disappeared like a lie. Furthermore, despite the fact that it was the middle of winter, there was not even the slightest hint of cold in the entire city.

The city's security situation, which had deteriorated significantly during the food shortage, was restored as if it were a lie, and the ruffians that had been so prevalent were nowhere to be seen.

In addition to the temporary stores selling food, a number of food stalls began to operate in the square, where anyone could eat delicious food made from plenty of ‘demon meat,’ which was supposed to be a high-class ingredient, at a low price.

With the start of [Broadcast], any citizen could see the ruler, Yuri, and hear her words. In addition, any citizen can now enjoy the entertainment of ‘watching the courage of explorers challenging the labyrinth’ 24 hours a day without spending any money.

All of these changes took place in just five days after the cities came under the control of the Yuri Empire. From the perspective of the citizens on the receiving end of these changes, it was a very busy time.

Perhaps it was the influence of the public opinion propaganda that the Volmisian Empire had applied in the three days since the declaration of war. It seems that some of the citizens of the former imperial capital of Drisdal had a blatant dislike for the Yuri Empire.

But now… are there really such people? The citizens of the former imperial capital welcomed the Yuri Empire with open arms.

In the end, there was no one more desirable as a ruler to the citizens than someone who could provide them with a number of tangible benefits.

Call it cash, but Yuri was gratified to see that there was no opposition from the citizens at all.

Incidentally, in contrast to the general public's very positive attitude toward the Yuri Empire, there was a lot of opposition from the wealthy people living in the cities.

The reason for this was that shortly after the start of the reign, the Yuri Empire implemented the requisition of all ‘slaves’ living in the city. From Yuri's point of view, this was a natural measure, since the laws of the Yuri Empire clearly prohibited ordinary citizens from enslaving others.

The conscripted slaves were made to go through the【 Transfer Gate 】and the minors were moved to an orphanage in the divine city of Yuritania, while the adults were moved to the “Shinto City” that was being built. The adults will be provided with housing and living expenses by the government, and we hope that they will become the initial residents of Shinto City.

Slaves are a form of property, and it is unbearable for those who have been requisitioned for them.

The people who owned slaves were mainly the nobles and the wealthy of the Vormisian Empire. The former aristocracy had been executed or captured during the recent invasion, so there was no way they would react. On the other hand, the latter group of wealthy people immediately raised their voices in protest.

It seemed that they often used slaves as a labor force in their business associations. Therefore, it seems that the requisition carried out by Yuri resulted in the loss of their labor force and caused a great deal of damage to the management of their business association.

In addition to protesting, they demanded that the government take over the losses incurred by the business association. Yuri did not take them seriously.

Rather, Yuri ordered the <Nadeshiko> children to find out who was protesting behind the scenes.

The merchant association that took the initiative in using slaves must have done one or two shady things anyway. This is why Yuri ordered the investigation, but as expected, the past misdeeds were exposed by the hands of <Nadeshiko>, and it was very easy to drive their business out of business.