27 — 3 (7)

Thousands of people filled the square. At a glance, their condition looked dire. Have you ever seen thousands of withered blades of grass? That was the sight now.

Yet their faces were all bright. Just before starving to death, their rations had doubled. In that situation, a human could think of only one thing.

Louis had siphoned off the city’s misfortune into the Colosseum, and he had twice risked danger to keep these people alive.

No—more than twice, at every moment….

Since arriving in Proia, there had not been a single decision Louis made that was not potentially fatal to his political life.

But he succeeded at all of them.

“Louis.”

“Louis.”

“Louis.”

Citizens inside the building, citizens lining up outside, perhaps every citizen nearby… all called out Louis’s name.

The city was calling to Louis.

‘Not bad.’

Truly, it was. Gazing over the crowd—no, the city—chanting his name, Louis felt, for the first time, satisfied. Thousands called only his name and praised him… something Louis had never imagined in his life was happening now.

‘All right—six months. A time for growth, Proia.’

The food covered by the Monument: once that volume arrived safely in Proia, the city would finally escape hunger. Of course, the road might be dangerous. The one to entrust was Boromir. In chess terms, he was Louis’s strongest knight. With the separately trained hundred and Boromir, whether goblins, orcs, or barbarians, they could transport the food safely.

If there was a problem, it was that the moment Boromir left, Louis would be plagued by assassination threats.

Having no soldiers meant exactly that. Max would seek revenge, and if Dekal raised a revolt the instant Boromir left his post, Louis would die without recourse.

That was only in theory. The chance of Dekal revolting was near zero. What value did this small city have to justify such a deed? Louis had not even founded a nation yet.

He was merely the duke’s son from one faction of the duchy and, now, the consul handed the rule of a single city.

But Dekal could still be involved in an assassination.

Split the troops, and supply transport became insecure. In the end, this too was Louis’s choice to make.

‘This shipment is crucial.’

Indeed. Solve hunger, and the city would grow. With a larger population, he could raise troops.

Louis raised a hand to the citizens calling his name. A reply to the will of the crowd.

‘I just have to be more careful.’

Louis judged the chance of Dekal assassinating him to be low. No matter how much his elder brothers looked down on him, it was premature.

Compared to what his brothers had, Louis had barely even begun. If the second and first gathered, they might try to kill each other, but their gaze toward Louis had not reached that point.

But once Remitri died and the issue of succession broke open, Louis would certainly die by his brothers’ hands.

And he had another reason for confidence beyond that.

‘Dekal is utterly hooked on the Colosseum.’

Yes. He had agreed to Louis’s Colosseum expansion policy without resistance.

He wanted the Colosseum to become even more spectacular.

‘The problem is finance.’

Louis recalled the last alert. By cutting off Max’s hands and feet, the city’s finances had gone into the red.

Along with food… money was critical.

There was nothing unimportant to reviving a city, but expanding the Colosseum was no simple matter.

He had to secure manpower, and a time would come when death-row convicts would not be enough.

In short, completing the next quest Louis faced—additional Colosseum expansion—meant the current Colosseum upkeep would triple. No, not triple—perhaps quadruple or quintuple.

If finances stayed negative long term, that too would trigger various penalties.

The current deficit Louis faced meant negative gold per turn.

Expressed by the Civilization System, Proia held 9 gold.

There was also gold income per turn; only if that income beat upkeep would finances grow.

Thus, Proia’s current state was 9, -1. If he failed to fix it and nine turns passed, finances would hit zero and buildings that could not have their upkeep paid would shut down one by one.

Farms, too, required a little upkeep, so in the worst case, every operable building in the city would stop.

‘Eliminating Max means I now have to plan for industry—a development that isn’t purely good news.’

“Soldier, I have business elsewhere and must attend to other matters. See to the wrap-up here.”

“Yes! I will do my utmost, Consul.”

Louis left the square with Hansen, who was rubbing his broken arm.

Around them people still shouted Louis’s name, but in Louis’s head he was preparing the next steps.

And feeling a twinge of regret.

With 500 points, he could have unlocked one among Granary, Watermill, Barracks, Library, or Sanctum in Civilization System/Buildings.

Since food was urgent, he could have opened either the Granary or the Watermill.

The Granary had a simple effect: it increased max food yield by +1 on one wheat-related tile Louis owned. The problems were upkeep—and tile limits. Investing points to level up the Granary building relaxed those tile limits.

The Watermill had bigger issues than the Granary. It cost a total of 800 points, its upkeep was double the Granary’s, and it demanded so many hammers he would have to pull a farmer off a farm tile.

With Proia’s population at 3, assigning 1 person per tile left no one for other work. Why? Because everyone else had starved to death.

But once completed, it passively added +2 food per turn and +1 hammer.

In truth, among these, the Library seemed useless. Even the seemingly useless Sanctum reduced squalor alongside Faith and could heal citizens, which helped population growth.

What did the Library produce? Science points.

The Library generated +1 Science per turn, and the key point of Science was that it enabled the construction of Civilization System/Wonders.

A Wonder was a building with an absolute effect—only one could be built, with no leveling system like normal buildings.

It devoured production, points, and science alike, but once complete, it granted overwhelming benefits.

‘A Wonder… of course, for now it’s only a dream….’

A bloodstorm blew through the city. It had happened overnight. Word that Louis had rounded up the corrupt officials spread like wildfire among the citizens.

And, just as Louis intended, the corrupt officials were made responsible for the city’s hunger.

Until then, citizens had thought the city’s collapse was Louis’s fault.

But the tide turned. Rumors even spread that the barbarian invasion had happened because they took bribes. It might have been a bit unfair to the corrupt officials, but in any case, Louis sentenced them all to death.

They would mount the Colosseum and pay in blood.

If they survived, they would still be criminals, and the matches would continue until death. Only if the citizens wished could they be made gladiators instead.

If the citizens wished it….

“This is impossible…!”

The consul’s office.

Just the day before, it had looked as if Max was toying with Louis, but in a single day the tables had completely turned.

Max was pleading; Louis was indifferent.

Max then shouted—loud enough to make those nearby recoil.

“Cancel it at once! They are all my people!”

Louis, signing a document, raised his head for the first time.

“…As you know, the authority over the troops is in Dekal’s hands. Complaining to me is useless.”