Seeing The Reality Of The Provinces

The next day.

“I am sorry. I am truly sorry.”

Seeing Adrina repeatedly apologize, Ian sent her a warm look as if to say it was fine. Because she could not understand why he was reacting like that, Adrina could only keep apologizing. To her, what happened yesterday was nothing but a dark chapter.

‘Ah… why did I drink like that? I lost control…’

Bit by bit, she remembered every disgraceful thing she had done. From the start, she should have stopped when he told her it would be best to stop drinking. But she could not control herself, kept drinking, and her last memory was of lunging into his arms asking for more alcohol.

‘After that, I do not remember… what did I do next, and what happened?’

She desperately hoped she had not done anything beyond what she could imagine. As Adrina reproached herself inwardly, Ian thought even this behavior was adorable, and decided he needed to put things in order.

“You do not need to apologize like that. Rather, was it not enjoyable that I saw a new side of you?”

“Oh, come on, Mr. Ian. What is enjoyable about that? I am so embarrassed.”

“There is no need to be embarrassed. And did we not agree to call each other by name?”

“Ah, right. Still, Mr. Ian, you are so mean.”

“Haha, what do you mean, mean? When alcohol is involved, such things can happen. Let us drink together like that again next time.”

“N-no. I will not drink anymore.”

As Adrina shook her head with her face completely red, Ian smiled softly. Before, he would have assumed she was just embarrassed about yesterday, but after confirming her feelings, he knew it was more than that—so she could not help but look lovely to him.

‘Now that I know it is not one-way anymore… my heart feels calm and happy.’

“Miss Adrina, instead of this, shall we settle breakfast first? I boiled a soup that is quite good for hangovers.”

“You even prepared breakfast… I wonder if I am receiving too much.”

“I said it yesterday—when we are out like this, it is something a man should do.”

“Is that so? Still, next time I will help too.”

“If you insist, do as you please. Hahaha.”

Ian served the soup he had prepared, and they finished breakfast. After eating, they cleaned up, packing the tent and various tools. The important part was that they left behind the spoons stained with food and even the leftover scraps as they were.

‘Is this not emperor-style camping?’

The remaining people would deal with the bothersome parts. They would even procure fresh utensils and ingredients at the next destination. With everything prepared and cleaned up for him, Ian’s only task was to fold the tent, the small table, and the chairs and load them into the car, as if simply enjoying the camping mood.

In fact, they would not only camp—they would also stay comfortably at hotel-like places in the cities of the region. Ian started the car. Their next destination was outside the capital region.

One week later.

Polia Kingdom, the southwestern Plon Province.

This province, far from the capital region, could be said to be less developed than other areas. Of course, with a large dam built and infrastructure like irrigation channels, it had improved so much that it was unrecognizable compared to before.

For a time, many laborers had stayed here, eating here, and that boosted the local economy, but now even that was gone, and it had returned to its former quiet. Even that “quiet,” however, only truly arrived after the year turned over.

Last year, an unprecedented abnormal climate brought oppressive heat over the kingdom. Areas within 500 km of the capital had no real issues thanks to frequent rain, but the regions beyond suffered severely.

In other words, they ruined an entire year’s farming. Thanks to reservoirs secured in advance, there was at least some harvest from stored water, but it was undeniably worse than before. As a result, many farmers suffered heavy damage after their crops failed.

Unlike the old days of “handle it yourself,” the state had provided some help. But it was only enough to keep people barely fed—enough so that no one starved to death. By releasing stored wheat, the state also prevented the price of wheat from skyrocketing.

In the past, this would have produced tens or even hundreds of thousands of starvation deaths. But last year, almost no one died of starvation. In fact, more people died by accidents.

In any case, after last year’s hardship, the farmers hurried to resume farming as temperatures returned to normal. And as Ian entered the region, he could see busy farmlands in full motion.

If they had driven straight through, they would have arrived much earlier. The reason it took a week was that whenever the scenery was beautiful, they stopped to look around. They tried regional specialties, and whenever there were historic ruins, they visited them—so a week passed.

“I hope the harvest is good this year. I heard everyone suffered last year.”

“I heard the yield was only about two-tenths compared to the year before last. Still, it was fortunate there was at least some harvest.”

“What if this happens again?”

“We plan to prepare for that by storing and preserving food again.”

“It is a relief no one starved. I heard that across the continent, many people truly died of hunger.”

In truth, across the continent many died. Over the past several years, tens of millions died from famine, war, and epidemics. Some even claimed that, in total, more than a hundred million might have died.

It was a claim with some credibility. There had been a massive loss of population—so much that it could be called one of history’s darkest ages, a time when the world felt like hell. Yet in another sense, the population had not decreased; overall, it had actually grown.

Even in hard times, men and women loved, and the new lives born could be said to outnumber those who were lost. In other words, humanity’s total population increased. One could see it even in Polia Kingdom.

Before the Great War, the kingdom had a population in the ninety-millions, but now it had surpassed one hundred million, with many babies still being born. Through population-growth policies, the kingdom provided various welfare benefits.

Because of this, many households tended to have at least three children, and some had as many as seven. Large families were increasing.

‘Population is national power. This country must keep growing.’

In another dozen or so years, the babies born in the early days of the Great War would all be adults. That would greatly increase the labor force entering society.

‘At minimum, we should surpass one hundred fifty million.’

He thought it would be even better to exceed two hundred million. Perhaps it would be possible after several decades. Of course, a larger population could become a burden, but by then the Polia Kingdom would have advanced enough to carry it.

“I think it is fortunate our kingdom was able to help with that famine to some extent.”

“Ah, right. I heard you sent food to many places.”

“It was enough food to feed at least several hundred million.”

“If even that did not exist… it is terrifying to imagine.”

“Indeed.”

Of course, they had not sent food purely out of goodwill. The main point was to accept technologies that would help them rapidly narrow the technological gap with the empires. And now, with Doicheun Empire’s advanced technologies being shared, they were achieving tremendous progress.

“Anyway, I believe the cause of the abnormal climate was excessive coal usage.”

“Yes, I heard that too. But if we cannot use coal, can we really grow industry?”

“That is why we developed methods using oil and are applying them everywhere. It pollutes less than coal, so should we not use it?”

Even warships were rapidly converting to oil fuel systems. The technology was already complete, and all warships built after the Great War could essentially operate by burning oil. Oil-based engines were extremely useful.

Unlike coal, they required no long preparation to get moving, and because fuel could be supplied through pipes, it could be refilled quickly. And unlike coal, there was no residue—oil simply burned cleanly to drive motion.

Both mobility and sailing range increased dramatically. Oil-based industry and energy had already become the mainstream, and this year its adoption was accelerating even more.

‘Not only us—others are starting to think environmental pollution can cause abnormal climates, too.’

They would likely remain an oil-based society for quite a long time. As they talked and drove, Ian suddenly saw something and had no choice but to stop the car. Adrina, wondering what it was, looked through the windshield, then widened her eyes at what she saw.

“……”

“Aren’t there children over there?”

“It seems so.”

In view were about ten children moving around while working. The Child Labor Prohibition Act should have existed, so this was plainly a violation of the law.

Seeing it so brazenly, Ian’s expression hardened.

‘The school must have reported this… who, exactly, decided to let children work like that?’

What mattered was that the children were working with their clothes filthy. There were cases where one might show flexibility—if labor was short and children were given only light tasks, one might let it slide to some extent.

But what he saw were children carrying heavy loads. One child even staggered. Even seeing that, the adults passed by indifferently and simply continued their own work.

“They look like they are suffering. What do we do?”

“What do we do? We correct it.”

No matter the circumstances, the law was being broken. Because this was the provinces, there were likely schools and police stations that knew and looked away. Ian thought it would be better to resolve it at once through official channels rather than stepping in to scold them personally.

“Let us go for now. We should enter the city and make contact.”

“If we leave like this, the children will keep suffering, right?”

“Even so, we cannot just step in and lecture them ourselves. We would only be asked who we are.”

“That is true…”

“Endure a little. It will be resolved.”

“Alright.”

The sight of the children struggling seemed to weigh on her. Ian turned the wheel, accelerated, and drove on. The sooner they arrived, the sooner it could be fixed.

As the car that had stopped began moving again, the workers looked puzzled. A few more vehicles passed as well. Even in the countryside, such a convoy was unusual, so it drew everyone’s attention.

After driving, Ian reached a small town of several tens of thousands. There, he made contact directly. After staying at the best hotel available and waiting half a day, he received a report.

“Those children were all orphans, they said.”

“Orphans?”

“That seems to be why they put them to work.”

“But aren’t orphans supposed to be able to enter the facilities you built, Mr. Ian?”

“They should have, but it seems they could not. I heard there was someone managing those children separately—threatening them, even using corporal punishment, stopping them from reporting, and forcing them to work to gain unfair profit.”

“That is truly a terrible person.”

Adrina’s brows knitted as she spoke with genuine anger. Ian nodded and explained the order he had given.

“So I ordered them all arrested. They violated the Child Labor Prohibition Act, and they forcibly assaulted and threatened the children, so a strong punishment will be imposed.”

They would likely receive harsh labor sentences. Across the kingdom there were still many civil engineering works, and a significant portion of the workforce there were convicts serving labor terms. Those who profited unjustly would fall into that same yoke.

“Even those who knew and still allowed the children to work will be punished as well.”

The farmers would face heavy fines and imprisonment. As for the orphaned children, they would be washed, fed, and sent immediately to facilities for orphans.

By chance, they had encountered it—and freed the children from the pain of labor.

‘If we had not passed that way, we would not have seen it.’

It made him think the country still had a long way to go. Things like this likely still happened frequently throughout the provinces. That was why awareness and enforcement regarding children’s welfare needed to be established properly.

“I am so relieved it was resolved.”

“Anyway, since it is settled, shall we resume our journey?”

“Yes.”

They smiled at each other and began discussing their next destination.