For several days, Irene pondered about Lark's offer. She carefully considered whether she should accept the offer to become the new king's secretary. Although the position would grant her authority, it was accompanied by tremendous responsibilities.
"It's not like I can just accept it on a whim," she muttered.
After telling her that she was old enough to make the decision on her own, her father left for Golden Wheat City. There was no longer anyone she could confide in and ask for advice.
With the intent of clearing her mind, she decided to go for a walk in the streets of the capital. She donned plain-looking clothes and left their estate in the Middle District.
As she traversed the main street of the capital, she observed the faces of the people she passed along the way. Male, female, young and old—once she became the king's secretary, she would wield power capable of influencing the lives of them all.
She would definitely be the target of envy. The enemies of the royal faction might even aim for her life. Still, peculiarly, Irene did not fear any of these. The new king said he would become a strong shield for her, after all. He promised that she would not be hammered down, even if she became a nail sticking out—that she could go all out and show everyone what she was capable of. Those words were strangely comforting.
'What's that?' As she was walking in the streets, she noticed the dozens of workers coming in and out of the slum's entrance. She also heard several loud bangs, the sound of stones and wood crashing down, people yelling, hammer hitting iron. The smell of sand, pulverized rocks, and splintered wood permeated the air.
Curiosity struck and she decided to see the commotion herself.
Thankfully, her clothes weren't gaudy. With her sun-kissed skin and plain clothes, she could easily pass as a commoner.
With purposeful steps, she entered the slums.
"Be careful with that one! Don't forget, remove the valuable materials first!"
"Those timbers are salvageable! Move them over here!"
"We still need to demolish the next building after this! Hurry up!"
Irene was surprised. It was a demolition. A large-scale one at that.
Over a hundred people—carpenters, masons, and laborers—were concurrently demolishing several structures in the slums. After removing valuable materials, particularly those with resale value, they proceeded to destroy the frameworks of the houses.
Under normal circumstances, such a large-scale demolition job would have sparked an uproar within the capital. The slum people, who would have nothing left in their names after their homes were destroyed, would riot and fight with their lives on the line. But strangely enough, the demolition was progressing in a peaceful manner. Irene even saw several men, who seemed to be slum people, helping out with the demolition.
"Lady, you shouldn't be here."
Irene looked behind her, at the owner of the voice. It was a boy wearing a cheap tunic and worn sandals. His face was smudged with dust and soil.
Unbeknownst to Irene, he was the same boy who served as Big Mona's guide in the slums before.
"They've started demolishing the main building," said the boy. "The boss said it'll take some time, probably several days, since it's the largest and strongest structure in our territory. But who knows what could happen?
It could suddenly collapse with a single wrong move from the laborers."
Irene noticed the boy was carrying a small box filled with iron fittings.
Although their homes were being destroyed before their eyes, the boy did not seem angry at all.
"What's happening here?" said Irene. The sound of the laborers hitting wood and stone reverberated in the alleyways. "Why are they destroying the homes of all these people?"
The boy tilted his head to the side. He looked at her quizzically.
"Destroying our homes? Lady, you haven't heard, huh? The new king has already given an ordinance. The slums and its people are going to be…" He paused and knitted his brows. "What were the boss's exact words again?
Incorporated into the capital?"
Irene was dumbfounded.
Incorporate the slums and its people into the capital?
It was an extremely ambitious project, and no ruler had successfully pulled it off before. After all, although it sounded easy in theory, there were innumerable things they had to consider. Irene knew that as long as there was poverty, the slums wouldn't cease to exist. Poor planning, politics, economic stagnation and depression, unemployment, and social conflicts— were among the contributing factors to the formation of slums. The astronomical costs aside, the new king would need to address these issues if he wanted to pull this feat off.
Irene stared at the boy before her. Even a kid like this was working hard to help with the demolition.
"You seem happy about this," said Irene. "I assume that His Majesty has given you a temporary place to stay while the demolition is taking place?"
The boy grinned. He nodded several times. "You're smart. That's right, lady! We've been given temporary shacks outside the capital!"
The same shelter given to the migrants who flocked to the capital after the demons' attack.
"Although some members are dissatisfied with the size of the temporary homes," said the boy, "most of us are happy that we're finally being recognized as official residents of Behemoth City! I'm used to sleeping on the streets anyway. A shack is already a godsend!"
"And look!" The boy raised the box he was holding. "Even I managed to land a job yesterday!"
Irene could feel the boy's glee and enthusiasm from his voice alone.
Looking around, she noticed that the other slum people working as laborers were also full of vigor.
"They're paying you?" said Irene.
The boy smiled. "Three silvers a month. And all I have to do is carry these scraps to a designated place. I heard that the adults earn more."
"Hey, Caspian!" shouted a large, muscular man with a burn scar across his face. "We're not paying you to slack off, you shitty brat! Get over here!"
The boy stiffened. He strengthened his grip on the box he was holding.
He mumbled, "Damn, I didn't notice that Boss Luvik is already here. I need to go, lady!"
Carrying the box with him, Caspian ran toward Luvik. He halted, looked at Irene, and shouted, "Return to the main street, lady! You shouldn't be here!"
Caspian handed Luvik the box. Although the muscular man started scolding Caspian, it seemed he had no intention of harming the boy.
After speaking with the boy, Irene decided to investigate further.
Snooping around, she learned several things.
First, the things the boy told her were just the tip of the iceberg. Irene learned that not only did the king give the order to demolish the slums, he also planned on rebuilding it anew and giving the new houses to its former residents. There was also the plan to build a Weavers Guild, several inns, and a school in this area. Moreover, it seemed that all of the slum people, no matter their gender or age, would be entitled to free education.
It was a shocking revelation.
Why was the new king going this far just for the sake of these people?
Irene went back to their estate. She spent the evening mulling over things. Unable to sleep, she lay on her bed all night, pondering and trying to come up with a decision.
The very next day, she visited Lark in the castle.
She'd finally decided to accept the offer of becoming the new king's secretary.
*** Things weren't going well for the Vont family these days. As the largest supplier of arms for the Kelvin Family, they lost a significant portion of their income after the fall of the Kelvin Duchy and Duke Kelvin's execution. And as though that wasn't enough, the new king's most-trusted merchant—Big Mona—had started putting a lot of pressure on their guild.
Although an organization as large as the Merchants Guild of the capital would remain standing if you cut off its arms, it would eventually fall if you cut off all its limbs. Even a titan would crumble if they continued sustaining this much damage. Reginald Vont knew that he had to do something.
Otherwise, he might see the fall of his family during his generation. He couldn't let that happen, no matter what.
Inside his office in the Merchants Guild, Reginald called for his assistant.
"You called for me, sir?"
"My daughter should still be in the capital. Go to the king's castle and deliver this letter to her," said Reginald.
Reginald slid a sealed envelope to his assistant. The assistant respectfully received the letter. "It shall be delivered right away, sir."
The assistant was one of the few people who knew that Reginald Vont's daughter was among the disciples of King Lark. Although the assistant had been working for the Vonts for several years, he still found it absurd that the woman was the offspring of a Vont and an Aria. Two of the most powerful families in this kingdom.
A few hours after the assistant left for the castle, he returned, bringing Chryselle with him.
"You called for me, Father?" said Chryselle.
Reginald looked at his assistant, wordlessly asking him to leave the room. After the assistant left, Reginald gazed at Chryselle for several seconds. She had grown so much since they'd last seen each other.
"You've become the spitting image of Tricia when she was young. No wonder that stupid brother of yours dotes on you," said Reginald. He sighed. "If only she were still alive…" "It's a given that I would look like Mother," said Chryselle, her voice calm and composed. "And although my brother looks like a ruffian, he isn't stupid, Father."
Reginald smiled. "Of course," he said. It was rare for his daughter to defend her brother like this. "I heard that you've become the disciple of His Majesty. I'm surprised Alecto didn't object to it."
"He did," Chryselle admitted. "Initially, he even planned on rallying all of the magicians of the Tower to beat up my master."
Reginald laughed. The stoic-looking face he always showed to his subordinates was gone. Right now, he was nothing but a father. A doting one at that.
"Is that so? It must have given you quite the headache, trying to suppress that nasty temper of his!"
Reginald's laughter echoed in his office.
"I read your letter, Father," said Chryselle. "What do you mean by mana stone mines?"
"It's exactly as written in the letter," said Reginald. "I recently got my hands on a mana stone mine near Quasan City. It's located deep underneath a depleted copper mine."
There were two known ways to obtain mana stones. First was to extract them from the corpses of monsters. Second was to mine them from places abundant in ambient mana. Between the two, the first method was the most commonly implemented. Mana stone mines were incredibly rare.
"The mana stone mine," said Reginald. "I plan on presenting it as a gift to the new ruler of this kingdom."
Although they would be losing astronomical profits, after contemplation, Reginald deemed it the best course of action for now. He was starting to lose grip on his power after the recent events in the kingdom. Hopefully, with this present, he would be able to gain the new king's favor.
"Are you sure about this, Father?" said Chryselle. Even she was surprised by her father's decision. As a magician, she was well aware of how precious a mana stone mine was.
"I have eyes and ears in the king's castle," said Reginald. "Since that pig has already established himself as the king's top merchant, this probably won't be enough to gain the new king's favor. But thankfully, we have you, my dear daughter."
Chryselle suppressed a frown from forming on her face. She did not like the direction of the conversation.
"Good job becoming King Lark's disciple," said Reginald. "I heard he really dotes on his people. As long as you're by his side, it should be possible for him to overlook our previous arms trade with the Kelvins."
Chryselle was no fool. Even she could surmise that the Vont family were also supplying arms to Black Midas. But now that the Kelvin Family and the largest underworld organization of the kingdom had fallen, he'd decided to salvage what he could and switch sides.
"As long as you remain as his disciple, even Big Mona won't be able to touch us easily," Reginald said with confidence.
"I didn't become his disciple for this, Father," said Chryselle in a cold voice.
"Of course," said Reginald. "But for the sake of our family. Your family." He emphasized the last two words. "I hope you'll continue earning King Lark's favor."