It had been more than ten days since the flood that drowned the Beastmen.
During those ten days, Heim City had only encountered a few scouting parties of small Beastmen. They lingered on the nearby hills, observing from afar, showing no real intent to attack again.
Watching this from atop the city wall, Hel couldn't help but smirk. When she had unleashed that flood, she'd actually prepared more follow-up measures.
For instance, she could have turned the soaked land into swampy traps, or carved a massive water-magic array beneath the ground to channel the remaining water into another devastating flood.
Then there were the corpses piled along the riverside — the ones she had deliberately left there. After using the "Witch of Parasites" ability to command every fly in the city to lay eggs upon them, those bodies would likely rot and mutate. The next flood would then sweep those disease-ridden corpses right into the Beastmen-occupied territories.
Unless the Beastmen refrained from drinking local water, there was a high chance they'd be infected by plague — and plague was the most efficient way to deal with a massive army of common soldiers.
Still, Hel wasn't sure how well that plan would work. The corpses hadn't been left to ferment long enough, so whether a true epidemic would emerge — and how potent it might be — remained unknown. But it was a low-risk gambit. If it succeeded, great; if not, it didn't matter.
She still had plenty of other ways to deal with an invasion — assuming, of course, the Beastmen were still willing to pay such a heavy price to attack this insignificant little city.
For now, it seemed no war would break out soon. Which meant there was no reason for her to stand watch on the wall anymore. Arwin was commanding the defenses up there, and Blake was maintaining order inside the city — safety was no longer her concern.
What she did have to worry about now was civil affairs.
Hel tugged her thick cloak closer, feeling the growing chill in the air, and sighed softly.
"Winter's coming… Lily, how's the resettlement of the citizens going?"
"Mostly arranged, but the situation isn't looking too good."
Lily approached nervously, pulling a small notebook from her coat as she reported:
"Heim City originally had around ten thousand residents. About a quarter fled before the war began. Another five percent — profiteers who tried to make money off the crisis — were either executed for treason or exiled along with their families.
"But after the Beastmen invaded, all the remaining villagers in Heim's territory retreated into the city, causing our population to double almost overnight.
"Some are staying with relatives, some have been assigned to vacant homes, and others have been taken in by the church. Roughly four hundred able-bodied men have been drafted into the militia and stationed at the barracks.
"Thanks to the grain confiscated from those profiteers, we're not short on food for now — but we are short on firewood."
"Firewood?" Hel raised a brow.
"Yes, my lord. Normally every autumn, Heim City purchases firewood from nearby villagers to stockpile for winter. But due to the war, no one had time to gather any. And after the flood, the surrounding trees were soaked — they're useless for burning. Without enough firewood, a large portion of the city's people could freeze to death this winter."
Hel frowned, but this wasn't an impossible problem. It could be solved with money.
If she could produce enough magic furnaces, even city-wide heating wasn't out of reach — the only question was whether she could build enough of them before the cold set in.
"Other than that," Lily continued, turning a page in her notebook, "public security is deteriorating as well. The sudden influx of refugees brought troublemakers too. Even with Blake's knights increasing patrols, there's been a rise in violent crimes — burglaries, robberies, murders, and… rapes."
"How were those handled?" Hel's frown deepened.
"Blake processed them according to law. Murderers were executed; the rest were imprisoned…"
"No," Hel interrupted sharply. "You need to remember — in times of chaos, harsh law brings order.
"Light crimes, heavy punishment. Heavy crimes, death. It won't eliminate crime, but it'll frighten enough of them into behaving. We can't guarantee our guards will arrive in time for every incident.
"And starting today, we'll use work for food. Refugees who want to eat must work. That way, the idle ones will have no time to stir up trouble.
"As for what work they'll do, anything's fine — repairing the walls, rebuilding homes, clearing streets, whatever.
"Oh, and one more thing — I need you to organize crews to install underground heating pipes throughout the city. We'll be switching to centralized heating soon."
After giving Lily a few more detailed instructions, Hel dismissed her to get started.
People of this era weren't stupid — their understanding was simply limited by the age they lived in. Once things were explained, Lily usually caught on immediately. Hel rarely had to worry.
Vivian, standing nearby, had watched the entire exchange. To her, Hel's ideas were astonishingly modern — well beyond what nobles or clergy typically thought about. Her curiosity toward Hel only deepened.
Then Hel turned toward her, studying her for a moment as if confirming something. Finally, she spoke evenly:
"Sister, may I ask — how would you feel about becoming Heim City's priest?"
"…Huh?" Vivian blinked, dumbfounded. She had no idea what Hel was getting at.
"Gerhard, that coward, fled the city when danger came — you know that as well as I do."
"But he said—"
"You know that was just an excuse," Hel cut in, smiling faintly. "Whatever he said, the result is the same — he ran. And someone who abandons their post in a crisis won't be welcomed even in your Church, will they? I certainly don't want a rat like that in my city.
"If he'd betray his flock once to save himself, what's to stop him from betraying me next time?"
Her tone turned serious. "So, Vivian — would you be willing to become Heim City's priest?"