You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 262 Political Investment
The witches have few duties now and are quite free. When they have nothing to do, they wander around. Roman told them to familiarize themselves with the environment.

The witches now belong to the Origin Manor.

"That girl's something else," Monica remarked, marveling at Neliel's retreating figure. Her blue hair was rather unusual. "Edith, what do you think?"

“To be fair, five silver coins isn’t a small amount,” Edith replied. “I’ll ask Neliel to inquire; I refuse to believe Roman would pay us less than Neliel!”

Monica glanced at her sideways. "I wasn't asking about wages."

"What else could it be? We're not like those two easy girls, Gweil and Sanna. Roman didn't even give them a single penny. Is he bullying the little witches? I can't stand it! It's too much!"

“Yes, Edith is right!” Breonna agreed.

Employing child labor is one thing.

Adult witches definitely can't work without pay.

"Don't play dumb, I'm talking about her!"

"Come on, we're new here, we'd better keep it under control. If they find out I read her mind, they might cut our pay."

"Well, that's what they say, but that eerie appearance isn't something an ordinary person could have—I remember the Raging Tide bloodline is also related to the ocean, right?"

"It's long since faded; the raging tide has been ashore for ages. Neliel is from Sea Fortress, so she still has a bit of a sea smell. There are also warriors from Sea Fortress in His Highness the Conqueror's fleet, right? Shasta, what's his name again..."

Shasta, who was passing by, said, “The Deep Sea People. They call themselves the people of the Deep Sea Gods, the darlings of the ocean. When His Highness the Conqueror went on an expedition, the elite of the Sea Fortress were all sent out, but they were all lost in the depths of the Dark Sea. Not one of them returned alive. The Sea Fortress began to decline from that time. They are cursed, and the lord of the Sea Fortress never has a good end.”

"You know more."

Shasta said calmly, "The prophet often talks about these things, but you never take them seriously."

"You get all high and mighty just because I flattered you, huh? You were the only one who loved listening to old ladies tell stories when you were little. You should have learned more magic instead of listening to those old, worn-out stories..." Monica said, then suddenly stared at Shasta and sighed.

"Shasta, to put it bluntly... you don't have much of an advantage anymore."

Shasta frowned and asked, "What advantage?"

“Neriel can become your enemy.”

Shasta's expression grew increasingly bewildered.

"Stop beating around the bush. Just say it straight. That girl is just as pretty as you. You might be better at fighting her one-on-one, but she's smarter than you. At the very least, you won't get those two silver coins. Plus, she's younger than you. How will you suppress her arrogance when you're vying for favor? And the other girls can't really help you with this, can they..."

Shasta finally understood and sneered twice: "You're so boring!"

She left after saying that.

Edith looked at Monica innocently.

Monica didn't respond, but instead mimicked Shasta's cold laugh twice: "You're so boring!"

After saying that, he left.

Edith, feeling awkward, could only mutter to herself, "Then don't blame me for not warning you..."

……

Neel met Roman with a mix of trepidation and excitement.

Roman has been in a great mood these past two days.

After 500 gacha pulls, the quality of the Apostle was highest on the first 10-pull, but it didn't improve after that.

There are about forty three-star apostles.

There are also ten four-star apostles—six of whom are witches, and the other four four-star apostles are nuns, mercenaries, priests, and the like.

There are three five-star apostles in total—besides Margaret and Shasta, the third five-star apostle is Dark Lucia.

Even so, Roman was quite satisfied.

Use the apostles that are usable as soon as possible, and let the rest go with the flow if they are not.

For example, if a three-star or four-star apostle is a priest or nun, and they refuse to submit to you, then Roman can't do anything about it. If they don't listen, then he can just continue to work as a laborer.

Now that he has a higher standard and more confidence, he no longer looks down on individual three- or four-star ratings.

These past two days, the servants of the manor have frequently seen the King of the Valley's smile.

When Roman met Nelly, he accepted the report card she handed him with a broad smile. "Oh, over four hundred children have passed basic education?" Roman was somewhat surprised.

In his view, basic education simply means completing the second grade of elementary school.

Mastering a thousand words is considered an excellent academic achievement.

Even so, this still stumped them.

The fact that they have mastered so many words shows that they can understand various commands written on paper.

This means that when Roman needs to assign certain tasks, he doesn't need to go in person or send someone else; he can simply deliver the written orders so that literate people can understand and execute them.

Of course, problems such as inadequate understanding or ineffective implementation remain challenges.

But this can be considered the first step in establishing an administrative system.

Even if Roman used up all the sapphires in his inventory, he would only have five hundred men.

Ultimately, social development still depends on society itself to drive it.

Supernatural forces can only provide the initial impetus.

Once the scale increases, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of primary school students will graduate each year who can read.

Note that this applies to every year!
If Roman were to be upgraded, it would consume hundreds of thousands of gold coins every year, not counting the resources used for recruitment.

“Nier, you’ve done well. Are you leaving now?” Roman asked.

Neel relaxed completely, lowered her head and whispered, "If you allow me to."

Roman pondered for a moment: "If you want to retake Seaburg, the people there are definitely waiting for you to return..."

This can be considered a political investment.

There are countless stories of exiled governments successfully reclaiming their homeland after receiving a political investment.

However, there have also been cases where investors and investees have broken up.

Roman didn't care about that risk.

Neliel's current relationship rating of 82% is no joke.

Of course, it could also be said that Neliel's relationship with him was extremely close because she couldn't live without him.

But even if she betrays him in the future, he can still punch her twice and then pin her to the table.

If Nellie had any sense, she would know which choice to make.

The only question now is how much start-up capital he should give Neliel?
Last year he promised a minimum of one infantry battalion, which is three hundred men.

But this is not a guarantee.

That's normal. Sea Fort is a relatively powerful territory. Once the lord of Sea Fort returns, the residents will definitely welcome him with food and drink.

But this is not good news for the neighbors of Seaburg.

For example, Lord Baiyang and Earl Bailey were the main forces in plundering the sea fortress, and the other nobles probably got a share of the spoils too.

They can accept a desolate, unclaimed land. But they certainly can't accept a powerful neighbor.

Everyone hopes their neighbor is as weak as possible.

The wealth that Haibao had accumulated was completely looted. Now that the leader of Haibao wants to return, what will they think? What will they do?
A force of three hundred men is definitely likely to lose, and the probability is quite high.

If we lose, we'll have completely lost our investment.

Even if we win, it will be a narrow victory.

Roman hates this kind of uncertainty the most.

If there's no chance of winning, it's best not to make a move.

If they try to move, then give them two punches!

(End of this chapter)