People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"Weren't you very confident about this plan?"

Nohis adjusted his glasses: "Even if I knew the result of the calculation from the beginning, that wouldn't be a reason for me not to do the calculation again to confirm. Science is rigorous."

Enciodes turned his head away, too lazy to listen to Nosis's reasonable but unpleasant words, and affirmed:

"The three-race conference has passed. Although it was somewhat reluctant, the Shelag National Assembly was officially established three hours ago."

"Who were the first speaker and prime minister?" Nohis pressed.

Ensiodes's expression immediately turned melancholy. Gazing at the snow falling slowly outside the French windows, he answered heavily after a long while, "My brother—Ernst Shivaish."

Nohis paused for a moment, but wasn't too surprised; it seemed to be something unexpected yet reasonable.

“I thought it would be me,” he said, without a trace of regret on his face.

Enciodes nodded. Clearly, before the final vote, he also believed that the most likely candidate for the positions of Speaker and Prime Minister was Nohis Edwis, the current head of the Shivaesh family, a branch of the family that was in charge of compiling and preserving ancient texts.

The reason is simple: Noxis's father, though not convicted, has always been suspected of plotting the murder of the previous head of the Shivaesh family, namely Ensiodes and Ernst's parents. His identity inherently creates a crisis of trust between him and Ensiodes.

Secondly, he is one of the few in Sherag with ample experience in international communication and relevant management knowledge. He is truly the tall one among a group of short people in Sherag.

For this reason, both Enciodes and Nosis believed that if the Blantau and Perroch families wanted to divide the power of the Caran trade, putting Nosis in this position would be the best option—from their perspective that they were unaware of the personal relationship between Enciodes and Nosis.

To this end, they have even prepared a series of contingency plans to put on a show after Nohis comes to power, in order to present a satisfactory image of the Shelag government as "hostile to trade with Kalan," gain their trust, and prepare for the final coup and seizure of power.

Yes, Ensiodis had long planned to completely end the ancient system of Sherag, take full control, and reshape the world.

But all the plans fell apart with Ernst's rise to power.

"Perhaps it's because your behavior is too extreme that they abandoned you and chose my brother instead."

Enciodes said half-jokingly, and then he was surprised to find that Nosis, who was usually so stubborn, lowered his head and was really reflecting.

What's this? I've advised you and scolded you so many times and you never reacted. Now that my brother has overtaken you, you're starting to reflect? Were you some kind of spoiled brat who didn't know how lucky you were before?

Indeed, competition changes people; Nosis's previous environment was too comfortable.

Enshiodis couldn't help but let his mind wander.

“It’s a good thing that Ernst has made you take this seriously. It at least shows that you’ve lost in this matter, and that if you want to take that position in the future, you’ll have to face a strong opponent.”

"An opponent?" Nosis snapped out of his reverie, and shook his head dismissively with surprise. "I don't think a puppet pushed onto the stage can be my opponent. I was just thinking about how to take back that position reasonably and quickly."

Noxis's words were so harsh that even Enciodes, who was usually tolerant of him, was speechless.

"You'd better remember what you said. My brother is no simple puppet."

"During the years I was studying in Victoria alone, he managed the entire Shivaish family and took care of Enshia. His achievements were indispensable in enabling the Shivaish family to return to the Three Races Conference and for the Karan Trade to enter Shelag without much opposition."

"He may be limited by his environment and unable to see a wider world and future, but that doesn't mean he's any less advanced than us. If you don't believe me, we can make a bet."

Enshiodis provoked them.

Nohis narrowed his eyes slightly. He rarely saw this man, who always did things in a well-planned and confident manner, use the word "bet," especially when looking at a person.

He pondered for a moment and then accepted the bet:

"We made a bet on whether I could take his place within a month. The stake is..."

"Your R&D budget for this month," Ensiodis said preemptively. Nosis's eyes widened, he gritted his teeth, and finally nodded with difficulty.

As if Jeragand was unwilling to give Nohis a chance to back out, the office doorbell rang the next second.

"Qingjin".

"Enciodes said. Outside the door, a girl with black hair in twin ponytails pushed the door open and entered; it was Moshi, who had just left Ernst's office.

She bowed slightly to SilverAsh, then glanced a few more times at Nosis, whose face was flushed red as if something had just happened. Finally, suppressing her curiosity, she reported:

"Chairman, Mr. Ernst has just come up the mountain."

"Up the mountain?" Ensiodis raised an eyebrow, signaling Moshi to continue.

"He went to Manju Academy to request the complete set of Sherag's accounts."

"Knowing how to get your hands on the financial statements firsthand, that's quite an achievement," Nosis praised, then added with a hint of regret, "Unfortunately, given the personality and stance of the Grand Elder of Manju Academy, he will absolutely not agree to hand over the account books. His trip is destined to be in vain."

Enciodes didn't speak, but his expression clearly indicated that he acquiesced to Nosis's assertion.

Moshi blinked, but what flashed through his mind was Ernst's confident smile and words before he went up the mountain.

Is it really impossible?

That's what she was thinking. But her attention was drawn to the sudden commotion downstairs.

Looking out from the floor-to-ceiling windows, a group of people carrying weapons had gathered below the three-story building. The leader was an Ursus man wearing a leather Perroch family crest on his chest, clearly a member of the Perroch family.

Enciodes frowned and pressed the communicator to connect with the security at the bottom: "What's going on outside? What are the Perroch family doing here?"

"Chairman, they say they're here to investigate a case." The security guard was clearly at a loss as well, explaining hurriedly, "They say the new speaker discovered a problem while reviewing the financial statements: the quantity and price of the steel we imported don't match. They suspect we've been hoarding steel, so they've come to demand an explanation."

Enciodes's brows furrowed instantly, and he subconsciously glanced at Nosis beside him, replying, "Okay, I understand. I'll send someone to handle it soon."

He hung up the call, looked at Nosis, and said with a half-smile:

"My younger brother, he actually started investigating his older brother right away, really..."

"Nosis, you'd better not regret this."

P.S.: The update is late because I was looking at rental listings during the day, so I was delayed. This chapter is 3,000 words. Please recommend, vote, and add to your favorites!

In Chapter Six, Nosis couldn't laugh; tears welled up inside him.

Nohis is in trouble.

The Perroch family was one of the most critical groups of the Kalan trade. In their view, laying a railway on land near the holy mountain or allowing factory smoke to pollute the pure air of Shelag was a great desecration of Jeragund.

Aktos Perroch had long wanted to cause trouble for Ensioudis, but he had been struggling to find a reason to do so. The Karan trade and the factories and towns they built were really profitable, and many people in his territory had even moved to Turikam with their families, leaving him with no real options.

But this time was different. The Grand Elder of the Manju Academy provided them with a perfect excuse—the Shivaish family had secretly hidden a batch of steel!

This matter is neither too big nor too small; it all depends on whether someone uses it as a pretext for trouble. After all, steel isn't armor or weapons—things with obvious military uses. Aktos isn't going to kill the Shivaesh family just because they stole some steel.

But he could use this to get an explanation from Ensiodis and to annoy him.

As for evidence, who cares?

As it turned out, he did achieve his goal.

When Guro, who was sent as the vanguard, repeatedly asked Ensiodes why the steel shipment and the payment did not match, Ensiodes was unable to answer.

Because he had indeed hidden a batch of steel to build a secret troop transport railway on the edge of Shiva'ish territory.

He could, of course, explain or simply lie—say that international steel prices had risen during that period, or that there had been losses during transport, or that he had used the steel to repair a house. There were countless lies like that, and Enciodes had a way of making them sound so real that no one could find fault with them.

The problem is, the other side is also a group of unreasonable people.

Guro followed the advice Akthos had given him before he set off: "No matter what Ensiodes says, this matter won't be resolved unless he sends someone out!"

On one side is a shrewd and cunning strategist, and on the other side is a persistent and unreasonable person. Enshiodis is speechless. It's like a scholar encountering a soldier; there's no way to reason with him!

There's no other way, someone has to be chosen to take responsibility, right?

The construction of the railway was a major project approved by the Manju Academy, jointly supervised by the three major families, and with Enshiodis personally serving as the chief person in charge of construction. This was not something that could be settled by simply throwing out a temporary worker.

If the Perroch family wants to investigate the whereabouts of this batch of steel, then only two people can bear the responsibility.

The first is the chief supervisor, Enciodes, who admitted that he was not strict in his supervision during the construction process or that there were oversights in the purchase of steel, resulting in less steel than the expected quantity. This is the most convincing way to convince everyone, but it is also the least likely way.

The second person, naturally, could only be the unfortunate technology executive officer—Nohis Edwis.

“General Guro, we are aware of your doubts and requests, but I think this is a small misunderstanding caused by information asymmetry.”

"Steel cannot be purchased and simply thrown on the ground to be assembled into railways. It still requires technical processing and adjustments, and naturally, some losses will occur during this process."

"The extent of this loss depends entirely on the local technological level, and as you should know, given the current level of industrialization in Kjerag, significant losses are entirely predictable. In fact, if Mr. Aktos Perroch had signed off on that blast furnace procurement application, this loss could have been completely avoided. This misunderstanding between us wouldn't have occurred either. Of course, I don't mean to accuse him of being short-sighted or making trouble out of nothing. It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost, and Kjerag Trade welcomes him to send representatives at any time to discuss restarting the blast furnace plan."

Nohis tried to fool Guro, who knew nothing about engineering, from a professional technical point of view, and even tried to persuade him to help push forward the blast furnace ironmaking project, which had been delayed for a long time and had nothing to do with railway construction.

After a long lecture, Guro's meager knowledge predictably ran dry, and he fell into a brief silence. A moment later, as if he had just understood something, he shook his head, raised his axe, and pointed it at Nosis:

"I don't understand a word you're saying! But you mean you'll be in charge, right?"

"I..." Nosis almost couldn't control his temper, his lips twitching involuntarily. "Theoretically speaking, this is an objective factor—"

He was rudely interrupted before he could finish speaking, and Guro gave him an "I understand" look:

"Wait a minute, didn't you just say it was because of some kind of 'technical level' issue? To put it bluntly, it's because your Kalan Trade's technology isn't good enough! And you're Kalan Trade's so-called technical commander..."

“It’s the Executive Officer,” Ensiodis corrected.

Guro nodded: "Aren't you the technical executive officer? If we soldiers lose a battle, it's because I, the general, am not good enough. But if you technical people are not good at technology, isn't that your problem?"

Nohis's words caught in his throat. He knew that Gulu was just being unreasonable, but he couldn't say anything.

How to explain it? Why does he feel like the more he explains, the more he loses? If he could explain it to Gu Luo, it would be like Chen Rui eating peppercorns and losing completely.

After a long silence, he lowered his head in grief and indignation, clenched his fists, and spat out a single word through gritted teeth: "Yes!"

"That's right, we should have done it this way earlier!" Guro immediately became smug. "If you're not good at technology, you shouldn't be a technical commander. I think this railway project probably has to be suspended. Maybe there are technical problems too?"

Enciodes shook his head slightly: "The railway cannot be stopped. I will punish Nosis, but this is an internal matter of the Kalan Trade, and it is not the Perroch family's place to interfere. I will give you a satisfactory answer when the National Assembly convenes next time."

With that, he turned around, ignoring the stunned look on Guro's face, and pulled the nearly exploding Nosis away.

The security personnel of Kalan Trade also quickly sprang into action, blocking the main entrance and preventing Guluo from barging in. The tall, burly man at the head of the group even made Guluo look at him with apprehension.

"Master has other matters to attend to, please return."

............

"So, you lost this bet, didn't you?"

Back in his office, Enciodes smiled as he looked at the still furious Nosis, and took a sip of his black tea.

Nosis took several deep breaths to calm himself down and glared at Ensiodis.

Although he is reluctant to admit it, his chances of winning are now almost zero.

As mentioned earlier, the steel issue could be a big deal or a small deal, depending on whether the other two major families and the Manju Institute investigate thoroughly and whether they can produce conclusive evidence to prove the whereabouts of this batch of steel.

Judging from the probing between the two sides just now, it is clear that the Perroch family and the Manju Institute that instigated them have no evidence.

This reveals two pieces of information. First, the root of the matter is that Ernst Shivaesh has indeed obtained the Sherag ledger from the Manjusaka Academy, and he has accomplished a task that seems impossible.

Secondly, Ernst Shivaish either didn't know, or he did know but didn't inform the Grand Elder of the steel's whereabouts or the evidence. Although he did indeed severely cheat Ensiodes and Kalan Trade, he didn't go too far.

You've been getting a bit too much attention lately; this is just a small warning.

This feeling flashed through Enciodes's mind. He was immediately surprised. The last time he had been so advised and suppressed without any recourse was during his studies abroad, when he faced those cunning politicians in Victoria.

But he quickly shook his head.

That must be a misperception. No matter how great Ernst is, he can't possibly be compared to those old babies from Victoria.

In any case, it's unlikely that Nohis will be able to return to the positions of head of government and speaker of parliament until the negative impact of this incident subsides.

"You should step down from your position as technical executive officer for a month, since you've already lost all your research funding to me this month anyway."

Seeing his old friend suffer a setback was a rare sight, and Enshiodis was even in a good mood, laughing.

But Nosis couldn't laugh; anger and tears were welling up inside him.

"Hmph, what use is the financial report to him? Don't we know what kind of person Sherag is? The report will only make him more desperate. Without the corresponding resources and backing in that position, he will ultimately achieve nothing. In the end, he will have no choice but to obediently give up his position!"

“You’re right.” Enciodes nodded. This was the most likely outcome. If it had happened before, he might have sighed with helplessness and regret for Ernst, but now, he had a new hope. “But, what if?”

"I always felt that my younger brother could give us an even bigger surprise."

Nosis curled his lip, looking completely disbelieving.

Ensiodis wasn't annoyed: "How about we make another bet? This time, three months."

"Just bet!"

Chapter Seven: Ernst Sends an Invitation to Make Money

With his eyes narrowed, Ernst brought the ledger in his hand closer and then put it away, displaying a certain charm reminiscent of the subway, an old man, and a mobile phone.

After a long silence, he finally realized it wasn't a problem with his eyes, and his expression twisted in anger. He couldn't help but curse:

"Damn it, how did Kjerag get into this state?!"