People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

[Grateful, moved, thankful; amidst the chaos, Victoria truly deserves her title as a leader of the civilized world!]

[Thousands of rescued teachers and students held a gratitude ceremony today at the Duke of Cayster's Palace to pray for the humanitarian actions of Prime Minister Kjerag and the Duke of Cayster!]

[Kast and Shivaesh: A bitter feud between brothers! — Wine Gazette Daily Interesting News]

Inside the Mercedes, Ernst contentedly put down the newspapers he was holding.

"Two out of the three reports mentioned my name. The Duke of Caesar must be feeling bad."

Hintleya's face also beamed with amazement. After hearing Ernst's words, she blinked in slight confusion:

"Weren't three out of four articles? And what about the wine report?"

"What the wine newspaper reports doesn't count as news," Ernst said with a dramatic change of expression. "If they told even one truthful word, their news reporting would win a Pulitzer Prize!"

"Huh?" Hintelia's mouth dropped open, her face full of surprise.

Ernst looked at her with surprise and asked in return:

"Aren't you from Kazimierz? Haven't you read the Wine Gazette?"

“I’ve seen it. But I didn’t know it was fake,” Hinterlea replied.

Ernst looked puzzled: "How could that be? Aren't all those contents utterly outrageous? I even saw a report last time saying that the Grand Knight Commander had an affair with Marna's father, so the Grand Knight Commander is actually a widow."

"That does sound pretty outrageous," commented Jeston, who was sitting in the front row so he wasn't relegated to the bottom of the car.

But Hinterlea shook her head: "I didn't watch that episode, but most people probably don't care. It's just for fun."

As she spoke, she even became somewhat sentimental: "Besides, I haven't been featured in the Wine Gazette, so how am I supposed to know they've been lying all along?"

Indeed, if Hintleya were featured in the Wine Gazette, she wouldn't be just some nobody.

As is well known, Wine Journal only selects popular figures, and being featured in gossip stories about them is even a symbol of status.

"By the way, what is the Pulitzer Prize?" Jeston asked curiously.

He could tell from Ernst's words that the rant was meant to satirize the wine newspaper for never telling the truth, but he really didn't know what the Pulitzer Prize was.

Some kind of Sherag dialect? Or an award?

Ernst realized he had said something wrong without realizing it, but luckily it wasn't anything important, so he quickly tried to cover it up:

"I will mention a journalism award in the future in the Chronicles of Erzley, which is an award for journalists or authors who specialize in revealing those biting, satirical, and deliberately hidden truths."

Perhaps because she had just experienced a battle over credit, Hinterlea was particularly sensitive and immediately raised the following point:

"What if someone uses this award to fabricate facts, spread rumors, or satirize?"

Ernst looked at her with some surprise and nodded:

"Yes, so regardless of policies, laws, or awards that seem worthy of support at first glance, ultimately, the target of implementation and the target of implementation are both people."

"But people are fickle. He is so strange. His two parallel eyes almost never look at people equally. He has two ears, but he often only listens to one side of the story. He has only one mouth, but he always says two-faced things."

"So no matter when, no matter how perfect the system you set up seems, or how persuasive the force you use to ensure its implementation, we must ultimately focus on people—stay true to our original aspirations, and we will achieve our goals."

This is probably why, no matter how boring and tedious ideological classes may be, and no matter how troublesome and tricky the annual ideological level assessment may be, they cannot be stopped.

In the absence of the ability to imprint a mental mark on everyone, this is almost the cheapest yet most effective way to conduct ideological education.

Seeing Hinterlea nod thoughtfully, Ernst felt a sense of relief.

Their makeshift team is genuinely growing.

Having already experienced her first overseas trip and understood the difficulties of diplomacy; Hinterlea, whose fighting power was roughly equivalent to an Arctos, but who knew how to skillfully use the art of language to ensure her invincibility; Lola, whose engineering skills had improved remarkably and who was able to build Kjerag's first "city" with a powerful siren; and Joyce of the Treasury, a hardworking and dedicated pillar of the government whom Ernst and everyone else could not ignore, even though she spent almost all her time in her office.

With this trip, the recruitment of Jeston and Anmer, and the promise by Rafishini to bring the Duke of Wellington's "reward" to Shelag, everything is getting closer and closer to getting on the right track.

Of course, the most important thing is yourself.

Ernst gradually became familiar with how, as the head of state of a small country, he could participate in Terra's grand strategy and leverage more interests.

"Getting back to the main topic, our next target should be Siesta."

Ernst glanced at the map in his hand and thought to himself.

Siesta, an independent city-state bordering the Krasde Inland Sea.

In an era dominated by "national politics," Siesta stubbornly maintained its city-state form and successfully rose to prominence in modern times with trendy concepts such as "music," "ocean," and "holiday tourism."

Although he differs from Scherrag in many ways, he remains a remarkable example to learn from in Scherrag's development.

Or rather, if Ernst wanted to create a wealthy, neutral welfare state like Switzerland, then Siesta and Lateran were predecessors he couldn't bypass and had to personally visit to investigate.

And, it's not just that.

Ernst had deeper thoughts and ideas about the cooperation between Siesta and Kjerag, and even the future Lateran. This trip, besides the on-site inspection, mainly involved detailed discussions with Mayor Hermann of Siesta about that possibility.

As soon as Ernst finished speaking, Hinterlea became excited.

She had experienced so much along the way that she almost forgot her original purpose!

Siesta!

Seaside city!

A resort paradise!

Water park, cool swimwear, surfing at the beach, Ferris wheel cabins under the sunset, and double scoops of ice cream fed to your mouth!

This is life, this is romance, this is her ultimate weapon!

On the very day she arrived in Colombia, she secretly went to a travel agency and pre-ordered two Siesta Waterpark tickets while Ernst wasn't looking. Because it was the off-season, it only cost a mere 25 Colombian Gold Vouchers to enjoy all the water attractions at Siesta!

The thought of the water park being deserted, with only Ernst and her there, filled her with a sense of security. She imagined them enjoying all the rides without having to wait in line, sampling Siesta's signature dishes that sell out during peak season in the shopping arcade, and eating cotton candy together in the empty Obsidian Park as they watched the sun sink into the Krasde Sea.

She felt an urge to jump up, raise her arms, and shout at the top of her lungs:

"Wuhu has never had such a wonderful start!"

An uncontrollable, goofy grin spread across his face. Ernst, sitting to the side, was completely dumbfounded.

What's wrong? Going to Siesta, there's no need to get so worked up.

While the scenery of the Siestakrasd Inner Sea certainly ranks among the top ten tourist destinations in Terra, however...

There's not much to do in Siesta this season.

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

"Dad, I'm back."

Looking at the three-story villa in front of him, Ceylon felt a sense of relief from the bottom of his heart.

Only now could she finally relax—she had indeed been rescued, freed from the Sarkaz, freed from Lentinium, freed from the school that had become a prison.

At the same time, she was also genuinely moved.

If it weren't for Ernst Siwaish's appeal, and if the benevolent Duke of Castells hadn't immediately intervened after hearing the appeal, she, a commoner who wasn't a Victorian noble, might have remained trapped in that city for who knows how much longer.

They were all his saviors.

Especially Ernst Shivaesh. Ceylon was sincerely grateful to him.

The Duke of Caesar was one of the Grand Dukes of Victoria, and Lentinium was the capital of Victoria. The National University of Victoria was a school in Victoria, and its students were students of Victoria. They should have been closely related to her.

Her intervention was seen more as an obligation than a just cause, though justice came too late.

Ernst, on the other hand, was a true “disinterested party”! How rare it is that he was able to stand up and speak out when everyone else was turning a blind eye to Lentinium’s plight!

The fact that the rescue workers kept emphasizing, in strange ways, that "the Duke of Custer saved you" throughout the evacuation, especially considering Ernst's refusal to give any interviews after the students were rescued, only added to the strange and unsettling feeling for most people.

The Duke of Caesar impersonated Prime Minister Ernst to steal credit.

I don't know what others are thinking, but this feeling just came to Ceylon's mind subconsciously.

Fortunately, no matter what, it's all over.

Looking at the open door, her father rushing out, and the black figure following behind him, a long-lost, heartfelt smile appeared on Ceylon's face.

She untied her suitcase and hugged her two family members, remaining together for a long time.

........

At dinner time, Herman Dorkos looked at Ceylon, who had been telling them about her experiences at school for almost an hour, with a touch of heartache. He reached out and gently patted his daughter's head.

"You've worked hard at school, so take a good rest at home during this time."

But to everyone's surprise, Ceylon shook her head firmly this time and said, "No, Father, I want to go to Shelag!"

Hermann was slightly taken aback, but quickly understood Ceylon's thoughts.

Indeed, even he felt a surge of emotion when he saw Ernst's speech video.

Although he immediately realized that Ernst might have had deeper reasons for doing this, in any case, his daughter's rescue was closely related to him.

It's only natural that Ceylon would want to go to Kjerag to see his savior.

But perhaps this is fate?

Hermann Dorkos shook his head: "No, no need."

“Why, Father? I want to see Ernst. I want to thank him,” Ceylon said, puzzled.

Herman smiled and said, "I'm not stopping you from thanking your savior; in fact, I should thank him too."

“But you don’t need to go to Shelag.”

He gave Black a look, and Black, as if expecting this, took a letter from the bodyguard's black suit jacket, handed it to Ceylon, and said:

"Miss, Prime Minister Ernst is already on his way."

"He's come to Siesta."

P.S.: The gacha banner is over, and I got Viviana in a single pull!

The battle ended after 236 pulls. Thankfully, I didn't hit the pity system.

The temperature has dropped drastically, everyone please remember to keep warm. I caught a cold today and only woke up at this hour.

Chapter 131 Hermann's Shock

End of July 1094.

Xiosta.

There is no sunlight.

The beach and sea breeze are freezing cold.

Ocean waves are guaranteed to cause hypothermia.

Overall, it was a good day for the people of Terra. Although the water park was mostly closed for maintenance, the shopping streets were deserted, and the sea off Krasdne was mostly cloudy with little sunshine, and the beachfront swimwear shops were clearing out their winter stock, at least there was no natural disaster, no tsunami, and no colossal giants shouting "Tata!" as they drove in from across the sea.

As the Colombian travel agency said, it is now the absolute off-season for tourism in Siesta.

"I'm going to call and report them; they're scamming people!"

Ernst couldn't understand what Hinterlea had been muttering to herself incessantly ever since she got off the train. When he asked her, she wouldn't say.

Jesston, on the other hand, had a "I understand, I understand" look on his face and explained in a serious tone:

"Perhaps Siesta is quite different from what she remembered."

He understands best the feeling of such a huge gap between reality and psychology. This confidence came from changing jobs more than a dozen times after being rejected by Ernst once.

Ernst was also helpless; you should have said something earlier.

If you had said so earlier... I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.

“The peak tourist season in Siesta usually starts in June, peaks in July and August, and begins to decline in September, which means it is basically locked in the summer.”

"During the summer, when the weather is hot and the tides in the Krasd Inner Sea are more intense and frequent, Siesta hosts the Obsidian Music Festival. This festival invites many of Terra's most renowned musicians to Siesta for a two-month-long Obsidian Carnival on the beaches, at the water park, in Obsidian Plaza, and throughout the streets and alleys of Siesta. Visitors can enjoy music, experience rare water rides in Terra, experience the local culture and customs, sample local delicacies, and purchase their favorite souvenirs."

"These are all written in the Siesta Travel Guide, haven't you seen them, Hinterlea?"

Hinterlea never imagined that such a simple question would have such a heart-wrenching effect.

Hasn't she seen it?

Of course she had seen it. Although Colombian travel agencies are unscrupulous, they wouldn't be so unscrupulous as to refuse to give you a travel brochure if you asked.