Kingdom Simulator: I, a Fallen Noble, Build a God-Level Kingdom!-Chapter 40: Thune Territory Guarantees You’ll Never Be Unemployed

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Thune Territory Guarantees You’ll Never Be Unemployed

It seemed the Nightingale Lord was truly enraged now, planning to retreat and gather reinforcements for a counteroffensive. Otherwise, even if he had to drag it out, he would have stalled for a few days, draining Stone Town’s resources and public morale—leaving Romon nothing but a ruined city, even if he lost in the end.

Romon took a sip of lamb soup, then rinsed his mouth.

"Lornis, I’m done eating. Pack up quickly—we’re heading to Stone Town. Our Stone Town."

Lornis, who’d grown up with Romon, immediately understood his meaning.

"Congratulations, Lord Romon. Stone Town has returned to Thune Territory under your leadership."

"Let’s go take a look together. This is a hugely important step for all of Thune Territory."

Stone Town’s light industry would directly drive the entire territory’s development, and its permanent [population] far exceeded that of the small villages. With a bit of management, it could easily become a core development hub. Thune Territory would finally start to look like something.

After packing up, the two hitched up a white horse carriage. If it weren’t for the princess’s ground dragon carriage needing her personal authorization—without which the dragon would enter self-defense mode—Romon would’ve gladly driven it into Stone Town for the prestige. But the princess was still warming up in the labyrinth, and it was too much of a hassle to fetch her. The horse carriage would have to do.

This time, Romon didn’t mind the bumpy ride—his mind was filled with excitement at reclaiming Stone Town.

On the way, they ran into Nini and brought her along, speeding toward Stone Town together.

...

Before long, the trio arrived.

With a wave of his hand, Romon sent out a resounding wolf howl that echoed throughout Stone Town. Countless bloodthirsty demon wolves immediately formed a wedge-shaped formation, awaiting orders outside the north gate.

Led by Pito, the centaur knights now displayed impeccable ceremony.

"Lord!" The centaur knights stomped in unison and shouted in chorus.

Romon walked up to the Stone Town mayor, who was still kneeling, and handed back the dagger symbolizing authority.

"From today forward, Stone Town returns to the embrace of Thune Territory. You’ll be responsible for the livelihoods of the people; I’ll handle everything else."

Managing the people’s welfare required attention to endless details—a job suited for someone like him, who had plenty of experience running errands. From a staffing perspective, he was still a talent; after all, it would be hard to find anyone more reliable on short notice.

As for everything beyond civilian affairs, Romon would manage personally. The Nightingale Lord had fled today, but would surely return with an army before long.

He had to rapidly upgrade the strength of not just Stone Town, but all of Thune Territory.

This time, he’d relied on an overwhelming intelligence advantage. Next time, it would be a direct clash of strength. In the face of absolute power, intelligence could help a bit, but it would never turn the tide so dramatically again.

"My Lord, Romon Thune, I swear my allegiance to you." The mayor accepted the dagger and bowed deeply.

"Alright, that’s enough with the oaths. Get up."

There was no need to pay attention to a fence-sitter like this. Today Romon won, so he pledged loyalty to Romon; if Nightingale won tomorrow, he’d just as easily switch his allegiance.

If finding talent weren’t so difficult right now, Romon wouldn’t have put the dagger back in his hands—he’d have drawn it across his throat instead.

At the same time, this "accommodating" mayor was useful for Romon’s entry into the city. He needed to show the townspeople of Stone Town that he wasn’t the irritable old Thune, but a new Thune of a new era.

After war, the toughest problem was always calming the populace.

Once the mayor’s usefulness in these two respects was exhausted, Romon could always find some excuse to get rid of him.

"Please, Lord, come in," the mayor said respectfully, stepping aside.

By the north gate, a crowd of Stone Town’s townsfolk had already gathered.

Most of them were adventurers; few ordinary villagers dared to come out at this time, keeping their doors and windows tightly shut.

After all, in most cases, when a city fell, what awaited the common folk was looting.

However, Romon had no such intentions. In fact, his own farmers earned more than the average citizen here—what they lacked was only the urban lifestyle.

Talia and Pito instinctively sped up, flanking Romon on either side. They had to be on guard, just in case someone tried to ambush or assassinate him at such a moment.

Truthfully, Romon wasn’t as calm as he appeared. In his mind, he’d already opened up the simulator’s blueprint, monitoring for anyone with assassinating intent.

If a red alert appeared, he’d immediately use his spellbook.

But—he might have worried too much.

As soon as the party entered the north gate, cheers erupted from the adventurers on both sides. Greetings came from the crowd.

"So that’s the Thune Lord? He’s so young!"

"Lord Thune, when will you open the barricades? We want to explore the labyrinth!"

"Lord Thune, my family relies on me hauling materials from the labyrinth for income, please, I beg you—just this once!"

"Lord Thune, my uncle works as a craftsman for Her Highness the Princess!"

Most of the voices were concerned about the labyrinth.

Romon didn’t keep them guessing, and announced, "Don’t be anxious, everyone. I’ll be establishing a new system. Come to the city square to hear the details, and please spread the word to your friends and family."

The crowd instantly erupted with excitement.

None of them could have imagined that the Thune family, notorious for their temper, would produce such a wise lord.

He showed no disregard, contempt, or abuse toward the so-called "lowly" commoners.

While this might be normal in a civilized world, in the world of nobles and commoners, it was quite extraordinary.

Half an hour later—

Almost all the residents of Stone Town had gathered in the city square, with those who couldn’t fit spilling out onto the streets.

Twenty centaur knights formed a circle, guarding Romon atop the plaza’s dais.

Romon swept his gaze over the crowd and, confirming through the calm blueprints that it was safe, began to proclaim: "From today onward, Thune Territory will establish a voluntary adventurer conscription system. Serve for three months, and you’ll receive a free one-month labyrinth pass. During your service, you’ll be paid a knight’s standard wage—the stronger you are, the higher your pay, with no upper limit."

The adventurers below stared in disbelief.

Unless someone was truly wealthy, no one else would dare issue such a decree.

This was essentially uniting all the adventurers, whose work was always unstable, and giving them a guaranteed three months of income! For those three months, whether or not they went out on adventures, they’d still receive a basic individual wage. In this way, their families’ livelihoods would be secured! And the stronger they were, the higher the pay—even with no upper limit!

But that wasn’t all. After earning their three months’ wages, they’d also receive a one-month pass to Thune’s grand labyrinth!

What was this called? This was the "three-on, one-off" system!

Work for three months, then enjoy a whole month of freedom. If you want to rest, you can stay home; if you want to venture into the labyrinth, you get a full month for free!

Not having to pay for a labyrinth pass was extremely attractive to most low-level adventurers.

Of course, true experts would always be few in number. The majority of adventurers here were, in fact, low-level ones.

"Long live Lord Thune!"

No one knew which adventurer shouted it first, but the rest quickly joined in.

"Long live Lord Thune!" "Long live Lord Thune!" "Long live Lord Thune!"

The cheers rolled over Romon like a tidal wave, almost lifting him off his feet.

After letting it go on for three minutes, Romon had no choice but to raise his hands, gesturing for the crowd to quiet down.

"I’ve just announced the first decree. Now, here is the second. All non-adventurers—farmers, herders, and the like—are welcome to head to the Great Wilderness to open up new land. Whatever land you cultivate will belong to you, but it can only be used for farming or grazing. You only need to pay the standard taxes, and any surplus grain or farm products—you sell them all to me at a guaranteed price."

The Great Wilderness absolutely must be developed. If they relied only on the tiny villages, it would take centuries to clear it all.

Encouraging a large number of Stone Town’s farmers to go out and cultivate would speed things up tremendously.

As for any competition between the old and new settlers, Romon wasn’t concerned. The Great Wilderness was so vast that even the centaurs would run themselves breathless—there was little chance ordinary people would even run into each other while pioneering new land.

And besides the bloodthirsty wolves, the wilderness was home to plenty of other wild beasts and magical creatures.

Under Romon’s control, the bloodthirsty wolf packs could be sent back into the Great Wilderness, where they would help farmers clear land and protect them from danger.

As for the farmers of Stone Town, their reaction was mostly confusion.

"The Great Wilderness up north? Isn’t that Matthews Lord’s territory?"

"You’re behind on the news! Thune Lord bought it out—it all belongs to Thune Territory now!"

"Uncle Hans, I’ll be exploring the labyrinth during the day. We can go together—I’ll walk you to the edge of the wilderness."

"Did I hear that right? The land we clear will really belong to us?"

"I heard it too! Is it true? Why is this Lord so generous? Is it some kind of trick?"

Compared to the adventurers who often visited the Thune Grand Labyrinth, ordinary folk were less informed, and for now, they didn’t know much about Romon.

Romon didn’t bother to explain these doubts. He only needed to announce his "three fires" as the new lord and let time prove the rest.

"Now for the third decree," Romon continued. "All craftsmen involved in building Princess Angelia’s royal estate will receive job security. Thune Territory guarantees you will never be unemployed—even after the royal estate is completed, I will open up new worksites for you. More than that, every craftsman over the age of sixty will receive a monthly pension, the amount depending on your years of service—the more you’ve contributed, the more you’ll receive. The new city hall will calculate the details, so I won’t elaborate here."