Kingdom Simulator: I, a Fallen Noble, Build a God-Level Kingdom!-Chapter 41: Signing Three Decrees

The royal manor of Princess Angelia was a massive undertaking, requiring a huge amount of labor. Part of the workforce came from the craftsmen of Stone Town, but a significant number also hailed from all corners of the land.

Those present today were only a small portion of the whole.

Before today, these craftsmen had never even heard of a pension system. Their only thought was to earn as much as possible while they were young, even if it meant wearing out their bodies, just to provide for their wives and children. Hardly anyone had ever considered what they would do when they grew old.

Now, hearing that someone in the world was looking out for the welfare of craftsmen, they all craned their necks in astonishment, left speechless for quite some time.

Romon’s gaze swept over the crowd. He had just finished announcing his three decrees—innovations that had never before been seen in either Thune Territory or Nightingale Territory, and policies he had long prepared for development. Romon was confident that these three breakthroughs would ignite the passion of the people and better unite his new subjects.

That was why he proclaimed them so publicly in the city square.

Aside from these, he had many other, more ordinary policies—ones that lacked the same excitement and would need to be implemented quietly behind the scenes.

"My speech ends here. Please disperse in an orderly fashion. From today on, you are free. Go and live your lives in peace." Romon announced from the platform, his voice carrying across the square," Romon announced from atop the platform, his voice carrying far and wide.

His words traveled across the square and down the streets, but the crowd was slow to leave. They had encountered something entirely new today, and everyone wanted to hear more from Romon.

But Romon did not continue. No matter if the crowd had dispersed or not, he had other matters to attend to.

Stone Town’s city hall had already been blasted to rubble by Orbital Magic. The town’s government officials now had nowhere to work.

So—

He turned his gaze to the Stone Town Chamber of Commerce headquarters next door.

There were plenty of empty rooms in the chamber, and Romon was certain that Chamber President Gresla wouldn’t mind if the new leadership temporarily commandeered some space.

With Talia and Nini at his side, Romon led Lornis to the entrance of the chamber headquarters.

This time—

Gresla, steadfast despite his disability, came out in person to greet them downstairs, having built himself a wheelchair. When he saw Romon approaching, he bowed deeply in respect.

"My Lord, I always believed you would take back Stone Town. I never doubted," he said.

Romon glanced up at the building and got straight to the point, "Prepare a floor with empty rooms, Gresla. For the next few months, the city officials will be working here."

Upon hearing this—

Gresla, ever the businessman, instinctively wanted to ask for rent. But seeing the look in Romon’s eyes—one that brooked no argument—he simply nodded obediently.

"I’ll have everything prepared right away. The rooms will be cleaned thoroughly for the officials."

Gresla was a smart man. A few months’ rent was nothing compared to earning the favor of the new Lord—that was true, limitless wealth.

He quickly flattered, "My Lord, I heard your speech just now—truly inspiring. I believe, from this day forward, the name of the Wise Lord of Thune will spread throughout the entire Sionnas Empire."

Romon chuckled and pointed the way forward, saying, "I have a task for you, Gresla. I want to repair the road—the official route from Stone Town to the village needs to be rebuilt. I want it wider and smoother."

He had long wanted to renovate that dirt road, but previously lacked the authority. Now that he had taken control of Stone Town, there was no reason to delay any further.

Life in the village was quite backward, and living conditions were poor. Many daily necessities had to be purchased in town. The dilapidated road made travel extremely inconvenient.

As these villagers were his earliest supporters, he needed to make things easier for them.

Additionally, once the road was improved, it would be a boon for the adventurers of Stone Town as well. Every day, large numbers of adventurers set out to explore the Thune Great Labyrinth. Romon not only planned to provide them with free tickets for a limited time, but also wanted to ensure their journeys were faster and safer.

By strongly promoting the labyrinth industry in this way, he could also help the rural economy shift—from its current small-scale farming to a gradually developing tourism economy.

Most importantly, building materials for the royal manor could be transported much more efficiently.

Although the manor appeared to belong to Princess Angelia, in truth, it would soon be part of Thune Territory.

As a princess, she would inevitably return to the capital one day. If the labyrinth could be used to rid her of the demon within, so much the better; if not, the king would surely order her back to the palace before long.

At that point, the vast royal manor would be left to Romon.

"I guarantee you will be satisfied, my Lord!" Gresla exclaimed. Though his legs were crippled, his heart was bursting with joy.

Ever since the princess announced plans to build the royal manor, he had represented the Stone Town Chamber of Commerce in recruiting a large number of craftsmen and forming a craftsmen’s guild.

Romon had just declared that craftsmen over sixty would receive pensions, and now he was immediately handing Gresla a major infrastructure project.

Regardless of how much this project might earn, it was already clear that the new Lord of Thune was eager for construction and development. This meant the craftsmen’s guild could finally get on track, and as long as Romon remained in power, the guild could expect a steady stream of profits.

Gresla was a businessman, and to him, there was little distinction between right and wrong—what made money was right, and what lost money was wrong. He didn’t know whether all this construction was truly good or bad, but as long as he understood the Lord’s basic policies, he knew where his own best interests lay.

Romon then turned to look at the mayor of Stone Town. "Mayor, I don’t need to say much about your relationship with Gresla. Take care of the arrangements for moving the offices here. I’ll be dropping by for unannounced inspections."

The former mayor of Stone Town, who had been following at the rear of the group, quickly wiped the sweat from his brow and hurried up to Romon and Gresla, nodding and bowing. "Understood, my Lord."

"Alright, you two handle the handover. I’ll go take a look elsewhere."

A competent Lord only needed to set the overall direction—the finer details were best left to his subordinates. For instance, the specifics of the pension plan Romon had just announced in his speech would be handled by them.

Leaving the chamber’s entrance, Romon and his party proceeded to inspect Stone Town.

Walking through Stone Town as a consumer was a completely different experience from walking through it as its master.

The reason he insisted on personally inspecting Stone Town was that he had noticed a very important issue.

From the moment he had entered Stone Town through the north gate earlier, he realized that even though he had already taken control of Stone Town, the numbers on his simulator had barely changed.

Logically, Stone Town’s population was much larger than the villages’, and urbanization should have meant greater economic output, productivity, and culture.

Taking over the town should have resulted in a several-fold increase in his stats.

But in reality, the numbers had barely budged—they’d only gone up slightly.

Without betraying any emotion, Romon opened the Simulator Blueprintt in his mind:

[Population: 8,121]

[Food: 64,700]

[Productivity: 240]

[Economy: 1,001]

[Culture: 45]

[Power: 920]

[Regional Affiliation: Sionnas Empire]

The Power stat had only doubled. While this was the largest increase in the history of Thune Territory’s development, it was still far less than Romon had expected.

And the ratio of population to productivity was abysmal. Back when he had only 110 people, he had 30 points of productivity. Now, even with over 8,000 more people, productivity was only 240.

What kind of ratio was that? Did it mean everyone in Stone Town was just lazy?

That was clearly impossible—his inspection had shown that while the people of Stone Town weren’t especially industrious, they did perform normal labor. There certainly weren’t lazy good-for-nothings everywhere.

In other words, the stats didn’t match reality!

The Economy stat was even more baffling. He could understand Power doubling, but as for the economy... Honestly, for a moment he’d even suspected the Stone Town Chamber of Commerce was planning to run off with all the money.

But after a day of inspection, and with the Simulator Blueprint, he was sure they weren’t. If they had tried, the bloodthirsty wolf pack at the north gate would have torn them to shreds in no time.

Not to mention the vast wealth the Stone Town Chamber of Commerce had accumulated over the years—even the combined assets of ordinary Stone Town residents shouldn’t account for such a meager economic value.

So what was going on here? Was there a problem with the simulator?

By dusk, Romon and his companions found themselves back in front of the Chamber of Commerce building. At that moment, the mayor of Stone Town hurriedly came running down the stairs.

"My Lord! Please wait a moment." The mayor clutched a stack of documents as he rushed over. "These are the decrees you announced, my Lord. Would you please review them to see if anything was missed?"

Romon took the documents and glanced through them. They were indeed written versions of his three decrees—the mayor had put his spoken words into formal writing. In the lower right corner, the decrees still lacked a signature and official seal.

"There are no omissions. You did well," Romon said.

"Then, if I may trouble you to sign them into effect, my Lord." The mayor produced a pen case and ink—clearly, he had come prepared.

At that moment, Lornis, who had been following Romon, also produced the Thune family’s ancestral seal from her pack. She had made sure to bring it along before they set out for Stone Town.

Romon signed his name—Romon Thune—and then pressed the heavy family seal onto the decrees. From this moment on, the decrees took effect under the Territorial Autonomy Law.

The mayor let out a breath, as if a great weight had been lifted. He took back the signed decrees with both hands, then asked, "My Lord, we have already abolished most of the Nightingale Territory’s laws and reinstated the older Thune family statutes, but a few of those still conflict with your three new decrees. How should we resolve this?"

"Out with the old, in with the new," Romon replied.

"Understood. Then the laws of Thune Territory are now complete," the mayor said.

Just then, as Romon multitasked, he noticed the numbers on his Simulator Blueprint beginning to rise—this time, in an erratic but unmistakable upward trend.