This was the idea Duanmu Huai gave to King Gandhi.
Although King Gandhi's control over the civil officials was weak, fortunately, the military was still firmly in his grasp. And the reason King Gandhi first mentioned the demon invasion of Lias during the morning assembly was precisely to lay the groundwork for the proposals that followed, transforming them into a "military mission."
A military mission and a political mission were completely different things, and the concern King Gandhi raised did indeed exist. Under such circumstances, constructing a satellite fortress city deep in the interior, echoing the royal capital from afar, truly could be considered an extremely urgent military task.
One of the reasons Lias had suffered so badly back then was because most of its army had been stationed at the borders. No one had ever imagined that the enemy would blossom right in the middle, resulting in Princess Lia having nowhere to run when the Helman soldiers stormed in—she could only raise her hands and surrender.
After all, who would have thought something like that could happen?
And once the construction of a fortress city was framed as a military mission, it could no longer be delayed by political maneuvering.
It was like frontline troops asking the rear for supplies—if you dared say no, you'd be dragged out and executed on the spot.
Thus, when Finance Director Zruchi faced this situation, it became a case of "pay whether you want to or not." This was effectively King Gandhi directly reclaiming most of the financial authority from Zruchi's hands—after all, the cost of constructing a fortress city was astronomical, enough to consume a massive portion of the national treasury. And as long as these funds were allocated and directed by King Gandhi under the banner of a "military mission," the remaining money Zruchi controlled would no longer have any real influence.
That was why King Gandhi specifically said "dispatch troops to supervise"—it also carried the meaning of keeping an eye on Zruchi to prevent him from playing any tricks.
You fat bastard dare delay military funds? Those legion generals won't care about your excuses or hardships—they'll chop you down on the spot!
Besides that, another purpose of dispatching troops to supervise was to keep an eye on the second-tier citizens.
As the saying goes, harsh environments breed unruly people; only when people are well-fed do they understand honor and shame; the pitiful often have something hateful about them. Second-tier citizens were indeed pitiable for being oppressed, but if one assumed that meant they were all good people, that would truly be delusional. There were plenty of hooligans and thugs in the second-tier districts as well. Without military supervision, it would be a miracle if these people could do proper work!
"This…"
Everyone present was an old fox. With a moment's thought, they immediately understood King Gandhi's intent. Soon, Justice Director Istora spoke up.
"Your Majesty, for such an important construction project, do you truly intend to let those foolish and lowly second-tier citizens carry it out?"
"You should all be well aware of the workload involved in building a fortress city. Relying solely on first-tier citizens is simply not enough."
"We could slow it down and extend it by a few years…"
"Hm?"
At this, King Gandhi's eyes widened as he stared at Istora.
"Delay it for a few years and wait for the demons to attack, is that it?"
"N-no, of course not!"
Even Istora didn't dare continue down that line. For countries bordering the demon race like Helman and Seth, opposing the demons was "political correctness." Anyone who dared oppose that was practically courting death.
Moreover, these officials knew that although they differed politically from King Gandhi, they had always relied on their power to openly confront him. They hadn't expected King Gandhi to bring up the incident in Lias as a pretext this time, nor to use resistance against the demon race as the justification for building a new fortress city. The demon invasion of Lias had ended less than a year ago—people across all nations still remembered it vividly!
If they dared oppose this, even setting aside the second-tier citizens, the first-tier citizens alone would likely verbally tear them apart!
Faced with King Gandhi's reasoning, everyone fell silent.
Building a fortress city was a military mission and had to be completed quickly. Under these circumstances, first-tier citizens alone were obviously insufficient, so conscripting second-tier citizens became perfectly reasonable. After all, even if second-tier citizens couldn't use magic, they had numbers on their side.
You couldn't build a fortress city without manpower!
And first-tier citizens were already mostly tied to their posts and responsibilities—it was impossible to spare many of them.
So… conscripting second-tier citizens was entirely logical. There was no way to oppose it.
"Not only that."
King Gandhi paused here and then looked around at everyone.
"I also plan to issue an order: any second-tier citizens who perform outstandingly during the construction may be promoted to first-tier citizens and allowed to reside in the fortress city!"
"What?!"
This time, the officials below couldn't hold back.
"Your Majesty, this absolutely cannot be allowed!"
Soon, another person hurriedly spoke up.
"If this happens, what about those who studied desperately just to become first-tier citizens? They—"
"If they are willing to go to the fortress city and carry bricks to build it, I am equally willing to reward them. The fortress city is the most important construction project of my reign. Exceptional circumstances warrant exceptional measures. No one is permitted to oppose this!"
With a single sentence, King Gandhi shut everyone down, leaving them unable to argue further.
"This… but…"
Although some still wanted to say something, after thinking it over, they remained silent. Allowing second-tier citizens to become first-tier citizens in this way did indeed make them uncomfortable. However, King Gandhi had also said that these first-tier citizens would live only in the fortress city—in other words, they would have nothing to do with them for the rest of their lives. Since that was the case, they didn't care too much.
At most, they would just raise the standards a bit.
"Chizuko, I'll leave this matter to you to handle."
Seeing that no one below spoke further, King Gandhi decisively made his decision, cutting through the matter cleanly. After all, he was the king. Although the idea came from Duanmu Huai, King Gandhi used methods of his own to push it through quickly. Taking advantage of the chaos among the high officials, he first threw out the massive plan of the fortress city to completely disrupt their thinking, then followed up by proposing conscripting second-tier citizens for construction and promoting outstanding ones to first-tier status.
Although these officials were all old schemers, being hit with so much information in such a short time left them unable to react. And since their leaders, Radon and Zruchi, were already at odds over Saham's death and lacked unified opinions, King Gandhi didn't give them any more time and swiftly finalized the matter.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Chizuko had long coordinated with King Gandhi and naturally wouldn't give the officials any breathing room. Almost the instant King Gandhi finished speaking, she nodded, without even a second's delay.
Not even pretending anymore, are you?
"Alright, spread the news."
Seeing everyone else lower their heads in silence, King Gandhi finally relaxed internally. Of course, his expression didn't change at all as he quickly issued the order.
Soon, King Gandhi's decree spread—and it shocked the entire Kingdom of Seth!
First-tier citizens were indeed shocked, but upon careful thought, abandoning their superior living conditions to go build a city in a harsh, barren land… they certainly didn't want to go. So their opposition wasn't particularly strong.
After all, someone had to do the dirty and exhausting work. If they didn't want to do it, letting second-tier citizens do it was fine. And even if second-tier citizens succeeded, at worst they'd just become equals—they wouldn't be able to oppress them.
Thus, most first-tier citizens didn't care much. Some were furious and ranted angrily, but this wasn't a political task—it was a military project. They didn't dare resist. Other than grumbling in private, there was nothing they could do.
This was also part of Duanmu Huai's plan. It was like job assignments after university graduation—everyone knew that supporting border regions or poverty alleviation would earn political credit later. But how many people were actually willing to endure hardship?
Wouldn't most rather stay in the city and find a 007 job?
Besides that, choosing second-tier citizens also had objective reasons. As mentioned before, second-tier citizens didn't need to work and lived solely on relief rations. Aside from worrying about being bullied by first-tier citizens, they basically had nothing to do.
But human energy always needs an outlet—if it isn't released, something will go wrong!
So these idle second-tier citizens either joined resistance organizations, became bandits and thieves, or bullied others within their own districts.
Now, with a job, they finally had a place to vent their energy—at the very least, it was better than causing trouble everywhere.
Building a fortress city was little more than idle chatter for first-tier citizens, but among second-tier citizens, it caused a massive upheaval!
The state was recruiting second-tier citizens to build a fortress city. Outstanding performers could even be promoted to first-tier citizens and live in the fortress city!
At this moment, almost all second-tier citizens across the nation boiled over with excitement!
Previously, the only way to become a first-tier citizen was to become a mage. So after failing the exams, second-tier citizens simply lay flat—after all, they couldn't use magic. This was how their lives would be.
But now, upon hearing this news, these second-tier citizens were ecstatic!
Indeed, they might not be able to become mages or use magic.
But who can't carry bricks?!
Anyone with hands and feet can do it, right?!
And outstanding performers could become first-tier citizens and even live in the fortress city?
Then this city wasn't being built for those arrogant first-tier citizens—it was being built for them!
Thus, second-tier citizens who had once lain flat now surged with excitement, flooding toward the registration sites!
In just one day, tens of thousands signed up!
"Th-this… this is way too terrifying…"
Sitting in her wheelchair and looking at the dense sea of people in the distance, even Ulureze was stunned.
This, too, was part of Duanmu Huai's plan. Since second-tier citizens were being absorbed, there naturally needed to be a respected figure to lead them. First-tier citizens were unsuitable, and Ulureze was just right. Although the Ice Flame organization she painstakingly built had done some extreme things, at the very least, second-tier citizens throughout Seth held Ulureze and Ice Flame in high regard. So Duanmu Huai simply accepted her surrender.
He had her act as the representative of second-tier citizens, with Kagura Kaoru assisting at her side, to carry out the fortress city construction project.
To be honest, when Kaoru revealed to Ulureze that she was King Gandhi's trusted aide and wanted to recruit her, Ulureze was completely stunned. But after hearing Duanmu Huai explain the plan, Ulureze realized that this truly was a way for second-tier citizens to escape their current predicament!
In the end, she accepted the amnesty.
She just hadn't expected so many people to show up!
Fortunately, Duanmu Huai had long anticipated such a situation and had King Gandhi dispatch troops to maintain order—otherwise, things would have descended into chaos long ago!
"Alright, I'll leave things here to you."
Duanmu Huai patted Ulureze on the shoulder. With Kaoru assisting and Ulureze's prestige, there likely wouldn't be any major issues.
"Eh? Then what about you, sir?"
"I'm going back to sleep."
I've already given the idea. Now it's your turn to do the actual work.
After all, Inquisitors had always operated like this—they handled judgment and purification, then patted their asses and left. As for cleanup and aftermath, that was the planetary governor's job.
What does that have to do with us?
(End of Chapter)