Returning back to the same old question, how could one win the support of the people?

  Wise old sages of the past had said that those who could win the hearts of the people would win the world. Roel had an advantage in the sense that he came from an era of information, so he could tap into the experience of those who had walked on a similar path before and learn from them.

  Winning the support of the people had become such an important topic in the modern world that Roel couldn’t be more familiar with it. So, what was the secret then?

  To serve the people, of course!

  The people had eyes to see for themselves what kind of person their fief lord was, whether he was good or evil, inept or competent. Roel was born an aristocrat in this life, so he couldn’t go with the typical sort of pretext like ‘ A leader born from the people ’. Still, he could at least be a leader that reached out to the people.

  The ‘ Cleanse the vermin off the streets ’ operation brought about a significant financial net loss. Despite confiscating the properties of the criminals, the Ascart Fiefdom had lost money overall. However, it did bring Roel popularity and support from the people. These were things that were hard to buy even with money.

  At the same time, it brought Roel’s team together too.

  He worked closely with the Finance Department and Public Relations Department in order to kickstart the operation, and this collaborative work allowed them to familiarize themselves with one another. On top of that, the success of the operation also brought them a shared sense of glory.

  This was also the reason why Dirk was so happy at the celebration banquet. He was rejoicing not just over the accomplishment of the mission but the happiness of being able to uphold justice in his hometown. It had brought him a good reputation, and it gave him a sense of pride at being able to work under Roel.

  The same applied for the other young men in the law enforcement team too. They knew they were working for a good cause, and this could be seen from the earnest respect the people treated them with. The grocers would give them some free food from time to time, and there were people who would shout out thanks to them while they were walking on the street……

  Though the one that delighted them the most was that they were receiving more confessions from women than they ever had in their entire life.

  The numerous stories about ‘heroes saving beauties’ going around were swiftly freeing the members of the law enforcement team from their singlehood!

  The most popular one of all was still their highest superior, Roel. There were many young women on the lookout for his movements as they camped out at certain locations just to catch a glimpse of him. He would also receive over a dozen confession letters every single day, and some of the officials’ daughters even offered themselves as his concubine.

  Of course, all of these offers were turned down by Roel under the pretext that Carter wasn’t around……

  Back to the present time, Roel entered the Administrative Bureau of the Ascart Fiefdom and walked into his own office. He settled down on a soft leather chair as he exhaled deeply.

  Without a doubt, the first axe of his Three Axes Plan was immensely successful, which brought about a good momentum for the following second axe and third axe.

  The second axe he had prepared was the Ascart Fiefdom Road Network Construction Proposal. It was a massive plan that spanned over several years. The goal was to build up a well-connected transport network between the cities, towns, and villages within the Ascart Fiefdom. This would lay down the foundations required for swift economic development.

  As they say, the road to fortune starts from building the road itself.

  Having come from the modern world, Roel understood just how important well-paved roads were to the prosperity of a territory. How could a territory prosper when it wasn’t even accessible?

  Well-paved roads were the prerequisite to efficient military mobilizations and commercial activities. It had been decades since the last time a road was paved and repaired in the Ascart Fiefdom, before Carter even came to power. Needless to say, the roads had already fallen into disrepair; there were a few parts that had even effectively been cut off.

  However, this was a considerably large project that required a great deal of investment. Roel’s first thought was to look for a merchant association for financing, but recalling the huge debt he owed to his System, he felt that it was best not to worsen his financial situation. He should avoid borrowing money wherever possible.

  As it happened, it was actually possible for Roel to carry out the plan by himself without external financing too. The reason for that was due to him saving on the cost of raw materials.

  【Milton’s Path of Nature In the midst of his research to harmonize civilization together with nature, Forest Spirit Milton developed equipment that can be used to produce wooden bricks that are as tough as stone. Once planted into the ground, it’ll start taking root. ‘ Wood elves are still existent in this world, it’s just that their manner of existence is different from before ’ – Milton Sessions Price: 30,000 Affection Points/unit】


  【Commemoration of the New Proxy Fief Lord A thousand years of accumulation could build up a massive wealth whereas a thousand years of neglect would only result in stagnation. Wealth and prosperity are the only ways to fend against the blades of the enemies. 50% off selected items in the store! Milton’s Path of Nature Discounted Price: 15,000 Affection Points/unit …… 】


  When Roel saw the discounted item in the event store, he immediately knew that he had to buy Milton’s Path of Nature. The other daily necessity sort of items were truly nothing compared to it.

  When it came to the construction of roads, there were two things that really hiked up the cost—manpower and materials.

  There were various types of roads that one could build. The simplest way was actually to just flatten and harden the ground, but such a way was unreliable. Grasses could grow on the flattened ground, and it was vulnerable to erosion as well. The more reliable method was to build pavements, but the formulation and transportation of the materials all cost a massive amount of money.

  However, if he were to use Milton’s Path of Nature, he could save all of this money.

  This curiously named object was actually a set of equipment that forest spirits used for their spells. By inserting wooden logs into the equipment, it would churn out wooden blocks that were far tougher than usual. On top of that, these wooden blocks lodged themselves into the ground by taking root, thus making it almost like a miraculous construction material when creating pavement through mountain forests.

  One of the key issues that Roel was worried about was the flammability of the material. No one would want to walk on a path that could turn into an inferno at a moment’s notice.

  However, after purchasing one unit and conducting a quick experiment, Roel realized that his worries were needless. As it turned out, bricks produced by Milton’s Path of Nature were water absorbent, making them even harder to set alight than asphalt. The climate around the Ascart Fiefdom happened to be humid, so there was no need to worry about it being a fire hazard.

  Another factor that had to be taken into consideration was efficiency too. Milton’s Path of Nature was a good item, but it would be meaningless if its users were to churn out the wooden blocks too slowly. So, Roel gathered a skilled craftsman to test out the tools, and the results showed that the efficiency was roughly equivalent to having the materials created and shipped over from Ascart City.

  In other words, it was a jackpot! Roel had secured a nearly zero cost, zero shipping fee material for the construction of the pavement with no decrease in the supply efficiency.

  Over the past year, Roel had gathered almost 300,000 Affection Points, so he could afford to squander it a little. He unhesitatingly purchased 9 more Milton’s Path of Nature, thus hitting the purchase limit for this item.

  With this, Roel’s second axe was roughly settled, so he turned his attention over to the third axe—public sanitation.

  Roel had lived in the old manor of the Ascart House ever since he was born, and most of his trips were taken in carriages. Therefore, he lacked a certain understanding of the current state of the Ascart Fiefdom. That was why the first thing he did as the proxy fief lord was go on an inspection, and it didn’t take him long to notice a major problem.

  The Ascart Fiefdom had modeled its sewage system after Holy Capital Loren, so there was not much trouble in that regard, but when it came to the disposal of trash, there was much left to be desired.

  The fiefdom tended to bury its garbage, which was indeed better than how some countries in his previous life chose to dump their garbage into rivers and pollute the nearby environment. However, burying garbage was not a foolproof solution. When the hot and humid summer arrived, the stench of decomposing garbage underground would fill the area. On top of that, it was possible for poisonous substances to flow through the soil and contaminate the nearby water sources too.

  Other than that, household habits for handling garbage also posed a problem. Inside most cities, households tended to dispose of their garbage only once a week out of convenience. There was no such thing as trash bags in this world, so people tended to leave the garbage heaped out of the way in a corner. Needless to say, this was not advisable as the bacteria that bred in decomposing garbage was a threat to the safety of the populace.

  In years where rainfall was higher than usual, the bacteria from these garbage heaps could flow into households in the form of flash floods. In fact, Ascart City even had a small-scale plague due to that on one occasion.

  The Sia Continent was still in a stage where most production processes were human-driven, so the health of the population was extremely important to maintaining labor force productivity. Due to that, the outbreak of a plague would have dire financial consequences on a fief, possibly even resulting in its bankruptcy.

  It was fortunate that nothing serious appeared to have happened to the Ascart Fiefdom, but it would be foolish to continue entrusting it to luck.

  So, Roel decided to change the practice of ‘burying the garbage’ into ‘burning the garbage’. It was more convenient in the sense that there was no need to dig holes, and it was extremely efficient too. Through such a practice, they would be able to dispose of garbage once every three days and significantly improve sanitation in cities all across the territory.

  Of course, it was not as if no one had ever thought of burning garbage before. However, it was viewed to be an idea that was good in theory but infeasible in practice, and the reason for that was the cost.

  Burning garbage was not as simple as lighting it up with a torch and waiting for it to disappear into ashes. A lot of garbage was actually wet and hard to light up, which meant that they needed oil to facilitate the burning process. However, it was extravagant to waste expensive oil on burning garbage when it could be used for so many other things.

  Faced with such a problem, Roel immediately looked through his System’s Affection Points Exchange Shop, and he swiftly spotted something that could be used for it.

  【Auckser’s Furnace Walking along the streets of Volcano City Auckser, one would find massive furnaces installed with the mountain rocks of the Eternal Volcano. Dwarven master craftsmen would be found using these furnaces to show off their superior smithing skills. Be warned though, for those lacking in skill, the high temperature in these furnaces can easily reduce everything to ash within tens of seconds. Price: 200,000 Affection Points】


  【Commemoration of the New Proxy Fief Lord …… Auckser’s Furnace Price: 100,000 Affection Points】


  Roel was a little hesitant when he first saw the price. It was too expensive, and it seemed to be used for purposes other than disposing trash. However, after much contemplation, he still decided to buy it anyway. The dwarven master craftsmen were no longer around, and none of the human blacksmiths had the ability to forge a sword within tens of seconds. No one could really use the true prowess of the furnace anyway, so there should be no issue with him using it to dispose of trash.

  Once again, Roel attributed the presence of Auckser’s Furnace to the legendary vault of the Ascart House, claiming that it was one of the treasures left behind by his ancestors. He assigned several soldiers to constantly stand guard by the furnace’s side to avoid any problems from occurring.

  The furnace was massive in size, and its firepower was astounding. By constructing a few additional components and installing them on the furnace, they were able to swiftly turn it into a formidable incinerator. Be it animal bones or unusable farming equipment, all it took was moments for all of them to turn into ashes. Of course, this meant that they had to be fast when clearing the ashes inside too, or else the tool would be reduced to ashes too.

  In any case, three days’ worth of garbage for the entire fiefdom took only half a day to completely clear out, thus greatly improving the sanitation in cities. The chances of individuals falling ill or a widespread plague occurring had been greatly reduced, and this would doubtlessly contribute greatly to the productivity of the Ascart Fiefdom for a long time to come.

  With this, Roel’s Three Axes Plan was set in place. The ‘ Cleanse the vermin off the streets ’ operation had won the people’s heart, bringing the prestige of the Ascart House to greater heights. The construction of roads was a long-term project, so it would take years before the effects started to show. As for the improvement of public sanitation, it was a resounding success too. Aside from the less apparent benefits, just the disappearance of the stench permeating the streets of decomposing garbage had greatly improved the people’s standard of living.

  Through his measures, Roel had won widespread recognition. The commoners, who had never enjoyed the benefits of wise governance under the leadership of previous generations of fief lords, were extremely grateful to Roel, causing his popularity to soar swiftly.

  The goal of the Three Axes Plan was to build a strong foundation for the development of the fiefdom. If one were to attempt to build a castle without laying the base down properly, many problems were bound to occur along the way.

  Roel felt that this was important for removing his death flags too. Reducing the hostility that the female capture targets carried toward him was important, but the decline of the Ascart Fiefdom was also a huge death flag. It had been hinted by the System many times before, and in fact, it was arguably the trigger to his fall into depravity.

  That was why he went all out this time around. He was determined to protect his family’s fiefdom properly and develop it well……

  I shall earn enough money to repay my 500,000 gold coin debt to the System and live my life peacefully and blissfully!

  With such thoughts in mind, Roel threw himself back into his work, and time swiftly ticked by.