Chapter 365: Mass Recruitment (1/2)

Unsurprisingly, Argentum's response to that person's question left almost everyone in the audience confused. Even Delmann wasn't spared from this confusion, though it did not take long for him to understand what Argentum was trying to imply. Of course, that wasn't the case for the remaining majority, prompting Argentum to let out a light sigh as he thought to himself, 'We definitely need an academy built in this town.'

Thinking that he wouldn't play mind games with the townspeople anymore until they at least had a decent level of education, he then answered the person's question in a way that most people would understand. Naturally, he would build up to that answer, going silent for a bit as he asked the person a question.

”Well, I'm sure a great portion of you didn't understand what I meant by that. So, here's a question instead. Before Delmann became the leader of Verdant Breeze Town, when Irren became the leader of this town, what did he do?”

In less than an instant, a great majority of the people could not help but frown as they remembered the laws Irren had passed throughout his rule. Of course, all of the laws he passed did not reach the level of physical abuse to its citizens, but it did affect the livelihood of a great portion of them as it restricted them on one thing they needed the most.

Money.

”To answer Sir Argentum's query, Irren had passed a law in the past that all of the citizens of Verdant Breeze Town would have to pay him a silver coin every week in order for them to continue living in this town.” Surprisingly, Delmann was the one to answer Argentum's question, knowing very well how this silver coin affected the livelihood of a lot of people he was good friends with. He then continued, ”Although a silver coin may not be much in the grand scheme of things, to us in Verdant Breeze Town, a silver coin is more than enough for us to last for half a week.”

”Did he pass any other laws like that?” Argentum could not help but ask, a light frown on his face as he could not help but think how greedy Irren was. Sure, he might have killed the guy in retaliation for wanting to kill him and Blob in the past, but now that he was learning more and more about the guy, he could not help but think that Irren deserved to be killed.

”Other than the weekly payment, we would also have to pay a monthly fee and a yearly fee to live in this town,” one of the townspeople answered Argentum this time. This person looked more scholarly compared to the other people surrounding him, which Argentum took note of.

”If I remember correctly, he called it something along the lines of residential tax as this payment would be used to stimulate the development of the town,” the person continued, though his expression could not help but turn into that of anger as he said soon after, ”But during the time I've lived here under his rule, I have not seen any positive change to this town at all! The only change I could see was misery and despair amongst its people!”

Seeing how he had gotten angry all of a sudden with everyone looking at him, the person let out a light cough as he hastily tried to compose himself. Nevertheless, his next words were still laced with a hint of anger as he looked at Argentum and said, ”That's why, if you're going to become our leader and rule us like Irren did. Let me be the first one to say that we'll revolt without hesitation.”

After hearing the person's words, Argentum went silent for a bit as he pondered over his next course of action. Judging from the words the person said, he could definitely say that this was a man who loved this town very much, just like Delmann. With that in mind, a plan soon formed as he looked at the man with a smile and asked, ”Alright, I'll keep that in mind. But let me ask one thing first. What's your name?”

The scholarly person did not expect Argentum to ask for his name all of a sudden, making him freeze up a bit in the process. Nevertheless, the person maintained his composure as he replied, ”It would be Valstra, uh…Sir Argentum.”

”Valstra, huh. What a nice name,” Argentum said with a chuckle not long after before his expression instantly turned solemn as he asked Valstra soon after, ”Say, Valstra. From the care you show for the town's citizens, as well as the knowledge you've showed about the town, how about you become my secretary? I do need someone to take care of the town's logistics after all.”

Valstra, who was not expecting such an offer to come up, was left at a loss for words for a bit, though the people around him instantly spurred him to accept the offer. Unsurprisingly, with Valstra's words from a while, the people encouraged him to take up the offer so that they would have control over their leader that might possibly be the second coming of Irren. And so, with a mix of peer pressure and his own contemplation, Valstra then looked at Argentum and answered with a tone of gratitude, ”Many thanks to Sir Argentum for making me the town's secretary, then.”

Argentum smiled in response as he said, ”For now, your task is to record all of the words I'll be saying from now on. Make sure to write down every word, okay?”

Although he was unsure why Argentum would say that, Valstra nodded as he responded, ”I'll try my best to take a note of everything.”

Nodding in response to Valstra's words, Argentum then took in a deep breath as he decided to first clear up everyone's thoughts of him being the second coming of Irren. With that in mind, he said, ”Alright. First of all, I would like to tell everyone that I wouldn't be passing any harsh laws like Irren. Instead, I'll be passing laws that would help out its citizens.”

With a chuckle, he then said, ”Since I'm now officially the leader, even if you guys say otherwise, let me pass my first law.”

Hearing that, the townspeople instantly had frowns on their faces, wanting to oust Argentum out of his position. Though, as Argentum continued to talk, the frowns they had were hastily replaced with…shock?

”Hmm…let's call this law the Livelihood Incentivization Law,” Argentum said. ”This law states that, starting from tomorrow, everyone would be able to receive 10 silver coins from the town every week until one year has passed. This law shall apply to every individual, with children also being counted under this law.”

”Of course, since I don't want anyone to use this money for anything other than the betterment of your lives, I'll have to create a system that would make sure the money wouldn't be wasted on trifling pleasures,” he continued, noticing that the townspeople were left at a loss for words.

Naturally, Argentum knew what was going on through their minds at the moment, which was immense shock from the words they were hearing. They never had such a generous leader lead their town before, so it was natural that the townspeople would be speechless once he started to list out his plans.