Ashen Dragon

Chapter 243: 169 The Era

Chapter 243: Chapter 169 The Era
 

In larger towns like Northwind Castle and Trolo City, people’s lives underwent dramatic changes.

Several factories left behind by the Mechanical God Cult constantly expanded under policy support, and magical steam machinery gradually became known to the people.

Tall chimneys rose from the ground, far surpassing the low buildings of the past, emitting thick black smoke so much so that the kingdom’s spellcasters often had to use the Wind Making Spell to disperse the haze above the city.

The former serfs, after being liberated, many of them hurried from the countryside to the towns to become the low-level workers in some large factories. They endured the heaviest work and the bad environment of polluted air, but at least they did not have to worry about the most basic issue of hunger, nor worry about dying at home on some snowy night due to a lack of coal.

The cheap, plentiful and filling mixtures made from potatoes, wheat, and other ingredients in the food factories became the first choice for many poor people to fill their stomachs.

And those so-called “luncheon meats” made from leftovers, starch, and additives also let many impoverished people taste meat for the first time. During festivals, families often gathered to open a precious can of luncheon meat and savor its rare delicious flavor.

Due to the Magic Web’s nature, the exhaust gases discharged from these machines were not as deadly as in the “Industrial Revolution” of the previous world, and they could be regularly cleared with spells. Thus, the workers’ conditions were much better than those short-lived wretches in the history of the previous world, although tiring, they were not entirely used up.

Under the kingdom’s rule, the thoughts of people from various classes differed greatly.

The former Northern Nobility longed for the good treatment and elegant life of the past. They often gathered in dimly lit taverns to talk eloquently, commenting on current events, denouncing the moral decay of modern society, and venting their dissatisfaction with the kingdom, painting the former Rackman Duchy as a perfect utopia.

They often started with, “When Duke Rackman was in power,” or “Back when my family was prosperous,” showing the demeanor of relics from a bygone era.

Although they talked a big game, as soon as the Guard or Nocturne arrived, they scattered like birds and beasts. After a few nobles were thrown into prison on charges such as “slander and defamation,” even such gatherings became rare.

The old nobility, while complaining about the hard life now, had to rely on work to barely make ends meet.

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Ordinary citizens quickly adapted to this lifestyle. Under the kingdom’s system, they found it easier to meet their basic needs and had more avenues for upward mobility. Various positions that were once noble privileges now became targets for ordinary people to strive for.

In this new era, the biggest hope of a citizen of Northwind Castle was to pass an exam and become a clerk or tax officer, or at least to try to become a manager in a factory. Some people took a different path, relying on good physical condition to participate in the examinations for the Hall of Dragon Oath or Red Scale Guard Station.

The liberated serfs were grateful. Although due to inertia, they still did not understand the meaning of freedom and were more used to obeying those so-called “noble lords.” They had already subtly changed and gradually became loyal supporters of the kingdom’s order because they could barely fill their stomachs.

Of course, as a power transformed from the Ashen Nest, a significant part of the kingdom’s ruling class was monster kin. They occupied special positions in the kingdom and despised the humans labeled as “the conquered.”

These retainers often followed the old ideas of the Stormy Ridge, believing that the weak only deserved to be humiliated by the strong.

Despite the constraints of the kingdom domain, their brutal and violent nature could not be changed. Conflicts and even gruesome bloodshed between humans and monsters were not uncommon. Although these incidents would be settled by the City Guard Army, it often seemed more like a cover-up.

Many residents felt uneasy about this situation, while the monsters were dissatisfied with being on an equal level with these frail humans.

The Tieflings, positioned between “monsters” and “humans,” often acted as mediators.

Ramp frequently felt overwhelmed by solving these racial conflicts. He handled several high-profile cases, sentencing many monsters that oppressed and harmed humans to death; but sometimes, he deliberately covered the truth or even murdered to silence.

For instance, in the “Bugbear Murder Case” that resulted in nearly ten deaths, Ramp enforced the law strictly, making an example by sending the Bugbear to the guillotine without hesitation.

In the “disappearance case of suburban beggars,” suspected to be caused by a Chimera, Ramp used a spell to cover up the truth, only giving the Chimera a symbolic punishment of house arrest.

In his view, whether retainers or humans, they were just tools to make the kingdom stronger, a part of the great blueprint of the Red Dragon. His only standard for balance was the kingdom’s highest interest. The concept of identity or empathy was insignificant to an ogre; as an archmage, he had long transcended his original identity.

Ramp’s policies and guidelines were mostly discussed with players during the beta test, refined and perfected by the kingdom’s think tank, and then implemented.

Among the thousands of beta testers, there were more than a dozen players with historical research experience and government work experience. Their thinking was notably advanced in the medieval North, even Ramp valued those players highly.

In terms of military, with the departure of the players, the updating of military equipment abruptly stopped, but this also gave the kingdom’s army enough time to drill and develop tactics around existing equipment.

Tactics involving the joint operations of the Goblin Corps and bipedal wyverns, line soldiers, artillery, and cavalry were developed through exploration.

Although most of these were still rudimentary, they already provided a crushing advantage over other contemporary Northlands forces.

The book “On War,” copied and presented by the players before they left, was treasured by the Goblin Warlord Dolores. He often had human clerks read to him during his free time and asked his top generals to ponder it. He even took the opportunity to learn many common language words from it.

Overall, society still maintained basic stability.

In these three years, regardless of how much hidden darkness or bloody history lay beneath the kingdom’s new order, there was no doubt that this emerging country was still thriving. Even in the slumber of the Red Dragon, it had already turned into a behemoth capable of shaking the entire North alone.

Just waiting for an opportunity to unleash this long-suppressed power completely.

Borrowing a line from “A Tale of Two Cities”: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

The wheels of time rolled on, and anything incompatible with the kingdom’s order would be ruthlessly crushed, leaving only ruins.