Release That Witch

Barov returned to his office in the City Hall and immediately bolted the door.     

[My goodness.] He felt the God's Stone of Retaliation on his chest. [His Highness has truly been possessed by a demon.] He had vaguely guessed this previously but was almost certain now—the person whom he talked to was definitely not the fourth Prince.     

It was still understandable that there was a dramatic change in his personality and way of doing things, but not to he suddenly comprehending things he had never come into contact with, and acquiring knowledge he had never heard about. This only happened in fairy tales, and even then, the story would always be about a deity who possessed a common people and led humanity out of their predicament. Since when did demons do the same thing?     

Barov would not have felt surprised had Roland Wimbledon copied the methods of managing his territory from King's City, as difficult as that would have been nevertheless. Even if the fourth Prince was known to be ignorant and incompetent, he could easily have faked his personality, and it was possible that someone had secretly taught him how to govern a city or even a country.     

However, the assistant minister had never heard of the ideas and plans that the prince spoke of. Having served some 20 years in the City Hall, including as the treasurer's assistant, he was highly knowledgeable about the structure and operation of the City Hall. Usually, the ministers took charge of their respective functions and did not care about each other's business, saving for a few private agreements.     

Whenever the king issued a decree, the ministers would assign work to their subordinates. Every minister had his own influence and style of doing things. Take for example Steelheart Knight, who was in charge of defending King's City in Graycastle. He had hundreds of patrolmen and mercenaries at his disposal, and also had some influence in the underground world of the city. His style of doing things was aggressive and reckless. Any criminal eyed by him, even if it was a noble, would find it difficult to remain in the city. They would either have to flee or wait to be imprisoned.     

This applied not just to King's City, but every other city as well.     

Therefore, to become the subordinate of a lord or the king, one had to first be a noble from an important family and line of work.     

If one did not have enough money and food to recruit men, it would not be possible to get many things done. Conversely, the more men that one had, the more valued he would be by his superior—everyone understood the principle that many hands make light work.     

However, the prince's new way of doing things completely subverted Barov's beliefs. One new rule was that everyone, including ministers and their subordinates, would be recruited and paid by the City Hall. This implied that whenever a minister was absent, he could easily be replaced, and someone from below could be directly promoted.     

This was a novel system altogether. Barov was certain that the prince wanted to create a political system that was entirely different from the upper levels of Kingdom of Graycastle.     

Some people might think that this was simply Roland's fantasy or the bumptiousness of a layman. Instead, the assistant minister did not think so. He picked up a quill and recorded His Highness' requests on paper.     

As he read through the plans, he realized that they were all interlinked and consistent, and took into consideration every small detail.     

The first thing to do was to take care of the people's "eating, drinking and sh*tting".     

Barov naturally understood that the greater the control over the people, the faster the decrees ordered by the Lord would be carried out. However, this significantly increased the number of supervisors needed. Where was he going to find so many literate people? Furthermore, not many of the Lord's subordinates would be willing to see funds diverted to pay for the increased amount of salaries, which was sure to be a huge burden.     

Barov then read the other two requests, which were respectively to recruit commoners into the City Hall, and to make education available to everyone.     

He swept through these two lines of writing with his fingers, and his heart shuddered unbearably.     

If His Highness successfully realizes these plans, how would Border Town be like?     

Anyone would be able to read and write, and thus when the city hall wanted to expand, it could easily find a large number of suitable people. Conversely, this would promote the universalization of education—it would become widely known that those who received education would have the opportunity to enter the City Hall, secure a well-paying job, and increase their social status. But Barov was afraid that in less than two years, everyone would actively request an education, or, if they were incapable themselves, they would want to send their children to school.     

Coupled with the aforementioned plan for the City Hall to take care of all salaries—which meant that Roland would be paying, the commoners who entered the City Hall would not need to fork out a single bronze royal to recruit their own men. This was tantamount to eradicating the extant restriction that only nobles who had sufficient capital could serve as officials.     

Without a doubt, only a demon could have conceived such a revolutionary system.     

Barov inhaled deeply and clutched the God's Stone of Retaliation in his hand. He only had one question left: do kindhearted demons exist?     

He would be the first to disagree with any suggestion that Roland was a follower of evil.     

In his eyes, the fourth Prince's deeds were on par with that of a noble king. In fact, even in the tales of the legendary kings in the history books, there was none who cared as much as Roland about the life and death of his subjects. He had remained behind to guard Border Town together with his people and spent large sums of money to purchase grains, so that everyone could get through the Months of Demons safely; introduced monstrous technology and equipment to develop the town; and somehow persuaded witches, who were considered to be the Devil's minions, to use their abilities to improve the lives of the people.     

Barov suddenly thought that if Roland ever became the king of Graycastle, it would not necessarily be a bad thing.     

He recalled his father's teachings: "Don't say what you shouldn't say, and don't ask what you shouldn't ask." He decided that it was the best to keep his discovery to himself for the moment. If Roland was indeed a demon, he would have to deal with the church sooner or later. When they discovered something wrong with him, Barov could then emerge as a divulger and witness who hid within the demon's camp.     

He rang a bell and summoned in the City Hall's newcomer, Sirius Daly.     

Compared to the stupid and haughty knights, this young fellow from the Wolf Family could be regarded as outstanding. Although he retained some of the arrogance of a knight, he was at least willing to listen to Barov's instructions.     

"Teacher, what's the matter?" Sirius bowed as he entered the room.     

"His Highness wants to set up a new ministry to be in charge of crop harvest and supervision. Two apprentices will be needed to help with the paperwork." Barov repeated Roland's request. "In addition, you'll need to go to the City Hall's archives to find 10 people who meet the requirements, and then pick out four of them. Although they're commoners, His Highness insists on bringing them into the City Hall. Anyone of them who performs outstandingly may even become the Chief Supervisor of the Ministry of Agriculture. Aye..." He sighed and continued, "You'll follow them to record the results. When the spring harvest is completed, I'll transfer you back here."     

"Teacher, I'll only need to pick out two people." Sirius raised his chest and proclaimed. "I'm also very experienced in this area."     

"You?" Barov seemed surprised.     

"Yes! Before I became a knight, I used to help my father to manage the farm. I know a lot about wheat cultivation." Sirius paused. "However, when His Highness asked me whether I had other proficiencies, I didn't mention this... because I was worried that he would assign me to the farms to work with the serfs."     

Barov quietly felt happy. If Sirius was to be believed, he was knowledgeable about farming while also educated. Even if commoners joined the Ministry of Agriculture, he would undoubtedly be the clear choice to become the chief supervisor. As things were at present, Sirius was on Barov's side, and therefore if he became the chief supervisor, Barov would have some influence on the ministry as well.     

"Great." He framed these considerations into a promise of benefits, and nagged at Sirius. "Do your job properly. Who knows, you may even climb to a higher position than ever before."     

After Sirius departed, Barov leaned back on his chair and exhaled lightly.     

Since he now knew that Roland was a demon, he believed that he had to hold on to power tighter than ever before. As the legends often depicted, demons were always highly appreciative of ambitious people. And to Barov, power, whether conferred by the king or by a demon, was equally sweet.