Chapter 514: The Relationship between the Food Contest and the Fate of the Empire
The familiar yet slightly unfamiliar voice and the huge yet restrained magic power made Kira instantly realize who was speaking.
There was no doubt that the cheap sister whom he had met not long ago... maybe a while ago... was standing behind him at this moment.
You don't need to look to know that she must have a faint smile on her face, she must be followed by two little girls who don't need to eat, and her figure must still be so perfect.
In just a moment, Kira simulated more than a dozen possible developments in his mind. At the same time, he stood up and turned around very naturally, and asked, "Sister Irene, why are you here?"
After turning around, I saw Irene, Heine and Juliet standing behind me quietly like a single mother with two children, looking at me with inexplicable eyes.
Kira didn't have time to think about why Irene suddenly appeared here. He decisively put on a poker face and greeted her with a smile: "You came at the right time. I am selecting restaurants for the 'Food Contest' in a few days. The dishes have just been served. You can sit down and eat together!"
This seemingly simple sentence actually hides Kira's multiple layers of calculations.
The familiar tone can unconsciously bring two people closer together;
The reason why you greet people with a smile is that Kira firmly believes that everyone is a decent person, and a decent person will not hit someone who smiles at you, unless it is a malicious smile such as a mocking smile or an evil smile;
He said that he was reviewing restaurants to tell Irene that he was not lazy or slacking off, but was still busy with work when others were off work, proving that he had been working diligently and conscientiously during this period of time and had not let Irene down, so she should not listen to the slander of Heine, the brainless little girl;
Finally, I invited Irene to sit down and eat with me so that she could share the responsibility of eating a free meal with me...
Wait ! Something seems wrong?
Kira was stunned for half a second, and suddenly remembered something . Irene couldn't taste the food she ate! Then, by inviting her to have dinner together, wouldn't that be stepping into her minefield? ! !
Thinking of this, Kira's face turned pale instantly.
It's over!!
"What then..."
Just when Kira was about to speak up to make amends, Irene spoke up: "Forget about eating. I had already eaten before I came here."
"Really? Then I won't force you..." Kira was as if he had been granted amnesty. "I wonder what Lady Irene wants to talk to me about?"
"snort!"
A light cold snort came from the waitress behind Irene, Kira's secretary these days, Heine.
The girl looked at Kira as if she was looking at a sinister and cunning scum who said one thing in front of others and another behind their backs.
The two hours of time together every day gave Kira a superficial understanding of this brainless girl, and he quickly understood what she wanted to say: "You call me Lady Irene now? Didn't you arrogantly use 'Sister Irene' to suppress me before? "
Kira rolled his eyes, and said everything without saying anything: "I'm at work, so now is working time, of course I have to use a more formal address! Otherwise, won't others think I got in through the back door?"
Heine looked puzzled: This guy... doesn't he know that the people in this town have long believed that he got in through the backdoor?
The exchange between the two lasted only a breath, but Irene still noticed it. However, she didn't care, she just stepped forward and sat down opposite Kira.
"I heard you're going to hold a 'food contest'?"
"Yes!"
"Why?"
"To promote the economic development of the town!"
Kira had prepared a speech long ago, and blurted out, "You also saw the report a few days ago. The town next door held a 'big eater competition' not long ago. This event was not only reported in the newspapers, but also remained a hot spot in the empire for a long time. It even used the gimmick of 'mysterious woman' to attract a large number of tourists, promoting the local tourism industry."
“I think we can learn from this and hold a similar event in our city to increase tax revenue!”
Why raise taxes? I don't need money...
Irene hesitated for two seconds, frowned her pretty eyebrows, and said softly: "Is this necessary?"
"Of course we need it, Lady Irene!" Kira felt that his chance to show off had come. "I have carefully observed that the balance in our town's treasury is seriously insufficient. This may be related to the fact that the empire has focused on magic and military in recent decades."
"Because the empire did not provide enough funding, the magic school in the town is quite rudimentary. Both the teacher resources and teaching resources are seriously insufficient. Many children of the new generation do not have the opportunity to learn magic. This is undoubtedly a great pity!"
"For a magic military empire like the Albares Empire, a steady supply of wizards is an important cornerstone of the empire's strength. Once the cornerstone is unstable, the empire will collapse."
"I know that the Emperor and the Twelve Shields are both very powerful wizards, and each of them can easily conquer a small country. But without the grassroots soldiers, even the most powerful generals are just commanders without troops. Similarly, if the Empire does not have grassroots wizards, it will only be a larger magic guild."
"This hidden danger may not be visible for the time being, but in a few decades, the empire's high-level wizards will be in a state of shortage! And by that time, it will take at least 50 years to deal with it and restore the country's strength!"
The Albares Empire has only been around for a hundred years, so I think it should be enough to fool people by saying it's only been around for fifty years...
Kira paused for a moment, took a big sip of wine, looked at Irene who was silent and watching him quietly, and continued: "But we can take precautions now. As long as we hold a small event like the 'Food Contest', we can attract tourists to spend money, thereby increasing the town's economic income. The next step is to improve the magic school in the town, teach the next generation of children magic, increase the number of imperial soldiers, and successfully extend the existence of the Albares Empire! ”
Finally finished! Are you all stunned? !
I am a genius to be able to elevate the hosting of a competition to such a high level! !
Kira felt smug inside and started drinking to quench his thirst.
The fact was just as Kira had thought. His passionate speech stunned Irene and the two followers behind her. They blinked at Kira who looked calm, as if they saw something strange.
Heine, the black-clad girl standing behind Irene, opened her eyes wide, her face full of disbelief. She could only be described as shocked: "Who is this person? Is he still the loser who only works less than two hours a day and uses the excuses of drinking water and going to the toilet to slack off during that time? Why can he say so many outrageous but seemingly logical words? Is it really like what Irene said, that he is not a traveling merchant, but a manzai narrator?"
Irene is not a naive person. She was once the queen of a country and is much more experienced in political means than Jellal and most of the Twelve Shields. So after listening to Kira's speculation, she could immediately analyze how likely Kira's idea is to appear in the future.
The final conclusion is...Kira is just farting!!
The whole process seems to be reasonable, but the Albares Empire has its own national conditions. The hidden dangers Kira mentioned... make some sense and are likely to happen, but for the rulers of the empire, the decline of national strength is not a big deal!
Zeref originally established the Albares Empire to kill time. In his view, it was just a game of chess, and even the Twelve Shields were just chess pieces. He didn't care about the lives of his people or the survival of the empire.
The empire is destroyed? Rebuild it!
People die? Then regenerate!
Don't know magic? Then learn it!
It takes fifty years to restore the country's strength? Then play with it for another fifty years, what's the big deal!
Furthermore, the Albares Empire is likely to launch a "holy war" to exterminate humanity in the future, and the time from now to the launch of this "holy war" will not exceed fifty years.
Because even for Jellal, starting a war requires usable "chess pieces", and the two most useful chess pieces he has obtained over the years are Auguste and Irene.
Not to mention Irene, Augustus is already over 80 years old and has very little time left to live, so Jellal will definitely start a war before Augustus dies.
After the war, humanity has perished (the timeline is restarted), and it no longer matters what life would have been like afterwards.
