Can't I develop my own character?

"You kid is the mayor, but you're still willing to worry about things like this."

"It has nothing to do with my position. I've always had the idea. I believe it's not just me, but most people just don't have the ability to do it." Ryan said, "Captain, didn't you say that? Do what you can do. Now that I can take charge of this matter, I'll take charge."

"Okay, I'll take care of it then. I'll tell you tomorrow when I'm done."

"Ah."

After handing the matter over to his old leader, Ryan washed up and rested.

'Ina' is in Berman City and will be transferred here tomorrow after things are settled.

...

the next day.

Not long after Ryan arrived at the office, he received a call from Jonathan.

The police raided the orphanage early this morning. Jonathan went there in person and used his keen insight as a sheriff for more than ten years to easily uncover the secret here - this orphanage is dedicated to raising children and then giving them to the nobles and wealthy businessmen in Berman City.

The owner behind the orphanage is Congressman Rhodes. According to Jonathan's investigation, that guy controls the largest share of the slave trade in the entire Berman City and specializes in this kind of human trafficking.

However, there were not always slaves that met the requirements, especially children, and those who had been displaced during the war could not be considered slaves, so he came up with the idea of ​​an orphanage.

Not only here, but all the orphanages in Berman City belong to Rhodes.

"Damn it! I knew that bastard wasn't a good person, but I didn't expect him to be such a beast!" Jonathan cursed on the other end of the phone. "Don't worry, no one here can escape. I'll take them all back for a thorough interrogation, and then I'll send that fellow Rod to jail!"

"Yes, I visited you, but you let the one named Ina go and arrest the others."

"Yina? How do you know her?"

"How else do you think I know about the orphanage?"

"Oh, that's right. I was wondering why that woman wasn't panicking at all. It seems like she's yours. Okay, I'll let her go now. I'll tell you later if there's anything else."

Jonathan hung up the phone, feeling something was wrong.

...Isn't it that he's Ryan's boss? Why is he always reporting to Ryan now?

Forget it, don't worry about these little things.

Jonathan was very efficient. He cleared the entire orphanage in less than half an hour, took all the prisoners away, and took care of the children first while Ryan made further arrangements later.

Not long after.

Ryan's office.

"Mr. Mayor, someone is looking for you and said they have contacted you." The secretary knocked on the door and came in to announce.

"Yes, bring her here."

'Ina' walked into the office.

Ryan called out to his secretary who was about to go out to pour tea.

"Duoxi, from today on, Miss Ina will be my secretary general. You will follow her arrangements and tell her what you will be doing every day."

"Eh?" Doshi was stunned for a moment, "This lady?"

"Yes, any questions?"

"No...of course not." Dorthy bowed hurriedly to 'Ina', "Please follow me."

Because it was just his own small account, there was no need for an interview or anything like that. After all, it was just a matter of appointing the Secretary-General, and Ryan had the final say on it.

He currently has two secretaries, which makes three including Ina. Ina is the secretary general. Her position is not high, but she actually has great power, otherwise Adler would not have been so arrogant at the beginning.

You know what... Bill actually hired a grown man as secretary general. Wouldn't he be uncomfortable?

...

Ryan was surprised by Ina's quick adaptability, and he finally realized the direct benefits of having high charisma.

In less than half a day, everyone else in the mayor's office was praising Miss Ina, and the other two secretaries showed no dissatisfaction, not even about the hermaphrodite situation behind her back.

Even the officials and petty nobles who frequently liaised with the mayor's office would praise her by saying, "Ms. Ina is simply outstanding!"

Moreover, Ina learns things very quickly. The work of a secretary is not simple, especially the secretary-general, who has to deal with a lot of things every day.

Ryan was originally worried about Ina's ability to work, but with the help of two secretaries, she completely adapted to the situation in just half a day.

"Where did you find such a...secretary?"

In the office, Jonathan finished dealing with the orphanage's affairs and came to explain the situation to Ryan in person.

The first time he saw 'Ina' working he thought...ah this person is a secretary, not this person being a secretary.

Whether from her posture or temperament, Jonathan felt that 'Ina' was far better than the daughters of aristocrats and wealthy businessmen... How come such a person had not been discovered in Berman City before?

"That's a secret." Ryan said with a smile, "She's mine and won't join the Fire Covenant."

Jonathan spread his hands and said, "Do you really think that the Fire Covenant is a market where anyone can enter?"

Ryan thought to himself that although Ina's ability was not particularly outstanding, it was better than most investigators.

"Okay, let's get down to business."

Jonathan told Ryan what he had done this morning.

After eradicating the Fantasy Star Orphanage, he conducted a surprise inspection and led people to raid all the orphanages in the city of Berman.

Facts have proven that when ten people are beaten to death with a stick, none of them are innocent.

The entire orphanage in Berman City was a human trafficking platform, controlled by Councilman Rhodes, with others responsible for the specific operations. When someone wanted a child, Rhodes would notify the orphanage, select a suitable one for the client, and then quietly send it over. After all, no one cared about such a place.

What if someone discovered Ni Duan?

“No one dared to report it.”

Jonathan gave Ryan the list of 'clients' he had investigated.

Ryan took one look and immediately understood what Jonathan meant.

All of them are either rich or noble, holding positions in the municipal office. There are even nobles from towns within the territory of Berman City who come from far away to buy children and establish relationships with Councillor Rhodes.

"What should we do?" Jonathan asked.

There are too many people, and many of them hold important positions. If we dig them out at once, half of the municipal government will be paralyzed.

The Administrative Bureau alone can't catch those people.

"Need I say more? Just do it!"

"Really? If they arrest everyone, there's no one left to do the municipal work."

"That's okay. Just grab a pig and use it to do the work. The effect will be the same."

Since Ryan said so, Jonathan didn't hesitate and immediately went back to the administrative office to work.

Then that afternoon, including Councilman Rhodes, a total of 32 members of the municipal office, both large and small, were arrested!

"What are you doing?! I'm a senator and a baron! How dare you arrest me? I'm going to complain about you to the imperial agency!!!" Rhodes, who was taken away by the sheriff, tried to resist, but Jonathan gave a death order. With the mayor backing him up, there was nothing to be afraid of!

By three o'clock in the afternoon, all the people had been arrested. There was no need for trial at all. The evidence was conclusive, and all that was left was for the court to sentence these people.

However, Ryan knew that the efficiency of sentencing might not be that high, because there were people from the Inquisition among those arrested. Although they were not big fish, they were still the face of the Inquisition.

"If he's not convicted, I'll chop him all up!"

Ryan was a little angry.

This is actually not uncommon.

He didn't think he could control everything.

But since it has happened, we have to deal with it.

Otherwise, wouldn't he be the mayor in vain?

But he didn't have the time to deal with these people right now, so Ryan asked Jonathan to keep an eye on it while he went to deal with other things.

There was news from Kasradi's inquiry. There was indeed something fishy about this matter. The people sent by the old emperor to investigate had lost contact, and the information conveyed back by all his spies ambushing in the western border was very confusing.

Simply put, these messages are "contaminated" and are tainted with the power of the Outer Gods.

If you want to read these messages, you need to use a spiritual profession, and you may not be able to obtain them. If you are not careful, you may be contaminated and become a follower of the Outer God.

The contaminated parts are all about "Magna". Any information related to her will be blurred by the power of the outer gods. Other information will be fine, such as the chest size of the secretary-general of Child City, which will be reported accurately.

When Ryan heard this, he knew that someone was deliberately hiding the details of the Grand Duke.

Why hide it?

This means the Grand Duke is not dead.

There is no need to hide when you are dead.

But it is a fact that the Western Barbarians broke through the Talma Line of Defense, which shows that the Iron Blood Legion was indeed severely damaged.

"Using the power of the Outer Gods to block the news, no matter how you look at it, it feels like the Eye of Dawn and Dusk's tactics."

Ryan didn't know much about the Eye of Dawn and Dusk, but it was unlikely that the Blood Archbishop or the Hand of Darkness would do this. Death and Desire were also unlikely. Apart from that, there was the Spirit of Chaos. The power of this god was of the viral type. Anyone who came into contact with it would be infected. It was much more powerful than this.

Moreover, the Augustus Empire does not have the power of the Chaos Spirit.

Now that he knew it was a conspiracy, Ryan couldn't let Gluck and the others go back. According to Casradi, the old emperor had decided to intervene in the situation in the west, and General Alvin led 30,000 imperial troops to set off this morning.

How should I put it? It didn't have much impact on Ryan, but it was a different story for Maganna.

Even if the Grand Duke can return safely this time, the situation in the Western Territory will probably change, and it is not impossible that the old emperor will take the opportunity to lock up her territory.

"Grand Duke, you must be more courageous. I have left two thousand men here for you to turn the tables."

Ryan prayed silently.

Although I really want to repay the Grand Duke's kindness, I am powerless to do so. I can only leave a seed for him.

On the other side, the Royal Guards led by 'Xali' have also arrived in Nad City.

The journey went smoothly. No one attacked the train and no one blew up the tracks. Upon arrival, the Royal Guards were immediately warmly welcomed by the Lord of Nad City, which made 'Xali' a little unhappy.

"Why didn't anyone resist? They couldn't be killed."

Ryan: "..."

No, sister, I asked you to go just in case, I don’t really intend to let you kill your way through the game!

Of course it would be best not to kill them. Every soldier is very precious now and cannot afford to be tossed around any more.

However, the situation in Nad City was in line with Ryan's expectations. According to the information provided by Jonathan, the Lord of Nad City was a very conservative person and timid. There is a saying that he who knows the times is a hero, and he is a hero.

If they hadn't beaten Kosovo, the situation would have been completely different.

Simply put, he is a fence-sitter, and will side with whoever wins.

This kind of person has no loyalty at all, but as long as you are strong enough, he will basically not betray you.

'Xia Li' spent an afternoon taking over the military management of Nad City, but the results were not ideal because the city only had 2,000 defense troops.

As a border city, Kosotoya has a population of 6,000!

Even the city of Berman, which is not near the border and has a large number of blood bishops, has a population of two thousand.

"None of these lords have any intention of governing their territory properly."

Ryan was speechless.

The fundamental reason why the city of Nad has not been conquered yet is that Augustus is strong enough. Even if the neighboring Cainte comes to take advantage of the situation, they will not attack the city and seize the land, as that will attract too much hatred.

As a result, there are many aristocratic grandfathers who govern the city in a lazy and do nothing style, putting all the money into their own pockets. If a war really breaks out, they will run away on the train overnight and leave the city behind.

"Two thousand is two thousand, it's better than nothing."

The recruitment of new soldiers in Berman City has begun. Thanks to the pension provided by Casradi, the recruitment work has gone smoothly and more than a thousand people have been recruited in half a day.

Ryan's original plan was to recruit only 2,000 people, after all, weapons and equipment were insufficient. However, because so many people were arrested today and their homes were confiscated and landlords were beaten, the treasury of Berman City is not rich, but at least it can be said that it is very confident.

So Ryan waved his hand and summoned three thousand!

At the same time, he asked Keou for another batch of arms, mainly high-lethality firearms such as cannons, which were not used to attack cities and seize territories, but for defense.

Due to insufficient firepower, they have to fight a defensive battle first. Training new recruits takes time, and relying on those royal guards alone is far from enough, so Ryan only plans to defend the city of Berman in the short term.

To this end, he placed twenty cannons on each city gate!

This deal directly emptied out Ke'ou's gilded group, because not many people actually bought cannons. In the past, there were only twenty cannons in the four gates of Berman City.

They are expensive and rarely used, especially by inland lords, some of whom don't even use cannons.