People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"I'm sorry, Amiya. If you're sad, you don't have to hold it in."

"I will always be with you."

Amiya slightly raised her eyes, a hint of confusion flashing in them. She stared at Ernst's face for a long time before sniffing and nodding.

She ultimately didn't allow herself to cry out loud.

"Ah."

The little rabbit hugged the snow leopard and responded with a soft moan.

"Can we stay like this, Mr. Ernst, just for a moment?"

“Of course.” Ernst nodded.

A moment of silence fell over the corridor.

Just like Amiya said, just a little while.

The young leader composed herself, and when she released her hand, a gentle and kind smile returned to her face. Although the sadness between her brows had not completely disappeared, it had been soothed and brought under control.

"Thank you," Amiya said.

“It’s what I should do,” Ernst nodded.

"Regarding Miss Theresa, you still want to...?"

Ernst shook his head.

If he continued to question Amiya, Ernst's extravagant conscience would truly begin to ache if he made the little rabbit cry again.

He had only one last question, one unrelated to the past of Rhodes Island and the Tower of Babel, but solely concerning the name Theresa. It was a subconscious association that had arisen in him ever since he first heard the name.

"What is the relationship between Theresa and Theresis?"

Amiya paused for a moment, but still nodded and replied:

They are siblings.

Ernst suddenly realized, and then raised an eyebrow with interest.

Hmm... Interesting.

Theresis, the leader of the Sarkaz mercenaries who occupies Londinium and calls himself General of the Kazdel Military Council, actually has a sister?

Moreover, this younger sister was the leader of Babel, the predecessor of the Rhodes Island pharmaceutical company.

Her "eternal departure," if Ernst's understanding is correct, could be translated more directly as "death." Afterwards, the Tower of Babel collapsed and was reorganized into the present-day Rhodes Island. And on this Rhodes Island, there are blood demons like Warfarin, banshee queens like Logos, and quite a few Sarkaz members that Ernst has encountered along the way.

So, what exactly is the Tower of Babel?

Kal'tsit, you old cat, how many more gold coins have you secretly hidden away?

Chapter 465 Lola: Why am I all alone?

Shelag, Tukarim.

Casimir Wine Report, Shelag Branch – “Prime Minister Ernst has returned to his loyal Shelag.”

More than a month later, Ernst once again set foot on this familiar snowy landscape.

Lola timed it perfectly, put on her helmet, and arrived at the train station early to prepare to pick up the passenger.

She had another project coming up: building a food processing plant for the Perochi family. Despite being the family with the most advantageous geographical location among the three Snow Realm tribes, the Perochi were surprisingly insensitive to change. The food processing plant was only started because Actos belatedly discovered some obvious facts.

He's currently using household appliances and portable products that the Shivaesh family brought back from Victoria, Colombia, and other places. He's wearing thermal underwear and leather coats that the Blanto family has officially abandoned its small-scale workshops and started mass production. The Shivaesh and Blanto families have both made a fortune from this; what about the Perroch family?

To put it bluntly, the people of Perroch still live a simple and honest life. But with even higher emotional intelligence, in a few years, the Perroch family might have very few people left.

So, on that day, Actos went to the Manjusaka Monastery at night, and when he returned the next day, he convened a Perroche family meeting, overruled all objections, and announced the plan to establish the Perroche Food Processing Plant.

“I consulted Jeragund, and that day He gave me nine divination blocks. All nine blocks told me that I should do it!”

“If you disagree, send a representative out and take nine punches from me. If you don’t fall after those nine punches, then I’m not going to do this.”

"It's almost time, anyone want to give it a try?"

Of course, no one in the Perrochi family dared to challenge Actos. Putting everything else aside, if we only consider regular units and disregard the outsider, Mace, he is undoubtedly the strongest in the Snow Realm. Even Ensiodis, without resorting to underhanded tactics, is no match for him.

Seeing that Actos was really going to make a move, Actos's father, the previous head of the Perroch family, did not step forward to provoke him.

After all, Actus's piety was genuine. If he were to be released, it would be hard to say which of the two crimes he would choose to commit: "filial piety" or "disrespect for the great god."

His old body can't take it anymore.

Lola has been busy with this matter lately, and even Tukarim hasn't come back much. I suppose her office is probably gathering dust by now.

Fortunately, there is now a dedicated line from Tukarim's Shelag train station to the Perroch territory, and the round trip doesn't take much time. So, Lola can take advantage of this break before the project starts to welcome Ernst.

Well, this is to report to Prime Minister Ernst on the work of the Ministry of Engineering during this period!

However, Lola waited and waited, and time slowly passed. By nine o'clock, she still hadn't seen Ernst and the others at the train exit.

"Hmm, that's strange. Could something have happened on the way back?"

Lola blinked, a hint of confusion in her eyes, and glanced around the train station, her doubts deepening.

"By the way, why am I the only one here? Where are the others?"

At the same time, in Shelag, Tukarim Square.

Ernst walked out of the Rhodes Island passage, with a weak-looking Hinterlea and a curious Viviana beside him, Marna with a businesslike smile as if meeting a client, Maria holding Marna's hand tightly, and Jeston with his silver medal hanging around his neck, head held high, his pride practically written all over his face.

As soon as he stepped out, Ernst's gaze was drawn to the "inflatable triumphal arch" in the square, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The laughter was immediately masked by a crisp "smack".

It was a small firework in Holhaya's hand. She pulled the switch, and the firework "popped" and sprayed out ribbons, which fluttered in the air and landed on Ernst and the others' heads.

"A warm welcome to the triumphant return of the Sherag delegation!"

Vina, the host of the welcoming ceremony, announced loudly. Instantly, deafening cheers erupted throughout the entire square.

The Sherag people gathered here may not have witnessed the competition, or even know what the Games or the Knights' Games were, or whether they were like the Beastmen's Games where you could eat. But they knew that Ernst Shivaish had returned, and that every time he returned, he brought them good news!

He is Sherag's son, and he has brought about changes in Sherag that are positive, wonderful, beneficial to them, and have truly benefited the lives of the vast majority of them and their relatives and friends. So what reason do they have not to cheer for him?

This is Shelag, and as Ernst said, they are all Shelagans, children of Jelagand. They share weal and woe, united as one, and everyone wants it to get better!

Ernst's smile remained on his face, but now it had transformed from a simple smile born of déjà vu into one of satisfaction and pride.

He could tell Marna and Viviana beside him, and everyone who came to Kjerag, without any hesitation, that this was Kjerag, the country of the Kjerag people, the land of snow, and the purest place on this land!

Welcome to Shelag!

Lavshini and Mandela, holding bouquets in their hands, came forward and handed the bouquets to Ernst, the team leader, and Jeston, the athlete.

Ernst took the bouquet from Lavshini and nodded to her. The young girl from Draco blushed slightly and smiled sweetly under Ernst's gaze, but instead of returning the way she came, she walked behind Ernst and stood there as if she were in his office.

Mandela handed the bouquet to Jeston, who gladly accepted it.

He was no longer a young man; he had seen and experienced quite a lot in his life. But this time, even though there was nothing particularly sad about it, he felt a slight sting in his nose and his eyes welled up with tears.

"Thank you."

He said earnestly. He was thanking Mandela, Ernst, and especially Sherag and Jeragund.

People say everyone has their own unique talents, but reality often falls short of expectations. Jeston told himself more than once, "If it weren't for Lord Ernst's recommendation, I might still be working illegally at Columbia! Of course, there's nothing wrong with working illegally, but being an athlete, a defense secretary, and Lord Ernst's Perot would open up a whole new world for me!"

And now, he has finally achieved results, made a difference, and set an example!

For a Terran person who pursues fame and fortune, this feeling is a thousand times, or even nine hundred times, more exhilarating than an orgasm!

What Jeston didn't notice was Mandela standing in front of him.

Mandela's smile was somewhat stiff.

She was dragged here by Lafshini; she was purely forced to participate. If the leader hadn't insisted that she stay here to protect Lafshini, this "fake leader," she would have already gone with Princess Abrahana to revive Tara.

To be honest, she didn't like Sherag.

She was very jealous of the people here.

Although they were backward, their lives had hope, and with Ernst as their leader, their future was getting better every day. And what about her?

As a Tara person, what was her life like growing up?

Poverty, hardship, being driven away, being whipped, she and her companions even had to crawl into the sewers to survive from those damned Victorians.

At first, she thought the local nobles were the ones who were oppressing her, but after she joined the Deep Pool and killed the local nobles, she found that the ones oppressing her were now even greater nobles.

Above the nobles were even more nobles, and above the grand dukes was King Aslan. Even after King Aslan, considered the "culprit," died, the lives of the Tara people did not improve in the slightest; in fact, they worsened. This was because the grand dukes, lacking any form of restraint, began to compete for the chair and the crown.

The Tara people are the ones they exploit.

The Tara people have no future.

The Tara people do not have their own country.

The Tara people don't even have their own homes—a safe home in the traditional sense, a place to shelter from the wind and rain, where they don't have to worry about bad guys suddenly breaking in.

The Sherag people, on the other hand, have everything. Everything Mandela envied and begged for, they had from the very beginning.

Mandra felt deeply resentful. She didn't like it here and didn't want to stay, especially those despicable Sherag people. They treated the Deep Pool cadres like young girls, just like them. They even gave her feathered beast eggs, cheese, and dried pack animal meat because she was doing odd jobs in the government!

You're using this to test the cadres of Shenchi?

Which cadre in a deep pool cannot withstand such a test!

Mandela vehemently rejected all of these things, but she was terrified. She feared that this gentle environment would one day erode her fighting spirit, making her think that living peacefully in this tranquil place wasn't so bad after all.

This won't do! She's a warrior, she has to avenge Victoria! She has to fight for justice and a future for her oppressed, powerless Tara people!

She can't stay here!

"Mandela, come here, let's take a picture together?"

Ernst called out.

Mandela snapped back to reality and nodded instinctively:

"Okay, come right away!"

Mandela jogged over to Raphsini and stood beside her, her expression suddenly contorting.

*Tara swears*, I'm used to it!

It's all because of this fake leader. He's been given too many orders lately, and he's developed muscle-like reflexes!

“Mandra, don’t look so gloomy. If you have any worries, you can tell me.”

Noticing Mandela's emotions, Raphsini said softly.

Mandela glanced at her dismissively:

"Heh, you? What can you do? You're just Ernst's personal fireplace!"

Lavshini wasn't annoyed; instead, she nodded generously.

"Yes, so if you tell me, I can tell Ernst."

"He definitely has a way to solve it."

"Because, my sister said that Ernst is just as amazing as she is."

Chapter 466 Ernst: Fly, Kazdelnia!

Shelag, Tukarim, Shelag Government Office Building, Ernst's Office.

Because Lavshini often cleaned, or Mandela helped with the cleaning, the office remained clean and tidy even after a month.

Once back, he had to get to work. Sitting in his office chair, Ernst began to review the various reports that Vina and Holhaya had submitted during this period, as well as the unresolved plans and programs that required his decision.

The first proposal, the "New City Expansion Plan for Sherag," was put forward by Lola from the Engineering Department. It proposed building a new city on a plain at the border of the Perrochi and Shivaish territories.

A neatly written annotation was left on the proposal, from Vina: This new city plan is to respond to the branch plan proposed by Nastya, the head of the engineering department of Rhine Life, and needs to be reviewed together with Rhine Life's [branch plan].

Ernst raised an eyebrow.

Is Rhine Lab finally going to set up a branch in Kjerag?

Ernst wasn't actually that surprised by the news.

This was unexpected, yet perfectly logical. After Project Star, Christensen led most of the Rhine Lab members away from Kjerag. Ernst still vividly remembers her reluctant expression and her unwilling yet forced look.