People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"........."

W silently raised his head, and beneath his dark circles, which rivaled those of Resis, his distinctive golden eyes gave Ines a deep look.

She said nothing, but it seemed like she said everything.

Ines was immediately startled. "No, you really encountered a ghost?"

This was the first time she had ever seen W with this expression. She didn't even feel like arguing with herself anymore. What had this child gone through last night?

Ines was still hesitating whether to ask a few more questions and show concern for her old comrade-in-arms when Herdre walked out of Ernst's office, sighing with a face full of black lines.

Upon seeing this, Ines immediately asked:

“Hedley, what happened? You look like this too, and W, she doesn’t seem right either. She didn’t answer when Ernst asked us questions earlier, and now she won’t even argue with me. Is she sick?”

Hedley: "......."

He looked at Ines, opened his mouth as if to say something, but out of the corner of his eye he caught W's pleading gaze, his heart softened, and he closed his mouth, letting out a long sigh.

Damn it, tell me what kind of thing you've done?

Breaking into the Prime Minister's residence late at night just to play Truth or Dare with Ernst?

Those who know you think you're too eager to advance, so you're trying to ride the promotion machine to the top. Those who don't know you might think you're plotting something against Ernst!

In Sherag, when he plotted against Ernst, Hedley didn't even ask if W could do it. Even if you actually got in, didn't you consider the consequences?

Hedley was a little confused. Hadn't he and Ernst already agreed that Ines and W would just come for an interview the next day to go through the formalities? Why did Ernst specifically summon him early this morning to accompany Ines and W? And why did he call him in specifically after their interviews?

He walked over with a heavy heart, but when he heard what had happened last night, he was no longer worried at all.

I was so angry at my dog-like subordinate that I almost fainted.

Fortunately, W's commotion wasn't too big, and Ernst didn't provide the newly arrived wine newspaper in Kjerag with a highly sensational headline like "Why did Sarkaz storm into the Prime Minister's residence in the middle of the night?" Otherwise, Hadley wouldn't have needed to worry about passing his interview. Even if Ernst didn't blame him, considering the structure of the Kjerag government, his career would probably be over. He should just resign as soon as possible and open a shop with Ines.

Hedley's long sigh contained a wealth of emotions, and his silence concealed a great deal of information.

Ines was stunned.

As the saying goes, "Among three people walking together, there is bound to be one Liberi." At this moment, Ines felt that she was a Liberi.

Who am I, where am I, what happened?

Why do you all seem to be on the same wavelength? How come I know nothing about this? When did you Sarkaz become like Sarkaz, able to empathize with each other?

Ines frowned and couldn't help but ask:

"Hedley, W, what kind of riddle are you two playing?"

"Don't ask anymore, don't ask anymore." Hedley shook his head, waved his hand, pointed in the direction of W, and refused repeatedly.

W's pale face now had a flush, as if she were drunk, and even her eyes became glazed over.

Not wanting to continue the public execution of W, Hedley looked at Ines and changed the subject:

"What did Prime Minister Ernst just ask you?"

Ines gave W a strange look and recalled:

"It's nothing, they just welcomed us and said they could feel our enthusiasm for Shelag."

Ines felt from the beginning that the interview was strange in every way, and Ernst’s attitude was one of those strange things.

As soon as she and W entered the office and saw Ernst, W turned her head away like a woman, covered her mouth guiltily, and dared not say a word.

Ernst asked them to introduce themselves. Ines was quite fluent, describing her background, showcasing her achievements as a mercenary, and, based on the "exam answers" provided by Hadley, recounting her "successful cooperation experience" with Rhodes Island.

Rhodes Island is now the third largest company in Kjerag, after Rhine Lab and Kjerag Trading. Although strictly speaking, Rhodes Island does not belong to Kjerag and does not even have a fixed "branch" in Kjerag, their cooperation with Kjerag and their reputation among the people are still very good.

Having previous work experience or successful collaborations with stakeholders of the company you are applying to is a significant advantage during the interview.

As expected, Ernst was very satisfied with the questionnaire. After asking a few simple questions and inquiring whether Ines was interested in serving in the government, and receiving the reply, "No, never mind. I'd much rather run a small shop; the freedom and independence suit me better," he announced:

"You, pass!"

But when it came to W, things became a bit strange.

W's self-introduction was very formal, not that it was bad. Although she stuttered a bit and didn't dare to look Ernst in the eye, she seemed to think for two minutes before saying a sentence and had to repeatedly pronounce the syllables to confirm that she was saying the right word. But her self-introduction was still very proper.

Ines thought she couldn't find anything wrong with it; she believed that even if Hadley came, he wouldn't find anything wrong with it either.

The only problem is—is this the kind of self-introduction W could come up with?

Ines was all set, ready to hear W say, "W, the legendary Sarkaz mercenary, want to hear my self-introduction? That's all. If you want more, eat a bomb!"

Or to take it to an even more extreme level, watch her pull out a detonator, showing off her manicure while spelling out a "W" in the sky with explosions.

In other words, Ines was prepared to keep a close eye on W and prevent her from doing anything "dangerous".

What did W say?

"I...I am a Sarkaz mercenary, W. Hello. I speak many languages, but I am illiterate. I am skilled in demolition...Nice to meet you."

Ines nearly popped her eyes out of their sockets. If Ernst hadn't been there, she would have gone up and touched W's forehead to see if the kid had gone out partying last night and ended up getting a fever.

He's been burned to the point of being stupid.

Even more bizarre was the situation on Ernst's side.

Ines could roughly judge a person's mood by observing their shadow, and Ernst's mood at the time...

Ines had to admit that she didn't understand it.

This time, the thing she couldn't understand was the only thing she had been able to understand during this period of time.

Ernst looked at W and said something that left everyone scratching their heads:

"Don't do that again next time."

W, however, nodded with his head drooping.

"it is good."

“I understand how much you value this opportunity, but if everyone tried to pull strings like you, wouldn’t that create chaos?”

Procedures are still very important. Even when recruiting Latatos, Ernst could have used Boss Direct Hire and no one would have objected. But Ernst still insisted on going through the procedures and had Holhaya give Latatos a test to assess her understanding of the current business environment in Sherag and her plans for future development.

Latatos offered the answer of "emphasizing tourism and services, supplemented by light handicrafts and high value-added industries," which satisfied Ernst.

And the same goes for Enciodis, in addition to Latatos. He doesn't join Ernst's system, and Ernst doesn't recruit him into his system. In a broader sense, Ernst needs a large enough private capital that is also loyal enough to Sherag to inject enough vitality into Sherag's economy.

From a personal perspective, it's about not putting all your eggs in one basket. While Enciodis's involvement as the business leader of Sherag would certainly help Ernst, his independence would bring greater benefits to Sherag.

Putting aside other things, just the simplest principle is that there are some things that the Ernst Scherage government cannot do or express its opinion on from its position, but the Kalan Trade can do them without any concerns.

For example, there's the matter of the Business Federation settling in Kjerag, which Ensioudis mentioned. Ernst can provide policy support and preferential treatment to Kjerag businesses, but the government can't directly compete with them. Karan Trade is the legitimate front man.

As someone responsible for attracting investment, Ernst couldn't bluntly say, "Our Shelag government doesn't welcome employees using terminals manufactured by Casimir." This would be an official government statement, potentially discriminatory, detrimental to creating a "fair and just" business environment, and even more so to attracting investment.

However, Kallan Trading can openly require within the company: "All Kallan Trading employees must use terminals manufactured by our own company, Shelag." Because this is a private rule within a private enterprise, no one can enforce it.

At this point, Ernst could use the legal and legitimate "procedure" of "open bidding and precise winning" to win the bid for the "terminal produced by Karan Trade" as the mobile terminal for the exclusive use of Shelag government personnel, purchasing one for each employee, providing a large government order for the terminal manufacturer and its upstream and downstream manufacturers, thereby promoting consumption and revitalizing the economy.

In this way, the process goes through multiple rounds within the program, legalizing something that was originally illegal, leaving no one with a reason to complain.

This is the purpose of the "program" mechanism.

W was clearly being a bit too radical. Ernst wasn't sure if this was typical Sarkaz behavior, but the fact that W had barged into his house in the middle of the night to apply for a job in person still gave him a slight Sarkaz shock.

To put it bluntly, she made such a big fuss just for such a trivial matter?

To put it more bluntly, she is disrupting a necessary procedure.

Although Ernst didn't intend to pursue the matter out of respect for Hedley, he still had to warn W, Rat Tail Juice!

He didn't want to wake up in the future, only to find a dozen or so people crammed into his bed, all trying to use connections to quickly access the Sherag government instance!

Ernst wasn't sure if W had listened, but judging from her timid and hesitant manner, she probably had.

Ernst understood what this riddle was saying, W understood what Ernst wanted to say, and Hedley could roughly guess Ernst's intention, but Ines was completely baffled.

I am Caprini, a true Libero with genuine blood, disguised as a Sarkaz!

In short, I'm completely confused.

Ines sighed and gave Hadley a resentful look, who was unwilling to explain what had happened.

Hedley gave a wry smile, looked at W, and suddenly asked:

"Speaking of which, W, now that you've passed the interview, what are you planning to do? Or are you still planning to leave Shelag?"

A glimmer of hope finally appeared in W's eyes as he looked at Hedley and firmly shook his head:

"No, I'm not leaving."

Even now, thinking back on those words, those shameful words, W still wishes she could strangle herself.

Before she met Ernst and said those things, she genuinely intended to leave.

But now that she has met Ernst and said those things, if she leaves, wouldn't it be as if she had said everything for nothing?

W knew very well that although those words were shameful, they were indeed the truth.

Whether it was because she didn't want Hadley and Ines to be deceived, or because she didn't want to be disappointed, it was all genuine.

Even phrases like "swearing allegiance" are taken seriously.

Of course, this is on the premise that Ernst does indeed live up to the praise he has received.

If before infiltrating Ernst's house, W had maintained an absolute denial of whether there was really someone in the world so similar to Theresa, now she began to have doubts.

Because Ernst did nothing to her.

Last night, Ascalon was waiting outside the house. Inside the mansion was that strange and terrifying woman whose race was indiscernible. Faced with this sudden intruder who might accidentally stumble upon some of his "secrets," Ernst could simply make her "disappear" completely.

Whether it's Ascalon or that mysterious woman, W has no doubt that they could easily do such a thing without leaving any trace.

But Ernst did not. He not only let her rest in that room for one night, but also received her as usual the next day, let her have breakfast at the mansion, and then let her participate in the interview.

She didn't even hold a grudge against Hadley and Ines.

W asked himself if he could do such a kind thing.

She could conspiratorially believe that Ernst's actions were a bold attempt to win her over after he had determined that she posed no threat to him.

But what if, what if Ernst isn't?

Rather than tearing off a mask, what W truly longs to see is a ray of genuine white moonlight.

Theresa was the first ray of white moonlight; she has faded away. Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be another person like Theresa in the world.

But Terra is quite clever.

Terra has two moons.

Kelsey said that Ernst was not Theresa; Theresa was the light, while Ernst was the door.

But W couldn't distinguish that many things, and neither could most Sarkaz. Those troublesome metaphors, those definitions of "good people" and "hope," were far too complex, practically burning one's brain cells. Only a monster like Kal'tsit could categorize and organize them clearly.

There is only one criterion for judging W, which is simple and direct:

Whoever treats them well is a good person.

Therefore, W said seriously:

"I applied for the guard job."

"The security personnel at the Prime Minister's residence are too lax; they were even dozing off at the gate in the middle of the night. They are completely incompetent. I applied for that position."

Ines blinked in surprise:

"Dozing off in the middle of the night? How did you know?"

W grinned:

"How do you know? I just know. Not everyone is like you, secretly giving their horns a treatment in the middle of the night."

Ines paused, blushing slightly as she glared at W.

What could she do? She was Caprini, not Sarkaz. Polishing her horns was already a very damaging thing to do. If she didn't pay attention to the condition of her horns, they would break or even fall off!

That's so ugly! For Caprini, it's as ugly as Mediterranean syndrome or alopecia areata!

Ines is still very conscious of her image.

Hedley patted Ines on the shoulder to comfort her, then nodded to W with a somewhat relieved expression.

"Then do what you want to do. Being a security guard is a respectable job, and we all support you."