A few weeks had passed since the battle with not-God ended, and things had been going pretty smoothly in the days since. Abyss was continuing to thrive, both the monsters and humans were all but used to life with each other by now.
Liberty had made contact with the former Laus Domain, now known as Idyll, and re-established a connection with them, along with convincing them not to view humans and monsters as enemies anymore. Idyll was the name that not-God had picked, but they decided to keep it since it'd be a pain to change the name again.
As for all the fortresses throughout the land that Sant had the other races build, they were converting those into small town-like areas, setting up shops and trade routes with the nations and what not. These areas were to be independent of any nation, and wouldn't be under the control of anyone in particular, and would consist of people from all nations.
As for the relations between each of the current nations, we'd managed to establish peace...Abyss and Liberty formed a permanent alliance, and while it took some convincing, Idyll eventually joined the alliance too. I was reluctant to form an alliance with the Rustlands, considering the fact that I've got a couple of grudges there, but I forced myself to set my personal feelings aside.
After all, my grudges aren't worth risking war for, so I swallowed my pride...I've experienced enough battles to last a lifetime, I'm sick of wars. Anyway, when it came to the Rustlands, I let Az, Jhin and Zero handle the negotiations, since you know, I didn't want to have to deal with the Rustlands' pussy-ass king.
Oh, and not-God's brainwashing was undone, meaning that everyone whose memories regarding reincarnation were tampered with, were now free from that manipulation, and no longer blanked out whenever they spoke about their past memories and reincarnation, so that's nice.
Anyway, today's the 13th of February, and I was currently in my throne room, busy planning out tomorrow. I'd decided to hold festivals on days that were holidays in my old world, so stuff like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and a bunch more, which included Valentine's Day too.
That's tomorrow, and I was having everyone help set up a bunch of stands selling chocolates and also events and stuff for couples...yeah, I was totally ripping off ideas from my old world, but hey, it's not like I'm gonna get sued or whatever.
I'd also invited people from the other nations, the Rustlands included, to come and check it out...after all, it certainly doesn't hurt to bring in some income from outside. Not that we were broke or anything...I mean, when we came here, the gold and jewels in the treasury were basically untouched, since the Vampires don't really care about money.
Of course, since we were opening our gates to outsiders now, we had to remove the insta-kill barrier, as well as adjusting some of the other barriers. There were still plenty of safety measures still in place, though.
Az had set up a large crystal ball, made using the same material as the Power Readers, that was connected to a new detection barrier. The crystal ball displayed every single person within the walls of Abyss, denoted by small blips...those with registered Mana signatures were denoted by blue blips, and those that were unregistered were denoted by red blips.
It was kinda complicated to use though, so far Az has been the only one who's been able to figure it out, which is probably because he's the one that formulated and set it up. It's probably a good thing, since that means that no one else can tamper with it...though on the flip side, if he's not available for whatever reason, we've got no one else who can use it.
"Is everything progressing smoothly?" I inquired, as I looked through the progress reports.
"Yes, sir, I believe that we are doing quite well. We should have no problem enticing any visitors to spend more of their money than they would otherwise be willing to," Responded Jhin, who'd quickly advanced from random Demon guy to one of my most reliable subordinates.
Especially after Excalibur went to him, the weapon that used to belong to Shin. He was selected by random, I chose a bunch of eligible candidates, all with power levels of below 20,000, and then drew lots to determine who'd get the sword...and Jhin happened to be the winner.
Though his chances did increase since some of the candidates I'd chosen opted out, all for the same reason...a big sword would compromise their fighting styles and hold them back. Prato, Ekai and Siert had been among those that opted out.
Anyway, back to the present...
"Right, but make sure that everything's properly priced, we don't want to make things too expensive and end up alienating any of the tourists," I remarked, but from the looks of this report, it seems that everything's well under control.
"Of course, my lord. In fact, we have made sure that all the prices are quite reasonable...that said, I did something of my own initiative, I hope you do not mind. You see, I consulted with some of the other Reincarnators for inspiration, and after hearing their opinions, I got an idea, and have begun implementing it. Specifically, a store with 'premium' items, at extortionate prices, but with a perceived luxurious quality...the details are in the fourth page of the report. And if you do not approve, I shall cancel it right away, my lord," He responded with a bow.
Wow, this guy's got a real knack for business, doesn't he...
"I have no reason to disapprove. In fact, I'm kinda impressed, nice work. I won't interfere with this particular venture, I'll leave it entirely upto you...though I will advise you to not overdo it with the price gouge, people will catch on. And, of course, make sure that whatever you sell looks a lot fancier that what's being sold elsewhere. I look forward to seeing how it turns out, good luck."
"I thank you, my lord, and I am grateful for the advice as well."
I then shifted my gaze to Rion, who I'd put in charge of sending out the invitations, on account of the fact that he's super extroverted and friendly, the type of person who'll go up to a stranger and talk to them in a manner that'd make you think that he was talking to a lifelong friend or something...
"How'd it go in the other nations?" I asked him, as I picked up his report...it was a lot sloppier than Jhin's, he's really not very good at this.
"Pretty good, I think we can expect a big turnout of visitors! It was super smooth in the Rustlands and Liberty, and a little bit tense in Idyll, but after I gave them some chocolate samples, they seemed to be a lot more interested! That's when I realized that the other races have never eaten chocolate before, the only sweets they've ever had are fruits and berries, which is kinda sad, if you think about it," He sighed sympathetically in response.
"Excuse me, but berries are fruits, correct? Therefore, is it not redundant to say 'fruits and berries', instead of just saying 'fruits'?" Chimed in Jhin, as he stopped by the entrance and glanced back.
"Doesn't matter, it's not something worth arguing about," I quickly spoke up, to avoid a pointless discussion from getting started.
"As you say, my lord," He bowed, before leaving and heading off to get back to work.
"Anyway, moving on...Zero, how'd things go on your end?" I inquired, turning to the melancholic Vampire.
He looked like he was daydreaming, staring off into the distance absent-mindedly.
"Hm? Oh, yes, sir...it is going well, I think."
I'd given him the task of making sure that all the intelligent monsters were spread out throughout the festival area, so that the visitors can get used to facing monsters in a non-combative fashion.
That shouldn't be too difficult with those from the Rustlands, since they've got plenty of Demons living there too. My main goal is to get the other races' views towards monsters to soften up.
We've had nothing but constant wars and battles for the last few years in this world, so now that we finally have some peace, I'd like to make sure that it actually lasts for an extended period of time.
With all the Divine Magic I've absorbed and how much my Healing Factor has evolved at this point, I'm basically immortal now, plus I can stop myself from aging too. So I'm gonna be around for a really long time, and a peaceful world sounds way more appealing than a warring one.
"Are you sure you've been properly keeping track of how that's progressing?" I asked Zero skeptically.
"Yes, my lord...I may complain about work, but I make sure to do it properly. That way, I will not get lectured," He defended himself.
"Fair enough, I've never had any complaints about any of the tasks I've assigned you before," I replied wryly, before declaring, "Alright, guys, let's do everything we can to make sure that this is a success...let's make sure that this Valentine's Day turns out to be an absolute blast!"
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