Episode 89 — The Shield and Sword of Felsen

"And Mr. Zect, one more thing. I have a report on the infrastructure rollout throughout the entire territory."

"Ah. So everything is finally connected, then."

Gustav pulled a full map of the water and sewerage network from his coat and spread it out. Centered on the new city, blue lines reached every corner of the border, extending into every single farming village.

"Yes. The installation of water and sewerage systems in all settlements is complete."

It had been two months since the new city became operational. This was the completion report for the territory-wide infrastructure project that had been running in parallel.

"However, Mr. Zect... if I may be honest, I still have one lingering doubt. Was there truly a point in extending this development to the rural villages, even at such a massive cost?"

Gustav traced a thin line on the map with his fingertip.

"It would have been far more cost-effective to concentrate the farmers around the city. I still don't fully understand why we allocated the majority of our budget to remote villages with such low population densities."

(And there it is—the logical argument of a cost-conscious manager. If you only look at "current efficiency," you're absolutely right.)

"I figured you’d say that. A typical business owner would concentrate resources where the return is highest."

I leaned my recliner back and took a sip of my lukewarm Cola.

"Gustav, you might think of the new city as the heart of our prosperity, but from a designer's perspective, it’s a little different. The city is just a symbol—a place to process information and generate money. In contrast, the rural areas are the 'power units.' If the power source isn't supplied, even the highest-performance device is just a pile of rocks, right?"

"Power units... You mean they are the source of our strength?"

"Exactly. If you discard the countryside and only polish the city, you create a massive disparity. People will become convinced that they can't live a human life unless they go to the city, and the entire population will start moving there at once. When that happens, the city will exceed its capacity, leading to housing shortages and skyrocketing rents. You’ll end up with massive pockets of system failure—what people call slums—where the government has no reach."

(It’s the same as a server crashing because all the traffic is concentrated in one spot. Distributed processing is the key to stability.)

I imagined the tragic state of lawless slums spreading at the feet of a megacity, like those I used to see through my monitor.

"Once a massive darkness takes root there, crime and disease will swirl, and you’ll never be able to keep an eye on it again. By the time a fatal error occurs, it’s too late. Installing water in the villages and guaranteeing the same standard of living as the city wasn't an act of mercy toward the farmers. It’s the cheapest safety measure to block an abnormal influx into the city and distribute the population load across the entire territory."

Gustav stared at the lines lighting up the rural villages on the map as if he’d lost his words. What he understood now wasn't "noble mercy," but the "blueprint for a sustainable territory."

"...If people can stay in their villages and still be as clean and receive the same level of advanced services as they would in the city, they will remain there and continue to produce food. I see. Doing this also leads to that '100% food self-sufficiency' barrier you mentioned before, doesn't it?"

"Precisely. Relying on other territories for food is the same as putting your neck in someone else's hands. The moment they say, 'We won't sell you wheat starting tomorrow,' Felsen dies. That’s why protecting the rural areas and keeping self-sufficiency at 100% or higher is an absolute requirement for maintaining the system."

(A system that depends too much on external parties will die the moment the other side changes their specifications. In the end, having your own engine is the strongest way to go.)

Gustav gave a deep, deep nod. Then, he voiced another, more practical doubt.

"Then, may I ask one more question? It regards the casino profits. As per your instructions, all the foreign currency flowing in from neighboring territories is sealed in the manor’s vault. But with this vast sum of money, we could easily increase our military strength or expand the city further. Why do you refuse to let any of it enter the market?"

"Because if we did that, the machine called Felsen would suffer a thermal runaway, overheating until it crashes. If we suddenly released that money now, prices within the territory would skyrocket and the lives of the people would be ruined in an instant. The optimal solution right now is to keep that money as an emergency power supply."

(A sudden surge of foreign currency is the same as when governments print and hand out bills like crazy during a crisis. The balance between 'money' and 'goods' breaks. I’ve seen the world scream under the weight of that kind of hyperinflation. I have no intention of recreating that 'bad status' known as the brute force of excessive cash flow in this territory.)

"We’ve finished organizing the internals. From here on, it’s about 'diplomacy.' Let's straighten out our relationships with the surrounding areas. We’ll raise the shield of 'Food' and use foreign currency as our spear."

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