Chapter 108: Chapter 107: Hiring Great Scholars to Debate for Me

Zog was a very reasonable Dragon.

So, since those merchants from the Northern Domain so highly praised the working conditions they offered,

he gave them those same working conditions.

After the widely popular Northern Factory One team-building exercise concluded, the merchants became colleagues of the workers.

It’s just that the specific requirements were a wee bit different.

For example, the merchants had to work 16 hours a day, with no free lunch, no healthcare, and no holidays. But, there were also no overseers.

Because creating a special position just to watch them wasn’t very cost-effective.

So, Zog thoughtfully prepared a surveillance spell to be bound to their feet.

If it detected no movement for a period of time, it would deliver an electric shock—the kind precisely controlled to be excruciatingly painful without causing actual injury.

Want to call in sick? No way.

To get the intensity just right, the Zog Group’s Mages studied it for a long time, but the damage was always too high.

In the end, Zog had a stroke of genius and summoned a few Succubi to help.

As expected, they had electric shocks that were just right—painful but not injurious—as well as high temperatures that didn’t burn, and all sorts of flashy rope-binding spells...

’There’s a reason stereotypes become stereotypes.’

While Zog was carrying out this labor re-education, Figxin went and seized the merchants’ family assets.

The charges were easy to find.

In the Sutton Kingdom, to say that every wealthy person’s fortune was dirty would be a slight exaggeration.

But to say ninety-nine percent or more were... well, that would certainly be an understatement.

In short, their entire families were sent to various labor industries, and their assets were confiscated for the construction of the Northern Domain.

The principle of not punishing the family for one’s crimes also depends on the situation.

They all claimed to have nothing to do with it, but where did the comfortable lifestyle they had enjoyed all these years come from?

As for those who squeezed a Million Gold Coins from others but donated Ten Thousand Gold Coins to charity, they could be given preferential treatment at Zog’s discretion.

Shortening their workday to 15 hours and 50 minutes was already quite merciful. They shouldn’t be ungrateful. They were being allowed to work, what more could they want?

However, for Figxin, this also led to another problem.

The market vacuum left by these merchants’ downfall was completely filled by the Zog Group.

Its business empire now covered nearly every sector in the Northern Domain.

The things a person from the Northern Domain would inevitably experience in life: survival, death, and the Zog Group.

For a domain, this was a very dangerous situation—having its economic lifeline controlled by a single entity.

Of course, given the combat power Zog had displayed that day, he was a danger to a small place like the Northern Domain whether he controlled its economic lifeline or not.

And so, Figxin was thrown into a state of conflict.

The situation in the Northern Domain was currently very good because Zog was genuinely a Dragon who wanted to live a proper life.

Whether or not he was the Zog of legend, Figxin now hoped he was.

But what if the one who had descended upon the Northern Domain was a great, evil fiend?

’It seems my ideal of dissolving the monarchy is completely unattainable in this land.’

’Even if I succeeded, the next generation after my death would just change everything back to the way it was.’

’The power gap between different life forms is just too vast. The Sutton Clan became the Royal Family not because of their great prestige or popular support.’

’It was simply because they were the strongest family within a radius of several thousand kilometers.’

’If they were replaced, it would only be by the next strongest family.’

’It would just be an endless cycle.’

’Do we really have to wait for an absolutely rational, absolutely powerful, and immortal leader to appear and save us?’

Figxin’s mind wasn’t equipped to find the answer to this question.

The observable result was her shutting herself away in the castle, wallowing in despair.

The Northern Domain was running just fine without her, anyway.

Meanwhile, Zog began to systematically implement his marketing and promotion plan for the Northern Domain.

In a newly redecorated wooden house.

"Today we drink to victory, our ambitions yet unfulfilled, we swear not to rest! The future is long, a chance to show our skills..."

Zog hummed the opera tune as he selected a mascot for the Northern Domain.

’To be a star, you need a persona. For a place to become famous, it needs its own brand.’

’Although it’s often said that people are complex and you shouldn’t judge them simplistically...’

’...if you want to get famous, the simpler the better. Hammer your most prominent traits into labels, slap them on yourself, and create a memorable hook.’

’But you have to be careful when applying labels. If they’re too far from reality, it’s easy for your image to collapse.’

’For example, it’s not a good look to call yourself a PhD if you’ve never published a paper.’

’It’s also not very consistent for someone with a ’pure and innocent trainee’ persona to be privately smoking, drinking, and getting cozy with fans.’

’It’s the same when creating a brand for a place.’

’So what’s the logic behind submitting a tropical plant for the Northern Domain’s mascot design contest?’

’Is it because this pot of grass is expensive in the Northern Domain?’

’But back in Twin Tower City, you can grab a whole handful of this stuff growing wild by the toilets.’

’Who is that supposed to attract?!’

He had no choice but to change his approach, directly offering a bounty for a unique animal native to the Northern Domain, with the note that it "must be cute."

If it was cute and could also be bred, even better. That would be another gold coin-harvesting machine capable of driving an entire industry chain.

He sent out the announcement again.

Once a prototype was found, he would have his contracted Painters back in Twin Tower City design a corresponding chibi version.

KNOCK KNOCK! The door was knocked.

"Enter."

"Boss, we’ve gathered everyone in Winter City with any writing experience," said the Zor who entered.

Since Elsa had stayed behind in Twin Tower City to act as its Leader, Zog’s assistant in the Northern Domain was a Zor.

"Good. Let’s go to the conference room."

To build the Northern Domain’s brand, a mascot alone wouldn’t be enough. Things like Shadow of Evil comics had a long-term return on investment, so he needed something with a quick, short-term payoff to pave the way.

For example, copywriting.

Arriving at the conference room, Zog faced the few people in the Northern Domain with writing experience and had his assistant distribute printouts of two articles to everyone.

"Your task," Zog said, "is to imitate the style and content of these two articles, write new articles about the Northern Domain, and submit them to newspapers everywhere."

The crowd began to read the two manuscripts.

A Hundred Years of Foresight: The Inimitable Northern Experience

In the Sutton Kingdom, the city that fears torrential rain the least is not the Royal City, nor Twin Tower City, but Winter City.

Over a hundred years ago, the Northern People designed a drainage system for this cold city sufficient to last a century.

Its separated drainage model for rainwater and sewage is a feat that many cities in the Kingdom still haven’t managed to achieve, even today...

The crowd was dumbfounded.

"But... Human construction only accounts for a tiny part of Winter City’s drainage system. Just like other cities, it was mostly designed by the Dwarf Clans. And it’s not afraid of torrential rain simply because the Northern Domain never gets any," someone said, confused.

"Don’t worry about that. Just tell me, is it unafraid of torrential rain or not?"

The person stammered for a long time, not knowing how to refute the point.

They turned to the next article.

A Contest in the Northern Forests

Every year, the children of the Northern Domain go on a cross-country trek through the forests, an activity common in other cities as well.

But compared to other places, the children of the Northern Domain never complain about the weight they carry, don’t see a doctor when they’re sick, don’t ride in carriages when they’re tired, and always persist until they reach the end.

...

Heavens, is this how the Northern People educate the next generation? Is this the spirit of the North?

"Finished reading?" Zog asked. "Do you have any similar ideas? Share them now, inspire everyone."

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

The person who had questioned things earlier was starting to grasp the logic behind this type of article.

’It’s true, the children of the Northern Domain go into the forests to hunt, so of course they don’t complain about the weight of their prey.’

’They don’t see a doctor when they’re sick because they can’t afford one. They don’t ride in carriages when they’re tired because if they can’t even afford medicine, where would they get the money for a horse?’

’The reasoning is all wrong, but the conclusion is all right.’

"I’ve got it!" he said, standing up. "In the industrious Northern Domain, no one is homeless! You will never find a single vagrant in the Northern Domain."

"Because the Northern People are hardworking and diligent, no one begs. Everyone wants to support themselves through work, and the Northern Domain will always provide suitable jobs for those who are willing to work hard..."

"Yes, yes, yes, that’s perfect!" Zog was very satisfied. To grasp the main point so quickly—this person was a natural-born pundit.

The people here had never seen this style of writing before. As long as it appeared in the newspapers, it was sure to fool a lot of people.

’Change the public perception of the Northern Domain. Start by bullshitting.’

After all, hyping something up is always easier than actually doing it.

Once the Northern Domain really did develop, even more people would proactively help embellish this false image.

And maybe, by then, the Northern Domain could actually live up to it.

As for vagrants, it was true that the Northern Domain had none. Because no vagrant could survive the winter here.