What Fell in the Bowl Is the Most Authentic

After Vivian’s first announcement, there was a slight commotion in the crowd below.

In this era, civilians and serfs, whether human or demon, were more or less indebted to their lords.

Not everyone had the means to deal with various emergencies, and the best way to solve difficulties was naturally to “borrow.”

But today, with the territory under reconstruction, no one had the ability to repay their debts.

Apart from the provisions they had brought with them, basically everyone was starting from scratch.

Therefore, it was necessary to eliminate this layer of exploitation.

After a pause, Vivian continued.

“Second, all serfs and slaves in the territory will have the opportunity to regain their freedom! I will issue a series of tasks, such as building houses, constructing roads, participating in production, and joining the army!”

“All tasks will have corresponding assessments, military merits, and points. As long as the corresponding work is completed strictly according to the requirements, contributions can be accumulated. Once the standard is met, slaves and serfs can become freemen!

And those who are already freemen will receive corresponding remuneration after completing these tasks.

Freemen who own slaves or serfs will be able to collect their subordinates’ rewards during this period, but once the tasks are completed, the subordinates will regain their status as freemen and will no longer be under your jurisdiction and enslavement.”

“I will announce the specific plan in the near future. I can assure you that any hardworking and reliable serf or s*ave can become a freeman after two or three years of hard work, and a freeman, after the same amount of solid work, can obtain a permanent house and land of their own in the newly built Demon Lord’s Castle!”

When Vivian’s words fell, this time, the commotion below completely turned into an irrepressible discussion.

Slaves and serfs becoming freemen—this was a rather unconventional thing in this era.

Or rather, throughout the ages, feudal dynasties and medieval-style countries have regarded slaves as valuable assets within their territories.

Even if there were ways to regain freedom, they were extremely harsh.

After all, no noble would casually let their serfs and slaves gain freedom.

To them, serfs and slaves meant cheap labor, meaning they could squeeze every last drop of blood from them without any burden.

Those nobles who only knew how to continuously raise taxes, increase various means of exploitation, offer all kinds of “loans” to suck them dry, and constantly increase working hours to increase their wealth would never think of any benefit in letting slaves and serfs gain freedom.

After all, the lowly only needed to toil in the fields for a lifetime.

The noble lords still had to think about how to better accumulate wealth and decorate their castles.

This was the same among the demons; nothing was different.

And as for getting paid for work?

Most people didn’t believe it.

Because most subjects had to serve their lord for free, and the lord, in turn, provided “protection”—this was a duty, an unwritten rule for thousands of years.

But Vivian didn’t give them time to continue their discussion, instead announcing the third rule.

“Third, from now on, only those who complete their work strictly according to my requirements and pass the inspection will be considered to have finished the job.

In addition, as an incentive for diligent work, the first thirty people to finish their work in each shift will get to eat meat provided by the Demon Lord’s Castle.

The first hundred to finish will get to drink meat broth.”

“The above are the new rules from now on.”

After saying this, Vivian didn’t leave any room for further argument.

Vivian didn’t care about the reaction below.

She just jumped down from the high platform and returned to her tent, with Aria and Luna following closely behind.

And those assembled civilians, serfs, and slaves, after being stunned for a moment, suddenly shouted and rushed toward their task objectives.

For them, the things Vivian had mentioned earlier were too complicated.

But there was one sentence they could understand—as long as they finished their work well, there would be meat to eat!

Only those who finished their work early, and finished it diligently, would get to eat meat!

Just as Vivian had thought—only when their immediate interests were at stake would people be spurred to their greatest motivation.

With these people, you couldn’t start by lecturing them on grand principles, on future benefits, on future development, on their children and grandchildren.

What landed in their bowls was the most real, the most practical.

And watching the civilians and serfs rushing toward their task sites, Aria still felt it was a bit unrealistic.

It was only when Vivian stopped and looked at her with a half-smile that the head maid reacted and asked with a hint of disbelief:

“Lady Demon Lord… was what you said just now all true?”

“Of course it’s all true. Or rather, which part are you referring to?”

Vivian looked at her most loyal subordinate and asked in return.

“…The part about slaves regaining their free status through labor.”

Aria frowned and said, seeming to be pondering something.

“Of course, I have no objection to your decision, Lady Demon Lord, but I’m afraid those civilian landowners who own slaves and have a little power and influence might have some objections… And you said that even things like building houses and roads can be considered contributions, and it only takes two or three years to become a freeman… Is that true?”

“Of course. How can a Demon Lord not keep her word?”

Vivian blinked her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Do you see a problem with it? Feel free to speak your mind.”

“If it’s so easy to become a freeman, I’m afraid it won’t be long before all the serfs in the territory are civilians, right?”

Luna exclaimed, and Aria also looked bewildered.

“Unless one commits a major crime and is demoted to a s*ave, and a s*ave’s child is still a s*ave—and as long as a civilian doesn’t commit a crime, then there will be no more slaves in the future?

Will this become a place without serfs and slaves in the future?

Then… won’t the cost of labor, farming, and other complicated matters increase a lot in the future?”

Aria was a little confused; she couldn’t quite figure it out.

And Vivian just continued to look at the head maid, the smile on her face unchanged.

“Can’t things function normally without slaves? I thought our reconstruction work was going quite smoothly before.”

“But… we are all soldiers, your subordinates, Lady Demon Lord. Obeying your orders is our life…”

“Aria, is it really impossible without slaves and serfs?”

“Ugh, b-but… the other things…”

Faced with Vivian’s words, she couldn’t help but feel confused, her brain seeming to shut down.

Aria instinctively felt that something was wrong.

After all, hadn’t things always been this way?

By giving serfs and slaves the bare minimum of food and clothing, the territory could produce more food and resources at a low cost, and better support the demons’ wars.

‘But it seems things can continue to operate without slaves. The army’s reconstruction work before was a good example. They performed very well, but soldiers can’t represent civilians… But can they really not?’

And so, the head maid was suddenly caught in a contradiction of thought.