A few weeks had passed since the Stelluna mansion in Selini, along with its surrounding district, was destroyed in the catastrophe. Now, after reconstruction, the entire area looked dramatically different.

  What had once been a noble district was now transformed. With most of the noble families gone, Lyra had ordered every surviving manor torn down. In their place, she rebuilt the district as emergency shelters for refugees, barracks to strengthen her military forces, and a new laboratory dedicated to research in magic and weapon development.

  Among the ruins of the noble houses, there had been treasures, golds, jewelry, and valuables. Lyra took them all without hesitation. It was, without question, illegal. She had not sought permission from any former owners. But in a world already broken, who cared for law? In her own territory, Lyra was the law.

  The speed of reconstruction was nothing short of astonishing. Much of the credit went to the mercenaries she had hired. After the arrival of the players, many mercenaries had lost their employment, so they took whatever work Lyra offered. She believed it was her responsibility to provide opportunities, if not, they would surely turn to crime.

  “Sigh…”

  “You have sighed five times this morning, my lady.”

  In the lord’s office, Lyra sat at her desk, her gaze fixed on the endless stack of paperwork. Before her stood Chika, her ever-loyal secretary. Both of them bore the same exhaustion in their eyes. Since the reclamation of Lua Village, their administrative workload had grown beyond measure.

  “How is the administrative recruitment going, Chika?”

  “Ten people passed the test, my lady. They’ll begin tomorrow in the new office.”

  “...Hundreds of thousands of townsfolk, and only ten passed?”

  “Yes. They were all commoners from various regions, former scholarship students from the academy.”

  Only a handful of commoners ever reached formal education. The academy’s tuition was simply too high. Those who managed did so through scholarships and letters of recommendation from nobles.

  “...It seems we’ll need to build an academy of our own.”

  “We’ll need to hire teachers first, my lady.”

  Building an academy was crucial for educating the commoners, yet that required teachers, and teachers required education themselves. It was a loop that fed into itself.

  “Haaahh…”

  She let out another long sigh.

  “Forget it for now. We have more urgent matters to handle. How are the trees near Lua?”

  “There are no problems with the oak trees. Labor recruitment is going smoothly. We should be able to start paper production in about two weeks.”

  Administrative work demanded educated people, but most other industries only needed strong hands and determination. It was easier to find laborers than clerks.

  “Good. Is there anything we’ve missed?”

  “Let’s see…”

  Chika flipped through a stack of documents.

  “Administrative division is done. Paper production is starting soon. Magic and weapon research is scheduled. The border wall construction for Lua is underway. Farm and livestock expansion is also progressing. Starlace Order recruitment has finished. Inns, restaurants, clothing industries…”

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  The list went on and on. With no other regions left to rely on, Lyra had to rebuild every essential industry within her own lands.

  “Bank… Oh, right. We’ve finally found a clue on how to make paper money.”

  “Oh? Really?”

  Lyra’s tired expression brightened with curiosity.

  “Yes. There’s a human player who once worked in that field. Miss Ayla doesn’t recognize him, so she believes he was an insignificant player in her original timeline.”

  Traditionally, the world’s currency consisted of gold, silver, and copper coins, all mined and minted in the Dwarves’ territory. The Dwarves were the only race who had ever run banks, and the world depended on them for monetary supply.

  But after the catastrophe, that supply chain collapsed. According to the players’ reports, the surviving dwarves were now devoted entirely to forging weapons and armor.

  It was understandable. Just as Arkavia’s destruction had erased generations of magical knowledge, the Dwarves too had lost their minting craft when their central city fell.

  Strangely, monsters in this world dropped coins when slain by players, as if conjured by divine design, even though nothing happened when the natives killed the monsters. Lyra could only assume that the God who aided this world was responsible.

  Thankfully, monsters didn’t vanish upon death like in common Earth’s games. If they did, Lyra’s understanding of reality would have shattered long ago.

  Yet… She refused to let her economy depend on players killing monsters for coins.

  That was because in a few months, a Dwarf player would rediscover the lost minting process and monopolize the entire economy. That alone was acceptable, it was how the Dwarves had operated before.

  But according to Ayla, that same player would enslave native people to labor for him. He would start with Dwarf natives and expand to others, even buying slaves from different races.

  In other words, he would revive the slave market. That was something Lyra would never allow. The resurgence of slavery would endanger her people, making them targets for kidnappers. Although players were forbidden from harming natives directly, they could easily hire native bandits to do so. That loophole in the divine system was enough to threaten everything Lyra had built.

  Thus, she resolved to create her own banking industry and render physical coins obsolete.

  Besides, the Dwarf player was one of Ayla’s marked targets for revenge. Though he had never harmed her directly, he had enslaved people close to her. Bound by divine law, Ayla could not fight back, the native kidnappers had never harmed her personally, and so the system protected them.

  For that reason alone, Lyra would help Ayla. And striking before he gained power was the only viable option. Ayla herself entrusted this matter entirely to Lyra. So, doing her best to live up to Ayla's expectations was natural for her. After all, Ayla wasn’t only Stelluna’s savior, but also Cryssa’s only friend. More than that, Lyra already treats Ayla like her own sister.

  After some thought, Lyra nodded.

  “Give him a chance. We’ll let the players handle the heavy labor, but the natives bound by our contracts will manage the final process. If he succeeds, he can manage the bank and enjoy its benefits.”

  “Understood, my lady.”

  Chika scanned through the next page.

  “Next is… the forge. We’ve received reports that internal blacksmith resources are dwindling. The players investigating found an Legendary-rank dungeon blocking the entrance of the mine. No one has managed to clear it yet.”

  “Legendary?”

  Lyra was surprised for a moment, but came back composed soon after.

  “Ah, then we can send the Starlace Order to reclaim it as soon as possible.”

  Right. Unlike before where the Starlace Order just formed, the current Starlace Order had grown in strength. Their first recruitment had succeeded in recruiting former B-rank to A-rank mercenaries. Besides, the executives themselves, who were just ordinary slaves over a month ago, now could kill wyverns easily.

  However…

  “My Lady, may I join?”

  Chika asked that with a worried look.

  “Oh? I don’t mind, but why? Are you bored working beside me?”

  Chika smiled faintly at Lyra’s teasing words.

  “Of course not. Although the current strength of our three executives and the newly joined former A-rank mercenaries should be enough, we still don’t know how dangerous the dungeon truly is. It would be safer if I went too to prevent casualties.”

  Her words were logical, but Lyra knew Chika was leaving her side because she wanted to protect Cryssa.

  Besides, a Legendary-rank dungeon might not only contain A-rank monsters, but also S-rank. Chika, as a former S-rank mercenary, certainly would be a great help there.

  Lyra chuckled softly.

  “You call me an overprotective sister, yet you’re no different yourself.”

  Chika replied in a flat tone.

  “The older sister can already protect herself, so I have no choice but to protect the younger one, or else I’ll be the one comforting the older sister when she cries later.”

  Lyra let out an amused sigh.

  “Yes, yes. I’ll leave Cryssa’s protection to you.”

  As their discussion settled, they returned to their work, but moments later, the door burst open.

  “Mama! Mama!”