This Game Is Too Realistic

Boulder Town.

In the meeting room on the third floor of the city hall, the long conference table was silent except for the occasional falling ash and the persistent smell of cigarettes.

The Army had left. Or rather, they had fled with their tails between their legs, and it seemed they wouldn't be paying attention to the River Valley Province for a long time.

This should have been cause for celebration.

However... The people sitting at the conference table could not feel happy.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the room was so heavy it felt like someone had died rather than a normal meeting.

The only thing that didn't fit the funeral-like atmosphere was probably the brown shirt Dulong wore under his black coat, which he had put on inside out.

He only realized it after sitting down, and it was too late the change. He could only keep fiddling with the collar of his coat.

The meeting had lasted from late night until dawn.

Struggling to keep his heavy eyelids open, Dulong quietly surveyed the people at the conference table again, trying to read any change in their positions from their expressions.

However, he failed to get any clue.

To ease the stiff atmosphere at the table, he cleared his throat and began to speak in a diplomatic tone. "... At least he didn't lie to us."

Seeing that no one interrupted him, Dulong continued, "Last night not a single bullet... Not even a shell casing fell on our great wall. Those rounds they fired were just fireworks."

"I think we really shouldn't be too nervous. The New Alliance is a friendly neighbor. They've always cared about their relationship with us."

While speaking, Dulong kept a very low profile, and he spoke cautiously. After all, there were few people sitting there whose status was lower than his.

Apart from Malvern, the head of Boulder Town Bank, and Deputy Minister Jaeger, who always opposed him, the others were either nobles from the inner city or officers from the Boulder Town Militia. Those were the real powers of Boulder Town.

In comparison, he was more like a servant of the lord, managing the non-core businesses.

Those at the table exchanged glances before whispering to themselves.

A few of the inner city nobles seemed somewhat persuaded, thinking there might be some truth to his words since the New Alliance had indeed never provoked them and had even sold them many interesting trinkets enriching their days and nights.

The only one still looking stern was a man in military uniform. He stared at Dulong with an unchanged expression and snorted coldly in response. "Oh? So should we thank them?"

His name was Welon, the general of the first 1,000-man corps in the Boulder Town Militia. He was an old noble of the inner city, and also one of the most difficult hardliners to deal with.

Although isolation was a consensus among the residents of the inner city, how to isolate and what kind of isolation was a matter for discussion.

"You misunderstood, that's not what I meant." Dulong sighed lightly, headache evident as he looked at the general.

"Let's be objective about this. That airship... Or that 400mm cannon in the hands of the New Alliance is definitely better than being in the hands of the Army. Even if those folks in the suburbs are a bunch of country bumpkins playing with mud-crabs, they are relatively civilized."

The officer narrowed his eyes slightly and snorted, "Are you saying I'm not being objective?"

Dulong could tell that the meeting was heading into a deadlock again, and Malvern, sitting at the corner of the long table, coughed softly and tried to make peace between them. "I believe the mayor is trying to say that our situation has improved a lot compared to half a month ago. There's no need to look so gloomy."

Seeing his ally speaking up, Dulong quickly followed up. "That's exactly what I mean."

Sitting next to Welon, another officer responsible for city defenses suddenly said thoughtfully, "Automated anti-air firepower, hundreds of support guns... By the gods, how did they breach that?"

The night before at 7:58, the New Alliance set off fireworks for an hour and two minutes. Our anti-aircraft guns and missiles on the great wall were also loaded and on standby all night. If those dense fireworks were replaced with shells fitted with proximity fuses, not a single aircraft from Boulder Town would have been able to take off. After all, vertical take-off fighters needed a distance of more than 10 kilometers to accelerate even if they switched to a fixed-winged mode."

Before that, shooting them down wouldn't require very advanced technology, a broadside salvo would suffice.

Without a doubt, those country bumpkins from the suburbs were showing off their pitiful muscles under the guise of a celebration.

After thinking about it, the officer couldn't help but grind his teeth in annoyance.

Just because they luckily won a battle against the Army, they're flaunting in front of us.

Those annoying bastards... They're asking to get beaten up!

"I still hold the same view," Welon said without expression, "we should restrict the aid we have given. We need to stop immediately!"

Dulong sighed. "How do we do that?"

Welon didn't hesitate. "Stop the loans! Stop the trade with the north!"

Dulong wasn't surprised he would say something like that. Rough leaders from the Militia didn't understand their military equipment had to be bought from somewhere. Daily essentials weren't free either.

He was about to say something when a richly dressed man spoke in his stead, saying everything Dulong had intended to say. "Nonsense. Stopping trade immediately isn't realistic. Everything you eat, wear, and use comes from trade between us and other survivor settlements."

Dulong glanced at this man, recognizing him as Sid, a well-known noble of the inner city and the major shareholder behind the Vega Trading Company.

His business wasn't just the Vega Trading Company, nor was it limited to Boulder Town. He had shares in farms in the south and raised some mercenary groups there. His wealth was too vast to be classified in terms of mere chips.

Also, Dulong noticed the Devil's Silk clothing on him and the leather shoes he was wearing made from Deathclaw leather.

In a sense, he was right. Sustenance indeed came from trade with the outside.

Sid had barely finished when another equally high-status noble from the inner city immediately followed up. "That's right, and stopping trade with just one party is unrealistic! Once you're out of the great wall, those caravans won't let you know where they've gone. Even if you close the northern gates, even if you leave only one gate to the south open, as long as there's profit to be made in the suburbs, they'll take a big detour to get there."

Welon's brows twitched. He was still stuck on his stance, but he might have realized his statement hadn't been well thought out, so he amended it with a bit of concession. "Forget the trade, at least loans needs to be stopped!"

He knew that their money was in the Boulder Town Bank. It would be easy to stop the loan, Just a flick of the finger could freeze millions of chips.

The nobles didn't mind. After all, the New Alliance's moneybag had nothing to do with them.

Just as Welon was about to smile and thank everyone for their cooperation, the bank president, Malvern, suddenly coughed and spoke up. "I have a few words to say about this."

As everyone looked at him, he continued, "Rather than being beneficial for the New Alliance, the load is actually for our benefit. If the residents of Boulder Town can't afford to buy our products, if we stop the loans to the New Alliance, at least half of our factories will have to shut down."

Sid immediately interrupted at his explanation. "No! We can't have that! The loans must not stop!" .

The nobles nodded in agreement, expressing nearly the same opinion.

"Exactly!"

"Stopping the loans is just too stupid! Our factories have started production. If we stop their loans now, who will pay the workers?"

"Even if we have to stop, it should wait until those country bumpkins have paid off their bills!"

Seeing more allies on his side, Malvern heaved a sigh of relief and continued to strike while the iron was hot. "That's what I think too. The economy that has been stagnant for a century is finally showing signs of recovery. We can't let the system break... At least not for now."

The officer sitting next to Welon couldn't help but clench his fists. "Are we just going to watch them grow?!"

Dulong spoke softly. "I need to clarify that their power is indeed growing, but we are also becoming stronger."

"Not to mention, the 3,000 mercenaries hired to the front lines, excluding those who died, at least a thousand or two have returned. They are soldiers who have seen the real battlefield. They didn't just head out there to clean up some Slime Mold. They faced real gunfire. We can certainly incorporate them and train them as junior officers!"

He had always dreamed that the city hall could have its own armed forces, and that was the best opportunity.

Seeing Welon fall into thought, Dulong felt a flicker of joy in his heart. Before he could rejoice, his ally Malvern suddenly betrayed him. "Regarding the military expansion... I actually think it's unnecessary. As long as we ensure that we have mutually assured destruction capabilities with our neighbors, that's enough. They are economically dependent on us and will be even more so in the future. These loans are like chains around their necks... This is more effective than expanding the army."

What a joke.

Once they expanded the army, it meant raising taxes. The city hall was not exempt. He couldn't afford not to care.

The residents of the outer city were already squeezed dry. Their situation only improved recently with increased job opportunities.

If they expanded their military capabilities... It was obvious where the money would come from.

Ignoring the desperate glances Dulong sent his way, Malvern continued, "If our lord has no plans for territorial expansion, maintaining such a large army would only be a burden for us."

The nobles sitting at the conference table also nodded.

Most of them had businesses in the city. If the military was to expand, it would inevitably lead to higher taxes, further increasing their operating costs.

At the very least, their stance was consistent with that of Boulder Town Bank.

Welon frowned. He could disregard Dulong and Malvern, but he couldn't ignore the nobles sitting around him.

Two centuries of intermarriage had intertwined the power structure of the inner city in complex ways.

Especially those old nobles. Many of them weren't just people who had bought their way into the inner city with money, but had been there from the start, when the great walls had just been built.

Some of them maintained the operation of the city lord's core businesses, some managed assets in distant places. Even the city lord himself would listen to their opinions.

At least he would to some extent.

Malvern coughed lightly again, making a peacemaking statement. "We really shouldn't worry too much, our neighbor is very trustworthy."

After a pause, he continued, "Just yesterday, a subordinate sent by the administrator brought us 12 chests of treasure. Those are part of General McClennan's collection, and my professional assessment team has valued them at 8 to 9.6 million chips... This money will serve as a prepayment for the interest owed for the next three years."

Before he could finish, he saw the nobles' eyes instantly heat up, especially the shareholders of Boulder Town Bank.

Although those treasures were entering the bank's vault and didn't directly involve them, those treasures would soon appear at the auction.

For them, chips were just numbers. The money spent was what really held value, whether it was buying real estate, rare metals, imported goods from Ideal City, or treasures from the Federation Era.

Collectables of a general of the Army surely wouldn't disappoint them.