When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

When the news of Monkulus's great victory arrived, the entire Kush Territory was engulfed in a joyful atmosphere.

Truth Chief Madlan arranged for several carriages to post announcements and awards along the villages on the roads.

From a bird's eye view, almost every Hundred Households District had someone literate reading out the list by the announcement board.

With each name called, a monk's family member proudly stood up and patted their chest toward the surrounding villagers, saying "My son/brother/grandson!"

For the countryside, where information was closed off, this was the first time they could receive news so quickly, a novel experience indeed.

In contrast, in the Empire, for some lords' subjects, they wouldn't know when a war began nor when it ended.

They wouldn't even know why they were killed by invading enemies.

Compared to the idle chatter in the countryside, the atmosphere in the city was even more enthusiastic.

In Joan of Arc Castle, people spontaneously bought flags and hung them under the roofs, and if a merchant came by, they might think it was a festival.

Especially the workshop masters and bondholders who gained wealth from this battle, when seeing the returning wounded soldiers, they almost wanted to kneel and kowtow to them.

This battle, signifying the bonds they purchased, increased three to five times in value, a profit of 300% to 500%!

When Horn cleared the bad assets, despite inviting specialized merchants for evaluation and selling at market prices,

Using bonds, they could spend 1 unit as if it were 3 or even 5, effectively making a purchase at a 70% or even 80% discount.

Moreover, this so-called "bad asset" wasn't genuinely bad, it was Salvation Army's poorly managed assets and properties.

Just putting knowledgeable people in charge, profits could soar.

The rest that the Pope's Palace could manage, such as furniture workshops, houses, and dye workshops, were all operated by specialists hired by Horn.

However, compared to the past, workers in these workshops lived far better days.

Under the "Labor Law", their maximum wages were restricted, leading to widespread labor shortages, because even laborers earned less than farming after paying taxes.

But after Horn came to power, he lifted the wage restrictions of the "Labor Law" and abolished the "Fugitive Slave Law", eliminating labor force limitations.

Of course, since land was distributed, people still decided to farm, keeping the labor market relatively short, hence wages generally rose.

The daily wage of a bricklayer was almost 1 Dinar, nearly double the past rate.

In addition, Horn also pushed the "Labor Safety Law", forcing workshop masters to pay a year's wage as pension to laborers' families in case of death from work accidents.

In the past, even kind-hearted workshop masters would only give some funeral expenses and hush money, while heartless ones might demand work loss compensation from the deceased's family.

Currently, Horn has gathered many workshop masters and several scholars of law from Kasha County to discuss this matter.

While this topic was widely followed in labor circles, the citizen and artisan groups focused more on the auction for church properties.

The auction adopted a sealed bidding process, starting at nine in the morning and ending at noon.

When the clock tower struck twelve, Palak and Grosien walked out of the auction, fully satisfied.

In this auction, they not only secured a fish pond but also picked up two workhorses and farm tools.

Walking out of the Holy Seat Bank, Palak looked at the passing crowd and waved with great satisfaction to everyone coming out.

"Friends, I propose a toast here for the victory of the Salvation Army, how about it?"

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" The passing people responded.

Turning around, Palak looked at Grosien, who was carefully holding a box, walking along the street edge, and shook his head helplessly.

"Don't worry!" Stepping forward, Palak patted the box, "The Pope Country, Salvation Army, and we all have a copy of the land deed, all registered under our names. What's the use even if the land deed is stolen?"

"Getting a replacement would cost a lot," Grosien said with distress.

Palak turned his head, about to speak, but saw a familiar figure in the crowd.

No minding Grosien, Palak darted forward, knocking aside quite a few people, and forcefully grabbed the sleeve of the person.

The face under the hood was astonished looking up, it was Squall, whom they hadn't seen for a long time.

This moment, Grosien finally made it through the crowd holding the box: "Palak, why did you run, you... Squall?"

Palak looked at him, grinning without mirth: "Ah, what a coincidence to meet here, are you going to play dice? I was just waiting for you to teach me a few rounds."

"Haha, yes, long time no see." Squall pulled a grotesque smile with his muscles, "I'm not gambling, just running errands delivering messages."

Unlike Grosien, Palak was a vindictive person who wouldn't easily let this trouble-seeker off.

Seeing Squall with an inclination to leave, Palak grabbed his wrist in reverse: "Don't go, I have good news for you."

"Wha-what news?"

"We just bought the monastery's fish pond with 1,050 Dinars! It was close, the second highest bid was only 30 Dinars less than ours, nearly lost it to someone else."

The way Horn adopted was the Vickrey auction, in simpler terms, it was a sealed bid auction, sold at the second-highest bid price.

For example, Grosien's bid was 1,100 Dinars, the highest in the field, and secured this fish pond.

The second-highest price was 1,050 Dinars, so although Grosien bid 1,100 Dinars, he only needed to pay 1,050 Dinars.

Horn sold these real estates not only to cash in old bonds for new issues but also hoped these poorly operated assets could be properly managed.

Using the Vickrey auction method, from a game theory perspective, the optimal strategy was to bid at one's true valuation, ensuring the most reasonable resource allocation.

Unless someone colluded before bidding, but if so, don't blame the Military Police for showing up.

Seeing the small box tightly held by Grosien, Squall's face darkened severely: "Saint Master bless! You guys are really lucky."

"Thanks to you!" Palak gave Squall's shoulder a hearty pat, "If you hadn't helped us fill out the form back then, how could we have grabbed this fish pond!"

Squall gritted his teeth, a flood of jealousy and anger rushed to his head, feeling something stuck in his throat, unable to utter a word.

"Hey, I heard you live on two or three Dinars a week as a scribe, running errands and copying books every day, why not come work for me as a helper, eh?"

Speaking such words, yet Palak had no intention of making him truly work as a helper.

The two had enmity; trust was impossible, saying so was merely to mock Squall.

Squall understood fully, yet clenched his teeth to the point of breaking, unable to do anything.

At this moment, he wished he could turn back time and slap his past self.

He regretted warning the Master Knight, he regretted messing with Grosien's application form, he regretted…

Damn it! Saint Master, why do you let your devout believer be humiliated by peasants!

The more Squall thought, the sadder and angrier he grew, his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Rattle, rattle—"

Palak heard a sound rumbling from Squall's throat, then Squall opened his mouth and shouted, "Ah!"

He then closed his eyes tightly, face ashen, and fell to the ground.

Palak, startled, jumped back three steps, and seeing Squall silent, picked up a branch to poke Squall's face.

Seeing Squall's breath ruffling the leaves on the branch, Palak finally let out a sigh of relief.

At that moment, people, just out of the Holy Seat Bank, noticed the commotion and lined up, tiptoeing, looking this way.

Seeing the surrounding crowd, Palak quickly explained: "Everyone saw it, I didn't even touch him, he fell himself!"

After shouting to clear things up and seeing some black-clad Night Watchers approaching, Palak pulled Grosien and hurriedly fled the scene to avoid trouble.