Reborn: Imperial Officer Promotion Guide

On the gray earth, the rain fell drop by drop until it poured down.

Amidst the violent storm, the girl with her eyes closed and the silver-haired man were engaged in a life-and-death battle of magic.

The two of them fought back and forth, and the magical attack was dazzling, like an extremely gorgeous waltz.

The scene in Hull's eyes was too crazy and too deadly.

That was an unprecedentedly powerful enemy, and also his most proud disciple.

A disciple who is capable of inheriting his mantle.

At this moment, it has transformed into a monster.

The regret of having created this monster with my own hands.

The feeling of powerlessness of being unable to save this monster.

I had expected that sooner or later I would feel guilty about this battle.

Hull couldn't remember what happened afterwards.

He only remembered that the girl fell down like a puppet with its strings cut and never stood up again.

After regaining consciousness, Hull found himself in a carriage.

It seemed that he had consumed too much magic power and lost consciousness halfway through.

He vaguely remembered being lifted up by a pair of hands and carefully carried to the carriage.

Hull moved his hands and feet to check the condition of his body.

When he opened his blurry eyes, he saw a black-haired girl with tears on her face sitting next to him.

"Rin... why are you crying? Don't you hate me?"

"Of course I hate you, you are cold and cruel, and you have a bad personality... But if you fall, many people will become unfortunate. Don't I even have the right to worry and cry!?"

"..." Hull immediately realized that Ling's condition was very wrong.

Hel stretched out his right hand and gently placed it on Ling's forehead. As he infused magic power into her, under Hel's guidance, the vast magic power contained in her body gushed out, and Ling lost consciousness instantly.

After a while, the surging magic power in Ling's body gradually calmed down under Hel's guidance.

Goliath, who was driving the car, pulled back the curtain and stuck his head out: "What's wrong with Ling?"

"Don't worry. This child's physical and mental strength has reached its limit, and her emotions are on the verge of collapse. I am just helping her calm her magic that is about to run away. Let her have a good sleep first."

Outside the carriage, the rain kept falling. Based on the magic chanting from the previous life, combined with the magic wand application rules of this world, and the water veins that had been flowing silently underground for thousands of years, Hel used his own magic power as a guide to force the climate and ecology in the desert to change.

Heavy rains will continue for several weeks to nourish this dry sea of ​​sand.

As for how to create new oases with the help of rainwater, leave it to the sons of the desert.

After a night's journey, Hull returned to the castle at noon the next day.

Today was the appointed day, and he had to meet with the senior consul agent.

At the desk, a man with a pair of slender eyes and sharp gaze was flipping through the documents in his hands.

That was the deputy senior archon - Nur Gana.

This was Hull's second meeting with him.

The first time was on the day I first arrived in East Territory. At that time, I just felt that he was a leader who spoke very little.

Seeing each other again now, Hull understood more and more that it was actually a deliberate indifference at that time.

Noor Ghana looked through the documents in his hand and put them on the table, then looked in the direction of Hull.

But he was not looking at Hull, but at Gilder, the senior political officer beside Hull.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Gilder."

"Please don't say that. We are willing to wait no matter how long it takes to get an audience with you."

Gilder forced a smile on his face, and Nur Ghana also smiled faintly.

Both of them were somewhat polite and wary, especially Noor Ghana. Hull could feel that the other party was always observing him out of the corner of his eye.

My previous concentration on reading the documents was just a cover-up.

"The person next to me is Helheim whom I mentioned to you before."

"Oh? Really?" Noor Ghana looked at Hull with a critical eye.

"I've heard about him too. He distributed supplies to the general public just a few days after taking office. He also contributed to the major review of the Ministry of Resources. It seems he is an excellent subordinate."

"I didn't expect the rumor to spread so quickly."

Hull's tone was calm and his answer was a bit impolite, so Gilder quickly laughed it off.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Nur Gana. As you can see, this guy may be very capable, but there are some aspects that are not so...well, after all, he came back from a battlefield in the North, so his mind is still a little unreliable. I hope you don't mind. I will discipline him after I return."

Gilder eased the somewhat tense atmosphere with his joking tone.

"Haha... you've really worked hard. I don't have much time either, so let's get down to business."

Hull stood up and said, "Actually, I made a special trip to visit you today to confirm the current progress of the policy proposal I submitted a few days ago."

Noor Ghana raised his head and thought for a moment: "I remember now, you are talking about those suggestions..."

"I've read about it. It's about establishing the shortest transportation route across the desert to the eastern frontier. It makes perfect sense, and it's ambitious and very attractive."

"Thank you for your recognition."

"As for the tax cuts and relief measures for the people, they are also very good and worth promoting as an extension of your relief efforts. It can be seen that as a government official, you are both capable and willing to contribute to the people in your territory. This makes me quite happy."

“…Thank you for your recognition.”

"But..." Nur Ghana changed the subject.

"These measures will seriously affect the fiscal expenditure of the East Territory. This is not a trivial matter. We must consult with the senior governor who is far away in the Sky Palace in the imperial capital."

"……I see."

If you think about it, that's natural.

Each of those policy proposals requires huge amounts of funding to support it, and it is certainly not something that the acting governor can decide on alone.

The journey from Eastling to the imperial capital is long, and it would take at least a month to go back and forth even if you rush.

Fortunately, Hull had been preparing for three months.

Judging from the current situation, Nandar's caravan should be able to arrive in less than two weeks.

The supplies he brought were enough to cover this gap.

With the rainfall in the desert, the underground water veins will revive, and it should not be difficult to last for three months.

"So, you'll have to wait for a while for your solutions. There's nothing we can do about it."

"I see...So...how long do I have to wait for an official response?"

Noor Ghana turned his back to Hull in the rocking chair, and after a moment he spoke: "It will take at least half a year."

This was beyond Hull's expectations: "Six months?... The people outside the city definitely can't hold out that long..."

"Isn't this exactly what we want?" Nur Ghana's voice was a little cunning.

“…What’s going on?” asked Gilder.

Hull also looked at him in surprise.

"You, you are paying out of your own pocket to help those people. That is a big taboo. You may have good intentions, but this is actually harming the interests of the East Territory. To be clear, you are doing something stupid that will cause trouble!"

"..."

Hull couldn't observe the expression on the other person's face at the moment, but from his tone, his previous praise for the policy plan was actually just a polite remark.

What I say at this moment is what I really think in my heart.

People who are two-faced often do not directly reveal their true intentions when discussing core issues, and this senior consul agent is obviously a typical example of this.

"Those people used to call themselves the Sons of the Desert. They were enemies of our empire many times during the war and were extremely difficult to deal with. After the war, they even hid in the desert and refused to surrender. If we let them rest and recuperate, once their livelihood problems are solved, they might raise the banner of rebellion. The current forces of East Territory alone will not be able to suppress them."

"…So, you deliberately imposed heavy taxes on those people, left them to starve outside the city, and destroyed them with poverty and drought?"

Noor Ghana moved the rocking chair to face Hull and nodded with a somewhat proud expression on his face.

"That's right. For the empire to maintain long-term stability, those unstable factors need to be gradually eliminated in a peaceful way. Our primary responsibility in East Territory is not to feed those desert sons who may rebel at any time, but to safely transport the supplies needed for the war to the eastern front. Therefore, there is no need to risk crossing the desert and giving those lawless elements the opportunity to rob the transportation routes and obtain daily necessities."

Gilder's eyes were a little dazed at the moment, and Hell thought of Secretary Kululi.

They had clearly been consciously looking for ways to rebuild the oasis and had even identified a location, but they had never been able to do so. This must be the reason.

No wonder Gilder said at the time that he and the acting senior consul had different ideas.

"…So, what about the solution I proposed?"

"I'll think about it. Go back and wait for notification."

He said this, but his implication was clear.

With him guiding us, the final result of half a year of waiting would definitely be a rejection.

"..."

"Helheim, as a senior, I have a piece of advice for you. As a political official, you need to have the right awareness and take a long-term view.

"We can neither let the people under our rule live a vigorous life nor let them die in vain. The best choice is to keep them half-dead so that they can create wealth but cannot rebel. The East Territory does not need a boring sense of justice. You are not a savior, and those who have fought against our empire do not deserve to be rescued by anyone. You should focus on your work."

"..."

"For Gilder's sake, I will not pursue your private distribution of supplies. In a few months, those people will be back on the brink of life and death. One day, driven by hunger, they will abandon their dignity and sell their wives and children. When they realize that they can only survive by relying on us and are willing to submit to the rule of our empire, I will save their survivors, let them remarry and have children, form new families, and accept them as part of the empire. Only then can our East Territory achieve rapid development, and the entire territory will become prosperous."

"..."

Nur Ghana smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes. Instead, he used sharp eyes to confirm whether Hull was an enemy or a friend.

"If you can't see through the general trend of the world, no matter how outstanding you are, you will never achieve great things in your life. Intermediate Political Officer Hel Heim, I hope you can learn a lesson from this incident. I don't want a young general with a bright future to use his talents in the wrong way. This is why I am willing to meet you this time."

"...I see. As expected of the deputy high governor of the East Territory, Lord Nur Gana is truly wise."

Noor Ghana smiled and nodded. He was very satisfied with Hull's answer.

"You can understand, and my corrections are not in vain. Fortunately, you are still young, and one or two mistakes are harmless. As long as you can learn from the lessons, you will still be a pillar of our East Territory. You don't have to be discouraged. I look forward to you coming up with a policy plan that truly serves the interests of the Empire and our East Territory."

At this moment, Hull showed a meaningful smile and stared into Nur Ghana's eyes.

"It's clever, but unfortunately, thinking you have seen through the essence of things is just short-sightedness."

"..."

"..."

The smile on Nur Ghana's face froze instantly. He widened his eyes, wondering if he had heard it wrong.

"...Hmm?" Nur Gana cast an inquiring look at Gilder who was standing next to Hull.

But Gilder just lowered his head and said nothing. On the contrary, Helheim had a very cold expression and looked straight at Nur Gana with extremely sharp eyes, which made him feel cold down his spine.

"What did you say???"