Joe waited for a bit, assuming there was more before realizing they were now waiting for him, “Why are they not waiting till the end of battle?”

“Much of the resources gained will be lost by then and, most importantly, if monsters can gain duplicate cores, our problems may greatly increase.”

“So they are out there for the benefit of the city and protect from a… minor probability that a monster can consume a core and grow?”

Gwenvair nodded with a soft, “Mmm…”

Joe thought on that then continued, “How likely is it? That a monster will eat another core.”

Gwenvair smiled, “Mostly only elementals or slimes consume cores. It is their nature to simple consume. Other monsters need to eat the core without damaging it. That is… much more difficult as most monsters are wild in their actions. Getting a core down their throat without them chewing on it is a very … difficult task. They can easily crush it between their teeth. Also, very few monsters drop cores, so…”

Joe fell silent at that, thoughtful, his response a bit slow. So… even monster cores are rare with other monsters… He pondered on it for a time before he turned back to his initial concern, “So, people harvest the animals. The guard’s duty is to protect the workers at the bottom of the walls?”

“Yes.”

“And they are there of their own accord?”

“Yes, within certain expectations.”

Joe cocked his head at that, “Expectations?”

“The guards must go as part of their duty.”

“But they are there as part of their duties and they knew their responsibilities when they applied for the guard position.”

“Of course.”

“And the slaves?”

Gwenvair froze a bit at that, “Hmm… the slaves may not have known their responsibilities, but they chose as much as the guards did when they sold themselves into slavery.”

“Slaves sell themselves into slavery?”

“Most do so, yes.”

“And those who do not?”

“Criminals, unfortunates, children of the poor.”

“And there are many of these kinds of people… slaves?”

“There are, yes.”

Joe fell silent at that, and struggled to maintain his composure. He was already struggling to hold his upset at the existence of slavery, but hearing how so many were also slaves against their choice, he was struggling, his jaw clenching. He’d turned away, calming himself before looking back.

“Can you tell me the purpose of slavery for your society?”

Gwenvair had grown silent at that, easily catching his subdued anger and her mother tensed once again. Joe, despite his anger, recognized their concern and took a deep breath, sighing away his anger and calming himself.

“Please. Be at peace. I am not angry at you. Nor am I really angry at anyone. Please, continue.”

Gwenvair took a deep breath in reply and nodded, “It is a useful tool to control criminals and an escape for the poor and debtors.”

“And the children of the poor?”

Gwenvair shrugged at that, “They are saved.”

“How are children saved when parents sell their own children to slavery for their own benefit?!” Joe’s anger bleeding through at that point.

Gwenvair nodded, “There are some who do so, but those are … rare and steps are taken to remove, limit, or punish such parents.”

“But …”

Gwenvair raised her hand and shook her head, causing him to pause, her comfort obviously returning, “These people are evil. We agree, and we work hard to remove them.”

Joe nodded at that, calming himself, but continuing, “But you said the poor children are saved? How …” Joe’s frustration got the better of him and he trembled in anger.

Gwenvair sighed, “You would have them starve? The whole family?”

Joe blinked at that, before frowning and cocking his head in some confusion. Gwenvair seemed confused herself, looking at Joe before continuing.

“The family has no food, or not enough food for the whole family, so the youngest children are often sold so that they have a chance at life and the family can do well.”

“Why do they simply not have children?”

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Gwenvair actually drew back in shock at that, looking at him in confusion, “And how would you propose to stop children from being born?”

“Birth contro…” Joe blinked, eyes widening and breath coming in a bit quickly, “Crap! Oh… sorry. Apologies for my language, I just… I am forgetting how much … My world… plane is so… different.”

Gwenvair said nothing, staring at him for a bit, allowing him his moment. Her mother seemed to have calmed as well, everyone in the room looking at him with some confusion. Joe was lost in thought and didn’t notice everyone’s looks. After thinking, he returned to the conversation and saw everyone’s stare.

“Ah, sorry. I was just lost… So, to continue, criminals are placed in slavery in lieu of prison, and debtors pay off their debt with slavery, and the poor feed themselves with slavery.”

Gwenvair took a moment to consider that before she nodded her head, “That seems… correct. Yes.”

Joe frowned at that, but still shook his head, a grimace still on his face. The Matriarch and Gwenvair shared a glance that held deep meaning and the Matriarch took over the conversation.

“You seem… displeased.”

Joe sighed at that and shook his head, “This… is something that was unpleasant on my plane. We removed slavery as an institution on my planet… for the most part. At the time I left, there are some ‘clans’ who practice it in secret or illegally, or try not to bring it to obvious light. There are many of my clans who regularly try to stop it, although we try to remain respectful of other clans’ choices. Hmm… my plane is not perfect, not at all, but we do attempt to reduce things such as this.”

“And… what do you do with your criminals?”

“We imprison them.”

“Prison? That seems… wasteful…”

“Why would you believe it is wasteful?”

“What would you do? Why waste the cost on mana and space? Simple collar them and have them work.”

Joe paused at that, “And… can they free themselves?”

The Matriarch seemed confused at that, “Why? They have done wrong.”

Joe frowned at that, shaking his head, “We hope that we will rehabilitate the criminals. We hope that we can teach them to become proper citizens.”

“It works?”

Joe sighed, “For some.”

The Matriarch fell silent at that, considering before she nodded her head, “Your people seem willing to be quite considerate to your criminals.”

“We attempt it, but… poorly… many times, and only for my specific clan. There are other clans who are a … bit more harsh with their criminals.”

The Matriarch nodded slightly at that, “And your poor?”

“There are very few poor amongst our people, although there are some and for those, there are many options such as homes, free food, and other such offers. These are usually offered so that those who need help have it available for the time until they are able to find another job or opportunity to support and flourish. Then, when they no longer need those and once they are able to support themselves, those special services are removed.”

Gwenvair’s eyebrows rose at that, but the Matriarch maintained her expression a bit better, “How are you able to … how are your people able to pay for such things?”

Joe sighed deeply, “My people… are much more wealthy. All of the people of my clan are incredibly wealthy. If everyone is very wealthy, then that wealth makes your entire nation … clan… wealthy, and therefore everyone is wealthier and is able to help others more easily. Of course, greed can destroy this, but greed always destroys every society.”

Kilniara interjected at that point, “Really? That’s amazing!”

Joe laughed at that and shook his head, “It wasn’t me. It was the effort and morals of my ancestors.”

“But you still attempt and maintain it!”

Joe shrugged, “Maybe… some of it seems to be on the verge of being lost.”

Kilniara had nothing else to say at that point but Gwenvair spoke up at that point, “Then… your anger comes from how poorly our society handles the poor?”

Joe sighed and shook his head, “No, not so much… which I guess makes me a bit hypocritical because… well… how many would die if slavery were to be ended?”

Gwenvair frowned at that, sighing deeply, “Hmm… about half of our people are slaves, and more than half are poor and another half of that are maybe debtors. Very few are criminals. So… many would die of starvation or die in the streets or forests.”

Joe’s eyebrows climbed, “More than a third? Probably … almost half?”

Gwenvair nodded, “Probably close to half, yes. Our clan… could not support those people.”

Joe sighed and settled back in his feet, shaking his head, “And no one has found a way to … solve this?”

“What is there to do?”

“Make everyone wealthier…” Joe stopped at that and shook his head, “Which is probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever said, because if wealth was so easy, you would have already done so.”

Gwenvair smiled at that, nodding, “Yes.”

Joe looked at Gwenvair and smirked, “Are you calling me dumb?”

Gwenvair’s smile did not change, although it grew a bit more mocking and she simply shrugged.

Joe’s smile softened and he sighed again, “Well, if you want a hint, educate all of your people. That will greatly increase the wealth of your city and clan.”

The Matriarch nodded at that, “We educate everyone in our clan, carefully.”

Joe cocked his head, then shook it, “No. I meant everyone, including those who live in your city, even if they are not of your clan.”

“I am uncertain they could afford it.”

Joe shook his head, “Offer it for free to all people.”

This actually brought the Matriarch out of her cautious emotional control, surprise coming through, “Then we could not afford it!”

Joe laughed at that, “At the beginning, possibly. But what if your teaching increased the ability of everyone in your city to create wealth by even just half, how much would your city’s wealth increase? It would not be simply half again, but much more as other cities would increase trade. Not only this, your city would attract other geniuses and individuals who would also seek to move to your city for education and wealth. Those seeking wealth would likely stay where there is wealth; your city. Those seeking education would also likely stay, as the center of education would be… here. Thus, the brightest, smartest, most determined, and strongest willed would come here. How well would your city grow if you had the smartest and strongest willed always seeking out your city?”

The vision Joe painted struck Gwenvair strongly, and even the Matriarch seemed to consider, her thoughts reeling, “This is similar to what you spoke of before… economies of scale… of finding the brilliant minds lost amongst the poor?”

Joe waffled, shaking his head, “Hmm… all of it is linked, of course. I think I explained that if you want your society to grow, then creating new things is one of the most powerful ways to create wealth. But to be able to create new things, people must be able to easily feed, clothe, and house themselves, then they can spend their time focused on creating their ideas. In this way, even if only one in ten of the one in a hundred who desire to create a new idea succeed, you will find your society and people … exploding in wealth, strength, in new artifacts, and … just so many things.”

The Matriarch stared at Joe, “It paints a pretty picture.”

Joe smiled, “Yes… but it is the history of my clan. My clan was the poorest, smallest, and had the fewest people of almost all other clans on my plane. In only one or two hundred years, my clan is now the wealthiest, most advanced, and strongest on my plane, by many times over any others. Our military is so strong, we could destroy our wor… plane several thousands times over again with just one of our weapons. Even with our other military weapons, we could… almost fight the entire world, and defend ourselves quite well and even possibly attack and win… although the latter is … would be difficult.”

“You took control of your whole plane in two centuries?”