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Two days later, through the grasslands, sparse forests began to replace the grass and faint silhouettes of mountains could be seen in the distance, the pair of one human and one Arachne finally reached near Rigel. The Jeep was currently driving along a dirt road, its frame jolting with every bump and hollow but the suspension negated most of the shocks offering a relatively smooth ride. Since they had started the return journey, they had encountered some monsters, bandits and tribal people along the way who wanted to make trouble, but nothing that could not be dealt with by a few bullets and Sylvia who occasionally went out to ‘stretch her muscles’.

She was gazing around lazily, looking at the scenery around her. The jeep made its way along the dirt road until if reached a pair of buildings near the road. The road was also being blocked by a large wooden beam a metre above the ground, which was placed on two wooden supports on either side of the road. There were a few humans present there as well. Sylvia who thought that these people were also bandits or tribal people who had troubled her before, was preparing to attack them but Add stopped her. As she raised her brows at him, Add reduced the speed and slowly drove towards the men. They were all dressed in Simple dirt coloured uniforms with swords and spears for weapons and leather armour covering the vital parts of their bodies. They also wore steel helmets with a five pointed red star painted at the front.

These men were very familiar to Add. They belonged to the State police force, which was originally formed from retired soldiers and veteran mercenaries as its core while new members were also recruited. This force was tasked primarily with maintaining public security and order, acting as guards at important locations, and manning the check posts along the major roads in and out of Rigel. But in times of in need, they could be drafted into the army and sent to battle if necessary. As  soon as they saw the jeep coming towards them, they became vigilant, but quickly realised the identity of the man who was driving it. As the Jeep came to a halt and Add stepped out, the guards quickly straightened themselves and gave salute.

“““Reporting to the Marshal!”””

“At ease gentlemen. How is it going?”

“Reporting to the General! There have been no problems, everything is in order sir!”

The man in charge, replied with fervour. The other guards were silent with their bodies straight trying to give the impression of discipline to the Marshal.

“Good. How about your daily lives, any problems?”

“We are doing fine sir! Thank you for your concern!”

Add nodded and looked over to the other guards, and then continued discussing day to day matters. There were a few young guardsmen who felt quite stressed talking to the Marshall. But gradually they too began speaking more freely. Sylvia who was bored sitting in the Jeep walked out and tried listening to what the group was saying, howver she was quickly bored of their conversation and began wandering around looking at the buildings and stuff. The guards were stunned by her beauty but dared not to ogle her. They had been trained quite strictly, to focus on their work while on duty, and no matter how beautiful she was, since she was together with the general, they did not want to do anything that would put their jobs or lives at risk.

After discussing with the soldiers for some time, Add returned to the Jeep. The guards quickly rotated a crank wheel and the wooden beam was lifted from one side making way for the jeep to pass. As the jeep gradually went out of sight, they finally relaxed and began talking among themselves.

“Whew, the Marshall has finally returned! It has been a long time since he left.”

“Did you see the carriage he was in? It was such a magical item, no horses pulling it, yet still it moves own its own! The Marshall is truly mysterious! Ever since he openly took reins of the government  and started his reforms five years ago, he has been making miracles one after the other!”

“Right, but I have to admit, that he really has the aura of a ruler. I could not help but feel nervous before him.”

“Hey! Didn’t you all see the girl who was with him? I swear I have not seen a beauty even close to her in my life!”

“Pah! You are just 25 what life!? But really she was truly beautiful! No wonder the General did not have any romantic affairs till now. His taste was actually this high! But they suit each other very well.”

“But, her ears…. They were pointed, don’t tell me she is an…”

“What are you brats yapping over there!? Don’t you bastards have work to do!? Get back to your posts or I will whack the lot of you!”

The leader found them gossiping and became angry. These guards were relatively fresh out from their training and still had to learn a lot about the ways of the police. He shouted at them, and the men quickly ran away taking their respective spots as they were supposed to.

After sometime, as they approached the town, Add retrieved the jeep in his inventory and then the two continued on foot. Although him having many ‘magical items’ was not really a surprise in the town, Add for his part did not want to openly display them to the public, as unlike soldiers and guards, the common people were very quick to chatter and leak information. As the two walked towards the town, on both sides of the road one could see, large stretches of farmlands on which mostly wheat was growing. Some areas also had other crops like potato, corn, vegetables etc. Farmers using simple mechanical farm equipment such as seed drills, horse drawn harrows and tillers etc. could also be spotted once in a while.

Add had introduced simple machines which did not require engines or were operated by animals. He had yet to give the first true machines to the public. But even these had remarkably improved the performance and yield of the farmers. The agriculture sector itself was controlled by the government with the land being leased to farmers, at affordable rates to the farmers. They were also provided with seeds and equipments at subsidised prices and in return of all this they were to sell majority of their produce to the government at prices which were fixed yearly based on various factors. There also many other reforms, which together insured that the sector was under government supervision, but the farmers had enough incentives to work for their own benefits as well.

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Gradually, the narrow dirt road gave way to a wider paved road made with stone bricks. There were many people on the road as well, some walking, while others were riding horses and horse drawn carriages. Carts full of goods were being moved in and out of the town, while guards kept watch at the town gate checking all people who were going inside. Add had changed his dress and was currently dressed in a loose cotton shirt and black trousers, he also had a armoured vest on him just to feel safe, though it was highly unlikely that someone would attack him here. Even in his simple clothes, he attracted a lot of stares thanks to his refined looks and his charm stat added on to this as well.

But Sylvia walking beside him who looked like a fairy, attracted greater attention. What attracted even more gazes towards her were her Elven features. Elves were a race that were very detached from humans, thanks to the humans having a nasty habit to enslave them. Finding an Elf in a human town or city was extremely rare. But since she was with the Lord of the town, no one dared approach them. She for her part, was not at all bothered by the looks, to an existence like her, normal humans were not worth putting in the eyes. Before approaching the gates, Add turned to her and said, in a voice which had a tinge of pride in it.

“Sylvia I hereby welcome you, to the Socialist Republic of Rigel. This is my home, and the place where you will be working at.”

The Socialist Republic of Rigel (or SRR) was the new name of the former Weismann territory, and it became the first of the states of the Soviet Union in Iseria.

“So this is the home you speak of..” she looked at the town before her, “this queen shall see for herself what surprises this human settlement can give her…”

“Then lets enter…”

At the gates of the town, Add was greeted by the guards who immediately saluted him, he showed them his identification papers, which was a rule he had established. The guards helplessly verified his ID as was the procedure since the Marshall was known to be pretty serious about following the rules. As for Sylvia, she obviously had no ID on her, and would have to be given one later. After a few sentences the duo entered the town.

The town of Rigel itself had changed a lot in the past five years. The crumbling old wooden wall which surrounded the town was replaced with a taller and sturdier brick wall. Tall watchtowers were built just behind the wall to keep watch on any incoming threats. There were also a lot more people now than before, the town and its surrounding villages now boasted over a 250,000 citizens.

Most of these were relocated peasants who were brought from the distant regions of the territory, on Add’s orders and housed in newly founded villages around Rigel. The unkempt streets which used to be covered in dirt and waste were cleaned and paved with stones, the small shacks and slums were all removed, their inhabitants relocated into new villages. Although he was not expanding this town, doing these basic things was still a necessity.

Every once in a while, a group of guards could be seen patrolling around the town. The most prominent feature however, would be the presence of the red flag which could be seen on many places. The previous poverty stricken appearance of the town had been completely changed and now it was a vibrant and booming centre of activity. Stalls and shops lined the streets selling all kinds of stuff, many of them only available here in Rigel.

Sylvia was visibly excited, having entered a human town for the very first time. Looking at her, Add promised to take her on a proper tour later, much to her satisfaction. Finally after a few minutes, the duo reached the Weismann Estate. Add was immediately welcomed by the guards on duty who were visibly overjoyed to have their lord return home. Inside, Martha welcomed him alongside a dozen other servants.

“My Lord you have finally returned. This old lady was so worried about you…”

Add smiled wryly, Martha was the same as usual, always worrying too much. Although her nature had not changed, the same could not be said for her appearance that had changed a lot. But instead of having grown older, she seemed younger than what she had been five years ago. While originally she looked like a old grandma in her sixties, she now appeared to be in her early fifties, and not just her appearance her body had also become healthier and stronger like it was at her prime.

This was of course thanks to Add who had given her a bunch of medicines that repaired her body and prolonged her body. He had originally wanted to give her the Gene enhancers as well, but those could only be used on humans under thirty years of age, beyond that the risk of mutation increased several fold. As such he could not give her unlimited lifetime, but extending her life to 200-300 years was still doable. He also needed loyal subordinates like Martha and Walter, who only had his best interests in their mind and would never betray him.

“Yes, I am home.”

“Pardon me, but who is that young lady beside you my lord?” Martha asked.

“Let me introduce her. This is Sylvia, a friend I met during my journey. She will be working for me from now on, so could you please arrange accommodation for her?”

“Understood. Then I shall guide her to one of our guest rooms first.” She beckoned one of her fellow maids, “I leave the lord in your care. Now then, if you would excuse me, lady Sylvia please follow me.”

Add glanced at Sylvia and nodded, urging her. During their journey he had already told her, not to do anything excessive back at home. He humanoid form made her virtually indistinguishable from real Elves, and with her mana being controlled only very strong mages could see trough her disguise and find out that she was actually a King Class Arachne. She quietly followed behind Martha and Add too was escorted towards his room by another maid. After having a relaxing bath and exchanging the story of his travels (except the deadly encounters) with Martha over tea, he retreated into his study.

As he had expected, thick stacks of reports had piled up in his absence. Just looking at those papers gave him a headache. Although over the years, many new officers had been employed in the government administration, he was still the supreme authority and a lot of important issues had to be approved by him first, before they could be worked upon by his subordinates. After going through them, and finding no serious issues, he kept them aside and called for Walter. Walter and the officials had managed the matters very well in his absence. The majority of these new officials were young people who had been trained by Walter himself, and they were very loyal to Add.

“Welcome back my lord. How was your trip this time?”

The old man Walter had also been given the same medicines like Martha and his appearance had also become younger.

“It was fine Mr. Walter. Please have a seat. What about you? How are the matters of the territory going? The reports seem to say that everything is going well, but I would like to hear directly from you.”

“Of course my lord.”

After Walter had left, Add leaned back into his chair and massaged his temples. Aside from some minor inconveniences, the territory was mostly stable and the same as he had left it. There was also some good news, some important projects which he had been anticipating were finally nearing completion, and he could move things further now. Construction of the new city had also been progressing smoothly. the forest had been cleared and the land had been levelled. Many buildings had also been built, while many others were still under construction.

While he was thinking about these things, the door to his study opened and Sylvia entered. Looking at her, Add was honestly surprised. She appeared to have been taken a bath and cleaned up, her long straight hair was sparkling, and adorned with a few black hair clips. Instead of her usual one-piece dress, she was now dressed in a gothic style black dress which had a few frills as well. The dress enhanced her already well endowed figure and made her even more alluring to the eye. Black stockings and shiny leather shoes covered her feet. The complete black attire contrasted very well with her features, and she really looked like a goddess right now.

“I must say, I am impressed Sylvia. Who knew you would change so much in a few hours after arriving here…”

“Shut up human!” The Arachne glared as she sat down on sofa.

“It was that old woman who made me wear all this! To think that this queen would be forced to wear clothes made from such lowly materials! Humph! If not for this lady’s benevolence and honour, I did not attack a powerless human like her. Otherwise would have taught that old lady a lesson.”

She was very irritated indeed.

“So it was Martha after all. To think she would be able to tame you so easily.”

Martha was a professional maid after all. After showing Sylvia her room, she found out that the ‘Elf’ lady did not have any clothes other than what she was wearing. So she had immediately called for a female tailor to take Sylvia’s measurements and ordered the best available clothes for her. She even made her wear underwear, something which almost flipped Sylvia, but since the old woman was so persistent, and she also did not want to create trouble on her first day in this place, the queen reluctantly agreed. Add looked at her frosty expression and calmly gave his opinion,

“Don’t be so angry, Martha can be a bit scary sometimes, but she never wishes any ill. Also, you really look nice in these clothes, so forgive her and stop sulking.”

The Arachne glared at him and turned her head away, but did not say anything more. Add however, could hear her soft mutters.

“The design of these clothes is not too shabby indeed. Humph just barely wearable though. Maybe I should learn to make them myself…”

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