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Wolfsteeth, A Marketplace in the Eastern Parts

"M... Mr. Alexander! I greet you to my humble stand!"

Alexander raised an eyebrow, becoming confused by this overzealous vendor, but didn't overreact since this wasn't the first time commoners had acted weirdly around him.

However, he couldn't blame them. Since their territory had multiple ports and lacked substantial migration policies, it was the first choice of entry into Moorgrel for many, where they also stayed with their customs, experiences, and views on nobility from where they came.

Besides that, they changed their rulers every 100 years or so, resulting in backlash and a change of culture, as it was with his Mother and Grandmother, who had vastly different ruling styles.

As such, nobody truly knew how to act correctly around nobility, like Alexander, who only followed the most basic etiquette, "Yes, hello there. You are quite the energetic vendor?..." He smiled mischievously, "...do you really intend to sell me your vegetables with such vigor?"

The vendor suddenly screamed, almost deafening Alexander, who still had the Tempest's Whisper active, "No! I am just really thankful for Mr. Alexander's glorious help!"

After flinching slightly at the volume change, he looked more closely at the locust-kin. His clothes seemed relatively new, like the wood of the stand, with the paint still vibrant, spelling out Freysh Vegatable's.

Alexander mused while rubbing his chin, finding it actually quite interesting. Looking at his situation, he had an inkling of why the seller was this enthusiastic but decided to be sure and follow up with a question, "Tell me, how did I help you?"

The vegetable vendor didn't move, still bowing at an almost 90-degree angle, "I... your great charity helped me!"

'I was right, hm... but what program did help him?'

While Alexander was sure it was the case, he had no clue which part of his charity helped the vendor, but this would be impossible as he also had no idea about the inner machinations of his charity.

Alexander was mostly hands-off regarding his charity, giving Aurum all the freedom to do what he wished. At most, he gave his retainer only ideas and suggestions about what he hoped the charity would do, but that's it. As long as they operated for the betterment of the people, it was perfect.

Aurum often sent him letters about the charity, which he mostly perused quickly, looking for a sentence that said it was okay or not, and, if Alexander got some ideas about how it could also help even more, write him those down quickly and send back.

Was Alexander's approach lazy? Yes, undoubtedly so, but it was also because he had just learned what his fief looked like, so he would obviously not muddle around with specific ideas and their implementations.

Besides that, he had too much else to do. From magic research to his projects, agriculture experiments, and the preparation for the train to more social occasions where he would now also meet with others, delegating his work was a must.

His top priority at this point was to find more people so he could delegate all his other half-finished and started projects to them and try to free up as much time as possible to work on himself.

However, before Alexander, this vendor seemed to receive help from his aide, which made him interested in listening to his experiences regarding the charity, "How exactly did it help you?"

The vendor suddenly began to cry, which surprised Alexander and made him uncomfortable. Everyone around them started to look at them, baffled, and slowly stepped away, not daring to look in his direction, obviously fearing that he would do the same to them as he did to the vegetable seller.

'What the fuck is happening?!'

However, after a moment, the vendor stopped crying and sobbed, with snot flying out of his nose, making Alexander flinch again, "I was a widower, and you took me in, educated me, and gave me a loan for this business..."

He straightened up and came forward, making the soldiers around Alexander nervous. However, Alexander gestured for them to stop and signaled that if they did something drastic, he personally would punish them.

Regardless of what the soldiers thought, the vegetable seller only kneeled down, still screaming, probably thinking it was how one showed gratitude, "I am forever thankful!"

Before Alexander could say anything, finding the situation rather embarrassing but perfect for his public image, more people came toward him, pushing themself forward through the masses surrounding him and watching the scene with a certain sparkle in their eyes.

Looking at them, they were visibly the ones his charity tried to help: young ones, old ones, and some who, while looking somewhat okay-ish, had clearly had a hard time. He recognized them by their pretty new clothing, while the other commoner's clothing looked more used but not worse.

When the first puppy started kneeling, the others followed with either bowing or some weird mix of both while almost screaming, clearly imitating the cute but annoying vegetable vendor.

"Thank you, Mr. Alexander!"

"You saved me from hunger!"

"I can't be grateful enough!"

Alexander was positively surprised, even though it was a little weird, 'This escalated quickly.'

There weren't many, but enough that everyone started looking at them and him. However, Alexander felt odd, but in a positive way. After some embarrassment, he started to shake the feeling away, slowly beginning to enjoy this situation thoroughly. It made him feel joyful, almost ecstatic, that his charity showed such results.

It was slightly over half a year since he started the charity by giving Aurum the command to quickly and brutally throw gold and help at the people in need, 'It worked.'

He could barely hold himself together, using every skill to suppress the blush he almost had. In addition to the gratitude from all those he helped, which felt like a warm but heavy blanket lying over him, he finally saw the results of his work.

Alexander loved helping his loved ones and making mountains of gold, but this was different. He now felt what it truly felt like to help his subjects and change their lives, which heightened his pride to the point where he heard multiple pings from a particular skill leveling up he knew too well.

'Okay, it's time.'

Alexander raised his hand, clenching it into a fist, and used a contraption to blow a semi-strong wind through the masses, wanting their attention, 'Okay, calm down... do it as trained before the mirror.'

There was not a week when Alexander didn't think about such a moment, wishing it was similar to this, but what he felt now was better than he could've imagined. As such, he trained his oral skills before the mirror on how he would speak to the masses and influence them.

Alexander cleared his throat and opened his arms wide, not finding it embarrassing. His loud voice boomed around the marketplace as he used an amplification spell and his mana skills to boost it. He used all his skills to emerge as charismatic as possible, straining his mind.

"Stand up, everyone! I am thankful for your gratitude that my charity helped so many of my subjects, but you all don't need to be thankful only to me!"

Alexander smiled at them as they slowly straightened up and looked at him. Some were afraid, but most admired him, "My charity workers did the most work while my Mother, the Lady, allowed and helped the operation, but what is most important..."

He turned from the onlookers, walking toward the vegetable seller, patting him on the shoulder while turning back to the masses, "You all are the reason! You have the intelligence and power to help yourself! All you need are only some resources! My charity will help you so you can help yourself! Don't make yourself smaller. What you all archived, be it opening a business, learning how to read and write, or even some great skill, is all of your own doing!"

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He looked at his subjects, who were staring at him, fear gone, listening intently. Those who had cried before had their chest out, feeling proud, 'That's it.'

He needed to emancipate them so they stopped relying too heavily on the nobility, which was commonly seen. Nobility played itself up too much, especially in central Mal-Gil, thinking commoners were mainly headless chickens without them, and their subjects believed it since most never even got the chance to educate themselves.

For Alexander, such a mindset was poison, but if he emancipated them and gave them all the chances to grow, there were still worries he would need to eliminate.

One of them was called brain drain but on a much smaller scale. While Alexander had no qualms about losing some talented subjects to family, so to say, other Guard Households with whom he was friendly, it would hurt him to let talents leave to nobles in central Mal-Gil who would throw massive amounts of gold at them after he educated them. This would then be a lost investment.

'Wait, why not actually?'

Suddenly, when thinking about it, he got an idea. He could instill something relatively unknown in this world, something that could build up pride and loyalty to stay and better this Outer Circle of a fief.

Alexander felt giddy, wanting to know how they would react, partly throwing his previously practiced speech away, "My charity is only helping you achieve your true potential! Be proud and don't crawl, but know that you can only achieve such a feat inside Moorgrel and the Leonandra fief! Be a proud subject of our fief and achieve more greatness!"

Alexander's quickly improvised speech could have been better, but it targeted two things. First, he needed his populace to strive for greater things by themselves. All he did was give them some support, like the vegetable seller and those younglings who would later have better chances.

Second, he needed loyalty. Besides avoiding the feared brain drain on a smaller scale, Alexander also feared a little what they could become. While the commoners were now overly amiable to him, he knew how fickle a group of people was, especially while giving them metaphorically guns into their hands through magic and education, leveling them up to reach new heights.

Thus, he needed to ingrain loyalty into them, not toward him directly but toward the territory as a whole. Similar loyalty already existed here, but it was more in line with races like humans, elves, beast-kin, their religions, etc.

It became a perfect test to see how they would react and if such a thing could work here, but what did Alexander want exactly? What was he trying to achieve?

He needed patriotism—a certain feeling of belonging and pride toward his fief. Alexander knew one thing from history: if a populace was instilled with pride in their nation or region, they were like unkillable cockroaches in wartime and ingrained with pride and loyalty in peacetime. The best and worst cases were obvious; there was no need to elaborate.

However, it was also a very modern concept, which he didn't truly internalize and would need to figure out on the fly, "Be a proud Leonandrian! A proud Moorgrelian! Achieve more, climb higher while not forgetting your morals!"

Also, while ingraining his patriotic ideas into the populace, he needed to empathize with the Leonandra fief but not forget the Moorgrel as a whole. It was mandatory if he didn't want to get a head shorter.

He looked around him as they stared at him, baffled, but he could see the small kernel of pride slowly blooming. Now, he would need one small thing to nail it by stealing a concept of another country, seeing some similarities to their fief because of his subjects, who had vastly different cultures and came from various fiefs. Though, it was a little sloppy.

"I know that many of you came fleeing from central Mal-Gil as they discriminate against our own kind! Our own people! They act the same as the ones who once made us nothing more than property because of greed and hubris! Do you know the difference between them..." He pointed at the far outside, "...and us?!" He beat his chest.

He looked at their reaction as the growing crowd listened to him, anticipating what he would say, their eyes glistering, slowly changing as Alexander turned them to what he desired.

"We accept you! No matter the race, be it any kind of beast-kin, nature-dweller, or djinn! You are all welcome!"

Now, his word choice needed to be elegant, almost not pointing toward the hypocrisy that there existed a giant class difference, not giving them, for now at least, any ideas, as he couldn't take the consequences for this. It was a fine line he needed to walk on.

Alexander was no Lord and even less someone who could go against Moorgrel as a whole. So, many things were forbidden, but being proud of their fief and themselves? It was allowed, even desired, but usually mostly unseen.

"We will not discriminate against you and even give you a chance to achieve freedom from the shackles of intolerance and poverty! Where but here would you get such a chance? Inside Moorgrel, inside Leonandra!"

He opened his arms wide, sweating a little as he stood in the middle of the marketplace. On the outside, it was a fiery speech, trying to instill pride and self-determination into commoners, but truly, it was cold and calculative. It was a speech crafted to make them more of what he needed.

After some more words, he ended it, making himself exhausted. However, it worked. When the first one started to clap, it slowly turned into a storm, making Alexander even more excited.

'Yes! This is it!'

From the side, he could see how some puppies ran to him through the crowd, probably trying to get a glimpse of him. He smiled inwardly, wanting to show a side of him while also testing how a populace would react to something he got another idea for.

As one girl pushed through the crowd, Alexander started creating a few small, barely seen wind contraptions, 'Okay, be my little lab rat for the greater good... should stop thinking like that, though.'

The man, whom a small cat-kin girl pushed away, suddenly fell as the conjured wind made him do so. Another contraption pushed his hand towards the girl, who, while moving forward, also experienced a much stronger push from behind from another wind contraption.

She stumbled forward, taking bigger steps than usual, as wind contraptions pushed slightly from behind. Her legs widened, making her take longer steps. After some steps, she fell right in front of Alexander.

'Great!'

She looked up and saw soldiers come forward, immediately pointing their swords at her. Still, Alexander immediately stopped them by using a flashy spell, a combination of an ordinary wind contraption and a candle spell. The spell conjured light to let the wind sparkle, making it all more dazzling, while gesturing to the soldier to stop.

"Stop this nonsense!"

The sparkly wind, combining contraptions and constructs, pushed the soldiers slightly back, with Alexander walking confidently toward the cat-kin girl. He could sense her nervousness and fear, but Alexander wasn't better, inwardly hoping that Lili wouldn't appear, making this act to naught.

While there were only some dozens of people watching, through rumors, it would quickly become gossip, making him, his charity, and everything else he did and was part of appear much more noble and benevolent in their eyes.

"Are you okay, little girl?"

He smiled amiably at her while holding his hand out, which she instinctively took as he used the skill [Charm] so she would take it in the first place, not fearing the consequences.

Alexander helped her up, asking her warmly, "Are you okay? What is your name?"

She looked baffled, blushing slightly, only to nod and barely audibly say her name, "Na... Naza..."

Alexander analyzed her thoroughly, trying to find out if she was an orphan, as he wanted to ask her something in front of others. His voice became soft, almost saint-like, as he tried to turn down his arrogance, which he was very much aware of.

"I see, what a beautiful name. Why did you try to push through the crowd so hastily?"

She looked down, not letting go of Alexander's hand, stuttering, "I... I am really thankful and wanted to know who you were."

Alexander felt elated, 'Holy shit, I hit the jackpot!'

He tried to tease her cutely, hoping it would come across as innocent in others' eyes. He cocked his head a little, trying to look into her eyes, which made her blush even more,

"I see, but why are you thankful? May I know the reason?"

"I... I... I am from an orphanage, and you helped us a lot!"

After a barely audible stutter, Naza screamed, almost making Alexander flinch. She slowly let go of his hand and went on one knee, as she probably didn't know it was the knight's greeting, "I want to thank you! I learned to read, write, and do mathematics because of you! Thank you so much!"

Alexander could see how she cried, which made him feel terrible since he had forced this situation, but it was needed. Her feelings were true, and all he did was show them to the small gathering.

Alexander helped her up again, patting her shoulder to stop her crying while he wiped a tear away. Now, he was trying to combine what he had said before with her situation, making it stand out even more to everyone.

"Please straighten up. It doesn't matter who you are; you are a Moorgrelian and Leonandrian..." As she straightened up and looked into his eyes, he became firmer in his tone, "...stay proud and work toward your dream, achieve your goals, and help everyone else who is working as hard as you to help them! We are all together in this and must stay together for a better future, no matter who we are!"

When she nodded, Alexander sensed everyone else, who was poor or what he would describe as lower class, looking at him with a sparkle in their eyes, 'Success.'

Though, the wealthier ones weren't too giddy about what he said. However, they were probably much more applicable to the patriotic message, as it would make them much more proud without making them put themselves down or increasing everyone else's status.

'Okay, let's keep going.' Alexander continued his speech, talking about the beauty of the Leonandra fief and Moorgrel, the wonderful, open, and tolerant people, etc. He tried to find anything he could that made the Leonandra fief and Moorgrel special.

If Alexander wanted to create cohesion, he needed to do it like this. Moorgrel was too diverse to develop a beast-kin-only pride thing, with djinns, nature-dwellers, and the occasional high-demon strolling around. Such a thing would bite him quickly into his behind.

Besides that, with the territorial and liberal tolerance approach, he could also bring all the wealthier ones on board, making them feel superior to central Mal-Gil ones, even if they were nobles, and indirectly thrashing them.

After some minutes, Alexander ended his speech and let go of Naza, who stood beside him until now, "I hope you achieve greatness."

Naza blushed, "T... thank you!" Bowing down and slowly returning to the crowd, she did not want to look into anyone's eyes since she seemed a little embarrassed.

'Perfect... urgh!' Alexander suddenly felt a slight headache from using all his skills too much. With this, he waved at them and slowly went to the carriage.

It was his first speech and, thus, also his first impression on the populace. Was it a bit extreme? Of course, but did it fit Alexander's style? Absolutely.