Starting the Strategy from Frieren

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Thus, after seizing the inheritance left to Lady Tulip by her late husband, Ivan also took away the knights who had accompanied her when she married. Furthermore, Ivan wrote to the earl of the neighboring Flower City, asking him to send someone to escort Lady Tulip for her safety on the journey. This way, even if any accidents occurred on the way back, they could not be blamed on Ivan, effectively utilizing a method akin to having parents pick up children from school. Transferring responsibility is a modern specialty.

"What are we going to do next?" Flamme asked from the side.

Since morning, she had been in a state of constant activity, which was already a high-intensity work state for an elf accustomed to laziness and slacking off. Moreover, everything she was doing was something Flamme had never seen before; watching Ivan enthusiastically stir up trouble made her sincerely feel that her senior brother had incredible energy.

"Next, of course, we're going to explore the city; it's also a field investigation," Ivan replied.

"After all, a certain great person once said that those who do great things must not be detached from the masses; everything must start from reality and develop future plans accordingly."

"I see," Flamme nodded in understanding. "Then it's fine if I don't follow along? I'm a bit tired and want to rest for a while."

"I heard from Officer Mengli that there's a specialty restaurant in Shattered Leaf City where various meats are very popular."

"I think I can hold on for a bit longer," Flamme instantly perked up again.

Meanwhile, in the ancient tree of elves.

Seria received a letter from Flamme and frowned slightly after reading it; she used magic to shred it into countless pieces.

"Mother, are you angry?" asked a petite long-haired girl nearby; it was Sense, who was reshaping her body.

After Ivan left, Seria accelerated the flow of time within the ancient tree of elves; while healing her injuries, she also created a body for her daughter. Thanks to Sense's elven bloodline, lifespan was not an issue at all, and she could grow rapidly under accelerated time while gaining self-defense abilities.

"I'm not angry! How could I be upset over such trivial matters?"

Seria held Sense, who resembled a delicate porcelain doll, tightly in her arms and took a deep breath.

"Indeed, little ones are cuter; Flamme was just as well-behaved when she was young... It's a pity she has grown up now and learned to compete for men with her teachers—she's become quite unlovable."

"You're definitely angry," Sense rolled her eyes; in terms of stubbornness, she felt there were probably few who could match her mother.

"By the way, using carrier pigeons for sending letters is too inconvenient; besides, that guy Ivan seems to have no intention of writing letters... Recently I've developed a beta version of the teleportation array; it's time to use it."

Seria patted Sense's little head. "Would you like to help run an errand? Set up the teleportation array in your father's Shattered Leaf City and also in Flamme's royal capital?"

"Of course I'd love to."

"Great! If you encounter any danger, just crush this talisman; I'll rush over instantly to save you."

Now Sense was nearly at the level of a second-tier mage; even when facing great demons, she could escape safely. Seria felt it was time for her daughter to venture out on her own.

Ivan lived each day fully, especially focused on investigating the fundamental conditions and public opinion in Shattered Leaf City. Not only did he investigate the main city, but he also visited surrounding towns and villages one by one.

Overall, Shattered Leaf City was doing reasonably well; even in winter, the number of people starving or freezing to death did not exceed one hundred because months earlier the king had issued orders drawing a red line for local lords: those who met standards would be promoted in rank while those who failed would be demoted—this encouraged noble lords to spare some rice to relieve their subjects' suffering.

The agriculture in Shattered Leaf City could only be considered barely sufficient for survival; heavy industry was still in its planning stages with scarce handicrafts limited to daily use across the city—the only economic lifeline was mining with iron mines, coal mines, and copper mines available; among every ten households in Shattered Leaf City, seven or eight were involved in mining.

After understanding these basic conditions, it was time for a major reshuffle; Ivan's initial observations without taking action lowered everyone's guard but were specifically designed to confuse local powers.

The first step was to take control of violent groups. By comforting the city defense forces and promoting capable individuals as minor leaders while placing villagers from Sword Village among them, Ivan quickly gained complete control over this force.

Next came training—sending them out to fight bandits, deal with beasts damaging crops, and combat man-eating monsters; bloody battles were always the best way for an army to transform—soon their lazy demeanor began to wear off as they gradually started resembling an elite force.

The heads of bandits and beasts were pickled with lime and hung on city walls—not only showcasing achievements but also demonstrating power over certain individuals while issuing various prohibitions.

Recently, gangs within the city had become much more subdued with hardly any disturbances occurring. However, gang members remained gang members; they couldn't abandon their nature simply because of this—after all, even if they wanted to go straight it wasn't easy; giving up their black or gray industries meant they would have nothing left for their many brothers to eat.

Soon enough, some factions couldn't contain themselves any longer; under the instigation of a certain nobleman they formed an anti-Ivan alliance—of course they couldn't use that name publicly but referred to themselves as stumbling blocks instead.

Another faction chose to remain cautious and even secretly reported back to Ivan about the anti-Ivan alliance's activities.

There were three major gangs in Shattered Leaf City: The Butcher Gang, The Savage Dog Gang, and The Falcon Gang—the rest were minor players. Among them, The Butcher Gang rebelled while The Falcon Gang remained silent without news; only The Savage Dog Gang stood with Ivan despite being looked down upon by others.

"Not good! My lord! One of our ordinary soldiers lost his left hand during a gang conflict caused by The Butcher Gang! Moreover, they refused arrest and compensation—"

"Since these people don't want reconciliation then there's nothing we can do," Ivan glanced at his own map of Shattered Leaf City which he had measured himself making it very accurate.

"Notify the leaders of The Butcher Gang, The Falcon Gang, and The Savage Dog Gang that there will be a full cow feast tonight; I hope they can come here to my castle for discussions about future gang developments."

That evening went as expected: The leader of The Butcher Gang did not arrive while the heads of the other two gangs came into Ivan's castle. While eating dinner they discussed significant matters.

Ivan straightforwardly opened with: "Recently some gang members have been disturbing public order and even injured city defense forces; what do you both think?"

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