Doujin Artist: Huh? Doing the same thing over and over?
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: What does that mean? I don't quite understand.
Machete Girl: Okay, let me give you an example. Mr. Pete, the owner of the hotel I'm staying at, every morning and also at 4 PM, first he mends the curtains on the fourth floor, then he takes his pajamas to get them starched, after that he stays in front of the baking oven until lunchtime, and then he spends the whole afternoon downstairs taking phone calls.
Doujin Artist: Uh, isn't that pretty normal? Feels like the routine life of a hotel manager.
Inside the Lord's Mansion in the Southeast Province, Eriri was sending messages while looking at policy documents in front of her.
Under her influence, the entire Southeast Province had already changed dramatically.
The high-pressure rule of noble privilege was a thing of the past; all administrative districts had been replaced with citizen councils. All slaves and serfs had been freed, and discrimination against demi-human races was legally abolished.
Of course.
This so-called citizen council system wasn't what Eriri truly wanted. Because in these councils, only the wealthy had a voice. The vast majority of the working people remained oppressed, and the fundamental nature of the situation hadn't changed.
But for now, this was all Eriri could achieve.
This wasn't because Jessica, the Lord, wasn't delegating power to her, but rather the existing conditions limited the possibility of the people governing themselves. After all, this异世界 was still in its primitive age, and most people hadn't received any education.
They were at a stage where they couldn't even recognize characters, so rushing them into a self-governing stage was clearly not appropriate. They needed a process of awakening, but this process required them to exercise their own subjective consciousness and couldn't be pushed forward by outsiders.
Sigh.
Eriri let out a breath and closed the folder she had revised. At this moment, a pair of skillful hands reached her shoulders and gently kneaded them. "You've worked hard, Mr. Grim Reaper."
The speaker was Ashley, this former noble lady who was now volunteering to be Eriri's secretary as the highest executive official of the territory.
"You don't have to do this." Although the noble lady's massage technique was skillful and made her feel comfortable, Eriri still wasn't quite used to such intimate actions.
"This is what I should do," Ashley said without stopping, her voice soft. "If I can't even do something like this, then I don't know what value I have."
"You should know clearly," Eriri sighed. "I never believe that people should be judged by their value."
"Yes, I know." Ashley's hands slowly moved downwards, her movements discreet. "Only commodities can be priced clearly, and intelligent beings are never commodities."
*Thump*.
Eriri decisively grabbed the woman's hand, which was trying to cause trouble, and stood up. "Okay, I'm going to take a shower."
"Don't you want me to scrub your back?" Ashley withdrew her hand as if nothing had happened and smiled. "I know people from Mr. Grim Reaper's world have a back-scrubbing custom."
"No, I'm an exception." Shaking her head, Eriri's figure gradually disappeared into the hall.
"Is it an exception, or is there some other reason?" Watching her leave, Ashley licked her fingers with her tongue and grinned playfully. "So fragrant, what a cute Mr. Grim Reaper..."
She emphasized the word "Mr." heavily, clearly seeming to have discovered something. But unexpectedly, her eyes filled with love became even more passionate and intense as she made this discovery.
Sigh, that was close.
Eriri, who hadn't seen Ashley's final gaze, let out a heavy sigh, thinking she had narrowly escaped. After closing her room door and taking off her cloak, she opened the group chat again.
Lin Fengjiao: Doing the same thing every day, that's indeed a bit strange.
Machete Girl: Right? That's exactly what I thought. I think even the most disciplined person couldn't possibly repeat the same actions constantly.
Doujin Artist: Repeating every day?
Eriri also felt something was wrong at this point. If seen in isolation, it was ordinary life, but Kotonoha had said "every day."
Machete Girl: Yes, that's why I said Eriri just wasn't focusing on the main point of my words! It's because of the daily repetition that I find it strange! And it's not an isolated case.
Doujin Artist: Sorry, I was dealing with something just now.
This is an Actor: If everyone in the whole town is doing the same thing every day, then there's definitely a problem.
Amegakure Village's Angel: Has something influenced them, or is something controlling them from behind the scenes?
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: This, this is truly chilling when you think about it. It feels like their lives are like a script that's been drawn out? Living every day just to complete tasks or reach goals?
Curly-haired Guy: Damn it! Hearing you guys say that, Gin-san is getting goosebumps too. This feels even more unacceptable than seeing real ghosts, man!
Foul-Mouthed Mask Guy: I think we should check their brains. More directly put, we should open their skulls and take a look. Maybe inside isn't a brain anymore, but some kind of alien beetle.
This isn't Deadpool speaking without basis; he actually watched a similar movie. The plot of that movie was where some alien creature ate the human's brain and took over the human's body.
According to Kotonoha's description, it's very similar to those humans in the movie whose brains were taken over by alien creatures.
Doujin Artist: Alien beetles...
Machete Girl: It, it shouldn't be that ridiculous, right?
Katsura Kotonoha's mouth twitched. Deadpool's assumption left her speechless for a moment. Why beetles? Isn't the possibility of something like an alien more likely?
Pretty Boy from Skull Island: This problem certainly needs to be studied carefully.
Shark-Faced Guy: Maybe, I'm just saying maybe... this is connected to whatever caused the world to change?
Machete Girl: Indeed. Then why don't we open a skull and see?
Scarlet Lotus Fairy: ?
Doujin Artist: Hey, don't talk like you're opening a blind box! If you really open someone's skull, it's hard to put it back! This is a no-returns policy, you know?
Skirt-Flipping Maniac: This isn't even about whether it can be put back! Even if it could be put back, the person would be dead!
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