Population is undoubtedly a major constraint on national development. Take the Grand Duchy of Augustus, for example: the vast majority of its people are engaged in logging-related work, with only a small number maintaining farmland and constructing houses.
In other words, nearly everyone has their own tasks and jobs. The Grand Duchy of Augustus has hardly any idle population left. To develop new industries, it would be necessary to pull people from their existing jobs.
Logging isn't particularly crucial work, so drawing workers from that sector poses no immediate problem. The only impact would be a slight decrease in Jay's revenue. But what about the future?
If workers are continually drawn from logging for every new venture, what happens when the logging workforce is depleted? Would they then start pulling workers from other emerging industries? Would they be robbing Peter to pay Paul?
Such a short-sighted approach is unsustainable. Therefore, increasing the population is now an urgent priority!
As for solutions, there are two main approaches. First, since the Grand Duchy of Augustus no longer faces food shortages, issue a public notice urging people to engage in more recreational activities with their families after a day's work—in other words, to have as many children as possible!
However, this method would take a very, very long time. By the time the children were conceived, born, and grew to working age, twenty years would have passed.
Therefore, the second method was necessary: attracting foreign immigrants!
In Tribios's previous life, this meant maximizing her country's welfare benefits and lowering immigration barriers to attract more foreigners to live there. But in this world, in this era, such elaborate measures were unnecessary.
There was no need to further enhance the nation's welfare programs. After just half a month of development, the Grand Duchy of Augustus had already achieved a standard of living for its commoners far surpassing that of any other commoners in the world! Their living standards were, without exaggeration, the highest in the world!
Of course, this referred to the living standards of the 'lower-class commoners,' excluding the nobles.
Since the commoners of this era had no national allegiance, simply informing people in other countries about the conditions in the Grand Duchy of Augustus and inviting them to immigrate should not be too difficult.
However, other nations also recognized population as a crucial asset, deploying border guards to prevent mass migrations. But Lady Tribios had a cheat code!
For people from other countries, migrating to the Grand Duchy of Augustus came at no cost—it was simply a matter of walking a few steps.
Acting on her impulse, Tribios summoned Olivia, explained her plan, and immediately opened a Century Gate right there and then.
The other side of the gate led to the forest where Tribios and Jay had rescued Little Melly from a Goblin ambush during their initial search for southern countries.
This, along with another village Tribios knew of, were the only foreign settlements she was aware of. Attracting migrants naturally meant starting here.
Stepping through the Century Gate, Tribios and Olivia instantly found themselves in the forest. Since they didn't know the village's exact location, the gate could only open at the spot where they had first encountered Melly. However, the village couldn't be far away—they just needed to search.
Olivia gazed at the surrounding scenery, casually pointed in a direction, and declared, "Let's go this way! I bet it's this way!"
Tribios nodded. "Understood."
Then, she grabbed Olivia's wrist and began walking in the opposite direction. Olivia froze, utterly bewildered. "Eh~? Eh! Why are we going this way?!"
Tribios retorted, "Mind your own business. As the Demigod of Passage, isn't it natural for me to know the right way to our destination?"
In truth, it was entirely because Olivia was notoriously bad with directions. Their first encounter had occurred precisely because Olivia had gotten lost. Even after returning to her own country, she'd wandered aimlessly for ages.
Later, Tribios had taken Olivia out several times using the Century Gate to buy supplies from southern kingdoms. But the moment they left familiar territory, Olivia would become utterly disoriented. If Tribios didn't keep a close eye on her, she'd likely wander off and get lost.
Given Olivia's terrible sense of direction, the path she chose was almost certainly the wrong one. Therefore, taking the opposite direction had a high chance of being the correct one!
Sure enough, before long, a village nestled at the foot of the mountain came into view. And by sheer coincidence, just as they were about to descend, they spotted Little Melly climbing the mountain.
Little Melly froze for a moment, then her face lit up with visible joy. She skipped over to Tribios. "Big Sister! Long time no see!"
Tribios gently patted Melly's head. "It's been too long, Melly~"
Melly closed her eyes, seeming to relish the head pat. Then she glanced at Olivia beside them and asked, "Is this... your guard?"
After all, Tribios was breathtakingly beautiful and dressed in opulent attire. Melly had initially wanted to throw herself into Tribios's arms for a hug, but fearing she might soil her clothes, she stopped beside her instead.
In contrast to Tribios's splendor, Olivia still wore her coarse linen clothes. Despite the Grand Duchy of Augustus's overflowing treasury, she stubbornly refused to buy even a single new garment for herself.
Tribios shook her head. "She's not my guard at all. In fact, her status is incredibly important. Don't underestimate her!"
"Is that so?" Melly nodded, then smiled at Olivia. "Hello, Auntie~"
Olivia, who had been smiling just moments before, froze. She never cared about her status—despite being a princess and future Ruler, she wouldn't get angry even if someone mistook her for a guard or errand girl.
In all the time Tribios had known Olivia, she had never seen her angry. But now... was this perhaps the first time?
Tribios could faintly see a "#" symbol appearing on Olivia's forehead, and her lips twitched slightly. "What 'Auntie'? I'm only twenty-seven! I'm still young, you know!"
Little Melly tilted her head. "But isn't twenty-seven practically thirty already? That makes you an old auntie, right?"
Pfft!
In that moment, Tribios imagined she heard the sound of an arrow piercing Olivia's heart. Olivia opened her mouth as if to retort, but couldn't find the right words.
Tribios chuckled softly, then turned to Melly. "We need to speak with your village chief, Little Melly. Could you take us to him?"
"Sure~! Come with me~" Little Melly nodded and led the way down the mountain path toward the village nestled at its foot.
The village was small, with only about forty or fifty households. As the group approached the entrance, two scrawny dogs, their ribs clearly visible, began barking furiously.
Perhaps still irritated by being called "Auntie" earlier, Olivia stretched her hands forward, curving her fingers into claw-like shapes, and began trying to scare the dogs.
"Grrr~! Woof woof~! "
Tribios could sense Olivia was trying her best to appear terrifying, but predictably, the dogs remained unimpressed, barking even louder.
Just then, the Little Husky, Half, materialized beside Olivia. He shook his head and tutted, "Tsk, tsk, that won't work, Olivia! You sound too soft! You need to be more commanding!"
"Just some petty thugs. Watch me and learn!"
Half cleared his throat and slowly floated directly above the dogs. But before he could make his move, one of the dogs suddenly leaped high and clamped its jaws onto his fluffy white tail.
"Aaaaaah! My tail! Stop biting! Help me! Save me!"
Ignoring the dogs who were still "playing" at the entrance, Tribios and Little Melly entered the village and soon found an elderly man with snow-white hair and beard, leaning heavily on a cane.
Little Melly hurried over and exclaimed, "Grandpa Village Chief! This Big Sister saved me earlier!"
Tribios could see that the old man's face and hands were covered in deep wrinkles. His right hand, gripping the cane, trembled slightly from time to time, a clear sign of his advanced age.
When the Village Chief saw Tribios, his originally cloudy eyes widened instantly, not with awe or gratitude, but with sheer terror!
He immediately dropped his cane and instinctively tried to kneel, overwhelmed by Tribios's striking beauty, which marked her as a high-ranking noble. Such nobles rarely brought good fortune when they descended upon a remote village like this.
But Tribios acted swiftly, showing no disdain. She stepped forward and gently helped the old man steady himself.
As a result, some of the grime clinging to the elder's clothes rubbed directly onto her pristine white dress, leaving visible black stains across its pure white fabric.
"Th-th-this... Lady, y-you..." The old man's terror intensified.
Tribios simply smiled reassuringly. "It's alright. I'm not a noble. I've come here simply to discuss some matters with you, Elder."
Little Melly chimed in, "Big Sister is a very kind person, Grandpa Village Chief! Don't be scared!"
Whether it was Melly's comforting words or Tribios' gentle smile, the Old Village Chief gradually relaxed. He suddenly realized that someone so beautiful might not be a noble after all—she could be an angel!
Tribios then slowly explained her intentions. "Old Village Chief, if there were a place where you could eat your fill, stay warm, and never worry about survival, would you be willing to go?"
The Old Village Chief wasn't foolish. He immediately grasped Tribios' meaning, his lips trembling slightly as he asked, "You... you want us to leave this country?"
"Yes," Tribios nodded gently. "But you won't need to travel far. Just take a single step, and you'll instantly arrive at your destination."
As she spoke, she murmured softly, "Century Gate."
Instantly, a golden, triangular portal materialized before the Old Village Chief. Tribios continued, "Just step through this portal, and you'll instantly arrive in the Grand Duchy of Augustus, a northern land where no nobles will oppress you. Your labor will always be rewarded fairly!"
"If you don't believe me, Old Village Chief, you can step through and see for yourself first. The portal will remain here; you can always return later."
"This... this..." Staring at the Century Gate radiating golden light, the Old Village Chief trembled as he stepped through. In the blink of an eye, he had crossed over two thousand kilometers from the Kingdom of Ukel and instantly arrived in the Grand Duchy of Augustus.
Tribios had deliberately opened the Century Gate in the heart of the city. As soon as the Old Village Chief emerged, he was surrounded by bustling crowds, each face glowing with hope.
Having lived nearly his entire life in a poverty stricken village, the Old Village Chief could immediately sense a starkly different, vibrant energy in the air.
Since Tribios herself frequently used the Century Gate to travel around the city, the common folk had long grown accustomed to portals suddenly appearing in their midst.
However, when a frail old man emerged from the Century Gate instead of the revered Lady Tribios, curiosity compelled some to ask, "Who are you?"
The Old Village Chief took a deep breath and asked, "Does everyone here live without worrying about food?"
The passerby raised an eyebrow. "You're not from around here, are you? Until two weeks ago, before the Holy Maiden arrived, we were all worried about our next meal. But since she came, everything has changed!"
As Tribios accomplished more and more for the Grand Duchy of Augustus, the people naturally bestowed upon her honorific titles such as 'Holy Maiden,' 'Angel,' and 'Teacher.'
Calling her by her given name felt disrespectful, and since the Holy Maiden had done so much for the Grand Duchy, these honorifics were born out of profound respect for her.
Moments later, the Old Village Chief stepped back through the Century Gate, returning to his village. He looked at Tribios, instinctively wanting to kneel again, but she stopped him. Tears streaming down his face, he said, "We're willing to come with you, Holy Maiden..."