Chapter 128 The Prologue’s Heartbeat
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The conscript patrols worked. Not perfectly, but enough to make a difference.
The reason was simple: most of the draftees were young men from the People of Birene, the majority population of Keldan.
Exactly as Ayumu Sanai had predicted.
Back when he treated Crown Prince Aare in Yugan, he’d spent nights in the Grand Palace library reading about the Birene—secular customs, traditions, culture. The more he read, the more fascinated he’d become. Their way of life was unique.
Ever since their exile after the wars with Caesar, the Birene had survived much like the Jews of his old world: clinging tightly to community, sharing what little they had. Knowledge, wealth, opportunity—circulated among their own, never abandoned.
That solidarity meant they had every reason to crack down on outside gangs preying on their people. Their strong communal bonds made them hard to bribe, and their refusal to exploit fellow Birene made them effective at stopping crime rather than enabling it.
Which was exactly why Ayumu had pushed Ninim into negotiating with the Birene mafia. Everyone knew their ancestors had once been Birene generals, politicians, and tycoons before Caesar crushed their homeland. Even children on the streets whispered about it. Yugan’s guards had long feared them for that very reason.
So if Ayumu wanted Keldan back on its feet quickly, there was never really a choice. He had to bring the Birene syndicates under his wing.
Of course, there was a risk. With rivals gone or weakened, the mafia could just as easily ignore him and hoard the profits of their crimes. But if they did, they’d lose the legal cover he offered—monopolies on “safe” trades like prostitution and lending.
(The question is… will they become my foundation, or my downfall?)
* * *
As it turned out, Ninim’s persuasion worked. Rilina, Luruna, even Nanari’s parents lent their voices, and together they convinced the Birene community. Within months, mafia activity in Keldan dropped to a whisper.
It helped that Ayumu’s authority as lord gave him power to monopolize the safer trades. With vice and credit firmly under his seal, the syndicate had no reason to resist.
At last, progress.
”Finally… a ray of light.”
In his freshly scrubbed office, Ayumu poured a light, low-alcohol beer into a wooden mug—not for luxury, but as a daily drink. He stood by the window, took a sip, and let his sharp, burning gaze fall on the streets of Keldan.
Streets that would one day grow into something greater.
Later, nobles and merchants who once scorned the slum would look back on this moment. They’d remember that young man’s eyes—not fixed on Keldan alone, but on the coming age of turmoil. Eyes that carried the power to survive it.
Though for now, none of them had the faintest clue.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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