Chapter 230: | 230 | TIMESKIP: Part Eighteen - Ladies' Dialogue
"Abraham... I can\'t believe he left without warning." Charlotte shook her head in annoyance, not wanting to think about the troublesome man that had left some kind of mental pandemonium in the country.
"It seems that Sir Abraham has found Lady Laplace." In front of the Prime Minister was the Director of the Atlas Corporation, Mercedes, a silver wolf beastfolk. The lycanthrope had a good point as Abraham wouldn\'t leave the Citadel with clear reasons.
"Laplace, huh? It\'s been several months since she departed the country. I hope she\'s alright." Charlotte remarked, a bit worried about the status of the dragoness. Even though Laplace was a dragon, she was still a pregnant woman with the usual troubles of one.
"I\'m sure that Lady Laplace is in good condition. She\'s stronger than anything in the United World Government." Mercedes smirked, confident about the capabilities of her superior. In her mind, Laplace was far more powerful than anyone else.
Perhaps, only Abraham, himself, could rival her.
"I guess that make sense."
"Anyhow, our economy has been on the rise lately. It\'s all thanks to the Atlas Corporation advancing the foreign trade onward. Neighboring countries are purchasing our products in bulk, which deals a great benefit for the United World Government." Charlotte smiled at the silver wolf.
"The Atlas Corporation is merely managing trade. Companies have been popping up buying and selling our products to foreign countries. From hygiene products, pens, books, and many more. Besides, there\'s far larger problems to handle." Mercedes stated, earning the frown of Charlotte.
Charlotte wasn\'t ignorant of the circumstance in Dawn City. Since the disappearance of Laplace, criminal activities have been steadily rising along with criminal organizations popping up in the slums. "The slums... Has anyone found a way to solve the problem?"
She questioned the silver wolf, wanting to know about the plans they had regarding the growing slums. The eyes of Mercedes narrowed as she thought about ways of solving the slums. But it was a complicated problem that needed a much more complex solution.
"The slums have been created because of the booming immigrant population of Dawn City. There are more jobs than people, specifically, lower-end jobs that can be easily caught on even with measly education. We can increase the amount of jobs, but it all depends on the market demand."
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"Otherwise, we would risk inflating it instead."
"There\'s also the question whether or not they would be willing to go onward. Maybe they are already comfortable in their situation, not wanting it to be disrupted in some way." Mercedes responded as she herself had no idea how to solve it despite heavily thinking about it.
"Many are complaining about the increase in criminal activities near and inside the slums. Our law enforcement can\'t get into it without riling up the locals inside." Charlotte sighed to herself, annoyed by the troublesome situation at hand.
"How do you propose in taking care of it?" Mercedes asked, curious about the idea that the Prime Minister had in mind. "That solution of such a problem is for the governor of Dawn City to handle." Charlotte chuckled, remarking that it wasn\'t her problem.
"At the very least, the increase in crime rate hadn\'t affected nearby islands as well. Otherwise, it wouldn\'t do us any good."
"That\'s what you keep saying to yourself." Mercedes commented as she knew more about the complexities of the immigrant population throughout the states of the United World Government. The State of Minos along with the State of Pelago have been facing increased immigration since the past month.
With it, law and order has been difficult for them to enact as there were too much foreign population to handle than expected.
Hearing the comments of Mercedes, Charlotte wryly smiled as she wondered how she had gotten it wrong. Maybe if it was Abraham leading the United World Government, the problems now wouldn\'t have popped up to be so troublesome.
Noticing the doubts in Charlotte\'s face, Mercedes sighed and calmly uttered to the Prime Minister. "Leading a country isn\'t always without troubles. What matters the most is how you handle it. The policies you enact would be your weapons and tools against the problems you face."
"If you need help, you could always call the Atlas Corporation to take care of the hustling part of taking out trashes." Mercedes winked at Charlotte, who promptly smiled at her words. "I\'d rather not let them face a corporation\'s brutality."
"But thanks for the suggestion."
"I guess a meeting should be made to open up the complex issues at hand. At the very least, I would be able to hear the suggestions and thoughts of the senate before enacting a policy to the populace." Charlotte muttered to herself, earning the nod of the Director.
"Hearing the opinion of others is a good start, though if it was my superior, she would have raided the slums in its entirety in the name of peace." Mercedes chuckled, feeling a bit complicated since it felt as though she was badmouthing Lady Laplace.
As she turned her gaze towards the Prime Minister, Mercedes noticed the frozen face of Charlotte. The silver wolf raised her eyebrows, slowly turning to back. At the same time, her body froze in shocked, unable to believe the scene before her.
"W- What?" Standing in the front door of the Prime Minister\'s office was a gorgeous lady with silver hair and golden irises. Her body emanated the pressure of dominion as though making others instinctively kneel before her very presence.
"It seems that the two of you have learned to badmouth me while I\'m gone. Do you not understand how disappointed I am?" The gorgeous lady narrowed her eyes, seeing that her supposed friends tarnishing her while she was away.
"They aren\'t badmouthing you, Laplace. The two are merely speaking of the trut-" Before Abraham could continue, Laplace softly elbowed his stomach, halting him from talking further. The middle-aged man felt chills in his spine, deciding to retreat for the meantime.
Returning her attention to the two, Laplace smirked and opened her arms, quickly hugging them in succession. "It\'s been a while, my friends. I have heard a lot about your escapades with my husband. How dare you do a threesome without me."
Her remarks caused Abraham to facepalmed, giving up in understanding the dragoness. On the other hand, her words caused the two ladies to wake up. The first to mutter a single word was Mercedes. "L-Lady Laplace... You\'re back?"
"Of course, I\'m back. Do you think I\'ll be gone forever while you try to eat by husband behind my back?" Laplace puffed up her chest, not backing down against the two ladies that had touched her husband. She would be willing to fight for love if needed to.
"Eh... Laplace, great you\'ve finally returned." Charlotte had a complicated smile as she had troubles in processing the emotion that had consumed her mind. It was strange, to say the least, but most of all, she was relieved.
Her eyebrows quickly furrowed as she glared at the middle-aged man beside the dragoness. "Abraham Shepherd, you dare leave without warning? Do you know that you brought pandemonium into the government with your disappearance?"
"How dare you leave me with a problem." Clearly, she wasn\'t happy with his untimely disappearance in the Citadel, which caused chaos in the military and the administration of the United World Government.
"Don\'t worry about him, Charlotte. I already had a talk with me about that." Laplace waved her hands back and forth, making the Prime Minister calmed her rage into its minimum levels. "I guess I shouldn\'t be too angry about it."
"Apologies for acting like a child." Charlotte once again sighed to herself, lumping her body into the seat. Laplace walked around the table and stood beside the Prime Minister, massaging her shoulders. "It seems that our stone-faced girl has been working hard."
"Leading a country must be difficult, huh?" Laplace remarked as she kept massaging the body of Charlotte, who steadily relaxed herself. The Prime Minister aloofly uttered. "Going to war is far easier than trying to make an entire nation stable."
"Heh... You ran out of luck the moment you got elected as the Prime Minister." Laplace chuckled at the suffering of the stone-faced girl in front of her. Charlotte merely raised one of her eyebrows, but decided to let it go instead.
"Anyhow, I want the two of you to meet my child." The moment the dragoness uttered such words. Charlotte and Mercedes finally remembered that Laplace was previously pregnant to begin with. It was due to this that she needed to temporarily leave from the United World Government.
Their backs quickly straightened as Abraham carried a little girl forward like a cat with its paw onward. The little girl had jet-black hair and sapphire-like irises, though her silver horns and tails practically declared whose daughter she was.
"Meet my daughter, the cutest of the world, the most adorable dragon that has ever existed, Tiamat!" Abraham placed her on top of the table as if he placed the greatest treasure that has ever been hailed in the United World Government.
Tiamat gazed upon the two ladies, deciding that acting like a child would do her better faith. Eating up her pride, she looked at them cutely and move her hand forward like a paw.
"Rawr..."