The harmonious relationship between farmers and rats had even become leverage the Big Rat used to ease tensions with his younger sister.
Previously, because of the emperor, his relationship with his sister had nearly fallen apart.
"See? Only after destruction can there be a better future."
He pointed at a stretch of farmland nearby.
Around that farmland was a group of Blue-Eye Rats, watching several farmers at work.
The blue-haired rats stood nearby, acting as both overseers and guards, preventing violent rats from rushing over and eating the farmers.
"My rats have already gained enough intelligence to manage the farmers well. They live better lives than before."
"Only ten farmers survived in the village before, but now they have produced another ten children. In less than twenty years, the village will return to its former state."
"You only saw the rats kill many people, but you did not realize that the rats also destroyed the lords' land deeds, allowing the farmers to survive more easily."
Weil fell silent.
She had indeed noticed that some farmers wore smiles and had healthy complexions.
That had not existed before.
She had seen farmers in the past. They had been numb, exhausted, living one day at a time.
If illness struck one day, an entire family would go bankrupt and become slaves, forced to spend their nights in cattle sheds, clutching fodder to survive.
Slaves were the lowliest of all beings and could be sold away at any time.
Only in places with abundant land would slaves receive somewhat better treatment. In crowded areas, slaves could even be killed outright.
Or sold to underground arenas.
But now, slaves no longer existed. Or rather, everyone was a slave, with rats as their only master.
"But rats spread disease. They cannot live alongside farmers for long."