Tax collectors?
Hoshino walked forward and indeed saw a farmstead.
Most people on Terra had a movable landmass beneath their feet, but in extremely impoverished regions, they could only ensure that residential areas were situated on movable modules.
As for farmland... it could only be placed in immovable areas.
After all, everything required supporting infrastructure. Doubling the number of mobile fortresses meant exponentially increasing the funds required, while farmland and its accompanying irrigation facilities consumed an enormous amount of land.
Before entering the village, Hoshino saw sparse patches of golden crops. Cold-region crops ripened slowly, grew thinly, and yielded very little.
"Does this country have no collective will?"
Hoshino frowned. "Agricultural production should be concentrated in the south. With so much land, large-scale centralized production is the only way forward."
The lush southern regions should concentrate their efforts on agriculture.
The bitterly cold north should concentrate on industry.
The remaining provinces, rich in natural resources, should develop specialized mining industries instead of relying on this primitive system of slave miners.
High-end mining could be highly profitable too—professional dust-removal equipment, Originium fragment isolation facilities, heavy machinery operation...
"But every noble wants their territory to possess a complete set of industries, from heavy industry to agriculture to resource extraction. The clustered effect you described simply cannot take shape."
Talulah answered, making it clear that she was not entirely ignorant of politics.
"..."
Good grief.
Hoshino stroked one of her black horns, feeling somewhat irritated.
Only today did she finally understand that Ursus was not modeled after Russia.
It was fucking modern India.
"This is Ursus. Hopeless Ursus."
"Forget it. This place is simply underdeveloped. It needs some fierce figure to descend from the heavens and smash the local oligarchs. Then Ursus will take off."
Hoshino shook her head.
The local powers were