A few dozen minutes later, the Ratfolk Priest counted tens of thousands of Ratfolk and claimed they met the requirements.
Annan didn't look too closely at how many of them were idiots who couldn't even count... Oh, that was too harsh on the rats. Slave Rats who couldn't even count, then.
Annan had city staff come over to register their votes.
When Idelia, his eldest sister, heard about it, she sent people to buy up all the bread in the city and hand it out. She'd had the same idea as Annan.
There was no need to feed the Rat Swarm's millions of members, nor could they afford to. But the relatively clever Ratfolk they'd picked out were worth winning over.
Counting the votes of tens of thousands of Ratfolk took only a few minutes. Handing out bread lasted until late at night—given the Ratfolk's sense of order, getting them to queue quietly was like asking a Red Dragon to ignore treasure right in front of it.
"The voting is settled. Now let's talk about why you've been digging tunnels on my land."
Annan's voice dropped as he calmly watched the Ratfolk Priest.
"It's not your land," the Ratfolk Priest said.
The Priest said the tunnel opened in the Montablinlock Duchy's territory. Lilith's projection went to inspect it and found that the entrance was indeed outside Gem Bay.
"What about underground?"
Annan didn't know what the Ratfolk Elder said to the Priest, but the Priest actually allowed his side in to inspect the tunnels.
Lilith made another trip and reported no signs of digging beneath Free City. The Montablinlock Duchy's side, on the other hand, was riddled with tunnels.
The Stuen Ratfolk had been so careful they hardly seemed like Ratfolk.
It seemed they were pleased with their cooperation with