"Don't look at me like that. I'm not that noble, and I'm not sitting around with nothing better to do, as you put it." Xu Yi glanced at Haines, who sat opposite him, and shook his head. "I'm doing this for a reason I mentioned to you a long time ago: to free up the farming population."
"And then have them all join this magic industry sector you talk about?" Haines pressed.
"Right." Xu Yi nodded. "Don't you think the Lampari Kingdom has far too few people?"
"Too few?" Haines's eyes widened. "I certainly don't. The Lampari Kingdom is only a small kingdom. Several million people is already a lot, and you still think that's too few? Do you want our population to match the Malo Empire or the Candel Empire?"
"There's no need for that. It's just a little short of what I need right now. Haven't you noticed that even after a full two hundred thousand people poured into Bunta City recently, we're still somewhat short-handed?"
"But that's because Bunta City has almost too many jobs," Haines said with a frown. "And the reason there are so many jobs here is that merchant guilds like yours sell their goods to other cities in the kingdom. In effect, people elsewhere in the kingdom are supporting those two hundred thousand people. If you want the entire Lampari Kingdom to become like Bunta City, who's going to support all those people?"
"Other countries, of course." Xu Yi smiled faintly. "Never mind the Lampari Kingdom's population of just over five million. Even if it had over fifty million, we could easily support them all. And by support, I don't just mean keeping them alive. I mean giving them a good life."
"Isn't that idea a little too... naive?" Haines shook his head.