Seraphina scoffed dismissively.
"I thought it was something serious. Familias die, they die; I don't care at all. At worst..."
She suddenly couldn't continue her sentence halfway through, and when she looked up, she saw Ed's meaningful gaze.
That's right. A month ago, Seraphina didn't care at all about the life or death of her people.
Although the villagers of Dragonborn Village would still seek her protection when they were bullied, that was in the public eye. If the Dragonborn died because of Seraphina, whether they fought for her or worked for her, it was perfectly justifiable.
Just as serfs serve their lords and knights their kings, Dragonborn will shed their last drop of blood for their masters.
This is one of the fundamental logics that still exists in this world, and it does not change with the appearance or absence of the Demonic Tide.
Therefore, Seraphina naturally believed that this matter was not important. Even if the Dragonborn were to die out, that would be a hundred years from now, and as long as she found a new human settlement, she could rebuild a Dragonborn Village or Dragonborn city.
As for why the players near the castle haven't shown a tendency to transform into Dragonborn, that's determined by the terms of the contract between Seraphina and Ed.
So Seraphina's habitual thinking told her not to care about Ed's alarmist claims.
But that was ultimately just habitual thinking. In the past month, she had witnessed things that the dragon had never seen in its 150-year history, and new ideas were beginning to subtly take root in her mind.
Wealth doesn't necessarily have to be obtained through violent plunder; it can also be obtained through gentler economic means.
These two methods show opposite trends at different population sizes.
When the population is small, it's suitable to pull off a quick heist and leave, but not for long-term operations (a term taught by Ed ). When the population is large, pulling off a quick heist is very risky, but long-term operations are very comfortable.
This is the pattern that Seraphina summarized during the past two weeks of classes.
However, to make good use of this principle, acting freely as before is clearly not feasible, which highlights the importance of subordinates.
Therefore, according to the newly discovered laws of the world, subordinates are very important; the Dragonborn cannot die, or at least not all of them.
At this moment, long-held habits of thought and new ideas are colliding in Seraphina's mind.
For humans of this age, habitual thinking and life experience may be more important, but as a Red Dragon who is only a little over a hundred years old, Seraphina has at least four thousand years left in her long dragon life, which allows her to change her views without any obstacles.
She looked at Ed, who, though only having one eye, had a sly look in his eyes that seemed to say:
Why did you stop talking?
Seraphina snorted and said:
"Tell me your suggestion."
Ed first walked towards the gray-black rickshaw, placed his hand on the crossbar at the front of the rickshaw, and tried to lift it, but awkwardly didn't.
He got serious and used more effort, and finally managed to lift the car up.
Ed felt like he was a jack in a repair shop in his past life. The rickshaw in front of him didn't look big, but it seemed almost the size of a small car.
He tapped on the crossbar and handles, then examined the carriage and wheels, finally confirming his guess—
" Seraphina, this car... is it solid?"
"Yes, I made it with cast iron. It's stable and durable, which is something I've learned from my own flying experience."
So you're having a Dragonborn pull a small car?
How is this different from abuse?
Ed said thoughtfully:
"I think if this thing were mass-produced, Dragonborn Village wouldn't survive for another fifty years."
Meeting Seraphina's fiery (not a figurative expression) gaze, Ed pointed to the rickshaw:
"Given the weight of this thing, even if Xilǐ'er and Radish tried to pull it together, let alone the Dragonborn, they'd both have to shed a layer of... sheet metal."
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Ed taps on the front crossbar and handrail:
"Change it to hollow."
He then pointed to the two large, solid cast iron wheels:
"I'll teach you what spokes are in a bit."
Ed pointed to the carriage:
"Thin it out a bit, add a layer of animal hide, and attach a folding awning on top..."
While Ed was pointing and gesturing, a disgruntled Seraphina was secretly taking notes.
After Ed described seven or eight changes to the rickshaw in his mind, he finally felt there was nothing more to say.
Seraphina looked at him:
"I've got that. Are there any other comments?"
"Have."
Ed immediately said, and the Dragon Girl's expression froze—there's more?
Looking into the dragon girl's eyes, Ed finally got to the main topic of the day—
"I suggest you reorganize the Dragonborn Village."
"What's the meaning?"
Seraphina was puzzled.
"It's about changing the positioning and structure of Dragonborn Village, so that this village can provide greater assistance to you."
Ed explained it this way, and Seraphina's eyes immediately lit up, even the dragon horns on her head seemed to gleam a little brighter.
"Tell me quickly how to do it?"
"Okay, but I need to point out your current misconceptions first."
Ed said slowly and deliberately:
"Whether you consider the villagers of Dragonborn Village as your private... private dragon property or not, your development and exploitation of them are problematic. Simply put, the level of development is too low, but the level of exploitation is too high."
"Therefore, I sincerely suggest that you reorganize Dragonborn Village into Dragonborn Company. While having the Dragonborn help you make money, you can also give them a certain amount of compensation, which will improve their enthusiasm for work."
Seraphina was clearly unhappy to hear that it would cost money, but Ed offered a different perspective:
"Even if you give them money, they still need to find somewhere to spend it. In such a large area around Dragonborn Village, there's nowhere to spend money except for the castle and White Wax Town."
"And the metal currency of the castle and White Wax Town comes from me, and my precious metals come from you. So these precious metals have only just begun to circulate, but they still belong to you. It's like you've increased the Dragonborn's work enthusiasm without doing anything."
After hearing Ed's explanation, Seraphina was even more confused:
"So, according to you, my money hasn't increased at all, what's the point?"
Ed shook his head slightly:
"It's just that your precious metals haven't increased; your 'money' has increased. It's been transformed into manufactured goods, grain in warehouses, and many other things that require labor to produce. When that merchant Gray comes here again, you can use this unrealized 'money' to exchange for precious metals and sunflower seeds... no, mithril ore."
Although the logic behind it wasn't quite clear, Seraphina felt that Ed hadn't deceived her.
She thought for a moment and then asked:
"That sounds reasonable, so what exactly is this company you're talking about?"