Meira put down the book in her hand and pounded her aching shoulder.
She is the eldest daughter of the old king's heirs. She is almost thirty years old this year. Although she has had one or two relationships in the past, she was unable to get married because of her status.
After the blood crystal beast of Skarre wreaked havoc, half of the people Mera knew died because of the disaster, including her father, the old king.
No… the old king was killed by her sister, Meera was convinced of that.
She had no hatred towards her sister Elena, but was more wary of her.
Because now, only her sister is qualified to compete with her for the throne of the entire Skare. That sister who is usually a little silly can actually get the recognition of the earth core!
This was something that Mela absolutely could not accept, but more than half a month had passed and Elena and those people in green clothes had never come back.
"The food in the granary should last until the end of winter."
Mera was flipping through a pile of files on the desk. She had now become the nominal ruler of Scarre. At least of the four surviving families, except for the Hubert family, the other three families had already submitted to Mera.
This is the result that Mela has always wanted to see.
The power of the three major families now actually far exceeds that of the royal family, but as the owner of the Holy Crystal, Mela has absolute power to command those who hold the seal, and she is not like her sister who is not good at handling interpersonal relationships.
Mera successfully found a balance of power by taking advantage of the conflicts between the three major families. Simply put, as long as Mera leans towards any one of the three major families, they may completely annex the entire Scarre.
This was a dangerous balance, but Mera maintained it well. On the premise of maintaining it, Mera began to rebuild this dilapidated royal city.
"The output of black flame stone is enough to survive this winter, but there are still too few people. Haven't the nomads from the south arrived yet?"
Mera calculated what was needed for the next development of the royal city. What Scarre lacked most now was manpower. Mera didn't feel sorry at all for the buildings destroyed by the blood crystal beasts. What Mera felt sorry for were the civilians eaten by the blood crystal beasts.
The total population of the Royal City of Skare is only 3,600, and excluding the nobles, there are only about 3,500 people.
"But it doesn't matter. We just need to survive this winter. As long as we spread the rumor that the blood crystal beast is still wreaking havoc, we should be able to buy some time."
Mela is still very optimistic about Scarre's future, or the future of Scarre in her hands.
She is confident that she can lead the entire Skare to prosperity, as long as she is given enough time!
Just as Meira was thinking about what to do next, she suddenly raised her head.
"His Majesty!"
A soldier suddenly ran into the hall and knelt in front of Mela.
"What's wrong?" Mela put down the file in her hand. Judging from the soldier's complexion and breathing, he must have run all the way here from a very far distance.
"Black... Black Flame Mine." The soldier choked up and said in a trembling voice, "The slaves in the Black Flame Mine... and... all ran to the streets, and they even attacked the soldiers."
"Mine slaves? Damn it! Didn't I remind those old guys from the Black Flame Crystal Family not to push too hard?"
Upon hearing the news, Mela threw the file on the table in anger. The reason for her anger was not because of the miners, but because she had reminded the Black Flame Crystal Family that they must be careful when managing the miners, as they were no longer the Scarre of the past!
In order to motivate the miners to work harder, she established a system to promote them to civilians based on their workload. This system also spread to all aspects of Skarre.
But the problem is that whether the old stubborn people of the Black Flame Crystal Family really implement this system is what Mera is most worried about. For this reason, Mera will go to various places in Skare to inspect every few days.
The situation was still good when she inspected the Black Flame Stone Mine the day before yesterday. At least it was much better than the days when those miners had to live naked during the heyday of Scare.
"How many miners are there marching in the streets?" Mela bit her long thumb nail, a bad habit she developed when she was under pressure as a child.
But Mela quickly realized it and controlled her instinctive behavior.
Her nails were painted with the juice of phoenix flowers, a popular cosmetic among aristocratic women in the Far South. It could dye the nails in various bright colors and was very expensive!
Although Scarlett is in a state of desolation now, Mela is not destitute in her enjoyment of beauty.
But now Meila must deal with this matter, otherwise her position is likely to collapse in an instant.
"Your Majesty, do you want to send the city guards to suppress them? If we let Master Angern come, it won't take long to kill those miners." A knight came forward and suggested.
This knight is a member of the Round Shield family. Master Angern is the strongest surviving spellcaster in Skarre and of course he also belongs to the Round Shield family.
"If you kill them, who will dig the black flame stones for you to use during the winter?"
Mera scolded the knight in a low voice. Scarre was so short of manpower that Mera had to use all the death row prisoners.
"The reserves of Black Flame Stone are sufficient, as your Majesty just said. If you continue to indulge these slaves, I'm afraid more slaves will stand up and challenge our power." A member of the Black Flame Crystal Family stood up and said to Mela.
The moment Mera heard his proposal, she had already developed murderous intent, not towards the miners but towards this entire family.
He seemed to be protecting the interests of the nobility and the royal family, but in fact he was threatening Meera.
These three families surrounded Mera like jackals, and they might bare their fangs and bite her at any time.
Mera knew clearly... the Black Flame Crystal Family didn't care whether the country of Scarre could be rebuilt. They could be the Black Flame Crystal Family of Scarre or the Black Flame Crystal Family of the Xiuenzhelai Kingdom.
If they did not own the mining rights to many minerals in Skare, they would have fled to other countries during the blood crystal beast disaster.
In fact, many nobles from Hei Yanjing and other families have fled abroad, and even her brother Kanser has done the same.
For them, Scarre is not their own country, but a place where they can gain benefits!
"Let the soldiers evacuate first and avoid conflict with the miners. Let me think about it again." Mera suppressed her murderous intent. She needed the Black Flame Crystal Family, or more precisely, the talents and managers of this family.
There were too few people in Scare who could read and write, and too few people who could manage the slaves well. Without these management talents, it was very difficult to get the slaves to start working.