Chapter 620 - Stirring

With less than three days remaining until the start of what could be a very long Expedition, Vahn began spending the majority of his time mingling with the girls within the Manor. They were going to be apart for a while and Vahn wanted to comfort them as much as he could while also discussing what actions would be taken while he was away. Construction on the School had already started at this point and it would be continuing for the next 3-5 months. Since the Alliance controlled all the territory in the 'Section 4' District of Orario, even including the entertainment district after Freya seized power in the area. This gave them a territory nearly 3,800km² with several residential districts that were slowly being converted into large plots of land to construct Manors for the Alliance Familias and the School. There was even a smaller Coliseum being built in the area, but this would be for combat training for the students and holding smaller tournaments for the public to witness.

Vahn had been a little surprised by how much land the Alliance possessed, especially after learning Freya 'conquered' the entire entertainment district, eliminating several of the gangs in the area. Unfortunately, before he could even pitch the idea, Loki explained that such a district was 'necessary' for people in the current social climate. It was a place where Adventurers could go to release tensions and also served as a place where people could elevate their social status without putting their lives at risk in the Dungeon. Since many politicians and businessmen also frequented the area, it was also a place where secret dealings could be held and served as the backbone for the black markets. It was also impossible to get rid of the entertainment district since it was where most of the people in the entire City went to release stress, meaning they would cause a great deal of tension by even trying to regulate it harshly.

To 'pacify' Vahn, Loki told him how Freya had essentially 'negotiated' with all of the Familias in the area, as most of the successful brothels and businesses were governed by gods of beauty, s.e.x, passion, pleasure, entertainment, etc. She got the majority of them to sign contracts enforcing better regulations and living standards for their 'employees' and had each of them assigned 'territory' that they would be responsible for managing. Though it was impossible to prevent crime from occurring, they needed to have more serious consequences in place to deter people from repeating their actions. As for things like slavery, the black market, and even gambling circuits, they couldn't be abolished in the current climate since slavery wasn't illegal, the black market was necessary for getting some important foreign imports, and gambling was too profitable and enjoyed by far too many people.

Though it seemed to be a cruel institution, 'legal' slavery was actually necessary in the current political climate since the vast majority of slaves were either criminals or people that 'willingly' became slaves, such as Emiru and Maemi. Since there wasn't a functional judicial system in place, there wasn't enough funding for infrastructure like prisons and such. Even the few that existed were typically very cruel places as corruption caused things like torture, ****, and trafficking to be very prevalent. Systems had existed in the past, but they were exploited by the people that passed the laws, often using them as justification to eliminate their enemies and simply do whatever they wanted.

Since slaves were a large part of the population on the continent, it was determined that the criminal slavery system would be instituted instead. Depending on the severity of their crimes, people would be bound to different types of contracts that also determined what kind of