The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 604: Different Methods of Governing

"Big sister, are you going to tell me stories about your past?" I ask, sitting on her lap while assembling an 8-dimensional cube. The shape is so strange it confuses my eyes—a toy I invented using what I learned from Evangeline.

My sister managed to get free a few hours after my bath and went to take one herself, so now that she's recovered from our 'intimacy,' I want to learn more about my dear big sister.

"Aren't you busy with that weird cube?"

"No, I think I'm starting to solve it. It's not that complex, just hard on my eyes, but I understand the principle." It's like solving a Rubik's Cube blindfolded—difficult, no doubt, even if you know how to solve it easily.

"Pandora, my past in the abyss or my past on that planet as a demon king?"

"Your past as a demon king. I've heard amazing stories about you, but I bet a lot got lost, and I don't even know your motivation—like that time you united all the continents into one big continent."

"Ah, yes, I really did that. The truth is, back then I was frustrated with the stupid logistics of using ships to go to other continents to kill my enemies—boats take too long."

"And there were those damned sirens sinking every vessel they could, so I thought it'd be easier to just smash all the continents together. That clearly turned into a mistake when I disappeared." She starts explaining.

"Since the demons got so weak without me that they started getting massacred—and the reason isn't that they were weak, but that they didn't have time. Demons reproduce very fast, so the race needed that time it took for enemies to arrive by boat."

"Ohhh! So that's why! I thought it was weird when Elena said that without you, demons lost 90% of their power! That seemed bizarre to me back then because it didn't make sense!"

"So it wasn't really the demons' fault, but the lack of time caused by having all the continents united into one." That answers a question I didn't even remember having from when I was a kid.

"Yeah, demons only stayed alive through time and demon kings. When they lost the two pillars holding them up, they ran into problems. Plus, demons are pretty disrespectful despite their loyalty, and they don't unite even when they're dying—so they're very arrogant."

"Hahaha, you have the same worldview on demons as I do... I'll never forget those panties..." I murmur, remembering the past.

"Panties?" She asks, confused.

"Water under the bridge, sister... water under the bridge..." I snuggle into her lap, nearly finishing the 8-dimensional cube.

"What about friendships? Were you friends with Lilith? She was like my best friend! She trusted me so much she gave me a hydra egg to take care of when she died... I guess maybe I wasn't very responsible since I gave the hydra as a pet to my daughter! But I'm sure she's being well cared for."

"...You gave the future saint of demons as a pet?" Azraelith speaks as if that's extremely strange.

"Yeah, Lycoris—the one who's my half-dragon daughter—is the wildest. I don't know how she's been recently, but I know and feel she's the one with the most explosive instincts!"

"She's a sweetheart, like a really cute little girl, but... if someone provokes her too much, she won't control herself and will act like an animal, and she'll definitely bring plenty of death and destruction until she calms down."

"Also, because she's the most instinct-driven daughter and least adapted to social life, I gave her a gift I once had—a friend who can understand her. Even though she has sisters, the one who comes closest in terms of instinct is Aqua, but Aqua leans more toward territoriality than savagery."

"So I thought, if my daughter has a being that's also a monster, she won't feel so alone when she grows up! I bet you felt that too, sister—even if we have friends, beings who love us, and worship, it's kind of empty."

"They're not our own kind. It's easier to connect with a humanoid monster. They understand, and they feel like we do! Did you know Lilith wanted a duel with me as soon as she felt my power increase? And I wanted that too the moment I saw her—our chemistry was obvious."

"..." My sister stays quiet for a while, then starts speaking.

"You're right. It's easier to connect with humanoid monsters. They have no filters and understand us. Lilith was my friend too, even if she was too intrusive and disrespectful."

"But she was a good friend who helped me a lot... though she was a pervert and lazy."

"Hahahahah, that's the Lilith I know!!" That's the perfect image of Lilith—perverted and lazy. There aren't two words that define that girl better.

"It's a shame Lilith never learned to control her monster form... Pandora, you can control your true form masterfully, can't you? Was it very hard?" When she asks that, I think about it for a bit.

"I can't say. Initially, I had a black, gooey form like a liquid, and it was hard to control—after using it for a while, I'd lose control. But here in the abyss, I discovered that wasn't my true form, and I ended up unlocking it without much difficulty."

"But I wouldn't say it doesn't affect me. Despite my perfect self-control, it makes me feel empty. Most emotions simply vanish, and a great boredom arises, as if everything near me isn't worth a crumb of my attention."

"...Hmmm... well, I awakened mine while outside the abyss, but it's different from yours, since our true forms change based on our experiences and adaptation."

'I wonder what my daughters' true forms are like, and whether any of them has tried to transform?' That's truly curious. Can they even access that perfectly, given their hybrid nature?

"Big sister, what was your governance like? Were you a tyrant? With really strict rules? And how did you treat people?"

"I'm quite tyrannical, with many rules that lead people to death, but in exchange, I give a perfect life—housing, food, and water for free, general healthcare for free too, and relatively good pay." I explain to give an example.

"But nothing absurd in quality—just enough to survive and live without problems. If they want good things, they have to pay for luxuries and life improvements."

"This works mainly because of loyalty, and of course the laws, since there are laws against lazy people who try to live only off the benefits I gave. If they don't work or do a really bad job just to say they worked, they'll have serious problems."

"So my kingdom is stable because the population is loyal and actually does their work, while I provide what a king should provide—quality of life and stability." I tell her how I did the basics of being a king.

"Interesting... I took a different approach. I didn't really like governing, so I left servants to handle the paperwork and only dictated important things. That's why the kingdom I built, though advanced and stable, was like any other kingdom where you had to pay for everything."

"Territory, houses, food, water, security, taxes—everything had a price." When my sister says that, I let out a laugh.

"Something wrong?"

"I know what you're thinking. You mentioned 'taxes'—why do you think my method isn't good? But tell me, sister, how much of the demonic territory around your castle was truly yours?"

"Well... a considerable portion? Obviously, that's how it works if land is sold for house construction."

"Exactly, sister. But with me, all territory is mine. The houses they built are mine. The ground they walk on is mine. Do you think I used this governance method out of benevolence? Of course not."

"I used this method because under it, everything is legally mine. Every demon living off my favor doesn't have a crumb of territory or resources, because everything goes through me. They have stability, but only if I want them to have it."

"If I want to kick someone out of their house, I don't need to threaten, kill, or buy them out. I can just order them to leave, because the house is mine, built on my land with the money I provide."

"...You... you're so greedy..."

"That's the price of living under my command. Everything that exists under my command is mine, and only mine. They just live in a sweet illusion—an illusion I decide exists or not."

"That's how I govern. Also, even though my taxes are low, they're concentrated and precise, pulling a lot of money from all corners and gathering it into a monthly fortune."

"So even though about 70% of the population doesn't pay taxes, the reality is that those taxes are already being paid by those who do pay them. Which means, in the end, what each demon earns is only about 60% of what they'd earn if my kingdom's laws were like other kingdoms'."

"What a rip-off!! You're insane." She says with a look of shock and a sly smile.

"Rip-off? Hahaha, it's called business, sister. And they get paid well—they just don't know they could get more than 'well.' Besides, everyone's happy, and what they earn buys a lot."

"I focused heavily on entertainment, luxuries, and fun. That drives them to work more to pay for fun. So the more they work, the more they enjoy luxuries, and the more luxuries, the more expensive the standard of living becomes to maintain—so they work more."

"You know that's almost slavery disguised as kindness, right?"

"I know. But who's holding the whip? I didn't do anything. They decide whether they want to work more for expensive luxuries or work less for cheaper luxuries. But you know what's interesting about fun? Repetition bores."

"So eventually, they'll try to buy more expensive things for entertainment, and it stays in that cycle. I use this to keep laziness and stagnation from emerging."

"Your method is brilliant, Pandora. I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Yeah... I based it on rats."

"Rats?"

"Yes, rats. If you lock them in a maze and place various foods of different qualities, with the higher-quality foods farther away, over time the rat will stop seeking just the food that fills it up and will seek the food that pleases it most, going farther and farther into the maze."

"..."

"Pandora, your worldview is disturbing—and I like that. Seeing people as rats is the craziest thing I've ever heard a ruler say."

"Hehehe, thanks for the compliment." I thank her as she strokes my head. It's interesting to talk about this kind of thing with her.