Vikir Exceptional Regulation, Article 1, Passage 1-.
"The individual who pulls this stake (hereinafter referred to as "the stake") will be paid 100,000,000 gold right, not entirely set by Deputy Vikir Van Baskerville."
A regulation created and enforced by the youthful Deputy Magistrate at fifteen years of age, upon his most memorable appointment.
Nobody in the council objected to this regulation being established.
Nobody in the council raised objections to the law being put in place because they had no idea what it was actually aiming for or what it was meant to achieve.
The citizens looked astonished.
"What, you're giving us 100 million?"
"You must be joking. 100,000,000 gold is four years' worth of earnings for ordinary people."
"You're offering 100 million for a wooden stick?"
"What's this for, a spectacle?"
People chattered. They all stared at Vikir with perplexed expressions.
And that included Chihuahua Baskerville and other officials from the Enforcement Department.
The gossip only increased slightly, but when no one stepped forward, once again, Vikir spoke.
"Anyone else?"
No one answered the question.
At this point, Vikir had retrieved his quill and scribbled a few more words on the notice.
-Vikir's Unique Regulation, Article 1, Section 2-.
"The individual who pulls this stake (hereinafter referred to as the "stake") will be paid 900,000,000 additional, not entirely determined by Deputy Vikir Van Baskerville."
100,000,000 gold and 900,000,000 more.
"Whoever pulls this stake will be paid one billion gold in cash."
A billion gold! That's a sum of money that no ordinary person can touch in their lifetime.
People began to laugh.
"This is ridiculous."
"Are you kidding me? What kind of idiot would do this?"
"Hey, kid, stop messing around, let's get going!"
"This is funny now that I see it, is it a stand-up comedy of some sort?"
The people gathered in the square were dumbfounded by the absurdity of the situation.
Some of them even openly called Vikir a clown.
But Vikir remained composed.
"Is anyone here?"
He asked, and he received a few chuckling responses from around him.
The faces of the enforcement officials, including Chihuahua Baskerville, turned a bright shade of red.
"Why is the shame on us!
The officials in the back squirmed, unable to bear the taunts of the citizens.
Vikir casually raised his quill.
-Article 1, Passage 3 of the Vikir Unique Regulation .
"To the individual who pulls this stake (hereinafter referred to as "the stake"), there will be paid an additional 9,000,000,000, not entirely determined by Deputy Vikir Van Baskerville."
A total of ten billion.
At the mention of this sum, the room fell silent all at once.
A eerie silence.
"Whoever pulls this stake will be paid 10 billion gold in cash."
Article 3 of Vikir's Unique Law was proclaimed.
The stares and mocking jeers disappeared, and the central square fell silent, as if nothing was alive.
The absence of sound, despite the huge crowds of people, sent chills down my spine.
Chihuahua Baskerville and all the officials of the Executive Office were momentarily stunned by the silence on such a massive scale.
But Vikir remained composed.
"Is anyone there?"
This time, no one answered the question.
The citizens stared, unable to laugh or speak.
"What, what is this? What's going on?"
"Are you really offering 10 billion? Should we leave?"
"Are you crazy? Do you know what you'll get if you leave."
"See that sword in his belt. I don't want to be executed for being a rich fool."
No one knows.
Why is this young deputy magistrate, who has just been appointed, doing this?
No one in the room knew why anyone would want to spend 10 billion bucks on a stake that anyone could easily pull out.
"Could it be that the stake is really heavy, so heavy that a normal person couldn't pull it out?"
"Not likely. I've seen bureaucrats carrying them around."
"Hey, don't go out there! They have something else up their sleeve!"
"In times like this, it's best to steer clear."
It's quiet in the square, with only an occasional shouting match.
"...."
Then, Vikir reached for the stake.
His hand bypassed the hilt of his sword and grasped the leather pouch behind it.
Tsk-tsk.
Vikir thrust the heavy leather pouch before Judy's eyes.
Judy stared, stunned, at the pouch and then at Vikir's face.
Then, with shaking hands, she took the pouch and handed it over.
She pulled on the straps of this unusually heavy leather pouch.
…Pow!
A blindingly dazzling golden glow emanated from inside the pouch.
Gold coins. Countless, countless, endless.
Again, for a moment, the room fell silent.
Judy, her mother, the countless others watching the unfortunate mother and daughter, all fell silent as one.
Vikir spoke.
"Ten billion gold."
The words sounded like a proclamation of some kind.
Judy and her mother were just kneeling there, bewildered, before an amount of money they had never seen, heard, or imagined.
And it was no different for everyone watching.
"This is how the … regulation works."
By now, Vikir had announced to all the citizens filling the square.
"It will be enforced."
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