The Land of the Virgin

"Ah, blast it, I must report on the Outer East Street's work to His Excellency, the County Magistrate." The sun was already dipping low in the west, nearing sunset. Angelina emerged from the York Town administrative office, traversed the marketplace, her shackles clanking, and headed towards an intersection. She was an official of the lowest rank, so despite the shackles, they didn't significantly impede her stride. If she were a Mayor or Governor, she would have to travel by carriage, not out of laziness, but because her body would be too tightly bound to walk. At another corner of the intersection stood the Masong County administrative office. York Town was the center of Masong County, so the County Magistrate and other high-ranking officials were all in town. Angelina entered the building, and a guard led her upstairs. On the second-floor corridor, two young male guards were responsible for patrol and security. However, their primary duty was not to protect the officials, but to prevent them from escaping. This was unlike the common sense of other countries; once a woman became an official, she not only lost any aura of authority over guards but also forfeited her personal freedom, becoming subject to their watch. They could only serve the populace under the strict supervision of the guards, trembling, daring not to act out of line or slack off. This was the understanding every girl who aspired to be an official had to possess. The guards escorted Angelina to the County Magistrate's room, had her stand aside, and then knocked on the door. The guard inside opened it. Angelina entered the room and saw the girl sitting at the wooden desk. She was Miss Lydia, the County Magistrate of Masong County. "Miss Lydia, this is the work report for Outer East Street today. Please review it." As the County Magistrate, Miss Lydia wore a beautiful, pale blue dress. The rank of County Magistrate was two levels higher than a Street Chief, hence the different color. However, the skirt only reached her knees, unlike Angelina's purple dress that fell to her calves. This was the rule of the uniforms; the higher the rank, the shorter the skirt. This was not merely for aesthetic reasons, but also because shorter skirts made it harder to conceal contraband. High-ranking officials were more prone to corruption and abuse of power, so stricter defenses were necessary, and their supervision and prevention measures were more rigorous. This could be seen from the shackles on Miss Lydia. Her handcuffs were connected by a shorter chain, only a few centimeters, much shorter than Angelina's 20-centimeter chain. Angelina's leg shackles had a 60-centimeter chain, which was somewhat cumbersome but allowed for normal walking. However, Miss Lydia's leg shackles had a chain length of only 45 centimeters and weighed 3 kilograms, severely restricting her stride. "Very good, Miss Angelina. You've worked hard today. Let me see the report for Outer East Street." Miss Lydia was also a standard beauty, her demeanor more elegant than Angelina's. However, Angelina noticed that there was also a guard in the room, constantly watching Miss Lydia by the desk. She knew that this County Magistrate was also working very hard, with someone supervising her at close range every second. Not only was there no room for bribery, but even slight perfunctory work was not allowed. Yet, Miss Lydia seemed unfazed, smiling as she accepted the report from her subordinate. She was one of the countless civil servants in this kingdom, a public servant of noble spirit.

This shapely young woman was no ordinary figure; she was the Kingdom's Speaker of the Assembly, Sarah. The crimson dress she wore was the uniform of the highest-ranking officials, a garment only eight ministers in the entire kingdom were permitted to don. Unlike the girls in York Town who held public office and wore skirts that reached their knees or even calves, Sarah's red dress was cut so high it barely skimmed her thighs. It was so short that her underwear was easily exposed with every step, even without lifting her hands. As a minister with direct access to Her Majesty the Queen, she was subjected to the most stringent of controls. A metal collar encircled her neck, and her hands were cuffed behind her back with thick-ringed manacles, devoid of any chains. To maintain decorum upon entering the palace, she was granted the special privilege of foregoing ankle restraints. However, the women's sandals she wore boasted a ten-centimeter platform sole, making it a challenge simply to walk without stumbling. The guards of the palace opened the grand gates. Four guards remained outside, while the minister was handed over to the palace guards within. These guards carried axes enchanted with magic, capable of cleaving through iron gates. For Sarah, a mere mortal, any attempt at mischief within these palace walls was utterly impossible. Treading in her high-heeled shoes for a considerable time, Sarah was finally brought to the palace's grand hall. Within the hall was a cage, approximately twenty square meters, constructed from metal bars. Imprisoned within this cage was the Kingdom's supreme ruler, Queen Ivette. The Queen was adorned in a pure white ceremonial dress, a garment unique to her within the kingdom, symbolizing purity and flawlessness. As the very core of the entire realm, Her Majesty had, of course, subjected herself to the most rigorous restraints. She was shackled with about ten iron chains, locking her wrists, ankles, waist, and neck with metal rings connected to the chains. These chains and the cage's bars, having undergone magical treatment, were utterly unbreakable. The kingdom's laws did not bind the Queen, yet she had voluntarily chosen this lifestyle to demonstrate to her subjects the Kingdom's resolve against any form of dictatorship. The individuals guarding the hall were Her Majesty's loyal guards, who had received the Queen's decree: should Her Majesty attempt to escape the metal cage in the hall without the consent of all her subjects, the guards were to use their axes to sever her head from her body. This was an order, an unchallengeable command. With her hands cuffed behind her back, Sarah approached the cage. "Your Majesty," she began, "the railway from the northern border's Latran Province to Salzen City has been completed. This is the fourth long-distance railway within the Kingdom's borders. According to the Minister of Engineering's calculations, to manage this railway, we will need to establish one hundred and three management stations and deploy three hundred and nine officials, ranked below the green dress, to oversee future railway operations..." Sarah reported the information with unwavering accuracy. Unlike the young women in York Town who wore purple dresses, as a minister reporting to the Queen, she was required to adhere to the etiquette of having her hands cuffed behind her back. This prevented her from holding paper reports to read numbers, forcing her to commit the work details precisely to memory for oral delivery. Of course, any misremembered information would constitute a grave error, punishable by torture upon her return. However, Sarah's ascent from a purple-dressed stationmaster to the red-dressed Speaker of the Assembly was a testament to her exceptional abilities, making such challenges easily surmountable for her.

"Elsa, as per the usual procedure, begin." Miss Elsa's face showed hesitation and reluctance, but as the Queen's command, she had to comply. With her hands cuffed behind her back, she could only order the guards: "Guards, please activate the damage transfer system for the highest security prison." The loyal guard walked to the perimeter of the 20-square-meter cage and pressed a metal lever, and then... "Ahhhhhh!!!!" Her Majesty the Queen let out a piercing scream, struggling violently but unable to break free from the chains' restraint, only causing the chains to clatter noisily. It was a full minute before the Queen stopped screaming, but crimson wounds appeared on her buttocks beneath her skirt, soaking the pure white fabric. Miss Elsa reported to the Queen with a trembling voice. "The injuries sustained by Speaker Sarah from two hours on the caltrop board last night have been transferred." Then, the guard pressed the metal lever again. Her Majesty the Queen collapsed to the ground, writhing uncontrollably under the restraint of the chains due to the intense pain. Then, a bone-snapping sound came from her calf, and after a while, her legs became immobile. From the parts exposed outside her skirt, some bloody, linear abrasions could also be seen. "The injuries sustained by Minister Olivia from an hour with the leg vise and 200 lashes last night have been transferred." Miss Elsa's voice trembled more and more. Despite being ravaged, Her Majesty the Queen said firmly: "Elsa, do not stop, continue quickly, we cannot delay the female officials from resuming their work." Next, the metal lever was pressed for the third time. This time, Her Majesty the Queen struggled even more violently. Her arms were constantly pulled, and blood was abraded from both her wrists by the shackles on the chains, indicating how unbearable this torment was. After a while, the supreme leader ruling the kingdom fainted, with horrifying charred wounds appearing on both of her thighs. "Minister Janice last night... the injuries from the scorching branding... have been transferred..." Miss Elsa could no longer bear to continue. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, so she couldn't wipe the tears streaming from her eyes, and this cruel task had only just begun. The highest security prison itself was infused with the damage transfer magic created by Her Majesty the Queen. To allow the female officials to continue working the day after their punishment, Elsa would use the shackles on all the female officials as conduits, connecting them to the chains that bound Her Majesty the Queen. According to Her Majesty the Queen's own command, every morning, she would re-experience all the torment endured by those severely punished holy women by transferring the injuries, transferring all the pain back to herself, and then slowly healing herself with her limited healing magic. As the supreme ruler, no one had the authority to force the Queen to undertake this obligation, but Her Majesty the Queen voluntarily and resolutely established this system. She firmly believed that as the woman at the apex of the entire kingdom, she was the ultimate responsible party for the entire kingdom, and therefore she must also bear the mistakes of her subordinates. Although objectively this made it more convenient to punish the female officials more frequently, it allowed Her Majesty the Queen's conviction to be realized. This cruel transfer magic would continue until all the high-ranking holy women were able to recover to a working state. And this excruciating, despairing execution where death was not even a release was a mandatory lesson Queen Ivette had to endure every single day for the past three hundred years. Time flowed forward to around noon. Outside the city of Bristle, the carriages of a dozen foreign travelers passed through the border station on the main road and arrived on the other side of the state boundary. The outer city walls of Bristle were already visible from here. Similarly, at this small border station, the station chief was a young woman dressed in a dark blue dress, and her shackles were heavier than those of Miss Nora, who had served as station chief at the previous state border station a few days prior. These travelers had journeyed from the southernmost port to this point, encountering quite a few holy maiden servants along the way. However, they would soon realize that even within the Kingdom of Betty, the capital and other towns were two different worlds. The Bristle they were about to enter was, in the truest sense of the word, a paradise teeming with beautiful women.

Six young women, shackled with wooden yokes and leg irons, were paraded through the streets. Two of them, clad in green mini-dress uniforms, appeared to be female officials of mayoral rank. The other four wore sky-blue knee-length dress uniforms, likely of county-level rank. Each wooden yoke weighed a full 12 kilograms, locking their necks and wrists, pressing down on their delicate frames. The leg irons on their ankles were heavier than those worn by ordinary female officials, weighing approximately 8 kilograms, and had already abraded their skin, drawing blood. They walked through the streets under the gaze of onlookers. Guards, armed with whips, urged them forward. If they slowed or stopped, they were immediately lashed. Some of the girls' dresses were torn, revealing the raw whip marks beneath. Occasionally, children or lewd citizens would throw tomatoes or other vegetables at these beautiful, captivating young women, taking pleasure in their disheveled state. "Excuse me, who are these young female officials...?" "Ah, them? They're incompetent female officials sent to the capital from various provinces. You probably don't know, but our kingdom directly dismisses and 'reclaims' any Saintly public servants who are chronically underperforming. According to regulations, their positions will be filled by others, but they themselves must be punished until their original term of office ends, after which they can become commoners again. Take that one, for example. She was originally a mayor, required to serve for 7 years. But she was recalled to the capital in less than 3 years due to her inability to perform her duties. She was quite happy at first, thinking she'd be relieved of her post early. Only upon arriving here did she learn that her remaining 4 years of service would be replaced by this punishment: parading daily through the streets with a wooden yoke and leg irons." "Parading with such heavy restraints? That must be terrible." "Indeed. These girls spend over ten hours a day, from sunrise to deep into the night, on the streets of the capital, wearing these heavy yokes and leg irons. They're driven by guards with whips, not allowed to slow down for a moment, and subjected to thrown refuse from passersby... This isn't just for a day or two, but for several years. If it were me, I'd probably go mad." "But why haven't I seen these perpetually parading female officials elsewhere?" "That's because, according to regulations, Saintly women of county-level rank and above are concentrated in the capital for punishment. Currently, there are about a dozen such parading groups within Bristle City. You'll see even larger processions later... Lower-ranking Saintly public servants don't endure such hardship. If they're dismissed with less than 3 years remaining in their term due to incompetence, they only need to spend those 3 years in the dungeon until they regain commoner status. At least they're luckier than their superiors..." Yakov looked at the scene before him and thought that the citizens living in the capital truly had a feast for their eyes, seeing groups of young women walking with wooden yokes every day. These girls endured, driven by their belief that they could return to commoner status after enduring a few more years. But under the strict performance evaluations, there would always be new girls sent for punishment due to incompetence. This was a perpetual, beautiful spectacle in Bristle City. Turning a corner, Yakov noticed a courtyard enclosed by an iron gate. Inside, groups of young women in purple dress uniforms stood in formation. They occupied the open space, numbering no less than two to three hundred. Even the security office in Rosen City wasn't this impressive. "What department is this? To have so many Saintly public servants?" "Sir, these girls haven't officially become Saintly women yet. They've only recently been shackled and are undergoing a period of domestication. As you know, after Election Day, many female officials will resign, and their vacant positions need to be filled. New recruits for lower-ranking female official positions require a process of domestication and adaptation... Bristle City has over 20,000 new recruits from various regions undergoing domestication, roughly half of the total Saintly public servants recruited nationwide this year. In ten days, they will be sent to their respective provinces to undertake the glorious duty of serving the kingdom."

And further south, a send-off was taking place in the town of York, the first starting point for those foreign travelers to this kingdom. After the election, only 27 of the nearly 200 Holy Maiden publicans in the entire Matson County were promoted, while the rest of the Maidens reverted to their civilian status, and for them it was a special day to celebrate their release from prison. These lower-ranked Holy Maidens, who had been serving as female public servants for just 5 or 10 years, also did not possess any important confidential information, so they were able to directly restore their free status. In the government office, watching the shackles on their bodies being removed by the guards, the young girls ran around happily and re-dressed themselves in the clothes of the commoners that their families had sent them. Granted, these dresses were not as pretty as the Virgin's uniform, but everyone had been looking forward to this day and not having to suffer for a long time, and they were all cheering and hugging. These girls had suffered for so long, but their physical age had not increased during their tenure; they were still beautiful girls capable of pursuing marriage and love, and their former experience as saints would make them even more popular. Miss Angelina, on the other hand, was one of the twenty-seven female officers who had been elected for promotion, and she had to watch her fellow officers regain their freedom, but she herself had to take off her purple dress uniform and replace it with a darker cyan dress uniform under the supervision of the guards, the length of her skirt going from being at the calf to being short to the knee level. She was about to be promoted from one of the street captains in this town to the subsecretary of transportation for the neighboring county of Tokio. Of course her shackles would have to be replaced with heavier, more restraining ones. As she was escorted out of the county government office by the guards, her sisters, with whom she had suffered for five years, came to say goodbye to her. The prison wagon with its rough wooden cage was ready and she was about to be sent to another county to take up her post. "Angelina, you're amazing, we knew you'd be promoted for sure." "Yes, it's really a blessing for everyone that a beauty like you can continue to work for the people." "But ---- Angelina, you don't seem to be afraid at all ah---the days after the promotion are even more bitter it, in my place, I have just suffered for 5 years, and now I have to continue to endure 5 years of even more bitter days, I'm afraid that I'm desperate just thinking about it." Angelina smiled and said to these companions: "It doesn't matter, Her Majesty can even suffer that kind of torture for the sake of everyone. What can I not stand?" The other girls who had regained their freedom looked at Angelina in surprise, her eyes clearly filled with perseverance. It could be seen that Her Majesty's bravery and commitment during that huge disaster had completely shaken this girl's soul, and of course, it had also allowed countless people all over the world to see the Queen's nobility. The young girls gradually realized that perhaps Angelina and themselves were not the same type of woman, and that she might have been born more suitable to be a Holy Maiden Public Servant who would dedicate herself to the nation. While their own five years of experience as a holy maiden was just an interlude in their lives, Holy Maiden Angelina, with her strength and beauty, would keep going on this difficult road, making it the ideal value of her life, and she would surely be able to, in the future, go on to the position of a prefect or even a state governor. "Sir, get in the car." The guards assisted Miss Angelina, who was already wearing a dark green dress and had her body in shackles, to the wooden cage prison wagon, locking all the two iron locks. The hope and possibility of the frail young girl escaping on the way to the escort was undoubtedly zero. The prison wagon had magic attached to it, and was able to run up the road without relying on the pull of the horses, and soon left Yorktown in the sight of the girls. Locked in her cage, Angelina, chained up, looked even more tender and helpless, but she had no weakness or fear in her mind, in the delicate body of a young girl was a strong will no less than that of a chained man. "Sir, we'll be in Tokio County in a few hours. Be prepared, as a female officer who has been promoted from the position of Street Captain to Sub-Commander, Torkelson County is going to set you up with a three week torture acclimatization program that will be even harsher than the torture you were subjected to in your former position." Angelina replied in a matter-of-fact tone, though still a little frightened: