Volume 4 Chapter 2 New City Name And First Development Plan
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Got it. I’ll count on you, Lana.”
”Leave it to me.”
Lana will participate in the hunts until the branch office is completed.
Once the branch office has enough personnel, she is expected to join the hunts again.
Though she can’t accompany on hunts, it seems she will continue her duties as usual.
”There’s just been an addition to the healing branch. Now, regarding the layout of the town: first, the Lord’s mansion. I’ll place a 200-meter square estate plot in the center of the town. The width of the roads connecting the east-west and north-south gates will allow 2 carriages to pass each side, making it 15 meters wide.”
”Wait, you’re taking 15 meters for the town road? That’s wider than the Abyss Vena road!”
It’s true that the Abyss Vena roads are narrow, allowing only one carriage at a time, which often leads to accidents between people and carriages.
Did Lila, my mother-in-law, widen the roads to prevent that?
”Exactly. Narrow roads cause accidents, and Estfort needs to accommodate traders from the capital and beyond, so the roads will be wider. This is a secret, but thanks to an agreement with Sir Arbalest, we won’t charge market entry tax for anyone coming to Estfort, no matter where they’re from.”
”Wait! The market entry tax is a valuable source of income, right? You’re not collecting it?”
My mother-in-law started saying we wouldn’t collect the market entry tax, an important source of income for the city.
If we did that, tax revenues would not increase and the Blackdagger family would go bankrupt.
”Then, savvy traders will move their base of operations from Abyss Vena to Estfort, where there is no entry tax.”
”Why move it? Is there any advantage to it?”
”Mr. Kent, think about it carefully. We don’t charge an entry tax, but Abyss Vena charges 3 copper coins per person per visit. Do you understand this?”
Lila will explain it to me in a simple way.
”Yeah, that’s right”
”So, the promise I got from Sir Arbalest comes to life: ‘Moving to Estfort incurs no market tax.’”
Hearing Lila’s emphasized words clicked with me.
”I see, if we establish shops or warehouses in Estfort with no market tax, we can gather supplies and transport them to Abyss Vena without incurring any fees!”
”Yes. It’s obvious that food and various everyday goods will set up warehouses disguised as shops in Estfort. That’s why the town width is also being widened.”
Once people realize transportation costs are reduced, logistics headed directly to Abyss Vena will start flowing through my Estfort.
”To think you’ve considered and planned that far… Amazing, Mother-in-law!”
”Instead of selling land along the town, if we lease plots at a cheaper rate, we’ll have a steady income from contract fees. That’s one of the income sources converting to market tax for the Blackdagger family.”
”Mother… that’s ruthless… won’t my uncle… I mean, father-in-law, end up tearing up his contract?”
”It’s fine. I’ve already told Sir Arbalest that we can impose special taxes on goods headed to the western garrison. If the logistics flow changes, the western garrison will have no choice but to transport from the royal capital themselves or buy at a high price from Abyss Vena. Abyss Vena just needs to extract from the kingdom.”
”Buying from Abyss Vena would be cheaper than self-transporting from the royal capital… Aren’t there traders sending goods from us to the west?”
”In that case, if we use our Lord’s authority to impose a special tax of ten or a hundred times the amount, no one will want to do it. We can just make an unspoken rule that we can’t sell to the west.”
Lila’s words made me realize the fear of a city that has its logistics under control.
On the other hand, we realized that if our logistics were restricted, we would be in big trouble, so we wanted to coexist well with the traders who were in charge of logistics.
”In the wide town, grand plans await…”
”That’s right, Mr. Kent. It’s the next most important thing after the walls. Now, onto defense. The kingdom’s barracks and training grounds will be moved to the east side of the current garrison. The Red Valkyrie office and Hunting Group dormitory will be on the west side, and the entire south side of Estfort will be designated as residential areas for defense personnel and hunters.”
Defense focuses heavily on the large southern wall, while the northern wall is simply built with watchtowers and turrets.
”Historically, there have been no large-scale monster incursions from the north, so we’ll deploy strong defenses to the south. The north will have guards and watchmen.”
”Are we including Red Valkyrie in the defense forces? Isn’t it a beginner support Hunting Group?”
It seems Feria questioned the inclusion of Red Valkyrie in the defense forces.
”Ms. Feria, Red Valkyrie is a Hunting Group funded by the Blackdagger family. Despite being beginners, it’s standard for them to be mobilized during a family crisis. However, Red Valkyrie’s mobilization only occurs when Sir Kent issues a full mobilization order. Normally, the kingdom’s army handles these situations.”
”I see. So they’re used as a final combat force. In that case, it can’t be helped.”
”──I’d prefer to deploy Red Valkyrie as a last resort too.”
”My lord, I have one more request…”
Akebus, who had been listening, made a request.
”I would like to scout those who graduate from Lady Giuliana’s Red Valkyrie as female officers for the Royal Army. Is that okay?”
”Female officer?”
”Yes, probably. I think the ratio of women in the Royal Army will be high, so I want to create a path for the promotion of female officers…”
Currently, the number is one-tenth of the regular number, but considering the ratio of female soldiers in the Royal Army, which is expected to expand to a maximum of 2,500, it seems necessary to secure a considerable number of female officers.
Even if Akebus is in charge of training the men, the reality is that they don’t have the resources to train the female officers.
”I also want to ask Lady Giuliana… If they graduate from Red Valkyrie and clear the funding issue, I want to accept everyone who wishes to transfer to the military.”
It seemed Fristoph was also concerned about the lack of combat troops.
Though there are still few residents, there was an overall shortage of hands for security, vigilance, and patrols.
”However, we recently promoted someone from our defense battle to a party leader, so expansion can’t be that easy.”
Giuliana’s point is valid.
Red Valkyrie has just accepted female volunteers from the resident defense force for expansion, and the overall level has dropped.
It seems the generation of talent will be tough for a while.
Therefore, I proposed to the two members of the kingdom’s army.
”How about holding recruitment tests from Red Valkyrie for officer candidates every 6 months, and allowing immediate transfer for soldiers? However, for Giuliana’s sake, let’s limit it to those who have reached level HR 20 after graduating from Red Valkyrie.”
”Wait, Kent, if we do that, Red Valkyrie will become a training institution for female soldiers. At least give them some freedom of choice.”
It seems Giuliana has no intention of turning Red Valkyrie into a training institution for female soldiers.
”Well then, Hunters who reach HR20 will be given the right to take 3 exams: the Crimson Bride Hunting Group member exam, the Red Valkyrie PL (party leader) exam, and the Royal Army officer candidate exam. They will also be given 4 options: form an independent Hunting Group, transfer to another Hunting Group, change jobs, or be recruited as a Royal Army soldier. How about giving them a total of 7 choices? “
”Hmm, I see… if you reach HR20, you’ll be able to make a decent living as a Monster Hunter, so I think it’s a good idea to show them that option”
It seems Giuliana is convinced.
I want the Red Valkyrie hunting group to have about 250 to 300 members at all times.
I also aim for the organization to continuously produce new talent.
”Thank you, Giuliana. Fristoph, Akebus, is this alright? There will be a labor shortage for a while, but please allow referrals from volunteers and let them bring their siblings here. We have plenty of spare barracks.”
”Haha, thank you for your consideration, my lord. I’ll leave the female candidates to Lady Giuliana.”
”Absolutely, it’s in your hands.”
Akebus and Fristoph thanked me and took their seats.
”As for defense, we should be fine now. Lastly, here’s the eagerly awaited floor plan of the new castle.”
Nannie and Helga spread out the third drawing on the round table.
The floor plan depicted the layout of the new residence.
It was a 2-story building made entirely of stone, featuring 50 private rooms, a dining hall, a recreation room, a dance venue, a treasury, a waiting room, an office, a strategy meeting room, a living room, a reception room, a cafeteria, a kitchen, restrooms, a garden, a garage, and stables.
Lina’s requested library was also included, and Aida’s workshop was marked as an annex.
However, the crucial element was missing.
I hurriedly asked my mother-in-law.
”M-mother-in-law! There’s no bath! There’s no giant pool-like bathroom! Is my vision going crazy?”
My mother-in-law was surprised to see me in such a hurry.
”What? Mr. Kent likes baths! No one told me anything about it, so I thought I could just take a bath in the public bath!”
Everyone looks shocked by the mother-in-law’s words.
I guess my mother-in-law also thought that I liked taking baths.
”Oh, Mom, I didn’t know Kent liked baths…”
”When did you tell me that?”
Hearing the conversation between mother and daughter left me stunned.
We disposed of the Abyss Vena mansion.
I thought I could endure the lack of a bath until the new building was complete, but the bath has disappeared entirely.
My motivation plummeted rapidly.
”A life without a bath… I can’t stand it… I’m going back to the old mansion! Milly, I’ll buy that mansion back! I’ll get my bath back!”
I was in a frenzy over losing the bath.
It was as dangerous as taking a sword from Aurelia.
”K-Kent, calm down. That mansion has changed hands. It’s no longer ours!”
”Mr. Kent’s requests can still be fulfilled, so please calm down. A lord shouldn’t get flustered over a bath!”
Speaking of which, it was still just on the drawing board.
I was told design changes were possible since construction hadn’t started yet, which helped me regain my composure.
”I’ve shown you an unpleasant sight… Mother-in-law.”
”It’s my mistake for not listening to Mr. Kent’s requests. For now, how about a large open-air bath in this spot? It’s elevated, and we can heat the water using the ‘Heat Pump’ connected to the water supply.”
My mother-in-law added a fairly large open-air bath at the back of the mansion.
It was a bath spacious enough for everyone to use without any issues.
”With this, the mansion is fine. Construction will start tomorrow, so we won’t accept any design changes after this meeting.”
”If you agree with the first development plan and the new castle plan from LilaAdministration, please raise your hand.”
Milly asked for a show of hands to take a vote.
And then everyone’s hands went up.
This marked the start of the first step in the development of Estfort.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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