City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 73: To Crush

The door of the establishment opened, and a carriage walked through it. There is a smile on my face, even when I looked at hundreds of people rapidly working in a new brothel in front of me.
 
I could already see many familiar people there because this time Norman had hired Valentina’s firm to do the job.
 
The man might be distasteful, but he is smart, and he knows he will need all advantages to compete with me, and hiring my architect is the advantage he is gunning for.
 
Well, he will need a lot more than to beat me.
 
It had been ten nights since the establishment opened after the fresh changes. After the first night, my earning had broken through the three million mark and never came lower.
 
The word spread, and also my skill; it is working much better than I had imagined.
 
Torch of Seeker attracts anyone looking for experience. Seeing the response, I am planning to make other changes even sooner.
 
Soon the carriage reached the merchant guild, I walked out of the carriage, with Jill silently following behind me. 
 
I had started to bring the young girl to the guild regularly with me. I need an excellent assistant and while Carla is great, it would be not wise to use her talents for this.
 
I am training her to be an administrator; she will need to learn fast because soon there will be an enormous responsibility for her. Jill, on the other, is perfect for assistant, she is natural at it, and I only need to teach her a few things before she became great.
 
I entered the guild and took the elevator, before coming out and walking toward the conference room.
 
Soon, I reached a conference room where a few people sitting in the backseat, including old man Oakley, Rip, and people from other departments.
 
I sat down at the main conference table and read the agenda of today’s meeting. This meeting happens every week. It is different from other meetings because the representative of Count Darrow also takes a part in it.
 
There are quite some points are being discussed today. Some were very urgent, and some were about the long-term plans of the merchant guild.
 
I was reading it when the first person walked inside. “Remus, you have arrived early as always.” Said a man in his late forties with a thick mane of blond hair. “You know me, guild master Bow,” I said to the man.
 
He is Ivan Bow, the Guild-master of the potter’s guild, and also one of the secretaries of the merchant guild. This meeting is attended by all the secretaries, vice-Guild-masters, and Guild-master.
 
I am the only adviser invited to sit at the main table.
 
There is staff from every department from legal to accounting, but all of them are sitting in the back chairs, not at the main table.
 
One by one, people came in, most of them sub-guild masters like Bow, but when there were five minutes, vice-guild masters begin to appear. 
 
First was Soren Arryn. The old man came and sat in his seat, nodding at all people. Right after him came two more vice-guild masters, including the one who did not like me, and then Locke. 
 
The last one to come is Damon Hardt, and with him is a representative of Count Darrow. As both of them walked it, we all sat up and only sat down, when they sat down. 
 
“Thank you all of you for your attendance in the weekly meetings,” said Damon Hardt. “We will begin today’s meeting with the most urgent point,” he added and turned to Soren Arryn.
 
“The problem of bandits is increasing. In the past week, two trade caravans had been looted in Nakar Baronies by Gorlag Bandits with twelve deaths. The eight ships have also been robbed with nine deaths,” he said and looked at the representative of Count Darrow.
 
I am a little surprised as not the whole news had been reported in papers; I thought only one trade caravan had been attacked and four ships had been looted.
 
“Count Darrow had been in contact with Mirador Hold and they have promised to send more forces to Nakar forest.”
 
“He also talked to the Lord of Meldhorn and the city lord of Owlspring, for more patrols; the city will also have four more new patrol ships to patrol the waterway by the end of the month,” he informed in a practice voice.
 
“We thank Lord Darrow for his efforts and hope, he will get rid of those vermin soon for smoother trade. It is the lifeblood of our great city,” said Damon Hardt.
 
“I will pass your words to Count Darrow,” he replied. Count Darrow may be powerful, but he needs to listen to the merchants. As Damon Hardt pointed out, it is the lifeblood of the city. Without it, the city has nothing.
 
“We will move to the next point, which is good news,” said Damon Hardt with a smile on his face.
 
“More goods are coming from the Belnin and Oksall and our goods are also moving toward them; in just one week, the import had seen the rise by 110% and export by 130%.” He informed and joy is apparent in his voice.
 
We do not have an official relationship with the merchant states of Belnin and Oksall, but goods are flowing despite that. Which is great news, as this could be said to be the first step toward normalizing the relationship with them, especially with Oksall.
 
Not to mention, all the goods that flow through the city pay taxes, making it richer by the day.
 
I know Count Darrow, who had been angry coming here, is now happy. The city is performing better than anyone’s imagination. The trade is increasing by the day and with it; the population had been steadily increasing.
 
The city's population had already doubled in three months, turning to fifty-thousand and it is increasing.
 
The prices of real estate are also steadily increasing, that I had to hold off on some of the investments, I was planning on making.
 
One point after another being discussed; I mostly stayed quiet, and only give my opinion when asked. That happened only twice till now, which is greater considering, some secretaries, did not even get a chance to talk.
 
“There are some signs Deerpond mellowing. Should we send another delegation?” asked Damon Hardt and Locke turned to me.
 
“I think we should wait. The concessions they are willing to make are too low. It will not be wise for us to sign any advance agreements with those concessions they are offering,” I advised while using the Lawful Suggestions.
 
I am using it at every chance I have got.
 
“Lord Darrow had the same views; he said we said we should wait till a more favorable response comes from them,” said the adviser.
 
“We will wait for directions of Count Darrow,” said Damon Hardt, before turning to Locke again. 
 
“How is the preparation for the Gailhorn?” he asked. Gailhorn is one of three port cities in the Renwell region and the one closest to us; though not much trade flows through it, because of its being connected to the land rather than the river.
 
Which I think is not a wise decision; we cannot always remain to depend on river trade. We need to have all avenues of trade open or when the hard times come, it will be difficult for us to survive.
 
“Going smoothly, we should be prepared by the end of this week,” replied Locke. “Good, keep me posted on it,” he said and turned to Soren Arryn.
 
One by one, all the points on the agenda were discussed till there was nothing remained.
 
“It is enough for today; thank you, adviser, Collins for attending the meeting,” he said and ended the meeting.
 
Damon Hardt was the first to leave with Collins before the rest of us begin to leave. “How are preparations for the Gailhorn?” asked Locke, to me, old Oakley, and Rip, as we are the ones who are preparing the proposals.
 
“As you had said, everything going well. It will be ready by the end of the week,” I replied, and could see him taking a sigh of relief.
 
“I hope so; a successful trip to Gailhorn will really help me strengthen my position here,” said Lock. The first sentence was heard by everyone, while the last was only heard by me.
 
Locke had a skill that help him talk to a specific person while excluding others; it is a nifty skill. It will be great if I get a skill like this.
 
Soon, we reached where Jill had been waiting with other assistants; as we appeared, she silently followed behind. I looked at her and felt quite relieved when I saw her with her usual expression.
 
The first few days she had come with me were hard on the young girl; because of her background, she suffered from other assistants' bullying.
 
They were hard on her. Carla had said, the young girl had cried through the whole night the first day. I had asked her to stay in an establishment the second day, but she insisted on coming with me.
 
Soon, I reached my office and, along with Oakley and Rip, worked on a proposal for two hours before reviewing other contracts for mistakes.
 
I loved working here, especially when I am making steady progress, not on levels, but socially. I am making connections with people from nearly every city and even though negotiations did not always work, I make a point of being polite.
 
Even in Deerpond where we had the worse negotiating experience; I had smiled and laughed with negotiators after we finished.
 
These all will be very helpful soon.
 
I stayed in the guild till four, before sitting in my carriage and going back to the establishment. Where two hours later, the gates opened, and the carriage begin to be rolled inside within a few seconds.
 
While I may be confident with Carla, I am a little worried about the new brothel opening opposite mine.
 
It is bigger, with higher-level girls and they had established it to crush me. As I had declined his many offers to buy the establishment; the latest offer was very tantalizing.
 
He seemed to have lost patience with me, as now instead of buying, he is trying to crush me.

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