City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 191: Tenders

“So, you just stormed out?” asked Commander Dane, looking at the fat man, who started quivering, hearing his soft voice.
 
He wouldn’t have been worried. If the commander raged, that anger would have been temporary, but he is speaking in a soft voice, which means he was truly angry, and this anger won’t disappear soon.
 
“He disrespected you and Mirador Hold, Commander. It was unbearable for me,” said Lawson, stopping his voice from quivering.
 
It seemed to have made Commander Dane even angrier.
 
“Remind me once again what I said to you before you left?” asked the Commander.
 
“Get half of the budget. If that’s not possible, then try to get as much as things we need from it,” Lawson replied and shook. 
 
As if finally realizing the mistake he had made.
 
“I have been walking on eggshells since the assassination event; many people want to remove me and you, like an idiot, added another weight to me.” 
 
“You have made things difficult with a person who is most friendly among all the advisers,” said the Commander. 
 
With every word, the anger in his eyes would go higher. Lawson had seen Commander, such angry very few times.
 
“Please, forgive me; I have made a mistake, Commander,” said Lawson.
 
“You did and if I suffered because of it. I will make sure you will suffer more,” said the commander and walked toward Lawson, before standing very next to him.
 
He looked into his eyes for a moment, before moving his hand and removing one of two stars from him; demoting him immediately.
 
From Major, he becomes Colonel.
 
“Make it right Lawson or you won’t have that other star too,” said the Commander and walked away.
 
 
…
 
“Have they arrived?” I asked as Lola entered my office. “Yes; they are waiting in a big conference room.” She replied.
 
“How many of them have arrived?” I asked. “All of them,” she replied. Hearing that, a big smile appeared on my face.
 
The more there are, the better it will be.
 
“Let’s go then,” I said and got up from my seat and walked out of my office with Lola. 
 
It had been three days since I had got this responsibility and two days since my meeting with Major Lawson, or rather, Colonel Lawson. I had heard, he had been demoted.
 
I had only seen one star on him when he came to apologize that evening. 
 
I wish it had been a sincere apology, but nevertheless, I accepted it. It won’t do me any good to worsen my relationship with the Mirador hold.
 
Though I will not forget that bastard Lawson.
 
Click!
 
A minute later, I stepped into the conference room, which was filled with people.
 
“Adviser,” they stood up and greeted. “Please sit, ladies and gentlemen,” I said to them as I took the seat and looked at them.
 
In front are thirty-four people in front of me. They belong to big, medium, and small construction companies operating in the Greltheaven. There are many familiar people among them, including Valentina.
 
“Lola,” I said.
 
She raised her fingers and immediately, the clerks standing by the wall moved and began placing three files in front of every member of the construction companies. 
 
“First, let me start by thanking you for all for making the journey here this far.” I thanked them, and they smiled. 
 
“As you all are aware, we have opened the trade route with the merchant state of Oksall through the Nakar Baronies to the Kingdom of Navr.” 
 
“It will be extremely beneficial, not just to the baronies, but also for the city of Greltheaven and the entire region,” I said and looked at files.
 
“The three proposals in front of you are the tenders of infrastructure we need to build. The first proposal is for the road; we will need a road from our boundary to mirador hold,”
 
“More than half of it is already done, but will need to be widened up and constructed where it is not present,”
 
“The second proposal is to build infrastructure, like warehouses, guesthouses, and other things in Mirador Hold and at our boundary, with Navr,”
 
“The third proposal is building infrastructure around the Castle Radcliff,” 
 
“You all have three days to submit your bids for them,” I said and watched as they opened the proposals.
 
It didn’t even take a minute for the first question to come in.
 
“Adviser, why did you divide the whole proposal into three? A single proposal would have been efficient and cost-friendly,” asked a middle-aged man, with streaks of grey in raven hair.
 
He is Rufus Door, leader of one of the top four construction companies in Greltheaven. His company was part of a consortium that built the Greltheaven.
 
If the Count had been my place, he would have thrown the contract in one of the four.
 
Two, to be exact, he prefers them over the other two. 
 
“Not particularly, but the reason I did it was because I wanted to do it fast. With more players, it will be much faster than what a single player would be able to achieve,” I replied.
 
“You can give this contract to us, and we will complete it in record time, without compromising on quality,” he said.
 
“I made my decision. Mr. Door and it won't change.” I replied with a smile.
 
He seemed like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Which is good. If he had pressed with the non-sense question; I wouldn’t have been polite with my answer.
 
There were a few minutes of silence before the questions resumed and most of them were meaningful about the proposals in front of them.
 
I answered each and every one of them personally. 
 
“Once again, thank you all for coming. I will see you all in three days with your bids,” I said, after one hour of answering their questions before walking out of the room.
 
I wish I could talk to Valentina; there are a few things I want to talk to her about my personal business, but it won’t be wise. I don’t want to do anything that will see me playing favorites.
 
I will not play favorites.
 
Though the lowest bid is not the only thing I will look for before choosing the winner for the bids.
 
I have a little more than two weeks before the first shipment of goods comes. It is impossible to have the infrastructure ready by then, especially when I am using the tendering process.
 
If I used the method that Count uses; they would have started by tomorrow.
 
In the Count’s system, there is no tendering. He just calls top companies and chooses among them. It is fast, and the majority of nobles and cities use these methods.
 
It is a reason why the top construction companies always remain on top. 
 
The state contracts are the most lucrative ones, and they have a monopoly over them.
 
I do not have any problem giving the contract to big companies, but I think, the bidding will be beneficial in saving money and getting better work from them.
 
It will also give a chance to small and medium players.
 
When I went back to the office, Major Jarvis was there, waiting.
 
“How was the meeting?” I asked him. “Good. We will be able to create a working mechanism within a month,” he replied.
 
He had gone to Fort Renin to meet with Colonel Grennan. 
 
Both sides want to exterminate the bandits. 
 
While killing all of them won’t be possible, due to the thick forest and extreme magic region, where those bastards go to hide when things become difficult. 
 
We could reduce their numbers enough that they wouldn’t be more than an inconvenience.
 
The faster we do it, the better it will be.
 
When the trade begins, more of them might get attracted to the area. 
 
Though Blackwell had informed me, a bandit hunting division of Oksall’s army would sweep the area every four months, which was great.
 
Merchant states hate bandits so much that they have created a special division to hunt them. Bandits shudder whenever they hear their name; they are that good.
 
Still, we don’t want to rely on them alone and have to put our own efforts too, in culling them.
 
A few minutes later, he left, and I focused back on the work.
 
I worked for a few hours before walking out of my office and the keep.
 
I mounted the horse and rode out of the gates, with guards around me and Fang following behind excitedly.
 
I do not have the exact purpose other than to get away from the work. I have been working since early morning without taking a break.
 
Riding is relaxing, especially in the snow with trees around me. It is beautiful scenery, and I wish, I had a camera so I could take a few pictures of myself.
 
I didn’t go far and remained in the area, which was under the eyes of guards.
 
I am sure there are many people aiming for me. Bandits and the enemies of Count. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill me if I gave them the chance.
 
I rode for an hour before riding back to the castle. When I reached the gates, I saw Lola taking the lessons.
 
Both Lola and Jill are taking the riding lessons from yesterday. I had asked them to do it. It is an essential skill like driving; they will need it. 
 
I dismounted near the stables but didn’t go inside instead went to our usual spot with Fang and started to train him.
 
He is intelligent and with Command Projection. I could teach him the complex command rather easily. 
 
Though, the only problem there is his stubbornness. He is frustratingly stubborn, and it is a challenge to teach him commands that he doesn’t want to learn.
 
Well, this is where the fun is. If it wasn’t so frustratingly hard, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it, as I am.
 
It is the reason why I have taken him. I didn’t want a monster who could tear people apart. I wanted a monster that I could train so I could feel more connected to my past life.
 
Though, it would have been great. If he wasn’t a dwarf.
 
Speaking of dwarf, I wonder how old he is. I first thought he was only a few months old, but since he was a dwarf, it was not the case.
 
He is likely older, maybe a year old. I would need a high-level monster expert to know that.
 
Unfortunately, we do not have those at Greltheaven.
 
I trained him till it was evening before I went back to my office and worked till it was time for dinner. 
 
I took a short walk on a battlement after dinner, talked to the people guarding it before going back to my office, and worked for two hours more.
 
I am sleeping early today. 
 
Tomorrow, I have to wake up early to train. My injuries have healed enough that I could start training again, which I desperately want.
 
The battle had told me how much I needed to keep up with my training. 
 
Now, I even have a new amazing skill to train; I want to incorporate it into combat style as soon as possible.
 
The training will help me with that.

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