City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 196: Laurel Town

“Such numbers?” asked Jarvis in shock. “I and my team had seen it with our eyes my, sir,” replied the scout team leader.
 
I shuddered hearing the confirmation, but kept my emotions under control.
 
“First, we will catch the bandits before dealing with the implications of other news,” I said.
 
Remus Silver hadn’t given me any pressure, but I am feeling it. I haven’t caught a single bandit and if I didn’t bring some today, I might get sent back to the Mirador Hold.
 
I don’t want to go back; I like it here. 
 
I have been worried the past few days, since I heard the news of his coming from Silver.
 
It is why, at midnight, when I got the message from my scouts, I came running here. If I succeed, then forget being sent back, I will receive a commendation.
 
“Send the message to Colonel Grennan; ask him to keep his men ready on the other side.” 
 
“We don’t want any bandit escaping our net to roam free again,” I said to the mage. 
 
I had my reservations about working with Orc-blood, but the man is good. The discipline and experience of his men had got me envious. I hadn’t expected such a thing from the army of merchant nobles.
 
There is a common conception in the empire that the army of merchant states is weak. It is their wealth that is more dangerous; through which they employ legions of mercenaries to fight their battles.
 
“Commander Grennan says his men will be positioned in two hours,” the mage replied.
 
I nodded and turned to my men.
 
“Today we have to succeed. Failure is not an option,” I said, and we moved to capture the bandits.
 
….
 
The month ended, and a week passed.
 
Today is an important day for many things. First among them is a shipment of goods from Oksall; it was supposed to come at last month's end but was delayed.
 
It will arrive in a few minutes, and I heard the shipment was twice the size of what was originally planned.
 
Which made me quite happy, especially now that we had a few warehouses ready. They had just completed the three warehouses yesterday and more will be finished in the coming days.
 
The second thing, my sister is formally ascending to the nobility, and the ceremony is today.
 
Tomorrow, it is a new Baron Lockridge.
 
The Count is coming to attend both of the ceremonies and will spend two nights here at Castel Radcliff.
 
It will be his first time coming to Baronies since he handed me the reins. He is not coming alone; he is also bringing my two would-be successors.
 
There is another news; Major Jarvis took a lot of men to capture a large group of bandits. He also said, there was some worrying news, but he didn’t explain.
 
I hope it is something we can deal with; I want nothing that could jeopardize the trade.
 
 
Finally, I saw silhouettes of the carriages and felt a joy from deep within my soul.
 
I conceived this idea months ago and spent weeks putting it on paper. Finalizing and signing it with Oksall, before making a dangerous journey and fighting against the bandits.
 
After coming, I got a responsibility, and I performed it to the best of my ability to make the progress, I am seeing right now.
 
I picked up the binoculars, and immediately they got much closer. I could see the train of twenty-five carriages, bringing a lot of goods with them.
 
As they entered inside, the wooden town wall, the guards, led them toward the warehouses.
 
I wanted to go there and watch it all myself, but it was below my dignity. I have to maintain, no matter, how much I want to run there and see.
 
It took them two days to reach here; three times more than if there had been a proper road.
 
Soon, these carriages will have a proper road.
 
Both sides have started constructing the road, and in two to three months, it will be ready.
 
There will be a proper paved road from Amberhold to the Mirador Hold. It would have been sooner, if not for the winter. 
 
Last night, it had snowed heavily. The workers, who were working day and night, had to stop but resumed work after the snow had slowed down. They are working even now when the light snow is falling.
 
I looked for a few minutes before going to my office.
 
‘Adviser, Vice-Guild-master Martin has come to meet you,’ informed Jill. “Send them in,” I replied.
 
Click!
 
The door opened, and a man in his fifties walked in, with two people behind him; a man and a woman.
 
“Vice-Guildmaster Martin, Mrs. Chalise, Mr. Lard. Welcome to the Castle Radcliff,” I said. 
 
They are from Oksall. Vice-Guildmaster Martin is a member of the Amberhold merchant guild, while man and woman are members of merchant houses in the Oksall.
 
“Thank you, Adviser Silver,” said the Vice-Guildmaster.
 
“I know, I shouldn’t ask this, since I had experienced it myself, but how was the journey?” I asked, bringing the smiles to the faces of all three.
 
“Bad as you had experienced a few weeks ago; the only thing we didn’t come across is the army of bandits,” he replied, to which I smiled.
 
“You will have to suffer the pain for a few months, most. By then, the roads and all the required facilities will be ready,” I said to them.
 
“Let's hope so if the conditions are as grim as they are now; barely anyone would like to trade through this corridor,” replied the woman, and all I could smile politely, before turning to the proper business.
 
The goods they have brough are different types. Fertilizers, alchemical ingredients, delicate glassware, and a few more things.
 
Ninety percent of those things will go to the Navr, but around ten percent will be sold to the baronies.
 
I talked to them for a few minutes before they left. They are dead tired from the journey and want to have a hot meal to fill their stomach and a warm bed to sleep in. 
 
Both are prepared for them.
 
The merchants needed to be happy; at least until they started to see the profit from this corridor.
 
Once that happens; they will sleep on one street, without a word of complaint.
 
A few hours passed as I worked, checking things and expenses. There are a lot of expenses, thousands of types of them and it is not easy to manage them, especially when you have people to take care of.
 
I am dealing with a huge amount of money, and I need careful in dealing with it. 
 
I have to verify everything that others send to me; it is tiring that sometimes, I just want to sign it off and be done with it.
 
“He is fifteen minutes away,” informed Zela.
 
I didn’t have to ask her who; I adjusted the things on the desk and gave a few instructions to the clerk standing in the office before walking out of it.
 
“How are the preparations?” I asked Wilson, another clerk. 
 
“Everything is perfect, Adviser,” he replied. “Check once again; the Count is arriving in fifteen minutes,” I said, he nodded and walked away.
 
 
“He arrived,” informed Zela, and I saw the familiar carriage of Count Darrow coming toward the castle protected under heavy security.
 
A minute later, the carriage stopped, and I opened its door.
 
“Welcome to the Radcliff Castle, my lord,” I greeted, bowed.
 
Count Darrow came out without uttering a single word. Before turning to me with unreadable expressions.
 
“You are doing a wonderful job, Remus. Far better than I had imagined,” he said and patted my shoulders.
 
“It is all due to your trust, my lord,” I replied.
 
It made a big smile appeared on his face as he turned toward what was behind the gates.
 
I took this chance to look at two unfamiliar people who came with him. They were not his carriage but came out from the carriage behind him.
 
One is a handsome man, in his mid-thirties with light green hair while the other is short, middle-aged brown hair and blue hair.
 
I only glanced at them for a moment, before turning to Count. 
 
“Lord Count, I would be glad if you inspected the progress,” I said to the man. He was waiting for me to say that; he couldn’t just walk through the gate and inspect it.
 
“Ok,” he said, and we walked toward the gate, with guards and two unfamiliar men following. 
 
We walked out of the gate and into the town, where in every direction, they would see people working on buildings of various sizes and types. 
 
The workers are working on over a hundred buildings. One hundred and seven to be precious.
 
It is not just a warehouse, but also guesthouses, roads, walls, savage system. There are many private buildings, like inns, pubs, and even apartment buildings.
 
I could see Count Darrow was quite shocked. He was not able to see it completely through the carriage's window as he was seeing right now.
 
He was so shocked by it that he had loosened the hold on his emotions, and I was able to sense some faintly and could tell he was genuinely impressed by the development.
 
It is not just him, even I am impressed by it.
 
It had been a little more than two weeks and it had already taken the shape of the town. By the end of the month. There would be a real town standing here with inns, pubs, and other things.
 
“You have built a damn town,” he said finally. “It is all thanks to the guidance, my lord,” I replied.
 
“I hope you have not spent everything here,” he said. “No, my lord, it was just planning,” I replied and led him into the town.
 
We walked through the paved roads and watched the building. The Count asked a lot of questions, and I answered them.
 
In these past few months, I have gotten to know him well and aware of what kind of things he likes, how he likes, and the kind of questions he asks.
 
“My lord, as you can see; it will be a town, but it didn’t have a name yet,” I said.
 
“Lauryl. It will be the name of this town,” he replied, without missing a beat. The man may have flaws, but he is smart. 
 
“It is very gracious of you to name this town after your mother, my lord,” I said, and a small surprise appeared in his eyes before disappearing.
 
Anna Clementine Lauryl Bast Wilstein is the mother of Count Darrow and Grandmother of Prince Grelt. 
 
“I hope it will turn into a place that my mother would be proud of,” he said, looking around the town.
 
“I will give my every effort to see it happen, my lord,” I replied. 
 
“I have no doubt you would, Remus,” he said and turned back toward the castle.

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