City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 235: Road

“O, wonderful, wonderful road,” I said, looking at the three carriages passing by mine.
 
The two sitting in front of me smiled, but stayed silent.
 
Nearly two days ago, the road was finished, and the result was in front of me. Thank god, the preparations had been enough to handle the rush. 
 
Barely enough.
 
I thought I would need to interfere, but I didn’t. 
 
Merchants understood it better than me and began to work immediately. Loads of building material came from the city, quarries began to run overtime and so many trees were being cut, that it felt painful to watch.
 
It is a price for the development. 
 
Though, I am making the city as green as possible. When building the town, I didn’t cut all trees; no, many had remained and planted even more.
 
I wanted the town to look like it was a place in the embrace of the forest.
 
It will not be just a trading town, but also a vacation town as well. It is the only place in the whole wasteland that has huge greenery, and it will attract people who want greenery and quiet.
 
I had already designated areas for extravagant properties, like mansions and manors. Work on four had already begun and on a few more in a week or two.
 
Of the four, two belong to a merchant from Oksall, and one each belongs to a noble of baronies and Vice Guildmaster Soren. 
 
It is a wise investment; the town is developing fast and intelligent ones, had already started investing. From Damon Hardt to Locke to Valentina, all of them had invested their personal money into it.
 
Even Lola, Carla, and a few other girls also did it, and many others are thinking of doing that.
 
I didn’t tell them to do that. 
 
However, when they asked, I gave them my fair view about it, including the many risks, this place has.
 
Soon, I reached the boundary of the empire, and security posts were built on both sides. My carriage didn’t stop, but all the others that were coming and going were stopping to show their documents.
 
Thankfully, the road is big enough, there is no holdout, and guards on it are experienced and fast.
 
The carriage entered the boundary of the merchant state and moved toward Fort Renin. It is 14th and the road will be officially open today.
 
I am excited about it.
 
This road will shorten the time by a lot. Before the road was built, it used to take more than one and a half days; more than a day, if we excluded the snow, but now it will be eight hours.
 
Eight hours to reach the lauryl town from the Amberhold. Less than six hours to reach Fort Renin.
 
It will be less than what it takes to reach Greltheaven from Lauryl town. 
 
Soon, an hour passed, and Fort Renin came into view and everything around it. Including the town that is beginning to form around it.
 
We are not the only ones who are developing the town, but also Blackwell. He hadn’t planned on doing that but changed his mind.
 
I didn’t ask, nor I could, but I heard, the advice came from the Oksall Council.
 
We are now in competition, but this competition is good and benefits both of us.
 
Here, being the territory of the merchant state, the restrictions didn’t apply, and a lot of goods were restricted. Goods that are not in our contract, came here without any problem.
 
Our merchants are buying those goods and theirs are selling. With both parties receiving taxes from them.
 
It is a grey area, but nobody has stopped it, and I don’t think they will. It is profiting both sides.
 
It is quite normal in trade, and unless there is a conflict or big disagreements, the trade of those goods will continue.
 
Soon, the carriage passed through the town wall, and I have to say, the town looks beautiful. Unlike the lauryl, which is on the plain ground, it is on the hills.
 
It is why there are over ten vacation mansions are being built. It is more scenic than lauryl, but lauryl also has its own charm and I am developing it in a way, that maximizes it.
 
Click!
 
The carriage stopped inside the fort, and a second later; the door opened. 
 
“Welcome to the Fort August, Adviser Silver,” said August as he opened the door. “Thank you, August,” I replied and stepped out of the carriage with Carlos and Leblanc.
 
I usually bring Lola with me, but these two insisted on coming. They had been insisting on coming with me to a lot of things, from parties to meetings.
 
It is not surprising. I had told them what I had told the Count, and they were trying to use every opportunity to prove that they were worthy of responsibility, that I am so impatient to get off me.
 
I looked at the fort and once again, I couldn’t help but get surprised. 
 
I have been to the fort several times already and every time I get surprised at the new changes that appear on it.
 
It looked so different than the first time; I had seen it.
 
Blackwell had spent a fortune on the fort; not only he had repaired it but also fortified it further with enchantments and defenses. They cost him more than what I had spent on the establishment till now.
 
“Lord Blackwell,” I greeted as I entered the parlor, where he was entertaining the several guests, including my sister.
 
“Adviser, welcome to Fort Renin,” he said. “Thank you, Lord Blackwell,” I thanked.
 
“So, you are Remus Silver, who crafted the whole trade proposal,” said the cultured voice; I turned and saw a handsome middle-aged man with forest green hair. 
 
If the information is right, then he is also a quarter elf and a relative of Ignatius from his mother’s side.
 
“It was Count’s vision; I only helped in bringing it out, Vice-Guildmaster Thomist,” I replied, and his face twitched.
 
He is an important man and a powerful merchant. 
 
A Vice-Guildmaster of Oksall City’s merchant guild is no small position. He has the ability to do some serious things in the merchant-state.
 
It is quite surprising he has come here since the real opening ceremony is being held at Amberhold.
 
“I was one of the opponents of the plan; I thought my cousin was wasting time and fortune on something that is doomed to fail, but it feels like I had been wrong in my assumptions,” he said with a small smile.
 
“You are not wrong in your views, Vice-Guildmaster; this was a risky gamble and still is,”
 
“There are many things, that could destroy this trade route,” I said, looking at Blackwell. Today, we are planning on dealing with one of the minor problems, let’s hope we will be successful.
 
“True, there are dangers, but you all seemed to be handling them well enough,” he complimented.
 
“Thank you for the kind words, Vice-Guildmaster,” I said. He smiled and walked away.
 
I turned to Ignatius, who introduced me to the other people, and there were a lot of them that came. Most are from Amberhold, but many had come from other cities, Oksall as well.
 
Two hours passed, and we were out on the road, with a red ribbon across it and Ignatius holding a large steel scissor.
 
“To progress and prosperity,” he shouted in front of a crowd of thousands and cut the ribbon. 
 
We all clapped before stepping out of the road to let the carriages pass through.
 
For fifteen minutes, we had to stop the carriages. So, Ignatius and others could give the speeches. Now, the road opened and the carriage waiting began to move through the road, while we entered inside the fort for the banquet.
 
A few more hours passed, and the banquet was over, and we all went to the secure room.
 
“How are the preparations?” asked Leila. “Good, we can strike at the decided time,” he replied.
 
We are going to target the bandit groups; there will be simultaneous raids on a couple of bandit groups. 
 
We three are going to attack the biggest one. It was one of the most powerful groups during the attack and after it became even more powerful after absorbing members of other bandit groups.
 
It is also one of the groups that had been nearly unscathed by the monsters. Its leader has shifted their hideout away from the extreme magic region before monsters started attacking them.
 
It is also why we were able to find out their hideout, which we are going to target tonight.
 
The bandits had been silent, but there was information they were ready to strike. We need to finish them before that happens.
 
“Then we should reach there as soon as possible,” said Leila, before turning to me. 
 
“Remus, do you really want to come?” she asked. “Yes, I don’t want to miss the action,” I replied. She looked like she wanted to say something, but shook her head.
 
I wouldn’t have, but Jon said I need more battle experience. I might have a good collection of skills and enough talent, but that is not enough to survive in truly horrible conditions.
 
I should gain it as much as I can. 
 
This is kind of paradoxical, considering I could die while gaining the experience, which I am trying to gain to survive conditions like this.
 
Though what he said is true, considering his experience.
 
Unlike Stone and others, who were part of the army or militia, Jon and Zela had different backgrounds. Zela was a scholar, working for a mage, while Jon was an enforcer of the gang in a small town.
 
Before Vris’alud’s invasion, they had never fought in battle, much less a war, but the invasion forced them. 
 
It is either to fight or die. Thousands have died, but they have survived through grit and luck.
 
I understood the reality well. In the place I am and the business I have, there will be many instances when I will be forced to fight, to protect my life and the lives of those I cherish.
 
For that, I will need to be ready.
 
It will also be a good chance to try out my new skills. I have been training with it, and I want to see how it does in the real battle.

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