BXBX NOVEL Chapter 188 - Numbers
It seemed to be such a lovely day.
After a short 6 days following his arrival to this town, Tristan was currently standing inside his study in the town hall. He looked out of the tall, wooden windows, observing the streets of Caerleon which branched out before him. Everything seemed to be in perfect order.
At that moment Uriel, the mayor of Erantell, walked in the room. He approached Tristan, standing next to him by the window, looking at the peace and quiet that had descended over the town. It was as if yesterday\'s riot never happened.
"It\'s nice, right?" Tristan asked.
"Yes... It is quite nice..." Uriel said, the expression on his face and tone of voice both completely flat.
Tristan noticed this and immediately he sighed. It was evident that the other elf had more to say.
"Speak your mind, Uriel."
The fat elf was reluctant at first, but after more coaxing from Tristan, he eventually gave in and revealed his true thoughts.
"I think that what you did was amazing, really, but there were just too many unnecessary deaths. 138 men died in yesterday\'s battle. Also, what\'s with the punishment during such occasions? If it were me, I would allow the citizens to celebrate the victory. But you... You just have to make them fear you again with those lashes."
Tristan grinned. then replied,
"Consider this... Without the presence of hardship, they will not appreciate the victory. Without the punishment, they will not appreciate the rewards. This is what I really think, and honestly I don\'t care that much about whether or not they are happy. I just need them to be in order"
The fat elf point was, once more, completely shut down by Tristan\'s logic. He really couldn\'t argue with him about it. He had been successful in leading Erantell in his own way thus far, but he couldn\'t deny the stellar results that Tristan had contributed within the last few days.
A moment later, more people entered the study. It was Gazef, the captain of the town guards, as well as Karra. Trailing not far behind them were Herrera, Seth, and Astrid, who had decided to join the meeting as well.
Tristan started the meeting by running through some numbers and statistics. He turned towards the fat elf.
"Tell us the numbers, Uriel."
It was still Uriel\'s job to lead the half a dozen ministers when it came to administering the town data.
Number of residents: 4532
Guards: 147
Adventurers: 47
Orcs: 172
First of all, Uriel showed them all of the battle reports. There were more than 256 deaths as a result of yesterday\'s battle, and another 163 citizens were wounded. There were also more than 400 people who decided to migrate away from the town during the chaos.
"The 327 captured Arcadians are currently being treated. By now, most of them are probably homeless due to the fact that their village got raided."
Honestly, Tristan also didn\'t really care about the numbers. Having Uriel go through the statistics with the team was simply a formality. But he knew that the overall size of the town would ultimately determine the town\'s overall wealth.
For this matter, Tristan once again asked Uriel for some recommendations and advice on what to do next.
Uriel suggested that they accept these homeless people to become official citizens of Caerleon. This fell in line with the city\'s infrastructure limits as half of Caerleon\'s housing in Caerleon was currently unoccupied. Uriel then devised an average number of profit that would result from making these individuals partake in work, and use their work as a way to pay for their housing.
The next idea was to recruit more guards from out of town. This idea would also bring the guards\' families to the town, making them reside there officially as well.
Tristan agreed with both of his ideas, but seeing how weak the town guards were, Tristan decided that it would be wise to recruit only the best and the most experienced among them.
He would rather pay double the wages for the price of one reliable guard as opposed to getting three new useless ones. Seeing how poorly the current town guards acted in the battle and how they would have lost without the help of the orcs, Tristan had no patience for incompetent warriors in his midst.
The next place to consider was the new port that was currently being established after being taken from the barbarian. Its name was Harlord, and Tristan had already devised some plans regarding its usage.
Karra already prepared for the 62 gretchin orcs to move into the city, and she would need support for repairs to some of the damaged infrastructure as well as a new facility for the orcs. These projects would therefore lead to a need for more guards and lots of coins.
With all these things taken into consideration, Tristan decided to hire 500 new town guards from outside of the city.
With it, he hopes for them to bring at least 1000 more people to fill the town, increase the overall number of citizens, and create a more positive and lively atmosphere.
Uriel reminds him that forming new guards would not just require coins but also equipment. Weapons and armor for them.
For that, Uriel showed the revised income and expenditures of the town.
Monthly Income
Farms: 32 coins
Mining: 202 coins
Traders: 15 coins
Others: 5 coins
Total: 254 coins
Monthly expenditures
Kings tribute: 52 coins
Wages: 52 coins
Maintenance: 34 coins
Other expenditures: 201 coins
Total: 339 coins
Total coffers: 129 coins
Uriel expected a 10% decrease in income as most work was stopped for a few days because of the battle and riots. But on the other hand, with no more adventures on the payroll, they were able to save 100 coins this month.
Looking at these numbers, it seemed the town still lacked the coin for the hiring and the new Harlond port project.
Although Tristan did find a large amount of loot yesterday, he was not willing to share his prize with the people. There must be other ways to make the town rich without using his money