Chapter 1011 Future Development
Now that the problem with the Runegard was solved, Noel turned to Jasmine. "I will secure some funds for you. Make sure that you get enough food to feed everyone. We'll also build some granaries after this, so I'll let you handle the rest."
"Yes, sir. I'll definitely give you a satisfactory result." Jasmine nodded. She had been holding back the whole time. Now that the battle had ended, she could finally create the farmland she dreamed of.
This was the time Noel turned to Howard.
Unlike Jasmine, Howard couldn't help but say with a disappointed tone, "My lord. There is a problem with our army."
"What's wrong?" Noel frowned.
"There are three major problems. First of all, regarding the Flying Squad, I don't really know how to train them. After seeing their effectiveness in battle, a lot of people want to be a part of the Flying Squad."
"In that case, have Felicia train them. However, the Flying Squads will remain our elite squad. In fact, I am planning to have three types of elite squads. They are the Flying Squad, Extermination Squads, and Rune Magician Squads."
"The Extermination Squads will be the ones we have this whole time. And the flying squad is the new squad my Lord created not long ago. But Rune Magician Squads…" Howard furrowed his eyebrows.
"They will be different from the Flying Squad. The flying squad is a squad that takes advantage of their mobility and drops all kinds of things we have prepared. On the other hand, the Rune Magician Squads will focus on their firepower. For example, what do you think of having a squad that launches multiple Meteor Runes at the enemy? While the Flying Squads can do the same, I don't want them to deplete too much of their energy since their mobility is much more advantageous," Noel explained.
Howard looked down. It seemed that Noel was thinking about a mobile weapon. Their catapults, ballistas, or even the launchers were stationary. So, it would be good to have a squad that could flank the enemy from the side with that kind of firepower.
"I see…" Howard nodded in understanding. "As for the trainer…"
"Yes. Felicia will take care of their training. Of course, I want you to observe as well and learn how to teach them. Eventually, you will become the one in charge of all elite squads."
"Your wish is my command." Howard lowered his head.
"You are fine with the arrangement, right, Felicia?" Noel asked.
"Yes, my Lord." Felicia nodded with a serious expression. In fact, she had a hard time containing her emotions.
She had her wish granted by Noel and showed it to everyone. A Spirit Master like her defeating a Superior Demon was basically impossible. Because of this achievement, no one would be able to look down on her anymore. The only thing she wanted to do now was repay Noel's kindness and make sure not to disappoint him.
"I think all the outside problems have been cleared up. In that case, we can take a look at the current state of the city. Douglas." Noel moved on to the next topic.
"There are four matters that I'm going to report today. First of all, we have cleared up the land for the Rune Academy. And I am still working on the design with Princess Livia." Douglas turned to Livia.
Livia raised three fingers. "I believe that the academy will need three things. The classrooms and offices, the library and research area, and the training field. However, I am still unsure how much we need to create a grand academy."
"There are five rune categories. They are offensive rune, defensive rune, support rune, utility rune, and movement rune. I believe that you should create the academy according to these categories."
"So, the training field should be big enough for using the offensive, defensive, and movement runes. The library will be big enough to store all the research about these five categories. And the classrooms will have enough space for a lot of people as well as a demonstration…" Livia contemplated for a moment. "I can imagine it in my head, but I will finalize the concept with Mr. Douglas."
"Alright." Noel nodded. "However, the limitation is only up to Intermediate Level Runes. If I put on an Advanced Level Rune, it's going to blow up the entire academy. Also, I will review the school's rules and the curriculum later."
"I understand."
Douglas then continued to the next topic. "The second matter is about the development of the Moon Temple headquarters. It appears that they are planning to build the headquarters east of the town."
"East?"
"Yes. Because we are building a star-shaped wall, we can separate the city into five districts. The north district is the most dangerous, so we will be building that area for our military, including the Rune Academy.
"The west district is where the water from the river comes from, so we have been building the residential district there. Meanwhile, in the southwest district, I have designed it as the business district. The south gate will be used to welcome a lot of new people, so it's only natural that a lot of merchants will be there.
"And with a high influx of people, it's obvious that we will also be building a red light district in the southeast. This district is supposed to be the safest from outside harm, so we can focus on the inside threat, which will reduce the cost of protection in the area. A red-light district is extremely important even though people look down on it. They reduce the crime rate by allowing people to relieve their stress. And with the business district and the red light district near each other, Harley can easily get a lot of information from these people.
"Last but not least, the east district will also be a residential area, but it is for workers and similar people. Well, I don't really want to use the word slum and always want to avoid them, but in the end, they will form sooner or later.
"Hence, I believe it's better to create them from the start so that we can control them. And by providing cheap houses there, we can reduce the number of homeless people in our city. Of course, we can use them for some labor, like mining or farming.
"And since their place is situated between the military and the red-light district, they can relieve their stress or be taken away by forces."
Noel frowned. "While I don't plan to meddle in the slavery business, I'm forbidding them in my territory."
Noel knew that abolishing slaves was easier said than done. So, he didn't plan to touch on this subject, especially during the development of the Ardagan family. As for the future, he would just leave it to the future him.
"I understand. We have prepared some jails in the military area. But I'm slightly concerned about your request to have the mansion in this area, my lord." Douglas was worried that the thugs would attack his mansion.
However, Noel shook his head, saying, "It's a perfect position for all the secrets the mansion carries. In addition, shouldn't I blame our soldiers for not being able to stop the attacks? I have a high standard."
"…" Howard gave a wry smile, knowing that he had to work extra hard for this.
Douglas didn't care about Howard's work. He simply continued, "In any case, this is also the reason why the Moon Temple builds their headquarters in this area. They want to take care of the pitiful ones."
"Well, it's a win-win situation for now." Noel nodded.
"Yes." Douglas agreed with his opinion. There was no way the people would think that Noel was a bad lord and believe that the Moon Temple was better than him when he provided all this. So, this was indeed a win-win situation. "Alright. The third matter is regarding the development of the city. Because of the previous war, we are lacking men to construct the city."
"Dimitri?"
"I will be working on the second batch migration right away," Dimitri instantly replied.
"Please work with what we have right now. It's fine to be slightly slower since our current position is not that good."
"I understand." Douglas contemplated for a moment. "Fortunately, Rune Technology has been helping us with the construction."
"Good. I will also be inscribing the runes. Tristan and Livia will also begin to learn the technique in a month. I have to take care of the miscellaneous work after the war right now and I probably have to leave for a week or two after this. They definitely are going to summon me to the capital."
"Yes, Teacher. We'll definitely work hard." Tristan and Livia looked excited for a different reason.
"In that case, I will move on to the next problem. It's slightly in the future, but how do you plan to develop Lounstein? This land is vast and has a lot of resources that haven't been touched by humans. I think it's necessary not only to build the villages but also a few cities. I believe that this also involves Charlotte."
Charlotte took a deep breath before continuing Douglas's words. "Yes. If we want one or two cities under our control, it's going to be easy. However, it won't be enough to control this vast land.
"A count can take a baron. An earl can have three barons and one count in their territory. A marquis can have three counts and five barons in their territory. All these nobles will be reporting right into the main family and paying tribute.
"I believe that we will need to raise a few nobles to develop this land. Fortunately, this land is no-man land. In other words, right now, we are still under the royal family's influence and are exempt from taxes.
"From my perspective, we will need to expand the territories right away. For example, we can raise a powerful knight or a good merchant as a baron.
"The sooner we do this, the faster we can develop the territories. After all, they will independently seek their own way to develop those lands."
After listening to Charlotte, Noel couldn't help but fall silent. Now that he thought about it, there were several nobles under his father's command. In fact, Countess Christina, whom he asked to spread the rune knowledge, was under his father.
However, there was a problem. They were still at the beginning of their development. Noel didn't have anyone who had the capability of becoming a noble. And they had to be trustworthy.
"Well, we can set them up in such a way that they can become our natural fortress. In fact, if my Lord can increase his nobility rank to that of a marquis, I believe that the royal family has no choice but to bestow the land on the north. Meaning we can put a noble there as a vanguard for our family. If this plan comes to fruition, this city will be impenetrable, both by demons and humans," Douglas offered his opinion.
"Humans, huh? Territorial War…" Howard's expression darkened.
When people heard that term, they couldn't help but frown. Territorial war was normal for the nobles to solve conflict or devour each other's territory. Fortunately, his west border directly met the Greenwood Kingdom. If he raised his rank and put a noble of his own on the north, it meant two sides of his territory were secured.
Then, he only needed to take care of the west and south sides. On the west side, he had the last line of defense, which was the river. He planned to put a battleship there to defend his territory.
The south side was concerned, but the Supreme Devil Organization had shown that unless they could surround Lounstein from all sides, they wouldn't be able to defeat Noel.
That was why Lounstein wouldn't have any territorial wars until they had enough power to fight the city that managed to withstand the onslaught of a demon army.
"I will think about it. Right now, I can't picture someone having the ability or achievement to be elevated as a noble."
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