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The guards bowed and opened the door for them. I nodded at them before I stepped inside the conference room.
Three people are sitting there—Valentina and two more from the interior department.
I nodded at them as they greeted me before I sat down.
"Ranus, begin," ordered Valentina. The man in his late forties nodded and touched the disk on the table. Immediately, a projection appeared above the table.
We have equipped this conference room with a presentation disk. It was an expense, but a needed one. It will make the presentation more seamless.
"It had been a week, and the response to the plot sales had been better than we had expected. In all categories," he said, and a projection appeared, showing all five categories.
Residential, business, industrial, institutional, and religious.
"But the response had not been the same for every category," he added, and immediately. Aside from residential, all categories disappeared, and subcategories of residential appeared.
"The residential plots have been fully subscribed in all categories. Grade I oversubscribed by 481%, Grade II by 497%, Grade III by 412%, Grade…" he stated, showing each figure.
These grades refer to the timeframe during which people need to start building a home. It can be within three months, six months, or years, and so on.
We are allowing not only individuals to buy them, but also firms.
However, firms are only allowed to buy in Grade I, which means they must begin building homes within three months.
"The business category response is also good. Grade I oversubscribed by 270%, Grade II by 286%..."
"In the industrial sector, all of it is subscribed by 500%. Grade I 543%, Grade II…"
I am not surprised by the industry. We are offering it at a very low price, almost free of charge. It is why even Grade VII and VIII had been oversubscribed by 83% and 89%,"
These grades have no time limit, but the rate of the land is the highest.
These lands are like a bet, like the one my father had made on Greltheaven. If the city works, they will invest; if it does not, they will sell to others.
There are no restrictions on the sale as well.
They could sell it at any time they want. It is why they have the smallest percentage of land.
I want to focus on those who are currently establishing businesses, rather than those who will do so in the future. The only reason we have even included them is that we wanted to give them some hope.
"The religious category has also done great; both of the churches of the city had applied for it, as well as seven churches from merchant states and other kingdoms."
There was no grade here; there is no need to. If the churches find enough people, they will build without me even having to say a word.
"It is in institutions that lag the most." He said, and a projection of an institutional category appeared. This category includes schools, academies, hospitals, and other things.
"Only the Grade I is fully subscribed. Grade II was only subscribed to by 78% and Grade III by 11%," he informed.
There was a silence, but not a disappointing one.
"It had gone much better than I had thought," said Valentina with a pleased smile on her face. "It has. I didn't think any category would be subscribed to full, much less oversubscribed," I replied with the same smile.
This is the start, which means people will not hesitate to commit such vast amounts of money. Especially in a place that is without walls, walls are ubiquitous in this world.
Even the small towns and villages have some sort of wall. When we had established Lauryl, we had constructed the wooden wall.
We might be selling cheaper, but it is still big money for most people.
"It gives me immense hope," she said. I nodded at that.
There is nothing built in the outer city aside from a few buildings, not even a wall. As more things are done, there will be greater confidence.
Although we have released a large number of plots, the scale of the outer city is so vast that the number is relatively small.
We will release another set by the end of this month and plan to increase the frequency over time as demand increases.
An hour passed, and we discussed it in detail. There is a lot of data. If we utilize it effectively, we will further enhance the sales.
"Select the people quickly and finalise the sales," I ordered. These were the people who applied. Now, we have to convert it into sales.
The sooner they start building their homes, the better.
"We already started on that," she replied. I nodded and got up before walking out of the conference room.
"Any news from Julian?" I asked Zela. He had called me in the morning to inform me. That, Juras, is planning to take out the load today.
He has narrowed the rough area where it is and is now searching with the army for it.
The target is the load. If he were able to find it, he would discover Jarus of the White Crown, but he had been a man who was very hard to find; he had slipped away many times.
"No," she replied.
"Do you want me to ask about the progress?" she asked. "No," I replied. He will contact me when he has something to report; till then, I will not disturb him.
Soon, I walked through the hallways of the city hall. That feels even more crowded than ever, despite many departments shifting out of it.
"Master Silver, Chief Robin is in your office," informed Jill. I nodded and walked inside.
"They agreed," stated Robin, without greeting or anything.
It made me nearly stop, but I walked and sat down in my chair. For almost a minute, nobody spoke.
"The date?" I asked. "Next week. Belnin," he replied.
We are talking about an exchange meeting with the undead. We want the people they have, while we are willing to give them some of their people.
Not the top powerhouses. Most definitely not those above Lv. 30, but we have many below that.
We had captured many of their numbers in battles we had fought with them. Many surrendered in the last battle of Greltheaven, but we have caught the most significant number in Gailhorn.
There, we didn't let a single enemy escape. Forces captured all the gates and trapped the enemy.
"Good, select the team, prepare for the negotiations. The undead will try to squeeze as much as they can out of this opportunity," I said.
They have requested negotiations on multiple occasions, but we have declined.
I wanted to bring out the people suffering there, but we didn't have the strong enough leverage, and our own strength was weak.
That was not the position from which we could negotiate. Now, the conditions are in our favour.
"I will be prepared," he replied sombrely.
I looked at the man and sighed sombrely; since the war, he had thrown himself into the work. Taking only a few hours off to sign the divorce papers.
"Take tomorrow off, spend some time with your children," I said to him. The man shook his head. "There is too much work," he replied.
"It's an order. I will tell the guards at city hall not to let you in," I said. The man opened his mouth, then closed it.
"Take the rest, Robin, you deserve it. Your children need an attentive father. If possible, take them with you to Belnin. It's a beautiful city, I hear," I requested.
The man is in pain; he is trying to bury it with the work, but that is unhealthy.
I feel guilty for making him work when he is in such a condition. The man needs at least a week, or even weeks, to deal with what he is going through, but the dominion can not afford that.
He has good people around him, but there are things I only trust him to do.
Especially these negotiations with the undead. If we succeed, we will be able to save thousands of souls that have been suffering under the undead for years.
"Ok," he replied finally.
He left not long after, while I focused on the work. Before I knew it, the evening had come.
I am leaving early today, at seven. I have a design meeting at eight today. It will be the third meeting since Vanis and Mariha came to Greltheaven.
We are making progress on the design; I hope we will finish by the end of the month.
We still haven't started on interior design. We must begin as soon as possible if we want everyone to finish within six months.
Soon, I had finished with the last of my files when Lola put a dossier in front of me.
"It comes from a friend in the empire," she said, and a smile appeared on my face.
I opened it and began to read. It is intelligence on the empire; we have a few people in very high positions who provide us with good information.
I wouldn't say it is accurate and unfiltered; no information is, but it is the best one can get.
I read page after page. It not only contains news on the Crown Prince's court, but also the battle.
Both of which are important. To me, it's the court's news that I keep a keen eye on and also fund a few voices.
Crown Prince hates me, not as much as he hates his sister and a few other people, but he hates me.
The reason is simple: I didn't submit to him.
If he had a free army, he could spare. He would have sent it toward me. I fund people to distract him from me.
I do it not only in the court of the Crown Prince, but also in the Princess's as well.
I have no doubt; she would also attack me like her brother, if she could, but unlike her brother, she would do so in a different way. It would be a very thought-out and deliberate.
It is due to this nature of hers; she is standing against her brother, despite having a smaller army and fewer allies.
She is rational, which makes her both dangerous and easier to deal with.
"Geim is making moves in Sarwell; even Edruin seemed to be joining it," said Lola. To that I nodded.
Edruin was going heavy until they killed the last Duke of Blackwell and captured a good chunk of Angeltar. It was not without a cost.
Still, they were ready after a few months, but they didn't make a move.
They would have made a move, but Gats has taken the position of Duke of Blackwell.
Except for spending a week in Blackwell city. Gats had gone directly to the front and hadn't moved from there. He had also started to gather forces.
Fearing his offense, Edruin had been preparing. I am quite surprised to see them opening another front.
"I don't know what strategy they are using, but if I had been in their place. I would have concentrated my forces against Gats," I replied.
"It's been years since Marquess Gats fought. These people had been fighting for years," she said.
"That makes him even more dangerous," I replied.
Gats is above Level 50. He hadn't fought since Renwell was captured. Nobody knows what his real strength is, but I would be cautious against underestimating that man.
"Do you think Geim will succeed in Sarwell?" she asked. "I don't know, Mather seemed to have become good out of nowhere," I replied.
He is leading the forces there.
Prince Mather was considered a spoiled prince. Drinking, whoring, and gambling.
These are the things he used to do, but things have changed since the emperor's death. Slowly, nobody noticed his rise until it became starkly evident.
What will happen in Sarwell, I don't know. Prince Declan is already holding Gein there at Renha.
If Mather did the same, it would give the imperials enough confidence in the south-east that they might initiate a push to regain their territories.
Geim would want to avoid that at any cost.
Ironblood Lord of Radian Dreams Lv. 43