The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia Chapter 93

Chapter 93 – Large-Scale Development

The next day, the State Secretary George Walter began full-scale work in the internal affairs office .

Also there, other than George himself, were his lord Ares, Chief Staff s.h.i.+on, Consultant Gail, his aides Elan and Ramires, and Family Register Secretary Bergan

Sigurd and Darius were outside training the armies while Eckhart was patrolling around the city .

[Now then, let’s get started . ]

George took out the drawing of the Heinz cityscape .

[First of all, we must make Heinz prosperous . Everything from the ground up… ]

[Does that mean the future base will be here?]

[Yes . I… want to make Heinz to become a city comparable to Schwarzer Territory’s Romaria within 3 years time . ]

[3 years… can we actually do it within that short period of time?]

Ares tilted his head as he said so .
Why of course . Romaria has become the largest city right next to the Royal Capital, and an equal if not better urban development and cultures .

George in turn replied to Ares .

[Yes . This place is originally a rich territory . Plenty of potential . Manage it well and you’ll reap great rewards . ]

Then George picked up another doc.u.ment nearby .

[Anyways, this is the list… of things we need to change . ]

George unfolded the material in his hand and began reading .

[There is the Blue Sky Market around the main street… but the rules are vague at best . Same goes with buying and selling commodities . Lots of residents still rely on bartering items to buy things . This will discourage regular merchants and thus, impede the commerce growth . We must clarify the rules . Recruit many officers and educate them thoroughly . We also need to distribute money, so for the time being, the government will buy out any items that don’t sell pretty well . ]

2 . Architecture

[The houses in Heinz are mostly built from wood… but clay and stone, which are good materials for buildings, are abundant around Heinz . We should make use of those materials to renew the houses . It’ll make for a different impression for newcomers or visitors and allows us to slowly change the cityscape . Those materials are also stronger than wood and are less likely to catch fire, making them a good choice for disaster prevention . ]

3 . Infrastructure

[I want the streets on Heinz to be made of cobblestone . With such pavement, wagons will be able to move around much more easily, making circulating items and other things much smoother, which is essential to develop a city . Waterways must also be built . There are plenty of water sources around Heinz so it should be easy to make waterways out of it . At the same time, we must arrange the flow of clean water and sewage properly . Easy access and a steady supply of clean water is needed to maintain the health of the residents as well as preventing illness . In conjunction, we will also start managing Depay River . The development of that river is urgent and critical for the entire Heinz development plans . ]

4 . Education

[The people of Grants have a low level of education . Most are also illiterate . But they have high motivation . Therefore, we must advance their level of education . Build a school and create a system where children and adults alike can study there . Invite various teachers from the Royal Capital and Schwarzer Territory . Human resources are the most important factor in developing a country, thus I’d like for us to put some extra effort in this part and do our best . ]

George put down the doc.u.ment afterward .

A question came from the consultant Gail .

[But…that’s a huge scale development . Will it not be difficult to tackle due to funding? That amount of money, Heinz is…]

[We can borrow some from the Schwarzer territory . We also have the help of Balzac in the Royal Capital . As well as the Margot House of Commerce . Moreover… the amount of congratulatory gifts for Ares-sama engagements aren’t exactly little, am I correct?]

[Ah, I knew you’ll touch upon that eventually…]

George chuckled hearing Ares’ mumbling, but resumed with a serious face .

[Why of course . It is the engagement between the Royal clan and the Schwarzer clan after all . Lots of money would surely come from those aristocrats as well as merchants . The number would be unprecedentedly high . ]

[Certainly… that amount of money will surely help . ]

Bergan nodded in agreement . Seeing so, George continued on .

[We are going to tackle all four at the same time . As for agriculture, we’ll rely on the Land of Demons . As I said, in 3 years time, we have to develop a city comparable to that of Romaria and solidify our foundation . There is no time to relax . We must work together . ]

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As directed by the State Secretary George, a large scale development is underway .

Sigurd and Darius trained the second and third corps in the morning and had the soldiers help with the infrastructure and construction work in the afternoon .
Originally in Grants, there was no culture of soldiers helping with construction work, so there were a lot of complaints initially… but when they were told that this extra work will be reflected in their salary, many soldiers began to willingly partic.i.p.ate in the work . Not only soldiers, but also human resources were also recruited from the general ma.s.ses . Many things in Heinz that requires development . Once hearing that it will make their living easier, many people partic.i.p.ated .
The project progressed very fast with a lot of people working on it .

The third corps cut stones around Heinz, while the second corps flattened and smoothed the road before arranging the cobblestones . At the same time, Heinz residence gathered in the public call to help the soldiers .

[But this is really amazing . By making use of the soldiers, we can transport a large amount of stones and clay at once . ]

Rodrigo who works for the Heinz Civil Engineering and Architecture department mumbled to himself . His line of sight fell on those third corps wagon that had made many round trips transporting material .
He had worked in the city civil engineering for a long time… but this is the first time he saw such a large scale project, other than the flood control few years back .

[That one wagon… seems to be something that the new lord has brought with him here . Unlike our wagons, this one moves much more smoothly and can carry a lot more . ]

Rodrigo’s best friend Ron who was standing nearby drenched in his own sweats also commented .

[And this large number of workers… with this amount, the construction work will surely go real fast . I hear that some of them are newcomers ]

[That’s just what good salary does . It attracts people even from afar . Moreover… what the h.e.l.l is that?]

The salary was indeed good enough to make them grin . But their motivations were different .

[That’s the cold ale only available during weekends! That’s foul play . What I will do to be able to drink it!]

The cold ale was fairly popular among the citizens . Yes, the same cold ale that everyone in Romaria had already been familiar with .

George set up a tent outside his mansion during weekends where the workers can go to relax and rest . And in that tent… the ales that has been chilled with the cooling box are served .
As a bonus for the diligent workers, he distributed the cold ale… That was something more than anyone expected .

At first the citizens and soldiers were hesitant to drink it, but once they did… their faces were filled with astonishment .
The culture of drinking cold ale was not widespread around Arcadia yet . It’s pretty much exclusively practiced only in Schwarzer territory up until then .
Therefore, it was a pleasant shock for the people of Grants . It’s no exaggeration to say that this was one of their motivations behind their willingness to work on the project .

[Compared to this cold ale, all other things I’ve drunk before tasted like horse p.i.s.s . ]

Remembering the cold ale, Ron unintentionally daydreamed .

The effect of cold ale was enormous to the point that it became the main reason why workers from all over Grants were attracted to come .

Once George confirmed the situation, he took another step further to help motivate the workers .
He divided the workers and soldiers into ten groups and a.s.signed each group into different places . Then he let them compete . Not only he would raise the salary of the group who works quicker than the others, but he also increased their quota of cold ale into twice per week, which effectively improves their compet.i.tiveness .

It was a great success . Even those coming from outside of Heinz no longer wish to leave . Perhaps… it’s mostly because of the cold ale that they decided to stay . In any case, the workers and the soldiers both worked desperately .

[First of all, we have to finish the construction job in front of us . We eat this kind of work for breakfast . So there is no way we’ll lose! I won’t lose! ! For Heinz!]

[Yeah! For Heinz!]

The two then quietly, albeit diligently, resumed their work .

Although they were mostly attracted by good salaries and cold ale… there is no denying that a pride of having helped in building their own city into prosperity has also bloomed in their heart .

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The city development progressed faster than even George’s estimates .
Not only were there a lot of people in Heinz, most of them are either demihumans or hybrids . Their greater strength and dexterity contributed to the increased speed .
The main streets had become cobblestone road, which makes wagons travel much faster .
In addition, the wooden buildings are starting to be replaced by stone and brick buildings .

It started with the main facilities, but soon the housing for commoners will also be gradually replaced .

As for infrastructure, a large amount of wood, stone and clay will be needed . Thus, a way to transport lots of materials at once is essential .

Therefore, the construction of the waterway was helmed by the lord himself, Ares Schwarzer .
Sigurd and the other were originally opposed in letting their lord to work… but Ares laughed them off and took the job anyways . This was because they were lacking personnel . It could be said that human resources were equally valuable during this period .

He had the fourth corps under his command this time . Leading the soldiers, he went to survey the Depay River .

Ares originally commands the first corps… but the [Broken Legions] were currently a.s.signed to something else at the moment .
The Red and Black Legions patrolled around Heinz . Once they encounter any bandit or monster, they could move to dispatch the intruder at the squad commander’s discretion .
Meanwhile, the Blue Legion was responsible in experimenting with barrier magic to protect the entire Heinz .
As for the White Legion… they simply did what they usually do, wandering around .

[I cannot tie down the members of the White Legion around… Well, as if it wasn’t obvious already?]

Those were Ares’ words . Originally, George wanted to borrow their expertise, since Heinz needed manpower the most at this point, but they were all exempt from actual work due to Ares’ insistence . But later on, Eckhart reported that the White Legion presence had a major influence in maintaining the security of the city as well as monster subjugation, effectively shutting down the complaints against them .

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Ares found out that Depay River had a stream near Heinz . He planned to redirect the flow, thus commanding the fourth corps to work . George was also there to check the situation .

[This river has so many streams . this might work for the benefit of our city . ]

[The reason why it wasn’t developed yet… was it because of the influence of aquatic magic beasts?]

In response to George’s question, Roland who served as the fourth corps deputy general replied .

[Yes, too many monsters to count . I’ve also heard that the water was polluted . So people believe that it’s a good idea to leave the river as it is…]

Ares and George walked along the creek… then stopped .

Certainly, Depay River had many streams near Heinz . But… all of them were swarmed by aquatic magic beasts .

[This is a bit unusual . There should be a reason… how about we go further upstream?]

Saying so, Ares led the fourth corps to go further upstream . And there they found… a muddy and large swamp .

The marsh was also covered in so many bushes and trees that sunlight could barely enter .
Among the new recruits of the fourth corps, several had lost their consciousness .

[I’d never imagine this… we’ll surely find the cause here…]

Ares said while observing the surroundings . The swamp showed signs of aquatic magic beasts, and it was clear that it’s impossible for humans to live there .

[I can’t sense the water spirit that should’ve taken root here… was it hiding somewhere… or is it already eaten…?]

Ares muttered to himself, then started to chant and meditate .
George and Roland watched over him .

[Forced Summon!]

At the same time, Ares was wrapped in a dazzling light . When the light died down, a light blue skinned girl materialized before him .

[Higyaa! Wha? What the h.e.l.l was that?]

[Ah… sorry for the sudden summoning…]

The little girl was trembling when she sees Ares .

[I was hiding so that 『it』won’t find me… what have you done!?]

[『It』…? You are the water spirit of this river, correct?]

[Eh, yes . I am Aquarius . The water spirit that has lived in this swamp since ancient times!]

Aquarius crossed her arms over her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s .

[You are such a bully for using that summoning spell! I was very shocked!]

[Ahaha…pardon me then . Well, my name is Ares . Ares Schwarzer . There is something I want to ask you…]

Ares’ face turned serious right then .

[What about the other water spirit that should’ve lived here?]