53 — 6 (3)

However, it was a subtle sight.

‘Was he always that strong…?’

This was certainly not the Kaiser Dekal knew.

‘What should I give Kaiser?’

Louis intended to set Kaiser free. The best next pattern was for the freed Kaiser to join Louis’s formation.

However, because freedom could also give him a reason to refuse, Louis considered what reward to give Kaiser.

“Kaiser, you will soon be free.”

Kaiser stood like a statue before Louis. When Louis finally spoke after a long silence, he knew the moment had come. The final reward for the gladiators’ brutally fierce competition—freedom. Some did not believe Louis’s words. They thought there was no freedom and that they would die like clowns; among them, none survived for long. Usually, those with strong faith survived.

But for now it was only faith. It was simple: there was no precedent. Louis wished to first grant Kaiser freedom and make the gladiators perform their duties with even greater zeal. How many of them would survive? Certainly less than 1%. Still, making them believe that equal opportunity was given to all—this was important. Even if it was not true…

Louis walked around Kaiser and spoke.

“Freedom… freedom, Kaiser—does it not move you?”

“No, my lord.”

“If I grant you freedom, what do you plan to do with it? Will you become a gambler again?”

What Kaiser planned to do once free was all too clear.

“I wish to serve you.”

Kaiser answered like a machine, without a moment’s hesitation. It was the entire reason he had built his skill to this point.

“You needn’t lie just because you’re in front of me.”

“It is not a lie.”

As expected, even when prodded, Kaiser’s answer—his Respect at max—remained the same. Louis scheduled Kaiser’s final match.

A city, by its very existence, fell into a state of frustrated desires. After Louis increased Proia’s population, the workload instead grew heavier. When people began to starve, that kept them busy all day; when the population grew, they were busy satisfying desires.

Each element caused dissatisfaction, and the most representative problem was housing.

Even the once-empty buildings in Proia were now filled.

“Lord Louis, most of the poor have nowhere to live.”

Hector’s report. Of course, Louis already knew it through the info window even without a report.

In Louis’s city, now that the food problem was solved, the biggest issues erupting were demands for housing and for religious facilities.

“Hector.”

“Yes.”

“Put up rough shanties.”

Hector narrowed his eyes at Louis’s words.

“…Shanties, my lord?”

“Yes.”

After buying the warhorses, the money left was limited. If he spent it building housing for the poor, even if the budget ran a surplus, he would have no cash on hand at all. The biggest problem then would be that he could not buy iron.

To form the heavy cavalry that would be central to Louis’s plan, a large quantity of high-quality iron was required.

He also had to buy craftsmen to meet the conditions.

To produce heavy equipment, simply unlocking traits in the Civilization System and reading the information did not meet the conditions.

It required at least a technician like Hector.

But craftsmen were usually closed-off types; if you taught them the skills to make heavy equipment, there was a high chance they would soon be scouted away somewhere.

Louis needed talent he could keep for certain, and his answer was to plan to purchase slaves.

‘Of course, slaves with skills are expensive.’

How expensive? The prevailing price started in the tens of gold coins. Usable ordinary slaves cost in the single digits of gold, and cheaper ones could be bought with silver—so skilled ones commanded a steep price.

Even then, “having skills” was only a precondition; those with master-level skills almost never appeared on the market. They couldn’t. Such craftsmen usually used their skills themselves. Processing goods and selling them was far more profitable.

‘To put it simply—either buy a slave, or if none of them pleases me…’

Louis twirled his pen.

‘Steal one.’

Of course, that was in case of need. Thinking whom to take if it came to that, Louis soon found the answer.

‘Kaiser.’

Among those Louis currently had, the only one who combined force with a high Respect stat was Boromir. But Boromir was indispensable to recent military training. In many ways, Kaiser had grown exactly as hoped, and Louis smiled in satisfaction.

“Lord Louis… even so, the shanties will cause much discontent.”

“It’s fine—they’re cheap and fast to build; that’s enough. You can do it, can’t you?”

Hector let out a deep sigh, pricked by his conscience; he also felt slightly disappointed in Louis.

‘If only he would use that genius for architecture a bit more for the needy…’

From Hector’s view, all of Louis’s interest was focused on strengthening military power. One could tell just from the 500 warhorses that arrived along with the recent ranch construction. Even so, Hector could no longer go against Louis’s words. Having fled by night from the port city of Kayani, his notoriety in the trade was rather high. The only powerholder left who would hire him was Louis.

Thus, even if he had complaints, enduring them was his job.

“……Understood. I will do my best to complete the work.”

Hector’s Respect declined, but Louis did not notice that far. As Hector was about to leave, Louis spoke.

“Wait, Hector.”

“…Yes? Is there something else?”

“Exactly. The market—I need it expanded.”

What Louis had was a Level-2 Market. The Market had a special skill and drew decent revenue from tourists, but its one problem was area.

“That place… the issues are a bit complicated.”

Not just one or two. To widen it, nearby buildings had to be demolished. Or they could be integrated—or else the market itself had to be extended in length.

But what Louis had in mind was literally width. In other words, demolishing nearby buildings.

If it were a slum, as when building the Colosseum, they could ignore it and bulldoze it—but a market had an established commercial district, with separate prices for each building. Merchants’ resistance was a foregone conclusion.

“That’s my job, so you needn’t worry about it. Your task is to build the shanty quarter in the shortest time and report back to me. For the expanded market, I’ll take your opinions into account.”

The string of dissatisfying instructions continued for Hector, but Louis’s last remark slightly brightened his mood.

In truth, unless it was a Wonder, Louis had no separate blueprints—even for basic buildings; strictly speaking, he could not design even a shanty himself.

However, Hector regarded Louis as an architectural designer with genius ideas—and Louis had to some extent caught on to this. For most things, it was best to leave them plausibly to Hector.

“Understood. I will finish the shanty work as quickly as possible and show you a new design for the market.”

There was strength in Hector’s tone near the end. He felt inferior to Louis, yet also craved recognition. Given how naturally Louis made his request, Hector harbored no doubts and simply left.

“Priest Chris is here.”

Chris was the head of the clergy who had long stayed in Proia. There hadn’t been many clergy to begin with, and during the recent food shortage they had all starved to death. Even as the population grew, clergy did not increase easily. Because there were few priests, in Louis’s city the poor often died as soon as they fell ill. To solve this, he could build religious facilities and send word to the main Church to dispatch additional priests with holy power—but Louis was ignoring this issue as well.

Louis knew perfectly well why Chris had come, yet he signaled to the attendant to admit him.

Having already been refused audience several times, the old man—quite incensed—stormed in.

“Consul!”

“Speak.”

“Why do you keep avoiding me!!”

Louis forced a smile. He was an old man; speaking harshly felt improper.

“You know well: I am busy. Very. Even now I am meeting you with difficulty, so I ask for your understanding.”

“You plan to prosper a barbaric enterprise, yet you neglect the service of God! If you continue like this, God will grow wroth and bring famine upon Proia again!”

Chris’s meaning was so clear that Louis could not claim ignorance of his demands. Though a clergyman, Chris was an educated man who understood city affairs. Louis was raising buildings rapidly, purchasing warhorses, increasing population, and invigorating commerce—yet showed no interest in religion; it drove Chris mad.

‘It wasn’t God who caused famine, but men. And I beat those wretches down myself.’

Of course, if he spoke thus to Chris’s face, the horned cleric might immediately lodge a complaint with the main Church, so he had to watch his tongue.

“Very well, I understand. So—what do you want?”

Asking directly for the point was Louis’s specialty; he was bold even with superiors, and more so with subordinates.

“It’s simple. Please spend some budget on the religious side! We are far too short on manpower! We need priests, but our buildings are so dilapidated we cannot even request a dispatch from the main Church!”

“……. Lower your voice.”

Louis tossed the remark to the gravel-voiced elder and fell into thought. Frankly, if Chris would simply be quiet, Louis could spend the budget wherever he wished. But if Chris collected all these complaints and hurled them at the main Church, then when the time came to improve healthcare, the Church might refuse to dispatch priests.

‘In short, I have to placate him somehow…’

“Chris.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a wife?”

“I do. That is a given, my lord!”

“Mm. I understand your complaints very well. Therefore, I’d like to send a token gift.”

“…………….”

“Will you accept a gift? I will send it to your wife. I am sure she will like it.”

“……………”

“How many wives do you have?”

“……….Including concubines, six.”

“Good. I shall send a modest gift to all six. Will you accept?”

“I will at least receive it.”

“I have a favor. If the gifts please you, I’d like this month’s letter to the main Church to be written… neatly.”

“………..”

Chris pursed his lips and said,

“I will decide after I receive the gifts!”

After Chris left, Louis asked the attendant,

“He truly has six wives?”

“……. So we understand, my lord. He is wealthy. There was a wedding recently for a newly taken concubine.”

“The old man is vigorous.”

The attendant snorted a laugh, then hastily covered his mouth.