The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 764  So Thatʼs The Problem

The Exchequer nodded happily. They were always happy to have plans to improve the lower income sides of town. The majority of the housing there belonged to the city, and it was rented to the residents, so there wasnʼt much to be done except rebuild.

They were about to rise when Beth brought over juice, with plates of fried eggs and potatoes.

”Eat before you go. Iʼm sure youʼll both be busy all day.” She insisted.

Karl smiled at the Demoness, and she vanished back into the kitchen to finish helping prepare something.

”I think sheʼs sweet on you. Normally, she yells at people to pay before their food comes out.” The Demon across from Karl laughed.

”Meals are included in our room fee. Theyʼve been quite good to us here.”

They ate quickly, and Karl left a few copper coins on the table to pay for the other manʼs meal.

”This oneʼs on me. Letʼs go get some work done.”

It was a short trip to the Castle, with the sun high overhead. But the guards all smiled at Karl on the way in, and no questions were asked about his identity when they simply bypassed the line of visitors, which extended all the way to the docks from the southern main gate.

Karl gave the exchequer a sympathetic smile. ”You, Sir, have a very hard week ahead of you.”

The Demon laughed. ”My subordinates even more than myself. I just need to sign off on the orders, they are responsible for the prioritization of complaints, and the plans to rebuild the city. While we walk, how about you tell me more about the apartment buildings that you are planning to recommend?”

Karl gave a brief description of the steel frame construction with concrete floors and divider walls, which were not only massively stronger than the existing brick and shiplap floor construction of the apartments in the Redwood Sprawl.

The Demon called for an assistant, and a Dwarven girl, or young woman, came down with a notepad to copy Karlʼs description, then alter it with his instructions.

She instinctively understood what he meant, as the concept was the same as bracing a mine roof for a layered dig, and a Dwarven Architect knew all about that sort of thing.

They just hadnʼt been involved in the last round of construction of the Redwood Sprawl.

”So, how do people get up and down?” The Demon asked as they happily chatted.

”There are stairs, but mostly via the lift. There are two options, either a counterbalance and pulleys like an ore lift from the mines, or magic. I donʼt know which one your people are better with. But either one will let you move a whole group of people up dozens of floors with minimal effort. Well, much less effort than walking up ten flights of stairs.” Karl amended.

The Dwarf smiled. ”We have magical pulleys in the mines. Simple Earth Magic. We can make elevators with a counterbalance and pulleys easily enough. Just put in a switch and itʼs on and off. All sorted.”

The safety standards would be a bit different from the Golden Dragon Nation, but with the retractable gate in the design, nobody should get squished, Karl assumed.

The demon was doing mental math as they explained the process, calculating costs. Then his eyes brightened. These buildings were expensive to make due to the labour of skilled artisans, but they would hold so many more people that the overcrowding issues would be solved for years.

The Dwarf split off to go to the city planning department as they reached the vaults, where the Guild Bank was likely to be.

The door was opened by a pair of guards, then another pair followed Karl and the Exchequer into the vault itself.

There were two stone podiums in front of them, and safety deposit boxes all along the sides of the massive vault.

But it was the System Notice that caught Karlʼs attention.

{City Stone of Drodh}

{Current Governor} Shin Kauai

{Actual Leader} Madam Shin Ellasbeth

Karl couldnʼt help laughing, and the Demon gave him a sheepish smile. ”I forgot that you would be able to see that. Kindly do not mention it to anyone, it appears to be a glitch in the City Stone.” He insisted.

Karl shook his head. ”No, itʼs not a mistake. It appears that the Governor values his wifeʼs opinion very much. Now, on the right of it should be the Guild Stone, right?”

The Demon nodded and Karl walked up to put his hand on the Guild Stone.

{Verifying}

{Darklight Host membership confirmed}

{Guild Branch Not Established. Please purchase a [Home] location of at least twenty sleeping rooms, or three hundred open acres.}

{Hidden Class Skill Unlocked} [Home] One Time Use Skill. The Packmaster may designate a target location as their permanent home, granting various bonuses as the location is improved. If the home is deemed unsuitable, a new location may be designated every five years. Effect increases if the [Territorial] skill is known.

[Territorial] All attacks by the Packmaster have a chance to cause {Intimidation}.

Karl turned to the Demon with a sheepish look. ”Well, I know the problem now. We donʼt have a Guild Home in the Dragon Isles. It requires that I purchase either a large portion of land or a twenty-bedroom house.”

The Demon suddenly looked way too excited, and Karl began to wonder if he had just accidentally converted his reward into a house in Drodh.

Not that it was a bad thing, but he wasnʼt even sure that they were planning to stay in this country, much less in this city.

Well, it was no loss. It wasnʼt like they were short on money and needed the reward. Plus, he could turn a portion of it into a Dragon God temple, which didnʼt exist in this city. It would make both the Green and Red Dragon Gods happy.

”If that is the case, please accompany me to see Governor Shin. I believe that we have a solution for your group.” The Exchequer announced.

They started the long walk to the Governorʼs Wing of the Castle, and members of the City Development department quickly joined them, asking Karl questions about their plans, in case he knew of drawbacks. What they wanted to make were massive complexes, twice the footprint of a regular high-rise building, with dozens of small apartments on each floor, including ultra-low cost inner units, which would have no external windows.

Instead, they wanted to light the hallways with magic and windows at either end of the hallway.

For a Dwarf or an Earth Element Demon, it would be great. For everyone else, it would be a claustrophobic nightmare, with interior units under twenty square metres.

Karl explained his concerns, and the group began to laugh. ”Most of the buildings now have been subdivided into units smaller than that. Units under ten square metres for a family of three are quite common, in order to save money.

But going this way, we can reclaim some wasted space, and the extra height will allow us to house twice as many people, while still allowing the new homes to provide twice as much space per person.

Now, theyʼll likely still divide it into smaller units later, but thatʼs not our problem after the building is constructed.” The architect explained.

”How is the Earth Magic of the construction team?” Karl asked.

The Demon from the Architectural team shrugged.

”Mostly Commander Rank.

Good enough that a magical building isnʼt going to collapse, and the metallic support beams can be created from the ground up to the roofline to support the concrete slab that you recommended to prevent another incident like this.

The windows and balconies will be the first to go, but those are easier to fix.”