Chương 901: Chapter 900: Difficult Decisions

Applause rang out as I cut the ribbon at the door of the hospital, the biggest one, in the outer ring. I turned to the people in the hospital compound, where nearly a thousand people had gathered. There are thousands more outside the gate. I would rather not do it. Open such facilities without much fanfare, but I understood the need for it. People need to see me; they need to see the things I am doing for them. It will foster trust and loyalty toward me.

Which is very important, considering I am a new lord, and this is a new city. I am not a member of some noble family, and they are not subjects born in my territory who have undergone a lifetime of conditioning. I activated Every Ear Listens To My Word and spread Lord Presence at a very low power, before opening my mouth to speak.

"My people," I said, looking at the thousands of people.

"It is a tremendous honour to stand before you today and open the door to the largest hospital in the outer city."

"This hospital will be a beacon of care, compassion, and healing."

"From healers, to doctors, to shamans, the hospital will have every type of care that you deserve." I took a pause, feeling the eyes of the thousands and the weight behind them. I am spending a lot on health, but that is necessary. Many do not agree with the amount I am spending. Some consider it excessive. It isn't just the health, but also education, security, and other services. Other cities and territories do not spend like this, but I am.

It is not only for the well-being of my citizens, but also for the dominion itself. People who come to the city for the first time are men, around 70% of them. They come in search of jobs and refuge, but soon, they bring their families. It happens because Greltheaven makes them feel safe and gives them hope. Makes them believe that Greltheaven is a place where they could safely bring their family.

Public infrastructure has played a big part in that, and will continue to do so as long as I keep up with the city's rapidly rising population. I planned to do that, no matter what others say.

"Let us celebrate this milestone, knowing every life touched here will be a testament to my commitment to you and your family's health." I finished. The cheer rang out, and I waved before walking inside the hospital with others.

"The hospital is divided into four sections: the surgical medicine, magical healing, shamanic healing, and central healing, where all three would work together," informed Mage Tylsin. He is the hospital's chief; he was on Mayhurst Island and was recruited by Zela. He worked in the army before expressing a desire transition into a civilian field. So, we had given him the responsibility of this hospital.

Though we did send him three months of management training in the merchant state, it's not easy to run such a big hospital. It is going to get bigger in the future. It is built on a large plot, with ample space for expansion. I toured the hospital with the others. I have come here a few times when it was under construction. Not to mention the hundreds of times I looked at it through my skill. I looked at everything in my city. Especially on important things, which I am spending considerable resources on.

We don't have much money. So when I spend it, especially such a huge amount, I scrutinize everything. Soon, we finished the tour, and I sat down in the carriage with Locke.

"It's going quite well, it's such a regret that it will slow down," he said, looking out of the window. Everywhere we look, construction is underway. Tens of construction companies have popped up in the city, and many more have opened branches. There is a massive demand for it, and they are filling it. It is also massively helping the city's economy while attracting a lot of skilled labour. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Do you really have to close it?" he asked, turning to me. I didn't have to guess what he meant by 'it'.

"Yes," I replied. There is no other choice if I want to make the maximum power of my legacy. I wanted to do that ever since my legacy advanced, seeing how much essence I am losing. The legacy had grown truly large with its advancement, but the tower is not large enough. We need to build bigger, which will be able to host more people, and more people means more emotional essence. I can't even imagine the amount of emotional essence it will produce when it is finished.

Currently, the Velvet Garden produces an enviable amount of it. Far more than any legacy of its grade in the whole continent. Still, over 90% of it spent. That is buying us the weapons, rare materials, and most importantly, the peace. Yes, the peace, despite not looking like it. I am paying a lot to the imperials, so they will leave me alone. The imperials, despite being engulfed in civil war and fighting neighbouring enemies on many fronts, could still do massive damage to me if they wished.

Both of them have large armies and powerhouses that even Bell couldn't do anything against. The essence wouldn't have been able to pacify them if they were not so busy dealing with each other that they couldn't spare even one S-Class powerhouse. Though they would, if I were to antagonise them, or didn't provide essence on time, or gave more to one than the other. I not only give essence to imperials, but also give and sell essence to those closest to them—their ministers, advisers, and allies.

So, they would keep the imperials off me. It's a delicate dance, and it would be harder to manage after I completed the legacy. The size will invoke more greed in them. So, it could be said that closing it will benefit me by giving me breathing space to get stronger. I will need to use this time to get stronger, make more allies in the court, or at least a lobbyist, who will keep the princess off my back. It's going to cost me a lot, and I will spend until I become strong enough to stand against them.

"I understand, but I still wish you didn't have to close it," he said, and I smiled. I did not want to explain all the reasons to him, as it would only add to his stress. Only a few people are aware of how dangerous the situation with the imperials is. Robin, Valentina, and Bell. Also, Schengen and Rutto; they are familiar with imperial politics and how they operate. Carla is gaining an understanding of it, despite my trying to keep her away from it. I don't want to add to her stress.

Soon, the carriage reached the bridge, and I looked at the other bridge from it. It will be ready soon, and we need it. Congestion is increasing on this bridge; the other bridge will help lighten the load on this one. We reached the other side, and the carriage entered the city. It's quite crowded, not only because of the tourists, but also because of the people; there are a lot of them. I had increased the restrictions on housing.

So, more could shift to the outer city, but despite the rapid construction, there isn't enough space. There are many more people and still too few available housing. I am really glad that I had taken the baronies. It had lightened the load. The way they have started building up and clearing the forest for the farms. They will soon be ready to take a lot more people. There are also my two other cities, which are also taking people.

Not as much as Lauryl, but their population is rapidly growing and so is their economies. The carriage reached the square before entering the compound of the city hall.

"The new architect, Ryther, is quite good. I am loving his designs," said Locke as we stepped out of the carriage. Amellus's firm is rapidly growing and hiring more people. One of them is a designer who specializes in civic buildings, and the city hall is one of the things he is working on. In a year, the whole square will be overhauled, with every building in it. I am going to divide the dominion into regions. There will be five regions. Panar, Gailhorn, Nakar, Mirador, and Greltheaven.

The four are pretty much clear, but it's Greltheaven that's all intertwined. Valentina will lead the city as she is doing, with a little more power, while the ministry is where I will rule, the whole dominion. I planned to do that earlier, but we did not have enough staff. In the past half a year, we have recruited and trained many people and removed the bad seeds among them. In a few weeks, the separations will begin, and it will be slow, with people moving to temporary offices, and all of this will close soon.

The same thing is happening with some guilds, but at least I didn't have to finance it. The guilds are financing on their own, and some even taking on loans. In that I am helping them, it's the least I could do. Soon, we separated and went our own ways. Locke walked toward his office, while I went toward mine.

"Lord Silver," Argis greeted as I stepped into my office.

"Anything new?" I asked as I sat down on my chair.

"Yes," he replied, and I turned to him.

"The Baron Hungston had rejected the Duke of Blackwell's offer for the artifact," he informed. I am not surprised, just a little disappointed.

"I don't know why anyone would reject such an offer. That artifact would have helped them tremendously with their undersea farm," said Zela, shaking her head. Even after being with me for so long, she couldn't completely think outside her mage perspective. Mages are rational people; they sometimes struggle to understand emotional decisions.

"To nobles, family, honour, and legacy are more important than anything else. What might seem like an obvious choice to us is not to them," replied Argis.

"Then I hope he won't get murdered and his artifact stolen like many nobles," she said, before turning to me.

"Is there any chance he will accept our offer?" she asked.

"Unlikely," I replied with a laugh. Though we may have thrown our hat in the ring, there is barely any chance that we would succeed. Duke Gats wants an offensive-type artifact for the green element artifact that he had acquired. We are not willing to give them any of ours. The only thing we could give is essence, a lot of it. Like me, he needs an offensive artifact for his people. He is asking a lot of people; I am sure that, eventually, someone will accept the offer.

While I will have to be satisfied with that little trinket I got a few days ago. It was a complete surprise when Beckette came to me at night, with the man, and showed me the beautiful little brush. It's not something I wanted or needed, but it's an artifact, trinket as it may be. I bought it.