City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 597: Back Again

Proofread by Thomas F 

"Thirteen hundred and twenty girls; that's not enough; we need more," I said to the people before me.

I am sitting in a small conference room in the tower with Caena, Margaux, Carla, and Hendriks in front of me.

"I know it's not enough, but we are trying," replied Carla, and I sighed.

They are making an effort, but recruiting the girls is challenging due to our higher standards. While our expectations remain unchanged, we evaluate the girls more thoroughly.

We increased the evaluation of their potential and their drive. We also do background checks and other things.

"It's a good thing. We are opening the recruitment office tomorrow. I hope it will help," I said.

The initial target is sixteen hundred. Once we reach that, we can ease up a bit.

"That should help," replied Caena.

The recruitment office will be outside of the college, and it will be only for prostitutes. At first, it will be for the dominion's prostitutes, but then it will expand to other areas.

The working of it will be simple.

Girls who have been released from their contracts can register at the recruitment office. Once that happens, we will interview them in three stages.

Those who pass all three stages of interviews will be recruited into the velvet garden.

I am also considering getting more girls from Baxzar, but I delayed that plan for a month or two.

I want to examine the ones we have more deeply. Those poor girls have a lot of psychological burdens. Most importantly, I don't have a spare madam to send to the Baxzar for the recruitment.

"We were managing, but the escort plan messed it up. Who would have thought it would be this successful?" said Hendriks, still confused.

While all three madams wore knowing smiles.

It had been a week since the casino opened, and the response had been far beyond what we had imagined.

Every day, rich and powerful are coming to the city.

Many merchants from the empire and merchant states have started stopping at Greltheaven more than they used to before to enjoy the legacy.

The girls are helping tremendously.

The demand for their company had caught all of us by surprise.

Everybody wants them to take into the casino, but they are now limited to only those on a trusted list, which we have expanded twice in the past week.

"I think we should remove the list. The girls are staying in the tower. There is no threat to them. The escort service will allow them to earn more," said Margaux.

"I agree," added Caena while Carla nodded, but I hesitated to do that.

"We will put a limit on the number of girls working as the escort." "So, it wouldn't affect their work in the velvet red, and their collective working hours would be limited to ten," proposed Carla.

I want to reject it, but she is making a satisfactory proposal. My little snooping also tells me the same: the girls want it.

"Fine," I agreed.

Currently, we have nine hundred and eighteen girls working, with a slight increase this month. It might seem enough, but it's not when counting on all the floors of velvet red and the casino.

Considering that they work in three shifts.

If I had more girls, I might have increased the occupancy of the lower floors of the Velvet Red and done a few more things, but I couldn't.

I do not have enough girls.

"We have to do something about the poaching. The first week had barely passed, and five of our girls had been poached already," said Hendricks angrily.

I sighed, and so did the others.

"Right now, we can't do anything," I replied, defeatedly. I don't like it, but I understand my condition.

If it had been from the empire, I might have done something, but it is happening in the merchant state, and that woman is powerful and has a lot of political influence.

Even if I want to do something, my options are limited.

For a few seconds, nobody spoke.

"We need more madams urgently," stated Caena, and I nodded.

The system has a flaw. What we noticed on the in-store floors made me see that clearly.

"I decided to change the system of selecting the madam. We will add a fourth tier to the system.

"The fourth will be on probation. During that time, they will be trainees and will only be addressed as 'madam' once they advance to Tier III," I explained.

I had discussed this with them and Bell to gather their input, and they all agreed.

"We will prepare the list," said Margaux. I nodded. I will host the interviews after I return from Panar.

A few minutes later, the meeting ended, and I walked out. I didn't return to my office but took the elevator to the ground floor.

I am leaving for Panar tomorrow and have a lot of things to do in the city since I won't be returning for three to four days.

As the elevator descended, I watched the legacy. It had become different—more powerful — after consuming the core essence of the Onyx Halcyon.

We have kept the power contained as we always do.

Thanks to the charms, Velvet Garden is more powerful and far more efficient than people realized. If we used its full power, it would shock people.

Most importantly, it will help those greedy bastards from gauging the true power of its core and demanding more essence.

I focused on the aspect of the casino and its strong. It is stronger in the casino. Giving people a fantastic experience.

It isn't just the aspect that helps; the skill is helping, too, and it is doing its work throughout the whole legacy.

It consumes a lot of essence, but it brings even more. Giving people a more significant experience in everything they do here. Because of this, the emotion harvest increased by 18%.

Which is quite significant.

Soon, I reached the ground floor and walked out of the tower before sitting in the waiting carriage.

'This has come for you,' said Lola. A moment later, she took out the letter from the vault. Seeing it, I couldn't help but smile.

It's from a legacy—a spa legacy. Not Elysian Serenity, but the other one.

Aelys Sanctum.

I had contacted them when I was building the spa after I blasted my legacy in the war.

They didn't help us, unlike Elysian Serenity.

Serenity Spa not only trained our people but also let us hire some of their people. They also helped us acquire the top-grade tools and materials we needed.

I am grateful for their help, which is why they are among the few people to whom I sell the resources harvested from the plants.

They are the only ones outside of the continent of Zenid.

The other spa now wants the same things, and I'm willing to provide them. I'm a businessman—holding grudges won't get me far. However, our relationship will remain strictly transactional.

Aelys Sanctum is an excellent spa—better than Elysian Serenity.

They wanted things from me, and I want things from them. I want them to train my people in their spa, hire their people, and get some of the tools and products they use.

This letter is about that. In a few weeks, we will start negotiations.

"You have already started helping me," I said, looking at the tower garden.

When I planted the plants in the tower, there was a lot of interest, but it's nothing compared to the interest surrounding this garden now.

I had already decided to expand it from twelve to fifteen acres in a few months.

The tower garden is beautiful but will be magnificent when it matures. I could barely wait for that day.

Soon, the carriage moved out of the garden toward the city hall.

I could feel the city's increased energy since the casino's opening. It had boosted its economy and morale. 

More people are in the city, and they are staying. The aggressive focus has eased the shortage of hotels a lot, but not fully.

That is why we are still focusing on it.

I want tourism to be one of the pillars of the economy.

While unstable and dependent significantly on geopolitics, my city isn't exactly safe! Given that, I have one of the most desirable legacies: a powerful magnet for people. I would be an idiot not to use it.

There is also the advantage of the location. It is between the mainland empire and the merchant state.

Without counting the legacy itself, tourism already contributes to around 3.81% of the economy. This is massive progress, considering it was nearly zero a year ago.

I want more. Given the challenges, it won't be easy, but it is achievable. 

I reached the city hall and stepped outside before walking inside. There is an essential meeting in fifteen minutes.

Soon, I was in my office.

'Master Silver, they are here,' informed Jill. I turned to the clock and saw them arriving right on time.

"Send them in," I replied, putting away the file I was reading.

Click!

A moment later, the door opened, and an old man in his sixties wearing priestly robes of the Church of the God of War came inside with two people behind him.

He looked at me, and I looked back at him. I could hear the anger and gate.

The man didn't like me at all. Well, I don't like him either.

"Lord Silver," he said finally. "Bishop Song," I replied, waving at him to sit before me.

"The church agrees," he stated, and a smile appeared on my face.

For over a month, even before I left the city for the Synod. We have been negotiating their entry into the city. They were surprisingly docile this time.

Though they remained adamant on some conditions, so have I.

"Good. The citizens of the dominion will be happy to have churches of the God of War back again," I replied.

They will build the church in the Greltheaven and Panar. After we agreed on the initial conditions, they have already started building it.

"The people would have been more happy. If you hadn't been so adamant, Lord Silver," he said, and I only smiled.

I got what I wanted—especially the three things.

First, they will have to get permission from the city for every member they bring into the cities, and those members should only be priests.

Not its sentinels or those hounds.

The second is that they don't have to participate in the war, but they do have to participate in healing the soldiers.

They will also need to build a hospital that will heal a certain number of people free of cost.

The third and final condition is that they do not publicly criticize the city's policies without permission.

It is the strictest one, and I threatened to throw them out if they did not follow it.

Words are the most dangerous weapon, and the church of God knows how to use them well.

They are a human church and the first one to support the former emperor when he started his ultra-human views.

Creating cohesion between the races has taken a lot of effort, and I don't want these bastards to mess it up. It could bring real trouble to the dominion.

"Our priests will be coming in a week and will remain in our old building until the new church is finished," he informed.

"That wouldn't be a problem," I replied.

They are building churches in both the city and, to show their might, the churches they are building are grander than the Goddess of Dusk despite having fewer staff.

They wanted to have as much staff as the church of the Goddess of Dusk, but I declined.

I won't let them bring in those numbers unless they prove themselves. Besides, the smaller numbers are easier to control.

Tomorrow, we will sign the contract officially.

"Keep an eye on them. I want the report of everything, where they go, and who they met." I said to Lola as they left.

I do not trust them and wouldn't have let them in if the Church of God of War hadn't been so powerful and the city hadn't already had many of their faithful.

The church of the Goddess of Dusk converted quite a lot of people, but many are still faithful to the church of the God of War.

"Our people are on them," she replied.

The city will have two churches with them, but not for long. Other churches have expressed their desire to set up their shops, and I have been receptive.

I don't have a favourable opinion of the churches, but I need them—especially their cleric spells. Nothing is comparable to them.

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