“The Storm Arsenal will be complete soon. We have hired in total 632 experts on shipbuilding-“Roland began his briefing but Lawrence already shook his head.

“Not enough. Not enough at all. More or train more,” Lawrence said and Roland seemed as if he was about to object.

“Well… It is your money after all…” he muttered, making a note with his quill.

“Next, Quenya?” Lawrence asked and Craig’s daughter stood up, straightening her dress and opening a notebook.

“The Guardian’s Bakery has seen r-revenue grow 12% over the past quarter, and profit margins have went up as the production of key ingredients have increased…”

Lawrence has recently taken to teaching Quenya the principles of business, such as profit and loss, line-of-credit and other things. He felt that he could always come in to clean up after Quenya if need be but Quenya was proving herself to be an extremely capable administrator and Lawrence was happy to let someone handle his brainchild while he focused on other things such as the navy and the pacification of the Sirens.

As Quenya explained the growth of the Guardian’s Bakery and how they have begun to appeal to higher society as well, Quenya explained her plan to expand into the neighboruing wartorn Boulesky as well, but only in the much more secure capital regions.

As the prices of produce sold by the bakery was cheaper than the regional food supply, Quenya felt that though this was a risky venture, it had the potential to increase the influence of the bakery.

“What are our options for protecting the bakery in such an unstable place?” Lawrence asked and Jacob scratched his head before replying, “Mercenaries will be the best bet. Sending in any of the Owls is sending a sovereign army, so we can’t go beyond that.”

“Any mercenary company we can rely on?” Craig asked, looking at the people in the room.

Present in the meeting today was Trey, Lawrence, Roland, Craig, Kraft and Jacob.

“Leave it to me,” Trey smacked his lips, flipping through his black book. A silence fell over the meeting, every person wondering which person he will be extorting to help.

“I would suggest the Silver Banners if need be but… It seems that our Spymaster has something else in mind…” Kraft said quietly, enjoying his morning cup of tea.

“Next, on the current agenda…. Kraft, please?” Lawrence said, looking at his notes.

Kraft set down his tea cup, opening his own notebook and glancing at Lawrence before continuing.

“Firstly, The Owls are indeed battle ready, but without warships, rehearsing naval tactics on land is next to pointless as it is simply theoretical. I suggest that warships be built and actual drills be carried out on ships to simulate an actual naval environment.”

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“Secondly, the new regiment requested called the Military Police to implement military law has also been created as a sub section of the infantry, which means that they will be able to act as two entities altogether should the need arises.”

The reason why Lawrence called for the establishment of the military police was due to his own experience in the army. Soldiers who committed crimes and offences were subject to a different set of law, which was military law. However, in this world, Lawrence wondered if it would be suitable for civilian laws to apply to military members and his answer was no.

The standard for soldiers should be much higher compared to that of civilians as they are men in uniform and should behave themselves appropriately, carrying themselves in a manner that makes them a member worthy of the organization.

Aside from that, Lawrence is also faced with the issue of what if regarding matters of occupation or war, when the civilian police will not be there to implement martial law.

Therefore, Lawrence decided in favour of the formation of the military police.

“Thirdly, we have decided to divide the city sections into three layers, Sector Maria, Sector Rose and Sector Shina due to some revisions we are considering for Operation Unthinkable, with input from the Internal Security Department…”

Kraft seemed almost loath to admit that Trey was involved with the planning.

“Firstly, in the event of a siege, all food reserves that is stored in the warehouses will be locked and sealed under the protection of the Internal Security while all sources of water will be collected and cleaned by the Tower of Mercy under the protection of the Owls.”

“Secondly, in the event of a breach of any sector, any surviving troops are to withdraw to the nearest sector and defend them. Coordinated attacks will be done through coloured flags.”

Lawrence nodded. It made sense. Lawrence could hardly think of another way to improve the city defences, which was why he left it in the hands of Kraft and Longines who ended up turning to Trey in order to minimize the “what if” factors of any plan that could possibly go wrong.

“Craig…?” Lawrence urged the former hunter turned associate to give his own briefing.

“Ah, the leather tanning factories are working well, as per your instruction, we have come up with a branding for the leather as well and divided the leather into two different quality types. The top quality is available to the public in limited quantities while made readily available to the army. Next, the leather available en masse to the general public is of good quality as well…”

Lawrence wanted to brand the leather and call it Craig’s Leather, since Lawrence was out of original names to go by. Lawrence wanted the men of his army to feel that only the best of equipment was provided to them, similar to the fashion in which top quality watches were provided to the military officer corps of Italy – That watch brand is the now famous Panerai.

“Jacob?” Lawrence called out and the plump man sat up, adjusting his belt a little before running through his own list on the mines.

“We have placed out hiring notices for miners but as of now, we have 21 sign ups, mainly from foreigners coming here. We may need to expand the worker dormitories soon, so we will be requisitioning some funds for construction…” Jacob looked at Roland who nodded.

“Next, we expect the mines to be fully functional in two months, with the iron mine being able to start producing as early as next week once the necessary equipment has been made by the smiths…”

“Roland?” Lawrence turned his attention to the village chieftain who now dressed in fine robes instead of those rough patchwork leather that he used to wear. Roland called it, maintaining an image.

“Nothing on my end.”

“Meeting dismissed.”

“Sir Carstein… A word with you in private, if you may?” Trey smiled and everyone else looked at Lawrence before quickly moving out of the room. Trey sipped his mug of wine and Lawrence sat uncomfortably, as if it was a headmaster and a student in trouble.