Chapter 52: Courses 5
Elania strolled through the Neftasu District, Yolani by her side. The streets teemed with refugees going about their daily routines. It seemed like a sense of normalcy was slowly returning for everyone.
Ahead, a large stone building rose from the ground, its sturdy walls and imposing structure taking shape.
Elania’s nose wrinkled as she eyed the building. “I hate how it resembles Arlois’ Tower.”
Yolani shrugged. “It’s a sturdy and effective defensive design. It should be fine.”
“If you’re happy with it, then I don’t mind,” Elania said. She didn’t turn her eyes away from the tower.
Yolani’s smile widened. “We can worry about something nicer later. The estate can do for now, but I’d like to have something sturdier as an alternative.”
Elania tilted her head. “It probably reminds you of Neftasu because it’s stone.”
Yolani hummed, her eyes distant. “Not exactly, but the stone is resistant to cannons and other types of attacks.”
Elania’s eyebrow raised. “What about super lasers?”
Yolani eyed her. “Maybe if you don’t get too carried away, it could handle one.”
Elania stopped in her tracks. “Really?”
Yolani nodded. “I’ve interfaced various artifice workings into the base layer of the stone. It should theoretically cause massive energy strikes to slide around the structure, while resisting a heavy kinetic impact… maybe more than one?”
Elania stared. “When did you have time for this on top of everything else?”
Yolani blinked. “While you’ve been busy doing your things, I’ve been working hard too!”
Elania wiped her forehead. “I can see that.”
Yolani beamed a smile at her, taking Elania’s arm and leading her inside the new tower. The interior was rough, but the foundation and walls were slowly taking shape.
Elania glanced at the time on her [HUD]. “Time’s up. We should head to the budget meeting.”
Yolani nodded, and they stepped out of the tower and back out into the sun. It wasn’t that far to the Neftasu Guard’s new barracks and the council building beside it.
Just about everyone they saw moved with purpose. It triggered an unhappy thought.
“Where did all the people living in the slums go?” Elania asked.
Yolani frowned. “You mean from before we rented the buildings?”
“Yes, exactly. They had to go somewhere,” Elania mused.
“Um. I guess they went elsewhere?” Yolani said. “We can ask Gaston. I think a few buildings needed evictions because they were there illegally and didn’t want to go.”
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
That wasn’t great.
It wasn’t like she was planning on making a charity to take care of those people, but now all she could do was picture them shoving half the city’s poor on top of the other half and crowding them with no help or warning.
And the speed at which things were moving was breakneck.
Her mood soured. Maybe they could move on to helping them once they were better established.
Inside the Neftasu Council Building, they met with Amara, Galen, and Captain Gaston, exchanging brief greetings before taking their seats at the table.
Yolani cleared her throat. “Today, we’ll be discussing the budget for the district, guards, and all of our projects.”
She laid out the current income streams and potential estimates for extra revenue. Amara and Galen chimed in, providing insights into the district’s building and funding expenses. Captain Gaston broke down the guards’ costs, then revealed the bonus Arlois would be providing to Elania.
Elania leaned forward. “The mushroohum project isn’t producing much yet, but I believe it will soon.”
Yolani nodded. “I’ve also negotiated for my work, which will add to our income.”
She presented a concise chart detailing their revenue streams.
[Previous Month’s Income:]
[Airship Operations: 6,432 Crit]
[Yolani’s Work: 2,500 Crit]
[Arlois’ Bonus: 956 Crit]
[Miscellaneous Income 7,917]
Elania frowned as she noted the very high “Miscellaneous” line.
“What’s all this?” she asked.
Yolani pulled out a sheet of paper with hundreds of different transactions recorded on it. “Everything that didn’t fit in any of the other categories,” she explained. “It includes the digger crab and mana shard sales to the bank, donations from the refugees, confiscated materials, and the extra income from the missions you’ve done for Arlois.”
Elania sighed and nodded. There was a lot more there than she realized, but they had been busy. Constantly. “Well, good to know we have a lot of bonus money.”
Yolani shook her head. “Not so fast.” She held out the month’s expense sheet.
[Previous Month’s Expenses:]
[Housing/Building Rent: 4,551 Crit]
[Basic Rations: 3,611 Crit]
[Construction: 5,432 Crit]
[Supplies: 1,411 Crit]
[Medical Costs: 501 Crit]
[Miscellaneous Expenses 1,000 Crit]
[Current Account Balance: 1,299 Crit]
[Monthly Gain: 1,299 Crit]
Elania rubbed her head. “Sheesh. 16,506 crit in expenses? We would have been negative without those bonuses.”
Yolani nodded. “We had a small surplus, but if things don’t go so well again, we could see our entire reserve wiped out easily.”
Elania nodded, her fingers absently tracing the smooth surface of the bracer on her forearm.
Gaston cleared his throat, and all eyes settled on him. “We should discuss future taxation of the district. We’ll need to rely on additional funding as expenses increase, especially if we plan to continue extensive public works in the future.”
A long sigh escaped from Elania. “I’d like to avoid heavy taxation, but I agree that some is necessary.”
Amara nodded. “We could take the same approach as the Towers. They invest heavily in businesses and properties across the city and reap large amounts of income from their share of the profits, then reinvest them into more things, creating a constant economic cycle.”
Elania frowned. “I’m familiar with the concept, but we’ll likely need to be conservative with our projects at first. There’s also… how long until people have actual businesses to invest in?”
“I’ll look into things when I can,” Yolani said.
Elania turned to her. “I can help.”
Yolani shook her head. “You already have a lot on your plate. I promise I can handle it.”
Elania’s smile widened, and she nodded.
The council continued their discussion, weighing the pros and cons of various investment strategies. Elania listened intently.
As the meeting drew to a close, Elania stood. “We’ll start small, focusing on businesses that can provide immediate benefits to the district,” she began. “Once we have a stable foundation, we can expand our investments. We’ll also be claiming a ten percent ownership in every business we are paying the startup costs for, which is… most of them. That should cover the ‘taxation’ needs for now.”
Each council member nodded to Elania in turn as she looked at them.
She just hoped that they had time to see things through.
If they were all suddenly forced to relocate again… or worse…
She wasn’t sure that there would be enough morale left to start again.