“I’ve summoned you because there’s something important for you to work on.” Roland glanced at them and continued, “I’ll cut to the chase. I believe that many of you have felt that it’s colder than usual this winter.”
Confused, everybody looked at Roland.
“But there are still a lot of poor people in the city, whose shabby sheds cannot resist the freezing snow in this cold weather. Also, many of them are short of food. I think thousands of people might not survive this winter.”
Roland’s voice echoed in the conference room. Everybody was slightly surprised because they vaguely guessed Roland’s intention.
Was Roland going to help the poor, filthy untouchables?”
Rescuing untouchables in winter wasn’t rare. The Church of Life and the Church of Light would save some devout untouchables every year, but not too many, and they were all specialy selected.
But what was Roland’s purpose? He didn’t need any believers. Those untouchables were meaningless to him.
They couldn’t even suffice as cannon fodder.
Besides, there were tens of thousands of poor people in Delpon. How many of them could Roland save?
Helping them retrofit their houses alone would cost half of the budget of the Magic Tower. Counting the food supply every day, the Magic Tower probably would go bankrupt after the winter.
Would Roland really going to do something so stupid?
Perplexed, the participants of the meeting were eager to discuss with their friends, but since Roland was staring at all of them, they dared not whisper at all.
“I want to save them!” Roland declared. “Even if there are tens of thousands of them!”
Their speculation was true. This time, everybody couldn’t hold back anymore and began to whisper.
Someone even shouted at Roland, “Sir, that’s an impractical thought. You’re underestimating the consumption of tens of thousands of people.”
Vincent was the only one who sat in silence without any excitement.
After they discussed for a while, Roland said, “I know what you think, but I’ve carefully considered the decision. For starters, the tens of thousands of people are not homeless. Most of them have a place to stay in and some food in stock, although it’s not enough for them to survive the winter.”
Everybody in the conference room listened quietly.
“They can make it through the winter as long as someone offers a certain amount of food for them,” Roland said with a smile. “We don’t have to spend too much time and energy for them. Those who need us to build houses and provide all the food for them are no more than ten thousand.”
At this point, someone interjected, “But even so, it will be a huge financial burden for the Magic Tower to keep all of them fed.”
“Why do we have to keep them fed? We can let them work.” Roland smiled. “The sages among the Golden Sons have considered the problem, and the solution is simple. They will have to work for the relief.”
Everybody was baffled.
Roland didn’t explain it further. Instead, he presented a map and pointed at a circle on it. “This is a forest to the north of the city. It’s quite large. If we organize several thousand people for logging, I think the trees can be cut within half a month. Then, the grasses and the roots will be burned, before new houses are built on the empty land with the timber. The more, the better. The rest of the ground can be cleaned and given to people who’re willing to live there.
“After the people settle down, the place can become a satellite city for Delpon, or just a new town, after some time of development.”
“But how can we make thousands of people cut trees? They wouldn’t listen to us. Are we going to force them?”
Hearing that, Roland spoke to the representatives of Black Sand Gang. “Gru, you will ask your men to disseminate in the slums that the Magic Tower will hire as many loggers as possible tomorrow, and that whoever is willing to do the hard work will have two pieces of white bread for each meal, three times a day. Also, they will be paid 150 grams of wheat every day. Make sure that everybody in the city knows that.”
Roland had carefully considered the numbers.
Two pieces of bread for each meal were enough to feed an adult and support their work, but they wouldn’t have the energy to stir trouble. As for the old and the children, they would take the bread home if they couldn’t finish it.
A hundred and fifty grams of wheat, after processing, was also enough to sustain an adult for a whole day.
Therefore, every worker could keep themselves fed and bring additional food to their family.
Then, Roland continued, “Merchants, start acquiring food from other cities as soon as possible; nobles, take your servants with you. Each family will supervise a certain number of workers. You will restrain them and tell them what to do when. I’ll give you a detailed daily schedule tomorrow.”
Everybody frowned after hearing that, because Roland was obviously asking them to pay.
But at this point, Roland said with a smile, “Of course, your work will be repaid. You must’ve heard about the credit point system to be implemented here later. By working for me now, you will receive credit points based on the specific work you do. More importantly, you can transfer said credit points to your children. If you have a magic apprentice in your family, those credit points can be very useful.”
At this point, Old Conan Doyle asked, “Mr. Roland, what can we buy with one credit point?”
“The model of a level-one spell. The level-two models cost two points, the level-three ones cost four, and so on.” Roland smiled and said, “It can also be exchanged for certain magic materials, or privileges. For example… if your child is almost qualified to be an apprentice, the credit point can be taken into consideration when his grades are calculated.”
Everybody was stunned and fell quiet. They stopped talking and gazed at Roland with sparkling eyes.
Seeing that everybody understood his intention, Roland nodded in satisfaction and looked at Vincent. “You will oversee the whole project and make sure that there’s no dereliction of duty, corruption, or slacking.”
Vincent looked around at everybody in the conference room and grinned.
Everybody except Roland subconsciously shivered.
Then, Vincent declared with the unique arrogant tone of a rich kid, “No problem! I like catching people’s misbehavior best!”
