342 Chapter 342 Going to War?
“My Lord,” the lizardman butler approached Shargatik.
“What do you want?” Shargatik replied with an annoyed tone.
“May I ask what you and Lord Aldred spoke about?”
“It is none of your business.”
The butler showed a worried expression. “I am worried that he is deceiving you, My Lord. Whatever he promised to give you, he might not fulfill it. After all, he’s a human.”
His butler’s comment made Shagatik frown. “If he dares to do that, I will off his head.”
“I am not sure if we can off his head considering he has a mothership on our port. According to the shipbuilders, that ship can bombard this castle and destroy this entire city in less than a minute.”
“The mothership is that powerful?”
“Apparently, it was a different class of mothership, My Lord. If my source is correct, then that mothership could even threaten the Hofnmoen’s Navy.”
Shagatik became worried. “Fuck! What did I do? I didn’t really treat him with the best attitude I have.”
“For now, we should calm down, and see what he will do.”
…
In the next few days, thousands of golem workers suddenly appeared in the city of Jungendyr, and they began working on the streets. They fixed potholes, and used very expensive materials, making them stronger and comfortable to pass through. It also made the street and roads look so much better than before.
Not only that, the golems started to erect a tall pole on which they placed a crystal shard that exuded a soft light at night, making the city become alive when the sun was down.
Days later, the citizens were shocked to see the golem build dozens of castles at once. And the castles even looked so much grander than the Lord’s castle!
“Where are these golems coming from? There are thousands of them everywhere.”
“Yesterday, I even saw them catch a criminal, and then drag them to the guards.”
“You won’t believe this, but the golems even fixed my roof yesterday.”
“Is this the Lord’s doing? Has he finally heard our pleading?”
“Possibly. Hey look, that’s our Lord’s statue!”
“What the hell? How can those golems finish it in less than one hour?!”
All around the city, a beautiful statue of a dignified lizardman was erected. It was Lord Shagatik wearing a cape and posed in a cool position: he stood with his trident to show his might, a book to show his intelligence, and his crown to show his wealth.
No matter what the meaning behind the statue was, the people there were impressed. And when the golems started helping them fix their houses, they became even more excited for their lord.
The next day, thousands of golems approached the beach and started to build boats for the fishermen. They built paddles, and tridents, and even renovated their docks. They worked so fast, in a blink of an eye, everything was done.
“What in the Swamp King’s name…”
With a lot of strong and reliable boats, the fisherman could go further into the sea, making a lot of jobs as a result.
After making the boats, the golems began constructing hospitals, and water facilities such as aqueducts and water wells.
They even built schools for warriors, blacksmiths, magicians, and other types of jobs, adding books within the library that might be useful for the locals.
They then posted an announcement that they are hiring teachers, making even more jobs while single-handedly creating an entire education system within the city.
The golems were not done yet. They began to make roads outside the city, connected them to fertile lands, and created dozens of farming plots that were cheaply sold to the citizens.
In less than a week, the entire city system and appearance were completely changed. In that short time frame, the people’s hope for the future skyrocketed.
And that night, hundreds of thousands of people went out at night while chanting for their lord’s name. Their chant could be heard miles away.
Lord Shagatik was standing on his balcony, looking at his bright and lively city under the moonlight. “This… is this really my city?”
“Lord Shagatik we love you!”
His heart pounded in pride every time he heard that. Whenever his subordinates praised him, he would always feel their praise was fake and not genuine. But this time, everyone was praising and complimenting him from the deepest part of their hearts. Either old or young, everyone loved him!
“So, what do you think?”
Shagatik looked to the side and was surprised that Aldred and his wives were there.
“This… how did you do this?”
“You see the progress from day one. What do you think?”
“This is wonderful. I love it!”
“I will make your city the best city in this region. All the lords nearby will be jealous of you.”
Shagatik nodded ferociously. He had complete trust in Aldred now. This man literally accomplished the impossible.
Aldred smiled. Making this city better was also part of his plan. Better economy, better social structures, better city planning. All of this would draw a lot of people to move into this city, which would make the lord nearby panic, and wanted to do something.
And when that happened, Aldred could step in and offer them his help. After that, business expansion shouldn’t be that hard.
This was the best business strategy. Give them what they need, and you will get what you want.
He wasn’t very fond of scamming since that was a bad business model for long-term profit.y
“I almost forgot to tell you about your new guards.”
“Guards?”
“Yes. Take a look below you.”
Shagatik leaned on the balcony and was shocked to see thousands of golems standing in a military formation.
“They all yours. You can tell them to do anything you want. They will always be there for you.”
Shagatik laughed maniacally. “With this huge army, I can conquer Solvevland County.”
“Eh?” Aldred was confused. Solvevland County was one of Hofnmoen’s county located northeast of here. This meant that Solvevland was also a Lizardfolk.
If Shagatik attacked, that would mean civil war.
“Are you allowed to attack other lords?” Aldred asked.
“Of course, the lords are very much divided since we are very far from the capital. The royal family doesn’t give a shit about us.”
Aldred blinked. This wasn’t what he had in mind. He wanted to expand peacefully, but if Shagatik wanted war, he could also expand that way, but… his company would have a bad reputation than it already was.
The war between Paphia and Yevilerian was already bad enough, now if his company was accused of creating a civil war… almost everybody would be wary of him.
This was a big dilemma. Should he go to war? Or should he not?
Going to war would earn him a quick buck, and he could have better control over the region.
But reputation was also important… If his company had a bad reputation, people would be less eager when making deals with him.
Aldred sighed inside. After thinking for a few minutes, he gritted his teeth and decided to fuck it. “You want to go to war? Well, then I am in.”
If the world thought of his company as a war-supporting company then so be it.