yready Chapter 253: Goldenveil Baronal Army
Chapter 253: Goldenveil Baronal Army
Ron stood motionless before the enormous building Ethan had arranged to serve as the main branch of his chamber of commerce, his eyes slowly tracing every detail of the structure.
It was a truly beautiful building, rising an imposing ten stories high.
The large windows glistened in the sunlight, and out front, a well-tended garden offered comfortable benches where clients could relax. Fruit trees had even been strategically planted, providing pleasant shade on hot days.
"Will this do?" Ethan asked, standing beside the merchant.
Ron turned his face slowly, a bitter smile forming on his lips.
"Ah... you really want to keep me around here at all costs, don’t you?" The merchant let out a short laugh, shaking his head as his gaze wandered across the facade.
"Once I finish selling all this merchandise, I’ll bring in some staff to start organizing everything and officially get the main branch up and running."
Ron paused, turning to face Ethan more seriously.
"Before that, though, Goldenveil is going to need a functional port. Can you provide that?"
"Yes." Ethan nodded without hesitation. "In fact, it’s unacceptable that your ships can’t dock directly at Goldenveil. I’ll take care of that as soon as possible."
If it were any other man, Ron would have had serious doubts about his ability to fulfill such a promise. But Ethan wasn’t just any other man.
Less than a year had passed since Ron first set foot in Goldenveil, and yet, if someone told him the city had been under development for a decade, he wouldn’t doubt it for a second.
Honestly, even with ten years of development, a city without a wealthy base to invest in itself wouldn’t achieve such a transformation.
Simply not enough time had passed for something of that magnitude to be possible, and yet, it had happened right before his very eyes.
"You’re going to lead me down a path of ruin or wealth," Ron finally said, extending his hand with a determined gleam in his eyes.
"I can’t wait to find out which one it will be."
Ethan let out an honest laugh, clasping his fingers firmly around the merchant’s hand.
"Me too."
Shortly after, Ethan handed over the keys, and Ron quickly made his way through the building’s facilities, conducting a thorough inspection before locking everything up again.
The next time he set foot there, he would have a lot of work ahead of him.
Eager to sell all that wine again and, above all, introduce the new third-stage wine to the market, Ron didn’t linger long.
After restocking his shop, which to his surprise had yielded a considerable profit, he set off without delay.
Watching Ron’s ships sail into the distance, their sails slowly fading on the horizon, Ethan let out a sigh. His eyes fell on the status screen that materialized before him.
[Name: GoldenVeil
Type: Large Village
Population: 6,002
Population Loyalty: 87%
Houses: 1,324 (1,311 occupied)
Prosperity: Good
Attractiveness: Good
Population Growth: +35/Week (Increase attractiveness and prosperity to gain more residents)
Lord: Ethan GoldenVeil
Knights: 0
Average Level: 0
Guard: 600 Light Infantry
Average Level: 35
Guard Loyalty: 95%
’Stone Wall with Battlements and Parapets’ Status: 12090/12090
Treasury: 503,000 gold coins (-905/month)
Upgrade requirements: 1,324/2,500 houses, 6,002/10,000 inhabitants, 10,000 gold coins, Lord at Viscount level or higher]
[Attention, Goldenveil has received its first vassal city!
It is possible to create a unified army for the barony by paying ten thousand gold coins.
A unified army requires ranks, military law, and centralized leadership.
A separate civil guard force can be created to ensure law and order in cities, but stationed soldiers can still perform the same role.
Other lords under your command may not approve of the creation of a unified army.]
The moment those notifications appeared, Ethan’s eyes lit up intensely, both surprise and confusion etched across his face.
Why had this only appeared now, given that he had already established the new city over a week ago?
He pondered for a moment, but in the end could only reach one conclusion: it had only appeared now because Windmere had just been fully integrated into Goldenveil.
As for the vassal lords disliking the idea of a centralized army, he didn’t give it much thought.
Aerick was his only vassal lord, and Ethan honestly had no interest whatsoever in granting power to someone unwilling to accept something so simple.
After all, a unified army fully loyal to a central state wasn’t common in that feudal world, but he just needed to keep pushing until it became the norm.
With a slight sigh, he swiped through the system’s various menus, locating the army creation tab and tapping to spend the ten thousand gold coins required to establish it.
In the next instant, a faint pulse of mana spread throughout Goldenveil. Ethan smiled, watching the new army management menu materialize before him.
[Goldenveil Baronal Army
Loyalty: 95%
Supreme Commander: Doran
Officers: 1
Elite Soldiers: 0
Mounted Soldiers: 0
Infantry Soldiers: 800
Battle Mages: 0
Knights: 0
Fortresses under command: 0
Protected cities: 2
Military Budget: 0]
[Officers can be trained at an officer’s college or can receive their posts directly from a lord or senior officer.]
[Elite Soldiers and Battle Mages can be trained at military specialization schools]
[Knights can be acquired by forming a military knightly order. (A knightly order creation token is required for this)]
Faced with those notifications, Ethan smiled contentedly, immediately setting the military budget at thirty thousand gold coins, an amount he deemed sufficient for all the reforms he planned to make in Goldenveil.
Apparently, Doran had secured himself a rather grandiose title.
"Lord Supreme Commander of Goldenveil... knowing his wife, she’ll love that." Ethan let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head in amusement.
She wasn’t a bad woman—quite the opposite; she was kind, worked hard to make her husband happy, and was highly loyal.
But Ethan couldn’t deny one thing: she was a huge gold digger.
Shaking his head, Ethan simply pushed those useless thoughts aside.
It was time to get to work.