By the Grace of the Gods: Volume 10 by Roy

Author:Roy [ROY]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: J-Novel Club
Published: 2022-01-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7, Episode 15: Improving Relations

Currently, the break room of Bamboo Forest was occupied by fifteen participants who had walked out of the conference, including Darson the armorer and the family from next door; I also invited Jill and Hughes to represent the new security company. I had called this meeting to discuss the current state of Gimul and methods of protecting ourselves, but we hadn’t made much progress. Those who I hadn’t met personally before were clearly intimidated. Of course, I had only myself to blame; the things I’d said at the conference hadn’t been forgotten so easily, it seemed. There wasn’t an air of patronizing like last time, but it was still awkward enough to stall the discussion.

In an attempt to clear the air, I proposed using my new security company as an option for protection. I asked Jill to give them the rundown, emphasizing that it wouldn’t lead to noble involvement, since that had led to chaos in the sketchy conference. But when Jill was finished, the group seemed more taken aback by the fact that the duke had directly sent his personnel.

Just when I was concerned that the pitch had gone in one of their ears and out the other, Darson spoke up. “Uh, excuse me. Most of you know me already, but I’m Darson. I run an armory. Can I ask you some questions, Ryoma?”

“Of course.”

“The first is about this security company itself. I understand now that we don’t have to worry about nobles interfering, since that was our concern the other day. I understand that, but are you serious? You gave us four conditions for starting this company—to put those two, being under the duke’s employment, in charge; that you foot the bill for all expenses from hiring to maintaining the company; that you only keep the operation going until the city becomes safer; and finally, that you turn over the workforce to the duke after then. It is hardly cheap to hire, train, and arm someone, let alone keep them fed until they’re ready to work. That’s something you’ll need to account for with every new hire. With all that money being spent, you won’t have free rein over them while your business is running, and then after that, you have to turn them over to the duke. There is zero benefit in this for you.”

“I understand your point, but I’m quite serious about this. With the exception of putting Hughes and Jill in charge, I brought those conditions to the table to increase our chances of gaining the permit.”

The business owners in the room stared at me, clearly nonplussed. Like they thought I was planning to intentionally lose money on this, or something.

“Let me be clear—I’m not looking to turn a profit through this company. I have my reasons for this, and one particular reason is competition. While they may be overwhelmed now, we do have reliable guards, the Adventurer’s Guild, and even mercenaries people can hire; people who make a living from combat.

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