Chapter 616 Presenting the Plan to the Duke
When the Duke heard Vicente's worried words, he stopped cutting his meat and turned his attention entirely to this young man.
The Duke's wife asked, "Are you talking about The Seven Day Tsunami?"
"No, I'm talking about The Purification," Vicente replied as he looked at the woman and then into Duke Scott's eyes.
The Duke had already guessed that this was the case but asked, "Are the problems with monsters in the south of the continent really associated with this?"
"I'm 99% sure, Your Grace," Vicente said confidently, attracting the stares of the Duke's family in the surrounding area.
He explained, "I interrogated a late 3rd-stage monster while I was returning to the province. It confirmed to me that the monster movements coming from the north of the continent are directly related to The Purification.
There's still some time before this vampire plan, so many things could happen, including continental forces trying to stop it. But I'm already considering that the worst will happen, so I plan to make my family prosper and survive this calamity."
The Duke didn't question this any further but tried to think like Vicente, "Let's say that The Purification does happen and its consequences reach the kingdom. What exactly do you plan to do to protect your family?"
"As the Duke already knows, I have many contacts around the province. Over the next few years, I want to increase my business and build up a stronger influence network.
Through this, I intend to raise funds to increase my men's average strength and build a place strong enough to withstand aggression from monsters.
This place wouldn't just be for my group. We are not strong enough alone to stop the monsters that will arrive here, Your Grace.
But suppose I can bring my business partners together to form a partnership. In that case, we can protect ourselves together and try to overcome this crisis," Vicente replied while gesturing and looking the leader of the Scott family in the eye.
The Duke agreed with Vicente's every word because those things were exactly what he would do in a situation like this. Raise the power of his family and gather allies to fight against their enemies.
"I have a particularly ambitious plan," Vicente commented as he felt the silence of his surroundings.
"Tell me about it." The Duke understood this would probably need special support or permission to work.
"Hmm. For now, I won't ask for financial support. If you want to do business with me, I'll use my profits to pay for part of the construction of this city.
But once the city begins to take shape and I can prove to my potential partners that we can finish building the place on time, every stakeholder in the city will have to contribute to the completion of the construction," Vicente explained.
"At that time, we will also show why this city will be safer than any other in the province."
"That sounds simple," The Duke's daughter commented.
Rory then said, "Starting construction and showing how the place will work will be simple. But to maintain a city like this, we'll need ordinary citizens to do the maintenance work and generate wealth.
To do this, we'll need support from the nobles of the province to convince some of the people in their cities that we can be trusted.
We will also need the army to give legitimacy to that city, and the official bodies present there. This will largely depend on the actions of His Grace."
The Duke understood exactly how he would be involved in all this.
Vicente could build a headquarters just for his family in a place like this, as the army would be able to give him land without him needing support from almost anyone. But to form a city, even a small one, he would need legitimacy, which only the nobles could give him.
'I don't think I'll lose anything by promising to go through with it,' The Duke pondered, feeling that, however difficult it might be to carry out these plans, the chances of him losing anything were very slim.
He would only have to promise his help in the first instance, and later on, he could refuse to go along with Vicente in these plans.
On the other hand, he wanted to have a good relationship with a young 4th-stage genius, who was already influential before his recent return to the city but who was even more so now because of his advancement and 4th-stage mount.
"We can go ahead with these plans, young Vicente," The Duke opened his mouth, "I can't promise I'll go all the way with this endeavor, but I can guarantee that I'll give you the support you need to get this plan off the ground. If it proves to be viable, I will consider joining your endeavor once the place has been presented."
"I thank you, Your Grace," Vicente smiled in satisfaction.
"In the meantime, I have other business I'm interested in doing with you," The Duke said as he went back to eating his food.
