Chapter 367: 365: Mass Recruitment

Unsurprisingly, Argentum's response to that person's question left almost everyone in the audience confused. Even Delmann wasn't spared from this confusion, though it did not take long for him to understand what Argentum was trying to imply. Of course, that wasn't the case for the remaining majority, prompting Argentum to let out a light sigh as he thought to himself, 'We definitely need an academy built in this town.'

Thinking that he wouldn't play mind games with the townspeople anymore until they at least had a decent level of education, he then answered the person's question in a way that most people would understand. Naturally, he would build up to that answer, going silent for a bit as he asked the person a question.

"Well, I'm sure a great portion of you didn't understand what I meant by that. So, here's a question instead. Before Delmann became the leader of Verdant Breeze Town, when Irren became the leader of this town, what did he do?"

In less than an instant, a great majority of the people could not help but frown as they remembered the laws Irren had passed throughout his rule. Of course, all of the laws he passed did not reach the level of physical abuse to its citizens, but it did affect the livelihood of a great portion of them as it restricted them on one thing they needed the most.

Money.

"To answer Sir Argentum's query, Irren had passed a law in the past that all of the citizens of Verdant Breeze Town would have to pay him a silver coin every week in order for them to continue living in this town." Surprisingly, Delmann was the one to answer Argentum's question, knowing very well how this silver coin affected the livelihood of a lot of people he was good friends with. He then continued, "Although a silver coin may not be much in the grand scheme of things, to us in Verdant Breeze Town, a silver coin is more than enough for us to last for half a week."

"Did he pass any other laws like that?" Argentum could not help but ask, a light frown on his face as he could not help but think how greedy Irren was. Sure, he might have killed the guy in retaliation for wanting to kill him and Blob in the past, but now that he was learning more and more about the guy, he could not help but think that Irren deserved to be killed.

"Other than the weekly payment, we would also have to pay a monthly fee and a yearly fee to live in this town," one of the townspeople answered Argentum this time. This person looked more scholarly compared to the other people surrounding him, which Argentum took note of.

"If I remember correctly, he called it something along the lines of residential tax as this payment would be used to stimulate the development of the town," the person continued, though his expression could not help but turn into that of anger as he said soon after, "But during the time I've lived here under his rule, I have not seen any positive change to this town at all! The only change I could see was misery and despair amongst its people!"

Seeing how he had gotten angry all of a sudden with everyone looking at him, the person let out a light cough as he hastily tried to compose himself. Nevertheless, his next words were still laced with a hint of anger as he looked at Argentum and said, "That's why, if you're going to become our leader and rule us like Irren did. Let me be the first one to say that we'll revolt without hesitation."

After hearing the person's words, Argentum went silent for a bit as he pondered over his next course of action. Judging from the words the person said, he could definitely say that this was a man who loved this town very much, just like Delmann. With that in mind, a plan soon formed as he looked at the man with a smile and asked, "Alright, I'll keep that in mind. But let me ask one thing first. What's your name?"

The scholarly person did not expect Argentum to ask for his name all of a sudden, making him freeze up a bit in the process. Nevertheless, the person maintained his composure as he replied, "It would be Valstra, uh…Sir Argentum."

"Valstra, huh. What a nice name," Argentum said with a chuckle not long after before his expression instantly turned solemn as he asked Valstra soon after, "Say, Valstra. From the care you show for the town's citizens, as well as the knowledge you've showed about the town, how about you become my secretary? I do need someone to take care of the town's logistics after all."

Valstra, who was not expecting such an offer to come up, was left at a loss for words for a bit, though the people around him instantly spurred him to accept the offer. Unsurprisingly, with Valstra's words from a while, the people encouraged him to take up the offer so that they would have control over their leader that might possibly be the second coming of Irren. And so, with a mix of peer pressure and his own contemplation, Valstra then looked at Argentum and answered with a tone of gratitude, "Many thanks to Sir Argentum for making me the town's secretary, then."

Argentum smiled in response as he said, "For now, your task is to record all of the words I'll be saying from now on. Make sure to write down every word, okay?"

Although he was unsure why Argentum would say that, Valstra nodded as he responded, "I'll try my best to take a note of everything."

Nodding in response to Valstra's words, Argentum then took in a deep breath as he decided to first clear up everyone's thoughts of him being the second coming of Irren. With that in mind, he said, "Alright. First of all, I would like to tell everyone that I wouldn't be passing any harsh laws like Irren. Instead, I'll be passing laws that would help out its citizens."

With a chuckle, he then said, "Since I'm now officially the leader, even if you guys say otherwise, let me pass my first law."

Hearing that, the townspeople instantly had frowns on their faces, wanting to oust Argentum out of his position. Though, as Argentum continued to talk, the frowns they had were hastily replaced with…shock?

"Hmm…let's call this law the Livelihood Incentivization Law," Argentum said. "This law states that, starting from tomorrow, everyone would be able to receive 10 silver coins from the town every week until one year has passed. This law shall apply to every individual, with children also being counted under this law."

"Of course, since I don't want anyone to use this money for anything other than the betterment of your lives, I'll have to create a system that would make sure the money wouldn't be wasted on trifling pleasures," he continued, noticing that the townspeople were left at a loss for words.

Naturally, Argentum knew what was going on through their minds at the moment, which was immense shock from the words they were hearing. They never had such a generous leader lead their town before, so it was natural that the townspeople would be speechless once he started to list out his plans.

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Then again, to Argentum, this was the best moment to continue talking about his plans to make sure it would have a long-lasting impact on them. Lightly coughing to attract their attention, he then continued, "Other than the Livelihood Incentivization Law, I'll also be pushing forward three development projects that would help kickstart the expansion of this town. Not only that, but I'm certain that it would also provide jobs to a great portion of the people here."

"The first project would be the Farmland Expansion Project. From the name itself, this project would expand the current farmlands of this town, allowing us to become more self-sufficient towards food. If the food we produce is far beyond what the town needs, then we can export it to other towns, turning it into a possible stream of profit for the town."

"The next project is the Clean Water Project. Just as the name suggests, this project would give everyone access to clean water by using a system of waterways and channels that would allow the clean water to appear right in the houses of its people. This also means that mages that excel in Water magic would be highly needed for this job, so if you're one, please inform me after this."

"As for the third project, its name is the Town Renovation Project. From the name itself, this project would involve renovating the houses of this town to be better suited for living. The walls protecting the town would also be expanded and reinforced to better protect its citizens. On top of that, I would have a mage come and cast a protection barrier over the town, increasing the town's protection even further."

"Also, I'll probably have streetlights installed while also paving the roads, but that would just be a small project after these first three," he added, ending his explanation over the three projects. After Argentum was finished talking about the projects he would start, the townspeople were now looking at him with a mix of shock, disbelief, but most importantly…excitement.

At this very moment, all of them were thinking that, if this person right there stuck to his words, then they wouldn't mind having him become their leader forever.

Of course, Delmann could not help but have an expression of worry on his face as he noticed that Argentum added a few elements here and there that seemed unimportant on the outside, but was actually incredibly expensive to fulfill. With that, he could not help but whisper into Argentum's ear and ask, "Will the benefactors be able to afford the costs?"

"Oh, don't worry. They will," Argentum whispered back in response with a soft chuckle. After that, he looked at the townspeople once more, noticing that their impression of him had improved as they held onto that small hope of him making his words come true. Naturally, since this was his future base of operations, he was definitely going to make all of his plans come to fruition.

Nevertheless, he saved the project that he considered the most important for last as he let out a light cough yet again, attracting the attention of the people as they became silent. Seeing as how the people were now more believing of his words, he then looked at the able-bodied men in the audience as he said with a chuckle, "I also have one more project I want to start, but this project is only towards the men in this town. So, you guys, listen up!"

Taking in a deep breath, he then started to elaborate on the project he saved for last, the creation of the town's Tempest Regiment.

"As we all know, to protect a town, not only do we need walls, but we also need people to oversee it and have the ability to fight if an intruder enters. That's why we have the town guards patrolling throughout our town," Argentum started to explain.

"But here's the thing. For the dream I have, the guards we have aren't enough," he continued, only to notice hateful gazes coming from them. Seeing that, he corrected himself, saying, "Of course, I'm not saying that the town guards we currently have are bad, but let me ask all of you guys one question."

"Would the current town guards be enough for us to expand our territory into a city?"

Naturally, that left the town guards, as well as the men at a loss for words. Of course, Argentum did not stop there, continuing with his questions as he said, "How about the territory of multiple cities? How about the territory of a kingdom? How about…far beyond that?"

"To achieve the dream I have of turning Verdant Breeze Town into a kingdom in the future, I would need to expand the number of the town guards. Of course, from now on, they wouldn't be called town guards anymore. Instead, they would now be members of what I call…the Tempest Regiment!"

Hearing the phrase 'Tempest Regiment' come out of Argentum's mouth, all of the able-bodied men in the audience, as well as the town's guards maintaining peace from afar, hastily came closer to Argentum, pushing other people out of the way as they felt their blood boil with excitement.

Of course, Argentum was more or less expecting such a reaction as he knew that every man wanted to make a name for themselves. Naturally, being part of the Tempest Regiment was the quickest way for them to do so. After hearing them throw questions at him every second, Argentum decided to silence everyone as he pointed towards one man and asked with a light smile, "You. What question do you have?"

Seeing that he was the one picked, the person instantly took in a deep breath to calm himself down before asking, "Uh…Sir Argentum, when will you start recruiting?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked," Argentum said not long after with a chuckle as he turned around to walk for a bit. Soon after, he turned around as he pondered for a few seconds in silence.

After that, he answered the man's question as he said, "Hmm…how about…"

"Right now?"

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