bantayden Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114 : Chapter 114
Chapter 114. Year-End Summary
In the deep winter of Winter City, even patrol guards wrapped in two layers of cotton clothing would find their eyebrows covered in frost after standing outside for fifteen minutes.
But that kind of cold could not penetrate the Council Chamber of the Governor’s Residence.
The hall was bustling with heat.
Not only because the fireplace burned with high-quality smokeless coal, but also because the towering piles of ledgers and reports on the table were growing higher and higher.
Every number on those pages carried the scorching scent of money.
This was the year-end summary meeting that would determine whether the Northern Territory would feast on meat or live on soup next year.
“Ahem.”
Grayson cleared his throat.
The deliberately restrained pride he tried—and completely failed—to suppress made his little mustache practically curl toward the ceiling.
“Your Highness, esteemed colleagues, I will now… briefly share some good news.”
He picked up the general ledger, thick as a brick.
Dipping his finger lightly in saliva, he flipped open the first page with slightly trembling hands.
“As of three o’clock yesterday afternoon, the liquid funds in the Northern Territory Treasury have reached a number I once never even dared to imagine.”
Grayson raised five fingers and waved them in the air.
Then, deciding the gesture was not dramatic enough, he simply spoke the number outright.
“After deducting military expenditures, municipal construction, and other costs, our net surplus reserves stand at twenty-eight million three hundred thousand Golden Lion Coins!”
The entire hall fell silent.
Even Logaris West, who had been casually spinning a pen between his fingers, raised an eyebrow.
“That much?”
“Of course!” Grayson slapped his thigh, so excited that spittle flew everywhere. “The earlier wave of investment attracted by the Fleeting Youth potion was large, but most of it went straight into construction. The real windfall…”
He lowered his voice and flashed an extremely sly grin.
Then he pointed toward Cicero sitting beside him.
“We have to thank our Chief Justice here! That Winter Public Trial, combined with the ‘crackdown campaign’ over the past half month, stripped those old nobles who used to devour people alive down to the bone! Just the Gleiman family’s treasury alone contained over a million!”
The more Grayson spoke, the more excited he became.
He stood up and pointed at the map on the wall.
“With this windfall, the follow-up operational funding for the Heart of Winter Industrial Park is completely secured!”
“Enough. Wipe the drool off your face.”
Sylvia Van Astrelia, seated at the head of the table, tapped the desk.
Although her tone was serious, there was a trace of amusement in her eyes.
“It’s good that the treasury is full, but this is only the first step. Cicero, what about your side?”
Cicero, whose name had been called, was holding a cup of hot coffee.
His elegant posture made it seem as though he were attending an afternoon tea party.
He slowly set down the cup and adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.
A sharp glint flashed across the lenses.
“My report is rather dull.”
Cicero shrugged, his tone relaxed.
“I did nothing particularly dramatic. I simply made the air in Winter City a little more ‘fresh.’”
Everyone in the room smiled knowingly.
This so-called “freshness” naturally referred to the dozens of “sunny dolls” swaying in the wind above the city square.
“After that public trial and this month of crackdowns, the security situation in the Northern Territory has become absurdly good.”
Cicero pulled a sheet of paper from his folder and slid it to the center of the table.
“Those old nobles who once looked down on everyone now behave as meekly as quails. Not a single incident of noble heirs bullying civilians has occurred this entire week.”
“As for the common people…”
Cicero smiled and gestured toward the window.
“Public opinion surveys show that support for the Governor’s Residence has reached an astonishing level. The common people are actually very simple. Whoever lets them eat their fill and refrains from oppressing them is the one they are willing to give their lives for.”
“The treasury is full, the people are united, and the rules are established.”
Sylvia gave the final summary.
“I think our first phase of ‘establishing our foothold’ has been completed beyond expectations.”
The atmosphere in the hall was extremely relaxed.
Everyone was smiling.
It was a moment worth celebrating.
From the moment they took over this disastrous mess until now, only a few short months had passed.
Yet they had dragged the Northern Territory back from the edge of a cliff and even gilded its borders with gold.
“Since everyone has finished their reports.”
Sylvia stood up and walked to the large map of the Northern Territory.
She tapped twice on the spot marked Heart of Winter Industrial Park.
Everyone’s attention focused on her.
“Let’s talk about the bad news.”
“Our treasury is full, but let me ask you a question.”
Her gaze swept over Grayson before settling on Logaris West.
“Our factories are built, and the machines have been installed. But… who is going to operate them?”
Grayson froze for a moment.
“We’ll recruit workers. The wages we offer are so high that people are practically trampling each other to sign up—”
“Those are laborers.”
Sylvia interrupted him mercilessly.
“I am not talking about people who can only carry sandbags or haul coal. I mean technicians who can read blueprints, operate precision magitech lathes, and maintain rune arrays.”
“Grayson, you just said the Thunder Mark I rifle is about to enter mass production. Let me ask you this—if the rune engraving machine on the production line breaks down, aside from dragging Logaris out of his laboratory and Aaron who manages the factory operations, do we have even a single person who can fix it?”
Grayson opened his mouth.
But no words came out.
Forget repairing the machine.
Most of the people under him could not even identify how many buttons the device had.
“This is our current situation.”
Sylvia tossed the teaching pointer onto the table.
“We are a giant clad in golden armor, but our mind is completely empty. We have the best equipment and the most advanced concepts, but we lack ‘people.’”
“Real talent.”
The hall fell into silence.
This was indeed a deadlock.
The Northern Territory had once been nothing more than an oversized rural backwater.
Literacy rates were pitifully low.
Although Logaris had established the Northern Territory Enlightenment School, it was meant to educate children.
That was a long-term solution.
It could not solve the urgent problem.
Did they really expect a group of children who had just learned to write their own names to operate high-end magitech machine tools?
That would be a fantasy.
Domestic technical experts were monopolized by major merchant guilds and the factions of the other two princes.
Foreign specialists were treated like treasures by their own governments and militaries.
Who would willingly come to this frozen Northern Territory?
“Then… what about poaching talent with high salaries?” Grayson asked cautiously.
“That will not work.”
Cicero shook his head.
“I used to work in the Eastern Territory. I understand how those technicians think. They want more than money. They want a proper environment, an academic atmosphere, and a clear path for advancement. Here… to be honest, aside from the few of us, almost everyone else is completely illiterate when it comes to magitech technology.”
Just as everyone frowned and struggled to think of a solution, Sylvia suddenly turned to look at Logaris West.
He had been silent the entire time, staring blankly at the tea leaves floating in his cup.
That look in her eyes—
How should one describe it?
It was like a hunter who had been starving for three days suddenly spotting a fat rabbit dripping with grease.
Logaris felt extremely uncomfortable under that gaze.
“Why… why are you looking at me like that?”
Logaris adjusted his glasses, his face filled with caution.
“I’m telling you right now—don’t get any ideas about me. I’m a researcher, not a trainer. If you expect me to go to the factory and personally teach those rough laborers how to tighten screws, forget it!”
Sylvia smiled.
Her smile was exceptionally bright and gentle.
“Who said anything about tightening screws?”
She walked behind Logaris and placed both hands on his shoulders.
Leaning slightly forward, she whispered softly beside his ear.
“Professor Logaris… have you forgotten that you still hold a very prestigious title?”