Re:START/If {Book 1.0}
Chapter 61: Aswad 8 of 15 “To know who I am” (Part 02)

Odo understood the change in expression on the woman's face in the maid's uniform. Not thinking about it further, he turned his head towards Lisia and asked, “Lisia, you said earlier the plan to move the population will be done tomorrow after tomorrow, ’kan? Two days from now?”

“Hmm ...” Lisia nodded. While walking closer to the table and putting down the documents he brought, the redhead woman said, “Tomorrow the next day. All the files have been taken care of, just cut off who will be the head of the village and take care of the other agreement files with the city of Mylta.”

“Means the place of residence already exists? Building like a house or something is ready, yes?” ask Odo curiously.

“Of course it is!” Lisia slightly puffed her cheeks in annoyance, then turning her eyes to say, “I am not as upset as those people say, loh.”

“Where?”

“Eh?”

“Where is it?”

Lisia immediately looked for a parchment paper between the piles of documents on the table. When he found it, he briefly smiled and immediately handed it to Odo. The young man placed it on the table, observing the parchment paper containing a small floor plan and some information about it. At a glance, Odo soon knew what place the new Klista settlement would be.

“This ... instead of a former village?”

“Hmm ...” Lisia took a seat from under the seat, then immediately sat down near Odo. A little closer and also saw the parchment placed on the table, the red-haired woman explained, “It was a former village, located only a few dozen kilometers from the city. About four or five years ago, bandits once attacked the village until it could not operate again and was abandoned until now.”

Odo was at a glance speechless, the explanation really confirmed that the village was where Nanra lived before living in the Incara orphanage. Putting his hand to the forehead, the young man at a glance felt that the place could bring trouble later if not taken care of properly.

Stop putting your hands on your forehead, the young man looked up at the Mayor's Substitute and asked again, “Lisia, may I ask you something sensitive?”

“I will try to answer, depending on the question.”

“What budget did you give for this transfer?”

At first glance Lisia fell silent and re-remembered the existing agenda and budget. Hearing what Odo asked, Sculpture narrowed his eyes and vaguely understood what the son of the Luke family wanted to do. However, Arca chose to be quiet and let because he felt sure Odo also had his own plan about it.

Gazing towards Odo seriously and remembering the transfer budget, Lisia began to explain, “Usually in building a village at such times it requires about 50 to 70 large gold coins, he said, or the range of 50,000 to 70,000 Rupls. But because now there is no need to build a new building and only a few repairs are needed, in the estimated budget report that comes out only 40,000 Rupl for the main cost and 10,000 Rupl for miscellaneous costs.”

Hearing the number, Odo briefly fell silent and felt the number to build a village was not small. Luke's total tax income is only about 1,800,000 Rupls annually, out of seven cities with their respective economies. In other words, the tax per city in one year is only about 250,000 Rupls.

The annual tax amount is only about 20% of the total gross income of a city, or it can be called in one year each city can get money in the amount of 1,250,000 Rupls. If reduced by the costs in its operation, the average income of the city never reached the figure of 1,000,000 Rupl every year.

The cost will also be re-deducted for the care of the city, the distribution of profits to the nobles who provide investment to the city, donations and also compulsory funds that must be distributed to the Religious. In all these cases, the wealth that can be saved is always less than 20% of annual gross income. In other words, the amount is always below 250,000 Rupls per book cap.

Considering the condition of the city of Mylta in the previous decade, Odo felt that the money saved the city of Mylta was not as much as other cities. Plus for the extermination expedition funds of the bandits last year, most likely the city's savings were being severely depleted. Even so, funds amounting to 50,000 Rupls can be removed from the treasury with the authority of Lisia as the Mayor's Substitute.

Realizing that something had been accidentally missed from his estimation, Odo's eyes opened wide and immediately held his own chin. Gazing at the redhead woman next to him, Odo Luke asked, “Are you using the General Allocation Fund of the central government?”

Lisia put on an astonished face when she saw Odo's anxious expression. Putting the right hand to the front of the chest, the woman in the black uniform of an officer said, “That doesn't matter, ‘kan? The Allocation Fund is basically for the development of the city, so it is natural that I use it to build a village, right?”

“Hmm, it's natural. Very reasonable. But ...” Odo stopped holding his chin, took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head in fret. Changing his sitting position facing Lisia with a serious look, the young man with black hair explained, “You know, Lisia. Every year the Allocation Fund goes to the city treasury, is recorded as a debit and can be said as income. In the system of financial recording or bookkeeping, it can raise the amount of city income in cash.”

Hearing this, Lisia still did not understand what Odo was trying to say. The same thing was felt by Arca, especially Elulu who had not been able to follow the conversation.

Tilting his head a little, the daughter of Mylta's family instead asked, “Me-What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?

Odo immediately applauded the eel, took a deep breath and in a breath of murmuring, “Obviously there was no noble family who intended to help you at that time.”

“Eh?” Lisia was surprised to hear this, immediately brought her face closer and asked, “What is wrong? Why is that?”

Odo frowned, stared flatly and insinuated, “You're the one who ordered, ‘right? Regular take care of that, ‘kan? Time not understand?” The red-haired woman simply fell silent without being able to reply, immediately moved away and lowered her face without saying a single word to refute.

Sighing again, Odo pointed his index finger forward and said, “Their Mutual Funds could be disrupted because of your actions. Basically nobles with equal caste or under the Mylta family donated their wealth not because of volunteering, they wanted prolonged profit.” Pulling the right hand and putting it on the lap, the young man again explained, “General Allocation Funds that are usually obtained by each city will be recorded as cash, income or income. You know the number is not small, ‘kan? That's about ½ the amount of tax you deposit each year, about 120,000 Rupl. Then, you used almost half that Allocation Fund in the early years like now.”

Lisia and Arca fell silent to the explanation, thought about it carefully and began to understand the reason people from the City Government had previously behaved less if their leaders were replaced. But quickly Arca felt upset in her mind, she stared intently at Odo.

“Padahal know such a number a lot, but you want to spend hundreds of thousands of Rupl to build this store and give an unclear investment to many places, yes?”

Odo looked back at the blonde young man, then with an arrogant expression replied, “As far as I am, dong. That's my money, not your people or yours.”

As soon as Arca's forehead shriveled, she clenched her right hand and muttered, “Let me teach this child ...! I swear, I want to beat it! Damn it, unfortunately it's true what it is!”

Lisia was a little curious looking at the annoyed expression of Arca. Looking back at Odo, the redhead lady asked, “By the way, Mr. Odo. How much did you spend to open your trading company?”

Odo held his chin, briefly looked away and hesitantly replied, “So far, everything is about four times the cost to build a village.”

Lisia instantly grew wide with her mouth gaping, as did the Sculpture. Elulu who did not really understand it immediately calculated the number with the finger, comparing it with the budget spent on the cost of moving the Klista settlement. When he found out the number, at once the woman in the maid uniform paled and trembled in fear.

Looking at their expressions, Odo put on a knotty smile and again said, “You know, it doesn't mean I have that kind of money, you know. What I use is only Magic Crystals, its value is uncertain and can be capricious.”

Hearing that Lisia was even more shocked, holding both sides of Odo's shoulders and making the young man face him. “You have Best Quality Crystals again? How many do you have?!” asked Lisia in panic.

Odo removed the two hands of Lisia from his shoulders, brought the lips closer to the redhead woman's ears and whispered. Hearing the number and types of Best Quality Crystals along with their weight class, Lisia instantly paled and felt that such a number could be used to build a new city.

“Don't tell anyone, yes.” Odo put his face away, put his index finger to the front of his mouth and said, “Seeing the reaction of the government people from the incident this time, I think that number could make them kill each other.”

The image was provoked when he heard the sentence. He felt annoyed until his lips were slightly raised forward, then in a high tone insinuated, “Didn't you not care close to another woman like that? You'll be Princess Arteria's fiance, ‘kan?”

“Now!” Arca took a deep breath, starting to feel always carried away by emotions when talking to Odo. After calming down, the blond young man refocused on the conversation and asked, “After you discussed the length of Miss Lisia's matter, do you know who the mastermind was? It's not like you to talk about it for free without action, ‘kan?”

Odo put his right elbow to the table, then supported his head with the back of his hand and in a dark tone said, “I will not talk.”

“A—! You're this!” Arca was more upset, he got up from his seat and approached Odo. Standing facing the young man, Arca firmly said, “Such people should be dismissed immediately! He had without a doubt brought down the family he had served for so many years just because of the matter of Fund Allocation! If left ...”

“Without hesitation and with ease, yes?” Odo stared flatly, so darkly and with a pressing voice said, “You think, those people with decades of age are taking that decision lightly? You're the one who hasn't even lived half way through what they know about their mindset? They have their own reasons, as well as clear and strong goals.”

“Stay only!” Sculpture crashing the table with his left hand, staring intently at Odo and pressing back, “If left unchecked, such a person could definitely easily betray the kingdom!”

Seeing this loyal nature, Odo momentarily fell silent and felt that such people also existed in the monarchical system of a country. Taking a deep breath and trying not to get carried away, Odo lightly said, “Arca, who do you think made them do such an act? None other than Lisia herself, their leader.”

The words were so offensive to the red-haired woman nearby. As if he did not care about it, Odo pointed at Arca and firmly said, “Not everyone likes change, there are those who are afraid of being lost and left behind. Therefore, they will do anything to maintain the condition.”

“That's what makes me anxious!” Sculpture again kicked the table, put on an angry expression and snapped, “You yourself already understand that!”

“After getting rid of people like them, what do you want to do? Are you sure you won't do the same in the future? Are you confident that you can prevent such people from appearing in a new order of power later? You definitely won't be able to do it .... On each field, the seedlings always grow absorbing the fertilizer that should be for the treated plants.”

A fleeting statue began to hesitate on his own argument. He was sure he would not act like the parasites who could only be parasites, but at the same time he wasn't so sure he could prevent those around him from behaving like that in the future. Every individual initiates freedom, no matter how tight the rules, there will certainly be a gap for corruption. However, still Arca can not back down about the argument.

Raising his right hand to the front of his chest and clenching it, confidently the blonde-haired youth said, “For that reason, shouldn't we pluck it continuously? If left unchecked, they will grow more and more!”

“True, it's true.” Odo did not judge the words wrong, but did not really accept them. He briefly narrowed his eyes and stared flatly at Arca, then again refuted, “However, that only applies to really detrimental parasites, depending on how it works it can be of high value and can even be a remedy.”

That mindset is already foreseen. But upon hearing how naive it was, the young man from the Rein family said, “You really intend to take advantage of such people? If careless, you could get entangled and drown with them.”

“Quiet only.” Odo stopped pointing, putting on a light smile and full of confidence saying, “If I were that careless, I would not deal with those miserly merchants.”

Hearing this, Arca recalled other things that should be discussed related to the Lorian Trade Union. The young man immediately looked towards the table and began to sort the parchments in a pile of documents. Then when he found the report he was looking for and picked it up, the young man said, “I just remembered this. When taking care of the agreement with the Lorian Union regarding how to monopolize the port district, they really put great pressure and underestimated our company.” The Rein family's son handed over the parchment to Odo, then added, “But, I think the results are quite satisfactory for a new company like us.”

“Wait a minute.” While receiving the parchment, Odo stared in surprise and made sure, “You really intend to monopolize the port district?”

“Ya, indeed.” The statue folded his hands forward, put on a thin smile and proudly replied, “You gave the order to get rid of the influence of the outer merchants and the empire. The fastest way is the monopoly, so traders from outside must buy seafood through the Lorian Union or it could be through our company. Of course, will be subject to commission charges.”

That does sound very reasonable to Odo. By monopolizing sea products, traders from outside can not arbitrarily determine prices that can choke the economy of the fishermen. But from that, a new problem arises. Odo again asked to be sure, “You will not suppress the fishermen like the merchants of the empire did, ‘kan?” The young man in black hair stared flatly, slightly intimidating the son of the Rein family.

“Of course not!” The statue stopped folding both of his hands forward. Pointing at his index finger, the blonde youth explained, “We will buy their fish at twice the price commonly used by merchants from the empire, it even benefits the fishermen, the fishermen, ‘kan?”

Odo momentarily fell silent, thought carefully about the plan and indeed felt that there were some disabilities that could pose great risks. Gazing seriously at Arca, the young man in black hair again asked, “Then, are you sure the merchants from that empire will not bid at an even higher price? And also, even if they do not do it, instead they do not want to buy seafood at twice the price?”

“Just relax, Mr. Aprilo gave interesting suggestions for that.” Suits lowered her finger, Arca smiled widely and excitedly said, “We will take the minions from the outside merchants. By offering some permanent discounts and easier access to mail management, outside traders who work with us will definitely benefit more as an attraction. Then after that, a stigma that the Lorian Trade Union is the boss in the port district will make other traders will not fight us with price war.”

Odo frowned, then in a slightly slender tone said, “The edges in that phase will be a trade war, ‘kan? The process requires large funds, then there is a possibility that traders from outside could even keep pressing.” The young man in black hair put his hands to his chin, stared flatly and thought of other possibilities. “And also, it could be that they asked for help from the central company outside,” he added in a slightly pressing tone.

Arca momentarily fell silent, only to really think about the risk and briefly looked away anxiously. Before the son of the Rein family said, Odo opened his mouth again and doubted, “Again, there are traders who would accept such an offer and be made minions? Can-can the merchant when returning home boiled alive with his colleagues.”

Arca added. For him that can be said to be quite common in the world of traders, Arca missed too many peting things and the possibilities that exist. He looked away further, feeling a little regretful for being too tempted by the contract that the Lorian Guild offered.

“But ...” Staring at Odo doubtfully, the blonde youth in a soft voice said, “His contract has already been signed. On behalf of him also is this company.”

Odo changed the position of sitting facing the table, putting both elbows up and supporting the head with both hands. For a moment of silence and closing his eyes, the young man in black hair thought about it carefully and did some calculations of the information already present.

Getting a conclusion, Odo turned to Arca and asked again, “Is Uncle Aprilo sure of his plan?”

“Eh? Ah ...” Sculpture slightly jolted, he looked back and replied, “As long as there is funds, he said it is not too difficult.”

“Hmm ...” Odo nodded once, got up from his seat and faced towards the statue. Pointing the young man with blonde hair, he firmly said, “Then, just follow the plan made by Uncle Aprilo! If you have already boarded the boat he was carrying, obey what he will do and support him as best you can! Make sure you successfully clear the influence of outside merchants, especially from neighboring empires or empires! Understand?”

“Te-Of course I understand! I'm just reporting!” said Arca with a little panic.

Returning to his seat, the black-haired youth took out another parchment from the pile of documents and read every piece of information that might come in handy later. Seeing that, Arca returned to her place and sat down in slight astonishment. In the middle of the atmosphere that began to feel awkward, Elulu who had been silent at last could not help her curiosity.

“By the way, Mr. Odo .... The two women from Moloia where do you order?”

Lisia was shocked and heard this for the first time. Immediately gazing towards Odo, the red-haired lady narrowed her eyes slightly and asked, “Women from Moloia?”

“If you look around, from earlier they are not here anymore, yes?” said Arca while staring at the young man with black hair.

Seeming unwilling to explain this, Odo turned his gaze and began to fall silent. His face looked wry, very unwilling to discuss it and did not answer at all. Unable to bear the curious gazes of the three of them, the young man in black hair got up from the seat.

As he was about to step away, his hand was held by Lisia and asked again, “Who are they? Why can there be Moloias in this city?”

Getting such a question from the female with a completely curious expression, Odo could only sigh and surrender. He sat down again, then explained some things to Lisia and the others. Of course the young man did not convey the real reason Di’in and Ra’an left the city, the young man only said lies in the form of several other Moloia people who must be cleared in Luke's territory.

After discussing this, Odo also had time to mention the funds used for the Klista tribe transfer process. In this case, the young man from the Luke family offered to provide a long-term investment in funds and labor absorption. Hearing this, Lisia could not immediately agree to it and chose to include it in the city general meeting that would soon be held.