Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 944: The Old Man Named Ryan

CH944 The Old Man Name Ryan I

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Court activities for the two Vice-Lords were expectedly suspended for the day as the twin sisters took their three sisters-in-law on a tour around Cowle City.

They, of course, knew the best hotspots to visit in the city, and they surely took their sisters-in-law to far better locations than the quick tour Alex and his wives had.

Alex, on the other hand, wasn’t invited.

The true lord of the domain remained behind at the Lord’s Manor in order not to get in the middle of the bonding time between his wives and sisters.

Having had no family to speak of in his previous life, a part of him strongly wanted to make the family he had gained in this life work. And so, he was willing to set the stage for the most important people in his life to get along, if he could help it.

Since he couldn’t just remain idle, Alex did what he mostly did—work.

Since the Chamberlain was available, Alex had her bring him up to speed on the state of the domain.

"The population of the entire County is 200,000 people. Roughly 80,000 are able-bodied men, 60,000 are working-aged women, while the remainder consist of children and the elderly of both genders.

"We have an estimated 1,000-strong security force and a 5,000-strong wartime militia that were trained by and answer directly to Lady Seraphina. There is also a 15,000-strong Exercitus Alexii at our borders."

"15,000-strong?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"10,000 full-time soldiers and 5,000 trainees ready to fill the ranks at any moment," the Chamberlain clarified.

"I am surprised the Fury Army left such a large force at the border," Alex commented.

"Crosscape City, built close to the border of the domain to serve as an import trade city, is now an important economic settlement for the greater Fury Clan.

"Merchants from many branches of the Fury Clan send their goods to Crosscape to be sold to wealthy merchants from the Empire’s northeast. With the rising number of bandits in the west of the neighbouring Kellerman fiefdom, Vice-Lord Sophia successfully lobbied the Fury Army to increase the troop size and resource allocation of the Exercitus Alexii you had stationed at the border prior to your absence."

’Good girl.’ Alex smiled.

"According to the plans you reportedly left behind, Vice-Lord Sophia had settlements in the domain restructured into a cityscape template. Nearby towns and villages were administratively grouped together as one city, and development was encouraged within these administrative areas to foster the growth of a city—or a metropolis, as your plan wishes to create," the Chamberlain continued.

"For now, we have four administrative city areas that we are fostering towards this end goal: Cowle, Ormshire, Crosscape and Forgehampton."

"Cowle is the administrative capital of the domain, so it is on track to become a metropolis within three years.

"Crosscape is being viewed as the economic capital of the domain due to the sheer volume of trade going on there, and is thus naturally drawing development towards it. The only issue is its location—currently its proximity to the border, and in the future, the fact that it is in the leased Northwestern County."

"That won’t be a problem. I will have it sorted as soon as possible," Alex commented.

The Chamberlain paused, looking deeply at Alex for a moment. Then, without commenting on what he had said, she simply continued her report.

"Ormshire has been returned to its place as a massive textile producer, though it still houses some of the military housing and training sites inherited from the Kellermans."

Ormshire was the textile town secretly converted into a staging area by the Kellermans under the guise of plague reconstruction leading up to the territorial war.

"Similar to Crosscape, textiles are a major earner of coin, so it has naturally drawn people towards it. Plus, the data seems to show that its population growth rate could potentially even surpass Crosscape," the Chamberlain reported.

"I’m guessing we have the military housing present in Ormshire and the geopolitical uncertainty around Crosscape to thank for that," Alex commented.

"We believe so, my lord," the Chamberlain affirmed with a nod.

She continued, "Forgehampton is a new city built around Brewood Mountain and its mines. It houses the bulk of the domain’s 7,000 miners and metalworkers, who exploit the mines for their precious mineral resources.

"More importantly, Forgehampton is also the main site of ARCH within the domain. Through ARCH, the domain has been able to manage the allocation of resources from the mines, ensuring a steady and clear distribution of resources for domain use and sales."

ARCH—the Advanced Research Command Hub, the agency conceived by Alex to manage research resource allocation for public R&D projects within the domain.

However, it seemed ARCH was doing more than just handling resource allocation for research and development projects.

"Why is ARCH managing the allocation of resources from the mines? It was supposed to only handle the distribution of resources allocated for research purposes amongst the various research projects," Alex inquired.

"It’s because of the modelling method you left behind for ARCH," the Chamberlain replied. "Members of ARCH were personally taught by you and understand how to use the mathematical modelling function of the domain’s Arcane Sanctuary for resource allocation needs.

"We realised that the same modelling function would be useful for the domain at large, so it was decided in court to extend the scope of ARCH’s mandate while training civil servants under the court to be able to use the function. It helped that the ARCH members don’t have much to do currently."

"I see..." Alex nodded in understanding.

The Chamberlain proceeded to catch Alex up on other matters of the domain—its commerce, industries and economy were given particular attention.

Thanks to its agriculture, textiles, mining and mineral industries, the domain was on course to make about 500,000 gold coins in surplus by the end of the year. Then, factoring in the earnings from Crosscape’s trade hub, that number could double, or even potentially triple.

This was quite a small number for Alex’s appetite. However, it represented a strong level of growth within the domain.

This was, after all, a domain that had been devastated by the Wildkin raids and intentionally crippled by the Kellerman army just over two years before.

For the domain to have recovered so extensively had required a significant amount of resource investment from Alex. Now, in just two years, the domain was already mature enough to not only repay Alex’s prior investment, but also fund its own development while still generating a surplus in the year’s budget.

Sure, the current year’s surplus was far from wiping off the deficit from the previous two years. However, it meant Alex’s private wealth was no longer needed to keep the domain afloat.

With Alex’s continued injection of advanced ideas and resources, short of an attack on the domain, it would only continue to develop—and so too would its earnings increase.

Just as the Chamberlain rounded off her encouraging report on the state of the domain, the doors of the Great Hall opened, and an old man walked in.

The man leaned heavily on his cane as he walked. However, through his Spirit Sights, Alex saw not a frail old man, but a dangerous predator concealing his strength beneath a fa?ade of frailty and weakness.

An amused smile tugged at Alex’s lips as he figured out the identity of the old man.

"This is Elder Ryan, the domain’s security adviser," the Chamberlain introduced simply.

Alex motioned to the Chamberlain with a wave of his hand. The woman bowed, then took her leave from the hall, leaving Alex alone with the old man.

"I greet the Master." Elder Ryan bowed.

"Security adviser? That’s a very interesting job title." Alex chuckled.

"It is a title that allows me to nudge the Vice-Lords’ decisions in line with our organisation’s goals while also coming and going from the court as I please, without getting bogged down by administrative affairs," the domain’s security adviser explained.

"That’s in line with my doctrine for Dark Water. Alpha understands my intentions very well." Alex nodded with appreciation.

Elder Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Don’t you have any comments about me, Master?"

"Comments like?" Alex threw the question back.

"I am an old man, for example."

"So?" Alex shrugged. Then he said solemnly, "A saying comes to mind: ’Respect—or fear—an old man in a young man’s profession.’

"The fact that you have survived this long in this line of work and haven’t yet retired tells me you are no ordinary intelligence officer.

"The only question I have for you is—do I have your service?"

"Not my loyalty?" Elder Ryan raised an eyebrow.

"Trust and loyalty are hard currencies in your line of work. I still have to earn them. For now, I will settle for your genuine service," Alex replied.

Elder Ryan chuckled. "Alpha was right. You are indeed an interesting young noble."

The old man stamped his cane against the ground. His leaning posture straightened immediately as a strong presence exuded from him.

It wasn’t the presence of a powerful ranker, but rather a presence born from years of experience and confidence in one’s ability and tradecraft.

This was not an ordinary intelligence officer—or rather, Spymaster.

"You are right, Young Master Alex. You haven’t yet earned my trust and loyalty. However, thanks to the woman you call Alpha, and your performance just now, you have earned my service," Elder Ryan said.

"That is enough," Alex replied solemnly.

His ruby-red eyes flashed with a hint of crimson.

"Now then, tell me of the progress of our operation over the border."

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