City of Desire

Valentina Elar

"Chief,"

The people got up as I stepped into the room.

Everyone important in the city administration is here, from Deputy Chief Trik to the head of housing, Raymond.

"I have called this meeting because our progress on one of the most important aspects has been less than we had wanted." They nodded sombrely.

I am being polite here because we failed.

"Lord Silver had taken notice of this problem and expressed his displeasure. He wants to fix it or at least manage the problem before the legacy opens."

It is one of the problems that is frustrating me, because I have tried hard to fix it.

"The population of the inner city had gone past six hundred thousand, and it is still increasing. We need to stop that and, if possible, reverse it," I stated, and many nodded.

"The inner city is not made for that many people.

"While the skill and effective administration had kept it from becoming overly crowded, the strain of such a population is showing."

"We are not able to effectively utilize the resources and services to accommodate that level of population. It is putting pressure on the infrastructure." Added Halmer, head of the census.

"It is why we need to find better ideas and do it quickly, because we have less than three months,"

I said, before turning to look at each of them. I sent them a memo yesterday, and I hope they have some good ideas because we need to fix the problem.

It is my problem, since most of the city's administration is handed to me.

After he came back from Panar, he gave me even more responsibilities.

I don't want to fail him or give him more things to be worried about. Seeing as he is already extremely worried about the things in Panar.

"We could incentivize and reduce the property tax further." "Provide a concession in building materials, for the outercity," suggested Wilson.

"We should also provide interest-free loans, more cash to people moving there," added Tarissa.

A few more offered suggestions along the same line. We are already doing it, and we will only be increasing those incentives. It worked somewhat, but not as well as we'd have liked.

I don't believe that increasing the incentive further will help much or yield the results we need.

Subsidies are already costing the city a huge amount of money, and I don't want to spend more on them. I'd rather spend it on building hospitals, schools, parks and shelters, and the other important stuff.

There is a reason why it is not working. Remus had explained clearly to me.

He said bigger plots, comfortable homes, and more amenities cannot replace the relations and communities people have built. It is why many hesitate despite attractive incentives.

Soon, everyone gave their opinion except for Trik. The old man remained silent.

I turned to the man. I didn't ask him, just looked at him. It was clear from his expressions that he had something to say, but he hesitated.

"We already heard everything, chief; it won't hurt us to hear what you have to say," I said to him.

He hesitated for a moment before his expression became firm.

"In my tribe, when we needed our people to move in a certain direction, we relied on three things: rewards to encourage them, restrictions to guide them, and punishments to discourage what we could not allow."

He said slowly.

"This is a city, Chief, not a forest tribe," Martin said, his voice edged with mockery.

I turned to the man, and he seemed to feel my eyes, turned away, and immediately, he shuddered. He is jealous and doesn't like orcs much, but I kept him because he is capable.

Now, I am rethinking whether I made the right decision.

He seemed to read some of my thoughts as fear flashed in his eyes, but the next moment he controlled it and looked down. He didn't apologize.

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I looked at him a moment longer before turning back to Trik.

"Continue, chief." The man nodded, but he didn't speak immediately. There was no more hesitation, but a moment later, he opened his mouth.

"We should change our approach as it's clear that rewards alone aren't working." I nodded.

"I propose that we freeze the permits of lower- and middle-income housing effective immediately with only a few exceptions." "We should also strictly enforce expansion of housing occupancy limits."

"We should put limits on licensing of non-essential or unimportant businesses in the inner city and lessen and lower regulations for businesses in outer cities."

"We should also stop allowing high employment, but low-skill businesses in the inner city and incentivize them to shift to the outer city."

"We should restrict new residents in the inner city and set strict district population quotas and impose resident permits more effectively."

There was utter silence when he was finished.

I expected something different from the way he had shown the hesitation, but not this extreme.

"Lord Silver would never accept this; the city grew because we offered people the freedom. If we take that away, it will affect the growth of the city." Martin said.

I didn't even glance at him. However, he was right about the freedom. is freer in this city than in the whole empire, more even than Inam.

It is the reason I love it so much, but we are facing a problem so big that Remus has asked me to take drastic measures if we need to deal with it.

The inner city has six hundred thousand people, which it could barely handle.

If it is just that, we would have dealt with it slowly, but in less than three months, the legacy would open, and thousands of people would descend on the city.

It will attract a lot of people, who will make it home—exacerbating the problem.

"You must have thought about it deeply?" It was not a question. He didn't reply; he took out a file from his bag and slid it toward me. I caught and opened it.

Activating Rapid Analysis, I began to read through the file.

The man is detailed as ever. Many underestimate him due to his age, race, and background, but that is a great asset to us. He had massive administrative experience.

He is also quite open-minded among old orcs and rapidly learned the ways of the city.

Since he took over the outer city, it is developing fast. Most importantly, it has massively reduced the load on me.

It took me some time, but I read through it.

"This is not something I would normally even think about, but circumstances as such, we will have to implement many of the ideas that Chief Trik had provided."

Martin opened his mouth, but closed it, seeing everyone against him.

"Will Lord Silver agree?" Wilson asked.

I smiled.

Remus had already made his position clear: I did not need to ask permission, not even for important decisions. I only had to send him a brief about it.

If he saw a problem, he would say something; if he didn't, I could continue with it.

"The meeting is over, but if you come across any other ideas. I will be more than open to hearing them," I stated and walked out of the conference room, with the file in hand.

Soon, I reached my office and sat down in my chair, before looking at the file in front of me and sighing.

Internally, I hate it.

It's against the very idea of the city that Remus had forged. The impact will majorly impact lower- and middle-income people. It won't affect the rich, at least as much as the poor.

Still, I will accept most of its suggestions because there is no choice.

The legacy is opening, and a lot of people are going to come. Tourists, but also other people, including the rich and powerful, whom we want to keep in the city.

The poor and middle-class are the lifeblood of the city, but the rich and powerful are just as necessary.

They are the ones who open large businesses, bring influence to the city, and attract others like them. Their presence also draws the poor and middle class, because opportunity follows wealth and power.

The nobles matter even more. Many people remain loyal to their lieges and are willing to settle wherever those lieges reside.

If that place also offers jobs and safety, then the decision becomes even easier.

We want Greltheaven to be a city of dreams and opportunity, and these people are necessary, just as it is necessary to make the hard decision when the time comes.

There is no other choice; I need to make the decision. If not now, then later, but later things become worse.

So, now I have to choose which of these points to enact. We will have to enact many, but not all of them. Some are too repressive; Remus wouldn't agree to them.

'Chief, Mr. Amellus is here for you,' my assistant informed me. I stopped and turned to the clock; I still had ten minutes before I had an appointment.

Besides, I had asked him to meet me as soon as he returned from Panar.

A moment later, Ed walked in and, immediately, surprised expressions appeared on his face.

He opened his mouth, but I put a finger to my lips, cast a Privacy Spell, and sent a message spell to the legacy. Remus had informed me to discuss such things only after informing the legacy.

He understood, cast his own privacy spell, and waited. We didn't have to wait for long before the familiar presence descended.

"So, how was the trip?" I asked, and he glared. "You should have told me!" I laughed.

He went to Panar and wasn't told the reason. He didn't want to go, since he was extremely busy with legacy and argued vehemently against it, but since the order came from Lord Silver, he had to agree.

We wouldn't have sent him, but he was the only other person who knew Galaid and was loyal enough to trust with it.

The old man needed help. So, we sent him. Thankfully, his short stay had been very helpful.

"Where would the fun have been in that?" I asked. He glared once more. "If you had, it would have saved me from embarrassment of gawking at it like a bumkin."

"So, it was good?" I asked, and he laughed. "Amazing, mesmerizing, unlike anything I have seen before." His voice filled with deep emotions.

Ed rarely shows such intense emotions. His showing them now displayed how much it had impressed him.

"Until now, I have only read about such architecture, but I was able to see it, not to mention all the floors and that incredible library."

Feeling that excitement, I couldn't help but feel envious.

I want to see it, but I don't think I will be able to go there before Legacy opens. Even then, we have to be careful since enemies are monitoring every one of us and the city.

Some even tried to sneak through.

"The library is amazing; you should see it, Val. It is filled with thousands and thousands of books. Not just about golems, but about magic, artifacts, and even architecture," he said excitedly, making me more envious.

"Good, because once you are finally finished with the legacy, we are going to ship you there for a few weeks," I said.

He smiled.

"Even if you didn't send me, I'd run there on my own."