Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Chapter 369: Arrival of the townsfolk (2)

"Next, I'd like you to see the layout of the island. As you can see on this map, we have four different cities planned."

Allen was now focusing on information for the 5000 people that had just arrived.

They were all on an island now, and there was a temple atop the large mountain in the middle.

Haku resided halfway up the mountain, and the blacksmiths had their workshops at its foot.

Erle was the city built for the 5000 cultists that had left the Holy Land.

There were multiple shops and inns near the center of the city.

Farms and crop fields were located a short distance away from the city.

"I see, so this is why you asked me to survey the townsfolk for their occupations."

The chief of Erle muttered as he looked at the map.

"Yes. For now we're handing out rations, and it'll probably take some time for the economy to pick up, but I hope the people will eventually become self-sustaining."

The 5000 people had vastly different occupations.

There were many farmers, but others preferred being butchers or managing grocery stores.

The Holy Land had no serfs, so Allen had no plans of having serfs or slaves in the island either.

He had surveyed the people for what jobs they wanted, then tried to adjust everyone's homes to fit a location that made their occupation easier.

"So the city is still in active development, I see."

"Yes, Erle is the only populated city so far, and depending on how things go here, we'll bring people to the other cities. Once all four are complete, I'll organize a meeting for all city chiefs, so I hope you'll take part then."

There were four evenly spaced cities around the mountain, each facing a different cardinal direciton.

When Gushara caused the onrush of Pagan Worshippers, the four streaks of light had arrived from four directions too.

The cultists that survived, began facing persecution and discrimination in their cities, so now they were going to take refuge in the island.

The names of the four cities were Erle, Murha, Carle, and Coure.

The 5000 people who left Elmaleh, the Holy Land, went to Erle.

2000 people from the Muharino desert and the oasis city of Luqoack were planned to inhabit Murha.

There were 5000 refugees in Carvaluna and Carvalonea would go to Carle.

Clebeur had 3000 cultists, which would go to Coure.

There were approximately 15'000 people who would move into the differently sized four cities.

Their location matched their position in the Confederation's continent, each on a different cardinal extreme.

Murha was being built with dirt bricks.

Meanwhile, Coure had many lakes and marshes.

Each of them had a designated chief and multiple aides.

Once Murha was populated, the rest would follow after waiting 10 days each.

"And the army will be split depending on their race and be positioned in various spots of the island then?"

"For now, yes. I plan on having them train together eventually, but for now they'll be separate."

Shea had been too busy with the dungeons to see the island developing, so she looked at the map with curiosity as well.

The four cities on the island were arranged like a cross, and dotted in the free space were planned locations for settlements for elves, dark elves, and beastmen.

Allen had avoided putting them all into a single city because they came from vastly different races and cultures, so he wanted to avoid excessive conflicts and misunderstandings.

He also wanted to keep them separate from the common folk in the cities to avoid similar conflicts.

The townsfolk had to focus on praying to Freya as much as possible.

"And what's the mayor's role then? I believe you mentioned Peromus becoming one earlier."

"The title of mayor is mostly used in various republics, he's basically in charge of managing the various city chiefs. He's not royalty or nobility, so that felt like the most fitting role name for him."

"I see. And you believe Peromus is a good option for that position?"

The mayor essentially kept the chiefs in check.

Erle's chief still doubted whether someone as young as Peromus should have such a position though.

"Yes. I don't know if you're aware of this, but Peromus' company earns around 1800'000 gold coins in revenue every year."

"T-that's almost two million gold coins!"

(I knew that sum would surprise them. Apparently earning just a million is really hard around here. I guess in the real world that's similar to a yearly revenue of 180'000'000'000 yen.)

So far Allen had calculated that a gold coin was roughly equivalent in value to 100'000 yen.

Peromus had started his company during the summer break of his first school year.

Allen helped him with various ideas and concepts he knew from his past life, helping him keep relevant, while at the same time Peromus invested the money he gained by going to dungeons back into his business.

But there was something else that had propelled his business even more.

He had asked Chester, the extremely rich owner of a line of luxurious inns in Grandvelle for a favor.

Peromus wanted his daughter Fiona's hand in marriage, but Chester was not fully convinced at first.

He told Peromus "Show me your worth as a merchant. I'll think about it if you impress me."

He also gave Peromus a time limit of 3 years.

Peromus was worried at first, but during that summer Allen came to help him, and told him "Well, how about you acquire Chester's inns and merge them into your business then?"

He started his company as Peromus Collections Company, and in just a few years managed to amass quite a fortune.

But it was not just Allen's advice that helped him push his business forward.

Elmea had also blessed him with the [Valuate] Talent, which allowed him to appraise the true value of an item, or compare it to others.

Peromus had become able to use his Extra Skill whenever he needed, which not only helped him when trading, but also allowed him to put anything he collected on sale without needing to research its market value, which saved him a lot of time.

During his business' second year, Allen helped him establish a trading business with Rosenheim.

By then, Sophie had already joined Allen's party.

With Sophie as a contact, Peromus was able to quickly build up a trading business with Rosenheim.

Peromus' [Valuate] Extra Skill was perfect for trading.

He could instantly know how much he could expect from items he imported or exported.

It was easy to avoid items that would turn no profit, and he could spot items that could sell for a lot.

The only downside was that he could not see the demand of any given item, so if he ordered in bulk he could end up with surplus inventory.

The next year Rosenheim helped him place requests to trade with Baukis and Giamut as well.

Now that he had reached that point, many fellow traders in Baukis and Giamut began to realize they were falling behind Peromus.

His current revenue was 1800'000 gold coins, which made his company the second most successful in Latash.

The number one spot was taken by a state-run business, managed by the royal family of Latash.

On an international scale, his company was ranked 87th.

The top 30 places were all taken up by companies of dwarves in Baukis, who owned book shops.

A year ago, Peromus began buying up Chesters' inns one after another, and he eventually recognized Peromus as a good merchant when Chester only had one inn left in the city of Grandvelle.

Peromus had fought fair and square, so Chester held no ill-will towards him, saying "You have my blessing to marry Fiona. I can tell you're an honest man from your business."

All of Chester's inns were now under the umbrella of Peromus' company.

His company now had more than a thousand employees.

Many workers aspired to work there in Grandvelle.

Raven and his group felt like Peromus would end up overworking himself if he had to oversee everything, so now they were helping with managing branch stores, or being guards.

There were almost no monsters left in the Grandvelle territories, so Raven happily agreed to help Peromus when Allen asked him.

"And that's basically who he is."

Allen omitted Fiona's involvement in the story, but told those present in the meeting about Peromus' business history.

"Huh, largely a trader then? That should be perfect for the island. And Peromus, if you ever want to trade with Albahar feel free to ask, just don't overcharge us."

"Ah, thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

Shea looked at Peromus and felt like he could be of use to her as well, her opinion of him increasing dramatically.

Something vital to the island was trading with countries on the surface.

The island was rather small, and its population was little as well, so having a stable economy would be tricky without trading with other countries.

Someone with the experience of Peromus would easily know how to keep all of Freya's followers happy.

She was also interested in having connections with a good merchant like that.

"I understand. We can trade with other countries to make sure everyone has a good quality of life."

The city chief also finally understood why Peromus was given the role of mayor.

The chiefs had been chosen just by instinct, but Allen had picked Peromus because of his qualifications.

"It's all thanks to my Talent and Allen's help. Also, chief, I'm planning on moving my company's headquarters to this island, so my employees will be in your care too."

Peromus said it was only thanks to his Talent and friends.

While he was still young, everyone agreed that he would make a good mayor.

"We'll be counting on you."

"And one last thing. Raven, if you may."

They had spoken enough about Peromus and his role as mayor.

The main topic of the meeting was to discuss Peromus' presence there, but there was one more thing.

Raven would explain the rest, so Peromus turned the attention of everyone towards him.

"Ah, it's my turn now then. I'm here as the commander of Peromus Collections Company's guard division. These two are my deputy commanders."

"Glad to be here."

"Nice to meet you all."

Rita and Milsy introduced themselves.

"Oh? A guard division?"

The chief turned to look at Raven, who had taken the stand now.

Since Peromus was moving his company to the island, Raven's division would follow as well, and they would take care of keeping the streets safe too.

They were all skilled mercenaries, so they would not have much issue watching over the four small cities.

Allen had already expected some criminals might emerge with time, so he had prepared a prison that could fit around a hundred people.

Peromus had always thought that there might come a day when he would see a crime happen in front of him, and he would have to take care of capturing the perpetrator.

(There might be some guards who might want to join Allen's Army in the future, or the other way around, but I'll think about such exchanges in the future.)

There was a possibility of people going between Allen's Army and the guards.

Maybe some of the townsfolk would also eventually want to join either group.

But Allen decided to leave thinking about that for later.

"I was wondering though, wouldn't it be better to have a king instead of a mayor?"

There was land, an army, plenty of population, and international trade.

That was essentially an independent country, so Shea wondered whether making the island a kingdom was better.

"Well, other countries might not like that."

Allen felt that other countries would be much more wary about him and the island if they went ahead and acted like a kingdom.

Not to mention that it was not his intention to build a kingdom, and he did not feel like keeping the island around forever.

He was afraid that taking exaggerated roles could restrain his liberty.

"But I insist."

"B-bad news! There's a monster in the city!!"

Shea would not back down, but then someone came running from the city and barged in the meeting room.