City councilor (3)
[I’ll give you ten days. There are two conditions you want.]
Koo Goo!!
The steps of the mobile fortress are infinitely slow, but extremely intense.
It is truly unrealistic that a large-scale fortress built for the purpose of maintaining this huge front as a whole has the ability to move.
[Assignment of City Budget Authority to City Council. Ownership of 13 areas designated as closed areas. If you do not accept these two conditions, I will accept the lives of Balkan citizens in return.]
Weiyiying!!
At that moment, the camera screen changes rapidly, and in an instant, it changes to a distant point of view.
The scenery of a megalopolis reflected from the far sky.
The old man’s last words continued as he shared his vision in the sky, far from the human gaze.
[If our dedication is not reciprocated, we have no choice but to make it fruitless.]
Duuk-!
With those words, the video cut off, and a dead silence settled in the meeting room.
“Crazy….”
Someone’s low muttering represents the feelings of everyone who just watched the video.
Is this what the Defense Forces Command will say in exchange for the lives of Balkan citizens if they do not comply with their demands?
Radical negotiations and demands close to those of terrorists rather than soldiers.
Even though the National Guard has been neglected in the form of a steady decrease in budget and manpower, holding the lives of civilians hostage and inciting rebellion was a response far beyond common sense.
“Crazy.”
Mayer got the word.
“The operation response team organized by the city government understands the meaning of this statement as indiscriminate bombing of the 30th area.”
“….”
“The living area where most of the Balkan citizens live. A variable road with the thickest and most powerful distribution network in the city in line with its population. If any part of it collapses, the city’s transportation and material distribution will be thrown into chaos.”
Understanding the meaning of those words, the audience fell silent.
The National Guard was really going through all of this with the intention of launching a coup against the metropolis.
Mayer looked around at the silent crowd and raised the microphone again.
“Those who have gathered here today have built up a reputation and reputation by working with a great deal of trust and assurance even in the outskirts close to the lawless zone.”
“….”
said Mayer, who had gilded the faces of the moderately assembled people.
“Haven’t you come here knowing that you were being summoned by a city council member because you were not bound by the prohibition ordinance, but you were able to build your own territory in this city with sufficient ability and credibility?”
He looked around at the audience with skillful speech and spoke forcefully.
“Once is enough. Promise one-time cooperation under government approval.”
Lennok slightly turned his gaze to survey the atmosphere in the audience.
Outlaw freelance gang member. businessman broker mercenary…Although the identities and affiliations of those gathered here varied, none of them expressed disapproval of Mayer’s words.
That’s probably because Mayer has been thoroughly filtering out those with a rebellious temperament from the beginning and selecting the target for the call.
From the beginning, all preparations to dominate the atmosphere in the meeting room were over.
All that remains is to ride the flow of water and promise them rewards and trust.
Almost at the same time as Lennok’s thought, Mayer drove them like a wedge.
“Then, I promise to give due compensation and privileges to all those who take up my position as a member of the parliament.”
* * *
“Are you okay with this?”
“What do you mean?”
After Mayer finished what she had to say, she said she would give her a moment to think.
Acquaintances exchange opinions quietly, and those who come alone are silently in thought.
Panoa whispered to Lennok, who was looking out the meeting room window at the far distant landscape.
“The proposal is too vague to make a decision like this. There are still too few cards on the side of the lawmakers.”
“….”
Panoa muttered while touching her chin.
“Still, since I came out with the approval of the city council, I thought I would come out with something more attractive.”
“What are you going to do?”
“We intend to cooperate with any proposal we receive.”
Panoa answered right away.
“It is difficult to refuse the request of the city council because it has been in the sun with the industrial machinery business from the beginning. We need to maintain good relationships in the long run, even at the cost of it.”
“….”
“If we succeed in preventing a coup by the National Guard, a significant portion of the megacity’s military business will be handed over to us. The expected effect alone is significant.”
“No matter how the situation goes, it is a benefit to the company, right? … .”
Lennok, too, doesn’t want the National Guard’s mobile forts to devastate the city’s outskirts.
Right now, the material distribution business led by Jenny is being carried out using the distribution network in the shadows.
If the mobile fortress gives up its mission and advances into the city, it is natural that business will be disrupted, whether it likes it or not.
However, Lennok also had no intention of doing things that were directly related to the safety of the city cheaply.
Apart from understanding the necessity of this task, everyone here must have doubts about it.
How much will the city council be willing to pay for the outlaws in the shadows?
Perhaps this incident could serve as a precedent or model for working with lawmakers, so this was more important than I thought.
In order to change the unit price once set on this floor, blood or money equivalent to that was needed.
At that moment, a bronze-skinned giant walked up to Lennok and knocked on the table.
A man with an impressive tattoo curling through his bald head.
He looked down at Lennok and said in a heavy voice.
“I said fast. Is it okay to talk for a second?”
“…I will.”
As soon as Lennok finished speaking, a man brought a chair across from him and sat down.
“My name is Donovan Wight. He runs a small hardware store in District 46.”
“It’s a hardware store.”
He was a very modest man for the owner of the largest and most reliable gunpowder warehouse in the shadows.
The man continued, not paying attention to Lennok’s reaction.
“I have heard a lot about you. One of the most skilled freelancers on this floor.”
“….”
“Aspect wizards who have reached level 7…. He killed the cartel’s apostate monk and obtained the position of outside director. He’s probably the most powerful person in this position by far.”
“What do you want to say?”
Lennok asked, staring at the no-smoking sign behind the man.
The man, slightly surprised by that intense gaze, turned around and said with a puzzled expression.
“…I want you to participate in this operation by all means.”
“….”
“It won’t matter how this ends for a man like you, but we’re different. If the dispute between the National Guard and the city council grows, it will hinder business in many ways. It is difficult for business owners like us to endure such losses.”
Hearing that, Lennok raised his gaze and looked around.
In the meeting room, which had become quiet before I knew it, everyone was turning their heads in this direction.
While Panoa cleared his throat, the man continued.
“I am willing to hand over all of the price this side will receive. If it’s not enough, I’ll raise money separately and add it. There are many people who think the same as me. If they come together, it will be a considerable amount.”
“Looks like you’ve already been through the consultation.”
“Most of them are merchants like me. In order to survive on this floor, I am also running as a freelancer, but I also know that in this kind of work, one solid individual is needed rather than an ambiguous majority.”
“….”
Only then did Lennok realize the true nature of the awkwardness he felt at the man’s proposal.
The people gathered here at Mayer’s call are contractors and freelancers with relatively clear track records and clean business relationships.
Unlike the madmen, outlaws, and criminals without reason that Lennok has met, they are people who can think rationally.
Unlike those who often quarreled and held out a pistol before shaking hands, the man’s proposal had a very reasonable and concrete basis.
“hmm….”
“It will take at least half a year for all of the prohibition laws to be lifted.”
The man continued as if he knew Lennok’s worries.
It is not for nothing that the talented people of Yangji endure the uncomfortable restraint of the prohibition law and receive public recognition.
The budget the city government pours in to win the favor of high-ranking magic users is staggering.
Strong people of level 7 or higher, who are the core and main targets of the forbidden law, are treated like nobles.
Priority access to all facilities and secrets in the city, huge monthly subsidies, benefits of living in the central district, and various entertainments are the only things that are difficult to give up.
If there is a reason to give up the enormous preferential treatment given by the city government, or if you have not already secured that level of status in the shadows, you will not feel any discomfort from the prohibition law.
Those who accepted the prohibition law had only one thing to do – not to cause physical damage to the property of the city government.
However, the leash that was put on the high-ranking talents in that way is becoming a stumbling block at this moment.
“In order to collectively disregard the prohibition law, martial law must be declared for the entire city, equivalent to wartime. The economic loss to be endured in the process must be enormous. The city council doesn’t want to take that kind of damage, so they’re calling us in to get things done.”
“You know very well about the Prohibition Law.”
Lennok’s eyes shone sharply.
“Have you ever worked there?”
“….”
Donovan’s and Lennok’s gazes quickly crossed.
Lennox nodded, realizing Donovan’s true identity at that moment.
‘It was a windbreaker.’
Mayer didn’t just go out without saying anything and go outside.
He had enlisted Donovan beforehand and showed him making a counteroffer to Lennok, shaking the judgment of the others gathered in the conference room.
Lennok pays for participating in this work and makes others work for relatively little pay.
Convincing the process is Donovan’s bold proposal. And through him, it made me realize how serious and urgent the situation is now.
There must have been a calculation in this process that Lennok noticed Donovan’s identity.
‘Still too cunning. Should I accept the terms?’
Mayer had no intention of selling Lennok cheaply from the start.
Instead, he was working behind the scenes to divert the limited budget of the city government to Lennok and to feed others for free.
Donovan quickly wrapped up the conversation before the sudden cut off conversation turned the atmosphere strange.
“…Now that the Hyeongung is away, you are probably the only strong person who can trust and entrust this task to you. request. I’m ready to put my stake on you.”
As a result, it is not wrong.
It’s not that there aren’t talented people who have completed the hierarchy in this huge city, but most of them are tied to a particular interest group or prohibition law.
So far, Lennok is almost the only one who has been working as a freelancer without having a specific affiliation or power.
And Lennok’s special status made him understand this situation and the proposal itself.
The people who watched the process silently nodded their heads one by one.
“It is not wrong. If the National Guard really waged an all-out war on the city, it would be money and nothing, and there would be no work left.”
“Large organizations such as the Cartel and the Citadel are currently distracted by internal circumstances…If we continue like this, we will only suffer losses.”
“good…. Solid, if you participate, I will also offer some of my share.”
How far does Mayer’s breath reach?
A few broke the silence to express their intentions, and in an instant others nodded.
The moment when the people gathered in this conference room were trying to gather their opinions toward Lennok.
“It is difficult to agree with that proposal.”
A cold female voice echoed from the corner of the conference room.
“….”
A haughty tone mixed with intense magic power.
At that resolute will, everyone in this place turned their heads in unison.
If you can put this level of determination into your voice, you are quite capable. It was a clear prediction that would be impossible without an immediate decision to fight.
A pure white suit. It is an impressive woman with hair that has a heterogeneous reflective light.
Leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, she opened her mouth again without looking at me.
Genius Magician Who Takes Medicine Chapter 299
