Chapter 110 – Planning Permission

"Hmm... if we put that here and that over there..."

You see, Garry the gnome has a promotion... or just a new job on the side, he's still getting paid the same amount regardless. Basically what we're up to right now is checking out an area suitable for development just off the outskirts of the town. This place in particular is basically going to be where nearly everything is going to be built when things are finally set into motion.

"...That could work... you two, you're definitely going to want everything close by and together especially focused around the treasury... although I'm unsure why you still don't want a palace or a fancy place to live in just yet"

He's been very specific and pedantic on this sort of thing, apparently we need a new district focused around the government side of things and within that district, the suggestion of a leaders building or palace has been suggested. Look, there's already the idea for a new town hall and stuff like that has been thought out but do we really need such a building like a palace? Sure, it would be small and more like a wooden Viking longhouse in the beginning but still, there's way more important things to start.

"You're still on that idea? Just forget it for now, way too much other stuff going on to worry about that crap"

"Heh, Ikarus is right though, it would be nice to have a home but work comes first"

In all honestly, a nice little wood cabin out in the woods with Petra sounds brilliant but there's limited workforce on this island and it's all going to be needed when the ships next arrive. Once we can exchange the silver, this place is going to be a constant mess of non-stop builders which we'll make sure actually get paid for the completed job, not by time so they can't take years building something that never gets completed... my thinking oddly goes back to Earth when experiencing roadworks, remember a one-mile stretch of road taking literal years to fix... weird thing to compare it to.

"Regardless, I'm still setting up a place in mind just in case you two leaders get tired of sleeping at the inns, people do find that a little odd but I guess it makes them feel like you're pretty genuine and grounded I guess"

Huh, where did that comment from Garry the gnome come from? We're not the leaders, just members on the council for now.

"Wait, what was that dwarf? You just called us leaders?"

"..."

He pauses before answering my question and Petra's silence, it's almost as if he thought we already knew what he just said.

"Are you actually surprised people think Marcus gave you the place to control? The rumour is any decision doesn't get passed unless you two say and he's basically just become your adviser at this point... you don't really talk to many people, do you?..."

Was this really noticeable? No, it couldn't have been, even Petra looks a little surprised about such a thing. There obviously was the slight hint people may get that impression after what happened when I 'rescued' pervy Petra from the building and we are seen a lot around this place taking to the guy and even have majority control on decisions... I guess I can see why people might think we're in power now but it's not exactly like we've been releasing information to the public, at least us two haven't...

"...I'm really not the person for such a conversation though, my wife could probably tell you more since she can't help but talk to any stranger. Now you can bugger off, I've got to check the terrain to make sure how deep we need the foundations and this is always bloody boring work"

Looks like that's our cue to leave the dwarf alone, I really need to get him a red pointy hat someday and say it's part of his work uniform so his nickname will only get worse. He should just embrace it at this point, it does suit him.

You really have no idea just how involved Garry the gnome is actually involved in nearly everything though, whether it was intentional or not, who cares? Basically, he's taken over anything building, planning or architecture related, has nearly all the blacksmiths' shops under his thumb looking for advice and has made the smelting of the gold so much faster already. We are so lucky to keep stumbling across capable people who can handle all that stuff with us just making sure everything is still running smoothly in the background.

If he were down for the politician crap, he'd be good to invite to the council but he's already declined the offer. He's more of the type of person to prefer getting his hands dirty or grimy I guess, no problem with that but I do feel like we're starting to become lazy watching everyone else work... why am I complaining? That's a great thing! We still handle the transport and council stuff anyways.

This settlement is really starting to become reliant on the people now residing in it. Also, we've got a constant source of food being from the ocean, water isn't difficult to come by just because of how often it rains in and around the empire and we've got trade set up towards two of the wealthiest kingdoms or empires around. Now we just need to plan for expansion, make less work for us and we're set!

Before we set off, there was something else I nearly forget to mention while we're out here.

"Oh, just a question gnome, you know anything about prosthetics?"

Got to be helping stumpy the miner out a little, an uneven wooden leg really isn't suitable if he wants a limp for the rest of his life.

"Urgh, cursed nickname... a prosthetic? The hell is that?"

Even Petra looks a little confused by that word, is that word really that rare? I guess artificial works better but still.

"You know, artificial limbs and all that for when someone's lost one, you have any clue on how to build them?"

Garry the gnome pauses for a second pondering from my question, he is considered a legendary dwarven blacksmith and builder so I bet he'd be able to do something even with no knowledge on the subject. I'm thinking he might just be recollecting his memory though; he should be over a hundred if I remember correctly.

"Erm... I know the fundamentals behind the design but don't expect something like being able to use all metal fingers independently though, it's something I've never actually tried doing before. Legs should be a whole lot simpler, why though? I'm not sure I remember seeing anyone missing anything around here"

Ah good, looks like stumpy the miner could use his help, I'm still not great with names for everyone it seems so he'll just be known as stumpy for the time being.

"Well, there's this miner who..."

__________

After finishing our inspection of the future build site with the dwarf, we're currently in a council meeting with Marcus and wouldn't you know it, there's a guest here with us around this inn table.

"Just the odd question before we start the meeting Marcus... why is she here?"

Who I'm pointing at is the pink haired Penelope who for some reason is part of this makeshift council meeting we have going on with the stereotypical black haired protagonist Marcus... I guess even politicians can be heroes but I'm just distracting myself.

Unfortunately, we had to find a different inn to sleep at because of the obvious guild destroying it reason and conduct this council meeting today, it's a good thing Marcus keeps backups hidden away of all the files he keeps on the city otherwise nearly everything could've been lost. Seriously though, both the town hall and inn have burnt down which should've destroyed everything and yet, he always has pages and documents of nearly every tax or amount of income coming in and out of this place.

It's almost a little suspicious how he's able to keep up with all this but he might just be exceptional with numbers and likes to keep everything well sorted... even if no one has any clue where he puts all the spare backup files.

"'She'... does have a name, would you like to be called Petra's lover instead of Ikarus? It's annoying, right?"

Yes actually, I like being called that but Petra clearly took offensive from Penelope being snarky towards me, Petra has always been protective and I guess maybe the way I said she pissed off Miss gender bender off?

"Careful what you say to Ikarus otherwise it could be the last words you speak Penelope"

After the threat, Miss Penelope instantly changes her tone, it's almost creepy how fast she can return to her normal speaking voice.

"Hey Petra! You know I didn't mean any harm, just sometimes your girlfriend sounds so mean so I'm just defending myself!"

The over-the-top excessive emotion this person has always shown can be difficult to stomach at times, I'm just hoping she can shut up so we can get on with this now. I guess I can sometimes sound a little mean rude but that time was clearly not intentional.

"Okay then, let me rephrase it, why did you invite 'Penelope' Marcus?"

(Penelope) "Thank you!"

"I thought it would be a good idea having such a pronounced guild master involved in some way around the place, maybe for some advice or just simply to discuss the plans for how their guild wants to build a headquarters. We can always kick her out if you she's too much"

"Heh, you won't get anything intelligent out of her Marcus. Pure power is one thing; brainpower has always be lacking with this one"

"Just use the word stupid Petra, it may be blunt but it gets the job done"

"Heh, of course Ikarus"

At this point, Miss gender bender has started to pout from our conversation, I'd say we're being a little mean but this is aimed towards someone who accidently took a gender switch potion, her guild literally blew itself up and burnt down our inn. I'd say this is more than deserved.

"So, is this just bully me day then? I'll just shut up and let you get on with it..."

I can't help but chuckle, it's really just goes to show that even though she could possibly be the strongest human on the planet, even she doesn't stand a chance against Petra. I see what we're doing more similar to the dwarfs though, it's more like a friendly bullying than anything with malice.

"How about we get on with it then? For everything that's currently planned, this is the amount it will cost, what the upkeep should potentially be and how far we can stretch the budget. I've purposely designed it so it's more heavily focused on the maximum costs rather than the minimum and..."

Marcus and his never ending paper work passes over piles and piles of papers for us to look through, I've honestly started to blank him out when he goes deep into numbers simply because he really doesn't stop talking when it comes to this sort of thing.

If I were to summarize what we can actually see on the sheets of never-ending numbers, basically everything appears good and we're set to go. Of course, nearly everything relies on the mining business and we'd be screwed if the mine were to go out of service until we've built up a sizable amount of spare wealth but that's a worry for another day. It's built into an old dungeon anyways, that's probably stayed standing for God knows how long already so we shouldn't have to worry about it collapsing but that's what Jaxon's main job is for anyway.

This meeting goes on for a little while and it unfortunately appears nearly everything is going to be number focused like usual this time around, there's a lot to get through and the issue about building a guild headquarters for the mages would obviously need Garry for that sort of thing since Penelope is very specific in wanting an over the top tower. There is something that's making my mind wonder while doing this though, something that was said earlier.

Oh, I should also point out I've gotten Petra wearing a pair of reading glasses as well, they're obviously useless for her down to 'blindness' but it wasn't actually impossible to do simply because I said it could be cool if we could match. That's the only reason why I've got these on as wear, Marcus does a lot of reading so he obviously would have a few spare pairs lying around.

They don't actually suit her that much unfortunately, was thinking she might look like a sexy teacher of something stupid like that but the look doesn't actually work on her. She still looks good regardless but it's not like that cliché where a beautiful person gets amplified wearing glasses... I'm actually surprisingly disappointed about this but I need to go back on topic now otherwise I'm just going to keep staring at Petra... I take it back, she does kinda suit them but still.

"Marcus... you understand people are starting to see me and Petra as the leaders of this place, right? The dwarf said something to us earlier about it"

"Really... that's an odd coincidence, unsure the reason for it"

I don't even need my eye of wisdom ability, that's a tremendously huge lie! You'd think for a politician he'd be brilliant at such a thing but he's shit at this.

"You bastard! We already told you not to do something like this, you've been making out to people that we're now in charge, right?"

"Ikarus does have a point, didn't agree to actually be in control so to speak"

"Huh? You two have only just figured this out!? Even at the old Magi guild headquarters, it was thought you two owned these islands and Mr Marcus was just an advisor"

Fuckkk... even Penelope thought that, I know we technically have a majority but everything that's been discussed has always been agreed on all three of us and sure, the trade deal was handled by us but that doesn't mean we own the islands... Okay, me and Petra might be a little dense on this, I guess even she would be a little surprised since settling down has never been her style. It's obvious why it appears this way now and Marcus has probably been making it worse.

"It actually matters little anyways, it's not like I came up with the idea but I didn't exactly correct people when they assumed wrong either. It really isn't that big of concern though; we can always continue the same routine of me basically being the advisor toward the two queens of the islands... I'm joking of course but things have been going smoothly other than the odd pirate attack so it's fine, right?"

He really isn't taking this seriously... I guess I shouldn't worry that much if things still go to plan but I'd rather this not go down the route of us appearing like that though. Also, it would be pointing massive targets on us while Marcus works behind the scenes out of the public eye but defending ourselves isn't really much of a concern now... oh that reminds me of something else we were meant to do.

"Heh... the two queens of the three islands... I wonder which of one of us would be the adorable but mad one?"

Urgh, it's stupid how I take that as two compliments since being called mad by Petra is actually a little thing we had going on back inside that elven dungeon...

"Then what about the graceful, beautiful and heroic one then?"

"Heh, I think you're still describing yourself Ikarus"

Urgh, stop complimenting me goddamn it! I get that she likes the sound of the two queens thing but still, our act resolves around her being the hero and I'm the sidekick! Even if that's not the case now especially with me having extreme power but still!

"Just take the compliment, jeez woman! Queen Petra is a hell of a lot better than Queen Ikarus!"

"Heh, she really isn't though... you know I can't make it that easy for you Ikarus, where would the fun be in that?"

Despite our stupid but cute interaction, those other two at the council meeting just have awkward looks from our back and forth and even the odd look from some of the people just enjoying their food as well. I don't care, look as much as you want, this is who apparently leads you people! You lot made up these rumours so look at how incompetent we are!

"*Sigh*... I'm hungry now, anyone else want anything?"

I'm actually not but anything to distract me from flirting with Petra, this is basically how we flirt at this point now and she has never really cared if it makes others a little awkward I guess.

"Heh, trying to get my attention by becoming even cutter and chubbier then?"

'Urgh... where the heck has this come from? I freaking love her but I'm betting she's getting bored with this meeting as well now...'