Chapter 3: Future Brainwashing and Meetings

"Lord may I ask why we are doing this?" Uther asked as Ramon handed out more bread to some random orphans.

"Because it's the right thing to do." Ramon lied out of his ass with a smile handing more bread out.

In fact this was a part of one of the new investments Ramon had made, Orphans would always be apart in any place no matter what.

What people didn't understand was the value of orphans and orphanages, orphans were essentially blank slates meaning that they didn't have values that were implemented on them by their parents since they don't have any.

So Ramon would make orphanages and carefully select caretakers to basically slowly brainwash them about how amazing the gold family and Ramon is, but why was this important? Because almost 90% of orphans that leave the foster system end up as the common civilian or even in the slums.

If values are implemented in these kids heads at a young age, by the time they are older they will believe it like it was their own idea and talk about it all the time which means essentially free propaganda for Ramon.

Of course it was not perfect and some orphans wouldn't care but that was going to be a minority, right now though Ramon was trying implement a core memory in these orphans minds so when they grew up and thought of him they would think about a caring man who cares for them when no one did as a piece of bread to a starving man is like a five star meal to a fat one.

'We have been surely blessed with a righteous and good hearted Lord.' Uther thought, swearing his undying allegiance to Ramon once more.

"T-thank you lord." A dirty kid thanked him and Ramon smiled.

"Four new orphanages opened up, so if you want to live there they will accept you with open arms." Ramon advertised and some kids hesitated.

"Do not worry they are managed by the gold family and will not mistreat you." Some worries cleared up as vulnerable children tended to trust easily.

"Where are they again lord?" After explaining the new orphanages locations the kids thanked Ramon repeatedly before running towards the nearest one.

"Lord, we should head back to the estate, your meeting with the royal messenger will be here in an hour and the meeting with the adventurers and merchant guilds is right after it that." Uther urged and Ramon shook his head.

"The estate is not far, we will make it in on time and besides I need some fresh air, the paper work never stops and even grows so I need to stretch my bones." Ramon patted Uther's armor before walking ahead.

In an alley a malnourished kid was shivering with a sack being the only thing covering his body, Ramon walked over to the kids and stood in front of the kid.

His body didn't have a pinch of fat and his body was completely boney even his face showed outlines of his skull, only a thin layer of skin stood between it, his hair was dirty blond and his eyes were blue.

"Uther hand me some blankets." He complied and Ramon put two blankets over the shivering kid.

The kid looked up feeling the sudden warmth, his eyes showed life even though his body showed signs of death.

"Here you must be hungry." Ramon handed the boy a piece of bread.

The kid reached out, his arms shook as even the air weighed him down. Feeling the warm bread he took a bite and immediately started crying.

"Uther let's call it a day and drop him off at the closest orphanage." Uther complied and picked up the child who was scarfing down the bread in tears.

Along the way Ramon handed out the rest of his bread and blankets before arriving at the closest orphanage doorstep.

The caretaker recognized Ramon and immediately came outside to greet him, understanding her role seeing the sickly child in Uther's arms promptly taking the child.

"Wait, may I know your name?" The kid said in battered breath, Uther frowned at his forwardness and stopped himself knowing the orphan didn't know how to address his lord.

"It's Ramon Gold the current Count that presides over the Gold family territories." Ramon answered his question speaking louder so as the orphans peeking from the orphanage could hear him before leaving.

"Ramon Gold." the malnourished kid muttered watching Ramon leave.

They arrived back at the estate to see the royal banner knowing that the royal attendant had arrived early making Ramon pick up his pace.

Reginald informed him that the attendant was currently in his office awaiting his arrival, Ramon gnashed his teeth hoping the attendant wasn't a a**hole and wouldn't hold this against him.

"I apologize for my tardiness. I was looking over the newly built orphanages when I heard you arrived early." Ramon didn't hesitate to play the charity card and the man sitting down smiled beofre standing up and bowing.

"You need not apologize to this lowly attendant. Your actions have been of great value to the Reinstar kingdom and I dare not blame you for helping with the kingdom's prosperity." The man said and Ramon sighed in deep relief hearing this before making his way across from him.

"Thank you for your words?" Ramon thanked him while asking for his name in a polite way.

"I am Sameul Fairworth but you, my lord, may call me whatever is worthy of a born commoner." Samuel graciously bowed his head and Ramon raised a smile at his words.

'This guy is sly.'

"Then I will call you Mr. Fairworth." Mr. Fairworth didn't hide his smile and looked towards Ramon waiting for his words.

"Mr. Fairworth this is the list of items that remained after the deductions were made to compensate the victims involved." Ramon handed over a list of items he didn't take for himself over to Mr. Fairworth who took it graciously.

Reading over it his smile became wider before his body shook, his eyes widened and he looked up at Ramon.

"Energize was found?" Mr. Fairworth asked his voice a little shaky and Ramon could understand why.

Eidenberg told Ramon all about what he knew on energize before he departed back to blackwood, from then on he started to learn more about it on his own and safe to say it was a problem for all kingdoms.

Terrorist attacks were becoming more rampant as enough of this stuff could make a normal civilian into a literal bomb, meaning a man could walk into the royal palace then blow it up if he could get in the first place.

The Reinstar kingdom was doing its best to try and contain the spread after it was found in the capital and made aware that it had reached the kingdom.

"Unfortunately yes Mr. Fairworth energize was indeed found in stolen paintings, the gang must have robbed a convoy and didn't know what they truly obtained." Ramon sadly said, making Mr. Fairworth gulp heavily.

Mr. Fairworth wiped the sweat from his forehead knowing full well that if it reached the Gold family's territory it must have reached other notable territories.

"Lord, I must urgently report this back to his majesty." Mr. Fairworth stood up and Roman nodded.

"For the prosperity of the Reinstar Kingdom."

"For the prosperity of the Reinstar Kingdom." Mr. Fairworth quickly bowed and headed out of the door.

"The goods should have already been turned over so you can leave right away." Ramon said before Mr. Fairworth left, making him turn around once more and bow.

"Thank you Lord."

Mr. FairWorth quickly made sure all the goods were there before ordering the convoy to return, many of the royal knights were confused but after hearing the reason a deadly serious look appeared on their faces as they all rushed back towards the capital.

"Lord, the reports have come in." Reginald stood outside the door and Ramon gestured to him to come in.

Ramon looked over the expenditures and sighed, the expansion of the sewers were delayed as a nest of mutant rats were found during the expansion causing operations to be halted.

"Put a request in the adventures guild and have the reward be 10 gold coins, 20 if it's finished by tomorrow." Ramon ordered and Reginald left upon his words.

More people would flock to his territory and with that more waste would appear so having a bigger sewer system was crucial.

Ramon also looked at the construction for public bathhouses and was relieved that construction was going very smoothly.

Bathing was not a regular thing people did in this world and it disgusted him to the point where Ramon was willing to bear losses for the first few years if it meant that his territories wouldn't smell like shit.

The seeds that he ordered from the merchant guild appeared and were promptly distributed to the farmers so they would be able to grow year round.

It surprised Ramon that they already had a form of crop rotation but the problem lay with them only growing edible crops instead of fodder crops and grazing crops.

A fodder crop is used to feed domestic livestock so they are able to be bred year round, growing crops like this increases the amount of livestock and profit.

Grazing is another thing not implemented which is crucial to maintain the livestock, grazing is when a plant that is otherwise not digestible for humans like grass is planted to maintain the numbers for the livestock while allowing them to roam free.

Four field crop rotations consist of one section for food, one for a fodder crop, grazing crop, and lastly to rest the soil while planting soil enriching crops to ensure the stability of the field for its next planting session.

Ramon had to pay these farmers to essentially use this formula as a farmer would not trust a four year old over their countless years of experience.

What's worse is that these farmers only planted soil depleting plants and no soil enriching and in turn almost entirely depleted the soil so Ramon had to find plants that were similar to peas and peanuts that enriched the soil and after a while the merchant guild located it and shipped it from a neighboring kingdom.

The territory will experience losses for this upcoming year and maybe the next however in the long run this was more beneficial than the current system that will eventually lead to a famime if the soil deplets the way it had been.

Also he would have to find a suitable soil that contained massive amounts of nitrogen as the soil farmers were using was essentially just pure sh*t.

This was another reason why Ramon called for a meeting between the guilds as this year was going to be tough and he needed more traffic to cover the losses he would face meaning he needed more adventurers and merchants to come to his territory.

The only problem was he didn't want to owe the guilds any favors yet, his personal power and wealth was not strong enough to meet outrageous demands hence another reason for the low taxes on the guilds.

"Lord the guild master's of the Adventurer and Merchant guilds have arrived." Reginald said outside the door.

"Let them in." Ramon set aside the report as one man and one woman walked into the room.

The man had scars all over his arms and one on his cheek, he had long brown hair, middle age, clean shaven, and leather armor encompassing him.

The woman was not skinny but not fat, her hair was already turning gray and wrinkles started to appear on her face, her gaze however was as sharp as a knife, silk clothes adorned her body while a golden ring encompassed every finger.

"Greeting lord." They both bowed while the merchant guildmaster was more refined than the adventurer guild master.

"I am Count Gold, I believe this is our first introduction." Ramon gestured to them to sit to which they complied.

"Yes lord, I am Elenor Bales guildmaster of the Gold territory branch." Elenor bowed her head showing Ramon respect.

"Lord, I am Mickey Chase guildmaster of the Gold's territory branch." Micky flashed a toothy smile at Ramon.

"Sir Chase, Sir Elenor, I'm sure you can understand some of the reasons why I called you here to meet with me." They were not stupid and put on a serious face as becoming a guildmaster of a branch was no easy matter.

They had heard of the Count's investments and ideas, Elenor was greatly surprised at Ramon's actions immediately understanding what direction he was taking and hearing that the taxes were cut from 35% to 15% which would occur momentary losses but when others heard of this they would flock to the gold's territory and there losses would be covered but that would take time.

Mickey was also no idiot as the adventurers guild had been trying to have a branch here ever since three dungeons popped up in the head city of the gold territory but the previous Count didn't think it was an issue.

Both had already received orders from their headquarters to assist Ramon in any way as immense profit would be made from collaborating with him.

"Lord before we start you can address me as Mickey, Sir is a little too stuffy for me and it makes me feel like I'm at headquarters which i don't like being at." Micky smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"I would also feel comfortable being addressed as Elenor Lord." Elenor nodded not wanting to be outdone by her counterpart.

"Very well you may call me Ramon when were alone." Ramon stated causing shock in both their eyes.

Elenor and Mickey were both from commoner origin and usually nobles didn't take kind to them in high positions and surely wouldn't want to be addressed informally as that would mean they would be brought down to the same level as them which was unacceptable to many.

"Please meet my request time is of the urgency." Ramon could tell from a glance wanting to push that stupid matter aside.

"Yes." They both answered simultaneously.

"The territory will be facing losses this year as most of the yearly investments have been placed into avenues that don't guarantee immediate profit." hearing this both nodded at his words with serious faces.

"To make up for this I would like you both to advertise the Gold families new regulations as in to bring in more people." What Ramon was saying was 'I want you to use your own resources to spread the news without me owing you jacksh*t' both understood immediately upon finishing his words.

"The thieves guild has already been informed as you probably both know that the guildmaster and guilds are kept secret from even the lords." Ramon answered a question before Mickey could ask it.

The thieves guild was unique in which they were very secretive as the information they gathered was not biased, so when agreed for a guild to be built in a terriorty they would be secretive in there placements as people would constantly try to destroy there guilds since they didn't play sides which obviously upset a lot of people.

"Lor-Ramon we understand your situation and the Gold Territory branch pledges to help." Mickey immediately said as Ramon had already shown a lot of good grace towards the adventures guild even catering to them which Mickey didn't want to change.

"The merchant guild also pledges to assist." Elenor spoke after Mickey answered first, the amount of gains in the long run was immeasurable and spreading the Gold family's intentions was the least she could do.

"Thank you very much, also Micky a mutated rat nest has suddenly appeared and I already sent a generous request to the Adventurers guild." Mickey nodded at his words, already categorizing that request as urgent in his mind.

"Elenor, thank you for finding the seeds I asked for. I do not have anything for the moment but I will contact the merchant guild if I need anything."

"If you need anything you can contact me personally and I will handle it with the utmost urgency." Elenor spoke refinly.

"Thank you both." Ramon smiled and they both promptly left.

Ramon returned his focus back to the report that oversaw the training of the five he found a couple days ago.

The twins were trained as knights and received a fair wage and an employment contract of 10 years with one gold coin a month each.

They were fighting machines, they didn't use weapons but they used their racial abilities called beastual aura and their most destructive abilities Beastly Transformation.

Essentially they transformed into complete wolves though they maintained their stance of walking on two legs, it was like a powerboost that was only found in pureblooded demi humans.

Orgel was also being trained but he denied any money as in quote 'Orgel life long friend worth more than money' so he didn't pay him and provided him with food and hosuing instead, Orgel mind wasn't the brightest but his abilities were perfect for a warrior.

He had the strength of an Orc and the regenerative abilities of a Troll, he would be a monster in the future and Ramon was glad he wasn't smart enough to realize his worth.

Scarlet was a problem as she didn't like using her magic and had to be convinced that Ramon wouldn't throw her away if she used it.

A lot of magicians refused to teach Scarlet labeling her a heretic which only made her progress come to a grinding halt.

Ramon was still searching for a teacher that would train her since after hearing that Ramon recruited a blood witch the family magician left.

Devas surprisingly asked to learn to be a butler, Reginald was ecstatic and immediately took Devas under his wing not even caring about his race while teaching everything he knew that encompassed the perfect butler.

The knight order snuffed out all the traitors thanks to Uther, five more knights were found selling information to neighboring lords and taking bribes.

Uther of course took out all his anger and sadness he felt on the traitors further solidifying the other knights willingness not to betray their lord.

Uther also purged some new formed gangs in the slums that started to form after the previous gang was eradicated.

The slums were another problem that needed rectification through the funds that he could provide were very low.

The only real way to stop slums from occurring is to create more jobs while simultaneously investing in that part city.

The jobs were being created but the funds were not there, at most Ramon could only hire cleaners from the adventurer guild to clean the slums to stop the deaths by diseases.

Ramon needed more time and that was also his biggest problem, the neighboring lords were already looking for an excuse to pounce on Ramons lands and start a territory war.

That was another reason why he gave some extra things to the royal attendant, only the king could approve a territory war and Ramon wanted to show his graces so the king could at least give Ramon time and delay it as much as possible.

'F*ck the neighboring count is a f*cking believer in the Church of Light.' Ramon read the report and almost ripped the paper in two.

There were many religions and the church of light was probably the most radical, they believed in the supremacy of humans and oppression of non humans.

'F*cking Cliche!'

It wasn't that big outside the holy kingdom but it still had influence in the Reinstar kingdom, not only did Ramon have non-humans as his people but a f*cking 'cursed' dark elf which is considered a great offense in the churches eyes.

'Damn that f*cking crazy old man is going to start something for sure.' The neighboring Count was Count Faith, seriously his name is Faith as that family is known for their light attribute.

They preach to be a kind and gentle territory but in Ramon's mind there are a bunch of crazy nutjobs.

"Lord, your afternoon tea is ready.' Devos said outside the door and Ramon allowed them to come in.

Devos elegantly walked into the door under Reginalds proud gaze and carefully arranged the tea for ramon.

*Ping*

A bolt from one of the wheels came undone causing the cart to tip over, Devos acted quickly but a cup slipped through, Ramon seeing this grabbed out however under Reginald's shocked gaze the teacup floated in the air.

"L-l-l-lord you're using magic!"