Chapter 127: Buying Tenure

Chapter 127: Buying Tenure

Most Legion outposts in strategic positions had a teleportation pad. These were large, flat stones inscribed with a complex series of runes. Nearly indestructible, they were also hugely expensive. The size of the stone reflected how many people at a time could use it and how much mana it could hold when fully charged. They were notorious mana hogs, and the bane of many a commander’s existence.

Each outpost was responsible for keeping their stone charged. Most of the cost of the spell was at the stone where teleportation originated at, and a lesser amount at the far end. The stone at Rowan Keep was much larger than such a small keep warranted, being able to hold 100,000 mana. The mystery of why his keep had such a large stone hadn't bothered Centurion Marcus Aurelius. It was far above his paygrade. Normally a keep this size would have a 10,000-mana stone. He was required to always have at least 10,000 mana stored, and strongly encouraged to try for twice that.

The problem was mages. Most Legionnaires were infantry soldiers, with little or no magical training. If you did manage to recruit someone with potential, they got whisked away to the War College as soon as the powers that be found out. The average trooper at Rowan Keep had between 100 and 200 mana. While he could just line them all up to recharge the stone, it was horrible for morale and actually getting any work out of them the next day. Draining all of your mana left a person listless and ill, and even after it started coming back it was difficult to be observant on watch or to do even simple jobs. Each centurion did what he could, and dreaded visits from Generals, Inquisitors, Tax Collectors, and their staff. Lately it had been difficult to keep up with the amount needed. He had greatly appreciated the Procurator asking his staff to drain their mana into his stone before leaving.

So when the Centurion received the message that ACME Corporation was sending 100 people through his teleporter he wasn't happy. Not in the least. When Players wanted to travel using the system, they had to pay a huge fee or provide all the mana and a modest fee. But new Players, (and Contract Workers), who entered the game for the first time simply appeared at their destination and drained the very small amount of only 100 mana. Marcus was not happy to find that his stone was going to drop from its hard earned 12300 mana down to only 2300. He'd be days filling it back up even if he accepted having half asleep zombies manning his walls.

Thus, it was a very grumpy Centurion that greeted Ben as he rode up to greet the new workers and escort them down to Sedgewick. Billy was relying on Ben more and more to handle the tasks of determining their needs for the various raw materials, and how to assign jobs to the new workers. Billy was used to delegating jobs, and Ben was good at organizing. If it kept him from hauling stone, tanning leather, or chopping wood he would gladly run errands between his courier duties.

Billy was trying to avoid using any resources from ACME for his information. Neither he nor Layla had the expertise for building a large fortress and rebuilding a ruined city in a simulated medieval world. There was a whole staff of 'gaming experts' he could use at ACME HQ. But that would cost him part of his budget, and worse would give Vern too much information. Luckily, some of his workers had in depth knowledge of what needed to be done. The new Baron was relying more and more on his Courier to come up with ideas and plans, and present them to the Baron and Baroness for approval. His current task was to escort the new workers to Sedgewick, and then present a list of occupations for them. Freed from mundane tasks, Baron Billy and his Baroness spent their time planning larger things.

It took Ben an hour to get the hundred new workers organized for the march. There endless questions, most of which had the answer, "Wait until we get there and then talk to your manager." But eventually he had a list of names, and all 100 people had arrived.

The Centurion was by the stone pad that they used for traveling. He looked very unhappy, as did the the twenty soldiers standing or sitting nearby. As Marcus saw Ben coming, he broke away and strode towards him. "This isn't personal Benjamin; my anger isn't directed at you. But tell your Baron that he will never again do this. We simply don't have the mana to handle 100 new arrivals with no warning. It will take us a week to get back to minimum levels and until then we can't allow anyone to teleport here."

Ben took in the exhausted soldiers, and the few awaiting their turn. "I'm sorry Marcus, I had no idea. Can you explain the system to me so I can better inform the Baron?" Marcus spent a few minutes doing so, at the end of which, Ben had questions and suggestions. Afterwards he walked back to his assembled new workers.

"Change of plans folks, and a first lesson in how this world works. Bring up your character sheet and you can see your health, mana, and stamina. We're going to recharge the teleportation system that brought you here. When your mana drains to zero, step away from the stone, and grab a half loaf of bread from bakery. You might feel a little off, but just for a bit."

Ben coordinated the recharging of the stone with the Legion mage who normally handled the system. "Are all of these people wizards? They've each added 200 mana to the stone? And they don't seem to be worse for it."

Ben shrugged as if it was no matter. "Workers need a lot of mana to cast the cantrips for their profession. We hardly ever use it all up though. If we were closer, I could bring a crew up each morning. Might be something to consider when we start building the walls here. The Baron desires good relations with the Legion and will always be happy to help."

"In fact, I should add my own to the pool." Ben placed his hands on the two well-worn spots on the stone and pushed 2000 mana into the teleporter. The Legion mage saw the total increase to 24300 mana. His eyes widened as he considered the Courier. How powerful a mage was the man?

A moment later and Ben and his workers were on their way. Ben rode his horse slowly in the middle of them, his voice carrying to all of them as he told tales and legends of the lands surrounding them, and gave them a history of recent events.

Marcus approached the mage. "So how far below are we after those farmers each added their little bit?"

The mage had an odd look on his face. "We are nearly at 25000 mana, sir. Higher than we have been in ages. Each of those 'farmers' donated 200 mana and only became a little hungry. And that Mage masquerading as a courier casually dropped 2000 mana in without a care."

Marcus looked at the departing workers. "Thank you for your diligence, Horatius, that is a significant piece of information. I'll inform the inquisitor."

The Baron looked at the man and shrugged. "Time is money, Lurch, make your pitch."

A smile broke out on the mis-shapen man's face. "Ah, you've met my cousin? We do resemble each other. We came from the same batch after all. My name is Johannes. I represent the College of Practical Alchemy and Experimental Magics. We'd like to return to Gadobhra."

Billy took in the worn leather shoes, the patched grey robe, and poor haircut. "Sorry, I'm not in the habit of sponsoring colleges, schools, or other money pits. So, I hope that the word 'Practical' means you understand that land is valuable and it's going to take some bags of gold to get in on the ground floor."

Johannes was very happy that this man understood the situation. Too many times he dealt with nobility that had qualms about dealing with academia of his sort. This man boiled it down simple business. How practical!

"Of course, your excellency. Would you prefer a lump sum, or a variable fee based on Imperial Taxes? I noticed that you had recently had dealings with them and my people are used to helping the towns that accommodate us with their yearly tithes to the emperor."

Billy took a sip of wine and thought it over. "How much land are we talking about?" He pointed at a hand drawn map pinned to one wall that showed the areas he now controlled. Johannes walked over to it, and pointed to a corner. "Bless my soul, but I believe this is the exact location our college was located long ago. This corner building lot would be most excellent."

"I was saving that for a bank. But tell me how much you’re willing to pay. Let's go with both gold up front plus taxes." Gold was good, but Billy remembered the Procurator's words that 10k in taxes was a very low rate for a city this size. Variable could pay off in the long run.

After another look at the map, Johannes made his offer. "Three thousand gold to secure our deed, and the college will pay 8% of the city’s taxes for the first ten years, and 4% after that."

Billy shook his head. He might be new to the Baron job, but dickering over fees was entry level training at ACME. You never took the first offer. "I think such an illustrious center for higher learning can do a lot better than that. Let’s say ten thousand and 8% forever."

Johannes considered. Time must indeed be money for this Baron. He'd expected his offer to be rejected and a sum ten times as much suggested. Instead, the Baron met him with a reasonable offer and indicated his desire to host them. It was so nice to deal with someone that understood the college's worth. Still...he had to make sure of a few things."

"Will we have access to the lower levels? We prefer to build down quite a bit, and I'd insist that we be allowed to go at least six stories high." Some nobles worried about tall stone buildings falling over. Which was just silly, as they could always be rebuilt.

The Baron gave his assurances. "Go as low as you want, just don't screw up any sewer systems, underground rivers, or dig into a dungeon. As for how tall, six stories is for wimps. I want towering buildings. Especially on the prime corner spots. I insist that you build at least ten stories high. I've got an engineer that can help with the buttresses and supports."

Johannes blinked slowly. "Well sir, I believe we have a deal. Ten thousand gold up front and a yearly fee equal to 8% of the imperial taxes. We are delighted to build ten stories high. This will be our best college ever! Thank you, your excellency for your vision and practicality. My, I'm giddy with the thought of it all." Johannes grabbed Billy's hand and was shaking it hard enough that the Baron feared a dislocated shoulder.

After retrieving his sore hand, Billy waved the man to sit and pushed a bottle of wine towards him. "Help yourself to a glass, Professor Johannes. I'll have the contract written up in a minute and we can see about the gold." Billy yelled down the hall for Ben and Layla to come back to the room.

Johannes downed a glass of wine, considered it, and poured another. It was some cheap local vintage. The Baron obviously didn't waste his gold on overpriced swill. The tall man approved. Standing he brought forth a small pouch and upturned it over the table. "No need sir, I came prepared.

The small pouch poured forth shiny gold coins, none of which had a date of less than 500 years earlier stamped on them. "The college has been saving for a new building for some time." On and on the little pouch dumped coins like a slot machine paying out a lucky winner.

Ben and Layla heard the loud sound of coins clinking and entered the room to find Johannes enjoying another glass of wine as Billy sat staring with draconic lust at a pile of ten thousand gold coins spilling off the edges of the table.