One of these people asked, "How would this city behave if attacked by a horde of monsters?"
Having already noted the value of the Metal City, he needed more realistic information about its safety.
It was obvious that there would be resistance to the infiltration of monsters there. However, the results could be very different if 100, 1,000, or 10,000 monsters attacked the area.
Vicente answered this pertinent question. "The way the city is now, it would only be able to stop a few hundred 3rd stage monsters. But we currently have 4% of the land we want to build on.
When the city has a few tens of thousands of inhabitants in the near future, these defenses will be able to withstand tens of thousands of 3rd stage monsters attacking it."
This was no small feat. It would give the locals a lot of security, a place to sleep soundly, and confidence that their defenses would hardly fall. They would not have to worry about being killed while they rested!
If their defenses did eventually fall, they could fight weakened, fewer, and possibly wounded monsters. That alone would give them a huge advantage!
"How does getting in and out of the city work? I imagine that for these defenses to work, it might be difficult to leave the city." Said the Duke of the Province.
Vicente had already solved that problem. "There will be points of entry and exit into the city. For example, the railroad is one of them. But we won't be using it all the time, which means this crossing doesn't have to be accessible all the time... At the same time, the railroad itself has defenses similar to those of the city.
In any case, we can have entry portals at certain points in the city, where our men can control the phenomena at those portals. By activating and deactivating the phenomena at these points, the city's inhabitants will be able to come and go from the area."
"So, we will be unprotected during the deactivation of the defenses at these points?" a woman asked.
"Only at that point, but yes." Vicente was sincere. "It can't be otherwise. That will be the only way in and out of the area.
In any case, as long as we have powerful magicians guarding these passages, it would be difficult for infiltration or something worse to develop."
Everyone understood the main points as Vicente led them back into the city.
They didn't have to go through a portal like the one Vicente had described. With this young magician at their side, they could get in and out of this place with ease.
"So what methods can we use to join you in this endeavor?" asked a low-ranking nobleman.
Vicente smiled and invited them into his administration building.
After they arrived in a meeting room with a beautiful view of the city's central square, Vicente began to explain. "We are going to offer you two ways to join us. One is as a founding member, and the other is as a resident.
You can come here as a resident and just worry about buying your property in the city. That alone will entitle you to live here and enjoy your rights.
But suppose you want something more, like participating in the local government and getting a financial return from this place. In that case, you can join me as founding members.
Of course, by becoming a founding member, you will have to help me build the city. In return, you will be entitled to free property here, participate in the local government, and receive part of the city's future profits.
The Metal City will have an incredible defense, but to live here, you will have to pay dearly for its land and taxes on its consumption.
We, the founding members, will use these taxes to support the city's expenses, and whatever profit is left over at the end of each month, we will divide up as we decide."
The eyes of some of the wealthier nobles there lit up at this possibility.
In such a world, it would be very difficult to collect income tax as it would be very easy to evade this tax. But if it were collected directly when the movable and immovable property was sold, the government could make most people pay the tax.
The tax made the great royal families of states like this so powerful, and all the rich guys there with Vicente knew it was a big deal.
They were worried about their safety, but when they saw the opportunity to protect themselves and earn coins, they couldn't help but think about joining Vicente in this endeavor.
"How much exactly are we talking about? How much would I need to become a founding member?" One wealthy man asked.
"A few tens of thousands of gold coins would do it." Vicente estimated.
Gulp!
Several people swallowed their saliva. Many people there could not commit to handing over a few tens of thousands of gold coins to Vicente!
"What about buying property in town?" One of the less wealthy asked.
"An ordinary plot of land with a building on it, like most of you are used to in a good city, costs an average of 600 gold coins.
But as the Metal City becomes known throughout the kingdom, everyone will seek it out. So the price of an ordinary property here will be around 8,000 gold coins, excluding taxes."
Some of that would go to the royal family since the land officially belonged to the royal family. However, most of the value would go to the founding members of the city since they were the ones who would build the place and make it valuable.
The Duke of the Province realized this and immediately made his position in the city clear. "I will be a founding member."
"I'm interested too. I think this place has a lot of potential."
The Duke, the Marquises, and the Counts quickly positioned themselves in their majors in the same way, intending to become founding members of this place.
Most of the Barons and Viscounts didn't have enough money, so they would just be residents. But all of them had already thought about sacrificing their financial reserves to buy a place in such a city.
Some were even willing to live more simply in such a place in order to spend less.
As for the rich men without noble titles, half of them would join Vicente as founding members, and the others would just become ordinary residents of this place.
At the end of that day, Vicente would sign contracts with those who were willing to become founding members.
Starting tomorrow, each of them would have to hand over 5,000 gold coins so that the Fuller family could hire more men to speed up the construction of the Metal City!
