The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 476: Foreseen Issues

"If we rely on the younger daughters... No, if we rely on the younger sons, while the younger daughters serve the food, I think that we can turn the tent into a massive restaurant with combined seating.

A restaurant the size of a market square.

It would be unconventional, but I think that it would be a lot of fun for the visitors, and it lets the townsfolk get in on the event." Dominic offered.

"How so?" Engineer Marcos asked.

Pops and Stone laughed, while Rill just patted him on the shoulder.

"You pure soul, never change.

We’ve got an abundance of unwed young ladies among the commoners as well. Letting them come in from the farm in their holiday best to serve up their finest dishes is about the best chance they’ll ever have to show off for the young men in town.

They might not be the target of the Noblemen, at least not as wives, but the farm girls haven’t gotten much of a chance to spend time with the young men, unless they live near each other.

We haven’t had much for holiday celebrations yet, given how little time we’ve been here.

"You know, this is going to cause issues come next spring." Pops noted.

Dominic nodded. "Indeed. Everyone is going to be shorthanded with their new brides getting heavy with child right about the time they’re needed for planting season."

The dwarves smiled. That was precisely what they had thought as well.

Merchant Rill didn’t see the issue. "I’m sure that it won’t be that bad. Most couples try for years before they have their first, so even with a few down, the farms should run smoothly."

Dominic considered mentioning the amount of nature magic floating around Wistover, and the side effects that it could have on fertility. But decided that he would just let everyone find out why most cities didn’t let Trolls saturate the area with fertile growth magic.

"So, the plan is to have me build a large dining hall in the market square, but keep the market stalls around the outside, while my men build as much housing as possible?" Marcos asked.

"That’s about the gist of it. Once word gets around about what is happening, the townsfolk should do most of the preparations on their own. It’s in their best interest to fleece these Nobles for all their worth.

I mean, ethically promote their business to encourage foreign investment."

Rill smirked at Dominic’s phrasing. "Don’t forget that you are one of the Nobles now. But we get your point. It’s the best chance that we’re going to have to make a name for Wistover, and we didn’t get to choose the timing.

But Wistover is resilient and adaptable, everyone came here of their own free will. So, we don’t have generations of inherited laziness to overcome."

"That’s more reassuring than I think you intended it to be.

You’re right, we don’t have any real slackers here. If they were slackers, they wouldn’t have made it here in the first place." Dominic agreed.

"Is there anything else that we are forgetting?" He added.

For a moment, everyone was silent, then Pops nodded. "We’ve forgotten all about the extra security patrols you’re going to need around town once a thousand horny soldiers roll in looking for the promise of good Noble wives."

"And the space to store them when they inevitably end up on the wrong end of the Sheriff. Nate doesn’t play around, even if he does let the drunkards out in the morning after they sleep off a bar fight." Stone added.

"So, we should brief the City Guard on the situation as well. And probably do something to separate the bachelors from the debutantes and their staff here in the city.

The ones staying in the Manor, we can sort out easily enough. The ones who will be getting rooms elsewhere might be an issue if we don’t want any scandals or armed and irate Noble fathers showing up here." Dominic suggested.

"That’s pretty much inevitable, at this point. But we have some empty buildings across from each other. We can assign rooms only male and female by building.

That’s a start, at the very least." Marcos offered.

"Plus, it will give everyone plenty of juicy gossip when someone is doing a walk of shame, and our guards will be able to tell if someone is prowling where they should not be." Dominic realized.

Dave was all about the gossip.

Even putting a few Mountain Trolls on patrol in the city after dark would give a great sense of security, as so few would be able to fight one off, and Dave would happily rescue anyone who shouted for help.

"It’s something nobody ever thinks of, but if we’re going to have a lot of people wandering the streets, we should likely add a public privy. You know, a construction toilet?" Marcos added.

"Oh, that is a good point. Actually, we should have a permanent one in town. Not just for the special events, but so that urgent needs don’t require a conversation with an annoyed shopkeeper or a trip to a dark alley." Rill cheerfully agreed.

"I hope someone is taking notes." Pops sighed.

Stone nodded. "I’ve got it all. Keeping minutes of Adventurer’s Guild meetings is much more chaotic than this. At least you’re only speaking one at a time."

"That is much better than usual, I agree. Plus, we don’t have to talk over the forge, or pretend that we’re paying attention to someone at the front counter." Pops agreed.

"You only pretend to pay attention?"

"I hired a front counter girl specifically so I don’t have to pay attention. I even removed the top two buttons from her uniform so that the customers would be too busy watching her to bother me." Pops proudly insisted.

"And how did Mead take that suggestion?"

"She cut the buttons off for me. She doesn’t like working the counter, either."

Dominic shook his head in dismay. There were many tactics to business that he had yet to master, it seemed.