第１６０８堀：提供してもらった資金資源について (Part2)
"Indeed. As Eris says, while the sum is astronomical, as Seraria pointed out, it’s surprisingly common for such estimates to fall short. Besides, the funds allocated to Sona and her team are for the entire port town, aren't they? We have to divide that by sector. In other words, we’re looking at taking the budget for a single sector and narrowing it down to what’s strictly necessary..."
"I see. When you put it that way, the figures seem manageable... but I just remembered. We’ve discussed the contributions from the various nations, but what about the funding or support coming from Weed itself?"
"Ah, now that you mention it, I haven't heard anything about that. How is that being handled?"
As the two of them noted, the meeting had focused entirely on the reports regarding the funds and resources provided by the various nations and their management; there had been no mention of capital from Weed. Not that there was absolutely nothing, of course...
"We will provide the initial costs and the first year’s operating expenses, but after that, you are expected to cover everything through the port town’s own tax revenue. You do understand that, don't you?"
"Yes. The town must sustain itself."
"We understand. But we still need to figure out how to handle that tax revenue, don't we?"
"Naturally. You should ask Eris about that."
All eyes turned toward me. It was only natural, of course, but one point weighed on my mind.
"That is correct, but judging by our current discussion, it feels as though we haven't even touched upon the tax structure yet, have we?"
"We are rushing the construction of the port, and while the shells of the buildings are taking shape, the internal infrastructure is lagging behind. We haven't even finished selecting the bureaucrats—or should I say, the high-ranking officials of the town?"
"Ah, as Sisua says, that reminds me—what is the status of the applicants from the Government Office?"
"That side of things is proceeding as planned; we are currently in the screening process. Once that’s done, we’ll transfer them over, but the port town’s facilities aren't even finished yet, are they? Yuki, what are your thoughts on that? Are you planning to send people over first? But there’s no space for them yet, is there?"
She was right. While we had already finalized the selection of personnel to be sent to the port town to the point where we could hand the paperwork to Yuki, we didn't even have a place prepared to conduct the interviews. Naturally, we could build one within Weed, but since the work itself would take place at the port town, building it here would likely be a waste. I wondered how Yuki and the others were planning to handle it.
"That depends on how many candidates we have. There’s no point in making people trek all the way to the port town for interviews if we’re talking about hundreds of people."
"Ah, I suppose that’s true. Though, I believe the projection is on the scale of ten thousand, isn't it?"
"Eventually, yes. But we need time for preparation and adjustments first. Security hasn't even been fully established yet."
"You say security isn't established, but that’s impossible. Well, I won't press you on it."
Indeed. As Seraria said, it was unlikely Yuki would make a mistake in such matters. Human lives were at stake, after all.
"Besides, while the blueprints for the port town are finished, we aren't building everything all at once. Especially in the residential districts—if people don't gather, the maintenance and cleaning won't keep up."
"Ah, that’s certainly true. And cleaning requires manpower, too."
It was a convincing argument. Maintenance undeniably requires hands. Of course, we could supplement that with Dungeon Skills, but relying entirely on that would defeat the purpose, and there is also the matter of hiring people.
"For the time being, the staff we hire will simply commute from Weed to the port town."
"...I see. So, we’ll be preparing the recruitment site here, then?"
"Well, they aren't all going to show up at once. We’ll just rent a conference room in the General Government Building, decide by department, and have them report for work on the day. There will likely be local hiring as well."
"That would be for those who have already relocated, right? Well, that’s obvious. As the population grows, we’ll need more people to handle the demand."
"Exactly. That’s the basic principle, isn't it?"
Yes, what he was saying was perfectly logical. And so, we continued to hammer out the details of the recruitment process. If we’ve been given resources, we have to use them, or it would cause friction.
Well, whether we receive them or not, it’s always a headache. Though, such cases are rare; perhaps it’s easiest to compare it to returning a favor to a commoner. It’s troublesome if you receive too much, but if there’s someone who didn't receive anything, you worry about how to handle the disparity.