CHAPTER 157: CHAPTER 157- THE CHANGING CITY (2)

The fact that they were not imprisoned and were still allowed to hold onto their business and jobs was because, although still corrupt, they didn’t go overboard on exploiting the poor.

Melissa glanced at the invited guests before whispering something into his ears. Then, with practiced motion, he nodded his head, agreeing with her.

"Fine, let’s do that".

And so he called the merchants and skilled personnel from the central district in.

"What? Is it true, lord governor, that you are handing these contracts for such major projects to these outsiders?"

"Outsiders, you say? These are the people back from Lumiose city, not only are they professionals in their area of expertise, they also have my trust. I can hand out these projects to them and expect it to be completed without worry".

Hearing his reply, these people shut their mouths. They might be skilled; however, they didn’t have his trust. There was a big difference.

That being said, they were still people of this city. If he wanted to change, he needed to give them a chance too. And so...

"It’s not like there is no opportunity in this for you all. I am willing to give exactly half of these contracts that I gave them to you. If you can show me that you can complete these in the allotted time and resources. I may not be so hesitant to give even bigger and rewarding projects in the future. Of course, you will still have to compete with these people. If you are unwilling, then..."

Just as Reinhardt was about to take back his offer, these central district people immediately pounced on it, as if unwilling to let this chance go.

"Alright, but remember you only have one chance, if you fail or betray my trust, forget about living in this city anymore".

After everyone left and the room became empty, Reinhardt questioned his assistant, "Is this batch the last one?"

Melissa nodded her head and happily sat by the seat next to him. The moment she crossed her legs, one could see her long, supple legs that were creamy smooth through her skirt.

"That was an excellent idea, pitting the two parties together. Now, not only will they compete to finish these projects faster than the other party, but we were also able to contract it at a much lower price."

From his words, one could easily guess that this was not the first time he used such a strategy. The other group of merchants and skilled masons from both cities were also pit together like this just before them.

Everything that was happening in the room, from Reinhardt’s obviously displeased expression to his comment, it was all practiced, an act that he put together.

Of course, the one to hatch it was Melissa, who had once worked under the queen.

"I am honoured to receive your praise, my lord." The latter gave him a blooming smile as if she was very much pleased for use of him. While that was her outer words, her inner thoughts were quite easy to guess.

"I expect you to work with the same efficiency from now on".

That’s right, she wants to use him and dig into all of his secrets. In short, she was a spy. However, that was alright, the city needed someone with expertise like her managing it. As long as she continued to work like this, he didn’t mind if she was a spy or whatnot.

After all, he was the one who was actually using her.

Since the day the new governor performed the public execution and announced that he would discard the old laws and impose new ones, the city started changing slowly.

One month after Reinhardt took the post of the governor of the Snowpoint City, the outer district became quite clean. There were no longer garbage dumps, blocked sewage, or that dark, dreary aura surrounding it.

No, the entire face of the city had changed after just a month. Of course, it was not like it had become modern like the central district. However, the change was still relatively big.

Now, the poor people of the outer district did not live in pitched tents or boxes but actual houses made of wood. These wooden houses weren’t big and only had two rooms with minimal basic amenities.

The house was as normal as it could be. Nevertheless, compared to the condition the people were living in, this was like moving into a mansion. What’s more, it was not just a couple of families that moved into these houses, but hundreds and hundreds of families.

Every day, a couple of houses would spring up in the new residential district that was in the midst of construction.

Of course, the money required for such a huge project that could change the entire face of a city was immense. However, thanks to the mountain of treasure that Baron Chetak squeezed from his citizens for years or even a decade, he had plenty.

These changes brought by the new governor not only brought a huge amount of money and employment, it also brought vibrancy and a new air into the city, which had become stagnant and started rotting from the inside.

Obviously, with employment and money, their view on the new governor started to change little by little. Not only that, due to the order he passed, where every seven people out of ten had to be people from the outer district, they started conversing and understanding each other a little.

These changes were very minute, and the status quo between the central and outer district would need more time to cover; nonetheless, it was a good start.

The Eastern district of the city, a little away from the central district. Reinahrdt stood in front of the construction worker as he overlooked their work. In front of him, being built in full force, was the new headquarters of the temple of light.

Obviously, as the new base of one of the Seven Great Knight orders, the building not only had to be big, but grand too.