...…

Shin nodded his head and let Ritbbit to explain his side. "Go ahead. Let me it out."

Ribbit nodded his head and said. "Here is the deal, Town Mayor. Since we already have some funds for the promotion, why not we go on it all the way?"

Shin didn't get it at first as he tilted his head a little to the side. But when he got some hints on Ribbit's words he couldn't help himself but to sit up straight as he looked at the Town's Manager with astounded gaze.

Ribbit, on the other hand, grinned from ear to ear and said. "Yes, that was it, Town Mayor. I am suggesting to promote the Town directly into a Basic City; that way we can earn more."

Then Shin became even more confused asked. "Didn't you just say that this place is going to be left behind when the adventurers reached the higher levels. What's more, we are going to compete with the Holy City if that was the case."

"And we can't get much profit from it unless-…." At this point, Shin suddenly paused what he wanted to say as he realized something. He opened and closed his mouth but no words come out as he didn't know how to say it exactly.

Fortunately, Ribbit was able to understand his intention and said. "Yeah… That is unless we are able to relocate the town to somewhere that is more suitable for stronger adventurers. And we need to relocate the Town on its current rank so that we can save more money. And that was one of the reasons why we shouldn't upgrade the Town for the time being. We needed to relocate it on its current rank to lessen all of the expenses that we are going to spend."

Shin could now see the whole picture of Ribbit's plans. Then he said after a moment of understanding. "I got what you are planning, but I'm pretty sure that we are currently lacking in many aspects for the Town's Promotion into a Basic City, especially in terms of gold."

Then Ribbit's grin turned even higher and said. "And that is where the Hand of Midas Training Firm kicks in."

Shin's eyebrows suddenly locked into a frown after hearing that. Then he said after a brief moment of silence. "Now this is a little problem. That Guild Leader of the Hand of Midas trading firm is really reliable but at the same time she is greedy with a touch of extreme cunningness. I'm pretty sure that she will take advantage of us since she knows that we are on need… No… It is more accurate to say that it is because we take the initiative to ask her."

But even if Shin was still worried about that, Ribbit was still grinning from ear to ear at that point of time. Then the former starting to really feel that this Town's Manager of his was someone that is not so ordinary.

And as expected, Ribbit opened his mouth and said to Shin with a mysterious tone. "Actually, I already have met with the Guild Leader of that Trading Firm; and from what I can see, I can confidently say that we are cut from the same cloth."

"Eh!?" Shin was taken aback at what Ribbit have said; and he still hadn't recovered yet when the latter said to him. "Here is what I can suggest to you, Town Mayor. If you managed to find and prepare some things, then I can assure you that this deal is in the bag. What do you think?"

And with that, Shin became really interested on it this time and said. "Ok, let me hear it out."

"Alright, it is like this. If ever we get the support of the Hand of Midas Trading Firm, we will not be having some problems with the major resources that we need such as funds, materials, and manpower. So we only have a few things that we needed to prepare. First, you need to find a Town Relocation Order for as soon as you can; that way, we can have more bargaining advantage."

"And the next one the most crucial one, you also need to find some rare blue prints for some first-class establishments, and they are the Master-Class Blueprints of at least each of the buildings that we currently have such as Blacksmith Shops, Restaurants, Inns, Potion Shops, and Battle Arena. Get a Master-Class Blueprint of these establishments and we are already set for good, and we will also be in the upper-hand of this deal."

"And the last but definitely not the least is for our extra security. It is good for us to have some extra insurance for our security. Once we promoted the Town into a Basic City, City Guards are not enough to maintain the peace anymore. Well, if the threat is inside the City then it is still a yes, the Guards are able to maintain the peace and order of the City. But if it is an outside threat, then we still need some assistance that came from you adventurers of the other world."

"Aside from the potential monster hordes that might attack our City, we also need to be wary of the powerful guilds of the otherworldly individuals. It is because I heard that you people of the other world are fond of attacking each other while plundering each other's properties. And from what I have learned so far, there are no other cities in the Saint Heaven Kingdom that was owned by an otherworldly individual so it is highly likely that we are going to get invaded if we manage to build our city."

'Yeah, it is going to be the first player owned city after all,' thought Shin on his mind while Ribbit continued what he were saying.

"The Hand of Midas Trading Firm might have a huge reputation in the industry but in the end of the day, they are still some sort of merchants that are going to protect their profit. Same goes for the Assassin Union, those guys have a good information network that we can use, but they are still some hired killers that are going to kill as long as the benefits on the table are suffices to their taste and is more beneficial for them. Those two maybe our ally today, but someday, those guys might betray us if the benefits that they can get are exceed our current deal."

'I doubt that Big Sis will do that, but it is a different case for the people of the Assassin Union,' thought Shin to himself before asking Ribbit. "So what you are implying is we need to find some suitable allies to defend the city."

Ribbit nodded his head and said. "That is right, and the stronger they are, the better. It is for them to be more dependable. But more importantly, they should also be some trustworthy individuals. It is the best if the Town Mayor has a Guild of himself or an influential Adventurer Team, but unfortunately you current have none."

Ribbit thought for a moment before continuing. "The good thing here is we still have a lot of time before the current levels of the major populace reached the point where they don't need to leave this place."

Shin closed his eyes as he took a deep breath before he nodded his head and said to Ribbit. "Alright, I'll find a way to prepare the things that we need as soon as possible. So are there anything else?"

"That was all for now. But make sure that you inform me early when you already get all of it, Town Mayor," said Ribbit to Shin.

Then Shin nodded his head, confirming that. And suddenly, he also got an unexpected surprise the moment he did that; a system notification rang on his ears while another quest was added on his quest notification window.

*Ding!*

System: Quest had been initiated!

System: Due to Ribbit's high loyalty on you, he decided to transform the Calderock Town into the most prestigious City of the Saint Heaven Kingdom. 

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Quest Name: Ribbit's Ambitions - I

Quest Type: Hidden Supportive Quest

Quest Difficulty: Default

Quest Details:

 Ribbit felt indebted to you because you saved his life before. And due to that reason Ribbit, the merchant, wanted to return the favor and decided to manage the Calderock Village in your place. But when the puny village suddenly promoted into a decent town, Ribbit suddenly felt that his worth will end, but you suddenly offered him the position of the Town's Manager.

Ribbit become moved and promised to make the Calderock the most prestigious city in the Saint Heaven Kingdom.

Quest Condition:

Now that you have presented the topic, Ribbit wanted you to prepare some things to promote the Calderock Town into a Basic City.

Quest Progress(0%):

-Town Relocation Order

-Master Class Blueprints

--Inn

--Restaurants

--Potion Shop

--Blacksmith Shop

--Battle Areana

-Form an official alliance with a Guild that had an over 500,000 Guild Reputation or Adventurer Team with same reputation.

Quest Reward:

-Ribbit being promoted to Grand Merchant(Next Rank of Master)

+2 000 000 bonus City Reputation when the Calderock Village was promoted into a Basic City

Quest Penalty(Ineffective unless Ribbit dies):

-(???)

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Shin was taken aback by the sudden system notification. Then a huge grin suddenly formed with his lips under his mask. After a brief moment of silence, Shin summoned Captain Jack and assigned him as Ribbit's personal bodyguard.

'It is better to be ready than sorry. The system will not put some useless notes for no reason after all,' thought Shin to himself. Then he discussed some more things with Ribbit before bidding his farewell.

Naturally, Shin will not walk out through the main gate of the Mayor's Residence; he didn't want to get more attention after all. So he summoned Hanzo to use a teleportation gate towards somewhere in the outskirts of the Town. And good thing, that there were no players in the vicinity when Shin arrived at the place that he teleported into.

Then he turned his head left and right to double check that no one really see him. After that, he proceeded walking towards the rundown blacksmith shop in front of him. The door of the rundown shop was immediate opened when he arrived in front of it, and revealed a middle-aged man with a set of dirty cloths. 

And that man was taken aback when he saw Shin standing in front of the door. He immediately fixed his cloths before greeting Shin while bowing his head. "Good day, Town Mayor!"

Shin shook his head and smiled bitterly when he saw the actions of the middle-aged man. He was still not used on this kind of ceremony as he still felt uncomfortable every time experienced this kind of occasion. It is even if he was raised by the Springfield Family for six years already.

He sighed helplessly and waved his hand at the blacksmith before saying. "It is fine, you don't have to do these kinds of things if there are not other people around. I don't feel uncomfortable on it actually."

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before nodding his head. Then he asked Shin while inviting him to go inside. "So what did my humble shop owe this visit, Town Mayor?"

Shin sighed helplessly once again when he heard the formalities. And since he couldn't do anything about it, he let it be. Then he nodded his head and said. "Alright, I go straight to the business then. I heard from Ribbit that you had already promoted to Master Rank?" while entering the Blacksmith Shop.

"That was because of your grace, Town Mayor. If you haven't assigned me as the Town's Head Blacksmith, then I will never be in this rank. It is because most of the weapons and equipments that all of the adventurers handled to us are quite high in quality. And due to those, I got some inspiration for my personal projects," said by Jude, the blacksmith, almost immediately.

"Good!" said Shin with excited voice before saying. "So can I ask you a little favor for crafting some equipments for me? Of course, I will pay you with a good price."

The blacksmith kind of expecting that, so he didn't get surprised and asked. "Of course, I will comply to you fully, Town Mayor. But you can forget about the payment since you are the main reason why I am currently on this position after all. What's more, you are the Mayor of this town so it should be natural for you to order me to do this kind of things."

Shin wanted to insist that need to pay for it, especially when he saw the state of Jude's shop. But he immediately rejected the idea when he saw the determine look on the face of the blacksmith. But he still managed to say some good words to support the project at the very least. He didn't want to get his items to be some lousy things. "Alright, I get it. But at least let me give some funds to support it."

Jude hesitated for a moment before nodding his head and accepting the offer. "So what kind of items do you want me to forge for you, Town Mayor?"

Then Shin started to state his demands for the items that he wanted.

...…