44 Chapter 44: Meeting

New World, Fortis Kingdom, Royal Palace, Meeting Room.

The time is now past the day and night break. All the higher-ups are currently gathered in the battle room because they will discuss various things, one of which is the issue of royal visas. This meeting happened because the current Head of the Fortis Kingdom's Population Department had arrived.

Rin Tohsaka - Head of Fortis Kingdom's Population Department.

Everyone already knows each other. The introduction was done at lunch together and now it can be said that Rin has been able to mingle well with the others.

"Okay. The meeting we will have today is about the topic of visa issues which I will bring to the meeting with the other kings on the day the alliance building is inaugurated" Ars paused and looked at his friends, "However, before we start discussing this for those who have several reports to submit. Please submit"

Kaijin immediately raised his hand.

"Please"

Kaijin immediately brought the microphone closer and said, "I forgot to tell you yesterday that the 5 housing units for the first type have been completed. Only need additional furniture and equipment to be ready for use"

"Thank you" Ars nodded then continued, "We will postpone the use of the house first. Right now my points will not be enough to buy the equipment and furniture of the house. In addition, we also currently do not need the house. Compared to using our points to redeem the building. It's better to use it where it's needed more right now. Keep on building even though we haven't used it yet."

"I understand." Kaijin nodded.

Kaguya then raised her hand.

"Please Kaguya"

Kaguya immediately brought her microphone closer and said, "We've managed to count all the treasures in the storage warehouse. However, these calculations are currently still in rough numbers. We can only predict how much the treasure will be since most of the treasures that Hashirama got in the raid were gold. We only match the data with the data in this world about how valuable the gold is in exchange for the value of the currency."

"No problem. Please report." Ars said calmly.

"We estimate the funds that Hashirama received in the attack on Marijoa at 538 billion berries. That includes berries, precious metals and also some other treasures except devil fruit. There are 24 devil fruits that come with Hashirama, consisting of 7 paramencia-type devil fruits, 9 ordinary zoan-type devil fruits, 5 ancient zoan-type devil fruits, 1 myctical zoan-type devil fruit, and finally 2 logia-type devil fruits. Then, the funds that just came in this morning currently amount to 200 billion of which 175 billion is obtained through the redemption of the World Government and another 25 billion is the purchase of the Prodance Kingdom for our wood production."

Kaguya paused for a moment and continued, "Calculating the current total incoming funds. Currently the kingdom has a treasure of 795,627,201,000 berries"

Jouichirou whistled, "795 billion berries over. We became one of the richest empires in the world."

"Thank you for the financial statements, Kaguya" Ars nodded then looked at everyone, "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Kaguya raised her hand again and continued, "Ars, currently our matter with the World Government side has been resolved. The funds currently owned by the kingdom are very large and it is difficult for me to manage it myself. I need a subordinate to help. You promised before, didn't you?"

Ars nodded and his gaze fell on Hashirama, "How was your job in the fruit and vegetable area? Is the territory ready for use?"

"Just finished earlier" Hashirama said, "The area is only half finished. We need to make a water drainage system, namely the installation of water pumps for the area that is ready for full use"

"We will install the water pump tomorrow" Ars said calmly then looked at Nezuko and Megumi, "The territory of you two is currently half finished. You can already mark the territory for each fruit and vegetable and then prepare the seeds. The seeds are currently in the storage warehouse within the departmental office area. You can go check it out."

Ars gaze then looked at Eina, "Help them too. Especially for Nezuko. She is still learning and needs someone to supervise the work he is doing."

"I see." Eina nodded.

Ars' gaze then looked back at Hashirama, "After this meeting. You went to the Kingdom of Alabasta"

"Alabasta?" Hashirama asked in confusion.

"The Kingdom of Alabasta is a kingdom located in the ocean region of the Grand Line. The kingdom was built in a vast desert region and the founder of the Alabasta Kingdom, the Nefetari family, was one of the Tenryuubito. However, since they refused to become Tenryuubito 800 years ago, they are currently the owners of that kingdom" Lowellmina said.

"Thanks for the explanation, Iowa" Ars said with a smile and looked back at Hashirama, "You go there and look for a woman named Nico Robin"

"Nico Robin?" Hashirama muttered.

"Yes. She is the target we will recruit. She is someone who hails from Ohara and is one of the most sought after people by the current World Government due to his ability to interpret the poneglyph language which the World Government fears the most. Nico Robin is currently working in the Baroks Works organization which is led by a Shichibukai named Crocodile. If you want to find it, you can simply go to the casino built by Crocodile which is located in one of the cities in Alabasta. You can find it there."

"Casino?" Hashirama's eyes immediately lit up at this.

"I know your desire and your hobby in gambling, Hashirama" Ars said calmly, "I will give you the funds for this trip. However, don't use those funds to gamble. However, use it to pay for your needs on this trip. If you want to gamble, use your own money."

"Hahahaha… I know, I know" Hashirama said with a smile.

Ars gaze then looked at Kaguya, "Is one person enough? She is someone who is smart and also has excellent work skills. If you want to get more. I have someone who has good skills in paperwork. However, it would be quite difficult to find this person's current whereabouts."

"No need" Kaguya shook her head, "One is enough if the ability is qualified"

"Okay" Ars nodded "After this meeting, you give Hashirama 2 days travel funds for him to use on this trip"

"I see." Kaguya nodded.

Ars gaze looked at Hashirama, "After this meeting, you prepare to travel there"

"I understand." Hashirama nodded.

"Ars" Kojiro suddenly called out, "What are we going to use with the devil fruit we got?"

"For now we will save it first. We will think about what the devil fruit is used for later." Ars said calmly.

"I think it's better for us to keep a devil fruit with great potential, Ars. Compared to given to others or sold. We'd better keep it. After all, right now our kingdom already has a fair amount of cash at its disposal. We no longer need to earn extra cash through selling devil fruit" Gin said

"Good idea. We will use it" Ars nodded and looked at Myrd, "Myrd, how long will it take for the fellowship building to be completed? Can you finish the construction tomorrow?"

"There's a chance it can be finished tomorrow afternoon." Myrd nodded.

"Okay. After you finish building the building. You can give your people rest on that day. The next day, you can divide your subordinates into a team. Divide into three teams where one team will be tasked with building a cowshed, one team will be tasked with building a meat storage warehouse at the Department of Animal Husbandry, and the other team will be tasked with building a storage shed at the Department of Agriculture."

"I see." Myrd nodded.

"Okay. Is there anything else that needs to be added?" Ars asked while looking at everyone "I guess it's gone. Then, let's get into the topic of the meeting regarding visas from this kingdom. You certainly already know about this visa and this is something that is really needed, especially for us to manage the problem of people who will later build a business in our kingdom or regulate the problem of the population of the citizens of our kingdom and conduct the selection later "

Ars paused for a moment and continued, "Visa is something that is very important for us to apply. In making this visa, we also have to ask for payment in the field of administration and also an extension payment for everyone's visa problems. What do you think about this payment? How much should we apply? And every time people should do a visa extension? Rin, what do you think?"

Rin immediately brought the microphone closer, "We can charge a low price for visa administration, Ars. As we already know that in the process of making a visa, we also have to go through a selection process whether the person is eligible to be granted a visa or not. If that person is someone from the World Government, of course we can't give that person a visa due to identity issues or people from the evil pirate group. We can't hand over visas to them. We can apply a price for visa administration of 5 thousand berries and for renewal or extension of visas, we can take payments of 50 thousand berries to 100 thousand berries within 1 year. If we take 1 month or 6 months. That time is quite fast for updating. It is better to set an extension rule for 1 full year"

Ars nodded and looked at the others, "What do you think about Rin's opinion?"

"I think it's a good idea" Kaguya suddenly said, "The amount given by Rin is quite small and can be afforded by all circles of society. Besides, if they really will later build a business in our kingdom. It's not impossible for them to be able to earn a sizable profit if they take the products sold in our kingdom. I agree on this"

"Me too" Shiina suddenly added, "However, I think it's better if we set a fixed price. The price given by Rin previously was only a price range and we currently don't know what the fixed price will be for the update."

"We can set a renewal price of 100 thousand berries" Isshiki suddenly said, "The value of 100 thousand berries alone is quite cheap if they build a business in our kingdom. We also can't set the price too low for a visa renewal. Because in the future, there will be many who will want to get our royal visa. There will be competition to get it."

"If there really is a fight going on, we can arrange a price increase for visa renewal" Eina commented, "Although it will also burden many people because of the price increase. However, it is a natural thing. Like an item, the more people who target the item, the more expensive the item will be. And also, as Ars said earlier. We need to control the surge in population that will later be in this kingdom. This method can also help us in controlling the population in the future."

"I agree with the idea, Eina" Megumi suddenly said, "However, we can't increase the price by a high amount either. Because, for example there is a family of 5 who are members of that family who wants to open a visa in our kingdom. every year they have to pay as much as 500 thousand berries more. The payout itself is already quite high."

"If that's the case, we can limit the age issue" Gin suddenly said, "We can arrange for the placement of someone who is required to apply for a visa in this kingdom."

"Age problem? It does have to be considered" Ars nodded and continued, "How about we use 17 years of age as a mandatory visa application? At that age, every citizen of our kingdom will be required to make an identity card so that they can be categorized as our residents. What do you think?"

"17 years? That's a suitable age" Rin nodded and added, "Regarding the price issue, I don't think we need to increase the price even though many people are after visas from our kingdom. Because, as Megumi said, it would only be a burden on a family where if the family had problems with a large number of family members."

"But, if there is no increase in the price. It will be difficult for us to control the population later." Lowellmina suddenly said, "At least we have to enforce this rule. Although it is enough to incriminate a number of people. However, we also have to firmly do it. If not, in the future the population will increase uncontrollably."

"If we worry about that problem. We can deal with the problem of providing housing for them" Shiina suddenly said, "If we limit the space for them. There has been no jump in the number of people living in our kingdom. For example, only registered residents can buy a house or get a temporary house for someone who is a visa holder will not be able to get a house and can only rent a place to live. We can limit the number of developments on this housing issue. We don't need to build too many residences in order to control the number of people who will live in this kingdom. This could also prevent us from increasing the amount of visa payments. Other than that, I don't think it's a problem for our visas to be held by a lot of people. It can also bring us a large amount of income. For example, there are 1 million people who have our visa and every year they have to pay 100 thousand berries. We can get additional revenue of 100 billion berries. This is just an estimate. What if there are 10 million citizens who apply for our visa? We can get revenue of 1 trillion for every year"

"I think Shiina's idea can be used" Kaguya said calmly, "We can limit the number of residences that we will prepare later for visa users. In addition, it is not impossible that there will be an increase in the number of the original population of our kingdom. We have to at least prepare a large amount of land to build houses that they will use later."

"Rather than building a house" Kaijin suddenly said, "We'd better build a multi-storey building what is it called.. Oh, yes. Mansion for those people to use" Kaijin paused and continued, "Ars, I think we should limit construction house. The area where the residents live has a size of 40 square kilometers. We can use an area of about 20 square kilometers to be used in building houses for residents. 3 kilometers will be used for infrastructure development such as schools and others. While 10 kilometers will be built a multi-storey building that you say is a mansion for the residents to use."

Kaijin said seriously "We can't change the area where the entire population lives into a place to live. At least leave the area for reforestation so that the temperature in that area can be controlled properly. As for the idea of building a mansion. The mansion that will later be built specifically for the residents of our kingdom. We were able to build the mansion a bit better than the mansion that the visa holders would later use. Because the mansion will also be bought by them and not rented. At least we can provide them with quality housing; comfortable even though it's just a mansion and a house"

"I agree with Kaijin's words" Shiina suddenly said again, "We can't arbitrarily change the entire area where people live to build buildings. We have to set aside a little area for greenery so that the temperature there can be controlled very well. This also applies to urban areas that will later be built. We have to control the development that is there and not all the areas that are there are built by buildings to build businesses"

"I think Kaijin's idea is also good for us to implement." Nezuko who had been completely silent before suddenly said, "Although I'm not very familiar with your discussion myself. However, I also know that if we build a residential area with all the houses, it will only make the area not look good either. In addition, the construction of the house itself takes up quite a lot of territory, especially if you build houses in large numbers. As for the construction of high-rise buildings, it will only take up a small amount of area because the building itself is built up and not evenly."

"Any other suggestions?" Ars asked back while glancing at all his friends.

Everyone was silent and no one had an opinion.

"Okay. In that case, we will implement this idea that Kaijin gave us. We will limit the construction of houses by only using an area of 20 kilometers to build houses." Ars said calmly and continued, "Back to the previous topic regarding visas. How about the price issue? Are we going to stick with the 100k berry price? Or will we use a price change?"

"We'd better use fixed prices" Eina suddenly said, "If we use price changes, we need to convey this and it will take a lot of effort and time to have to rearrange the changes that occur"

"Change of opinion change?" Ars asked with a smile to Eina.

Eina sighed, "I was too quick to jump to conclusions earlier. So, I didn't think about it first."

Ars nodded and looked at the others, "What about the others?"

Everyone is silent and will not give their opinion.

"Okay. Since everyone is silent, I will assume that you agree with this proposal. We will apply a price of 5 thousand berries for the administration fee, 100 thousand berries for updates that are carried out annually, and the price of people who are 17 years old who are required to make cans. This is what we will set from now on"

Ars' gaze then turned to Rin, "Rin, you are currently the Head of the Fortis Kingdom's Population Department. There is currently no office for your department. You use Iowa's departmental office to do the registration. There was— Oh, yes. I remember you weren't good at using technology, right?"

"Eh?" Rin was immediately surprised to hear this then angrily sniffed, "Hmp! Who says I don't know how to use it? I know!" However her face was currently red which indicated that she was not telling the truth.

"Arara~ Rin, do you really not know how to use technology?" Jouichirou immediately said in a teasing tone.

"Not!" Rin shouted in annoyance "I know how to use it! I'm just not very good at it" Rin muttered shyly.

Ars sighed "You can stop teasing her, Jouichirou" Ars looked at Rin and continued, "Ok. There's no need to be ashamed of your limitations. After this, I will help you in mastering the problem of technological devices. From now on you will be in charge of the population and will use technology a lot."

Ars' gaze then turned to everyone, "Lowa, Eina, and Nezuko. The three of you will also learn together with Rin. I will help teach the three of you to become proficient"

"When are we going to study, Ars?" Nezuko asked excitedly.

"We will do it right at night during break time. We were able to use the computer on the 4th floor which is the game room. There are lots of computers there that we can use to study."

Lowellmina immediately sighed, "Lucky night and not now"

"Hmm? Why Lowa? Is there anything you want to do after this?" Ars asked while raising his brow.

"Eh" Lowellmina was slightly surprised to hear this.

"They want to make chocolate, Ars" Jouichirou suddenly said.

"Chocolate?" Ars raised his brow, "Ah, if I'm not mistaken tomorrow is February 14th, right?" Ars' gaze stared at everyone, "Anyone who has plans to make chocolate for tomorrow?"

Instantly all the girls immediately raised their hands except for Rin who had just arrived earlier.

"Oh? All of you? Do we really have a lot of chocolate in stock?" Ars asked with interest and looked at Jouichirou and the others.

"We do have a lot in stock especially yesterday we got a new addition to our ingredients" Gin nodded, "However, they will later use the chocolate they bought themselves"

"I see" Ars nodded, "Well, if you really want to do it. Just do it. If you are short on ingredients, you can use the food ingredients we have. You are free to use it. However… If you want to make chocolate, ask Jouichirou and others for help especially for people who are not good at cooking. I don't want the utensils in the kitchen to be damaged because of your accident."

"We understand" All the women except Rin nodded.

"Hey, hey, can I come with you guys too?" Rin asked excitedly.

"Of course" Shiina said with a smile, "The more people the more interesting it is"

"Good" Rin nodded happily.

"Okay. Even though you guys will be busy in making chocolate later. However, especially for the four of you. Eina, Rin, Nezuko, and Iowa. Don't forget a little night. After you have finished showering and getting ready. Come straight to the game room on the 4th floor. I'll help you guys." Ars' gaze looked at Gin and the others, "Gin, Isshiki. You two can help me too. It would be quite difficult to teach the four of them directly if only I did it myself."

"We understand"

"Hey, Ares. What about me? I'm great too" Jouichirou said with a smile.

"You'd better not come, Jouichirou" Gin suddenly said, "You'll only make things worse there"

"Hey. Are you saying that I can't teach them?" Joucihirou asked with a frown.

"Just accept your fate, Jouichirou. You really are a person who isn't good at teaching." Kojiro suddenly said.

"Aren't you the same, Kojiro?" Isshiki suddenly said with a smile, "I've seen you try to teach some palace maids. It's not that they understand, but they are getting confused."

"Ishiki!" Kajiro immediately looked at Isshiki with an annoyed look.

"Okay. Stop your stupid bickering" Ars said calmly, "This meeting is over. For anyone who wants to do activities again, please. Kaguya, don't forget to prepare the travel funds that Hashirama will use."

Ars' gaze then looked at Hasirama, "If you can finish this mission until tomorrow. Kaguya must need someone to immediately assist her in managing the royal funds."

"I understand." Hashirama nodded.

The meeting is finally over!