A group of people arrived from the royal capital at the beginning of July. Among them was a one-armed noble who would be appointed as the majordomo of the newly promoted Whitestag.
According to Ludian's introduction, this Viscount Felidos Ke Finyadi was an old friend of Lady Maria. At the same time, he was also an outstanding war hero of the kingdom.
During the second war between Aueras and Nasri, during the final stages of the decisive Battle of Nabilek Mountain, Felidos was the commander of the 7th cavalry of the royal guard. He volunteered to lead the 7th cavalry to occupy a strategic location behind the Nasri army, Kebiso Mountain Ridge, blocking off the Nasri army's path of retreat.
In order to secure a path of escape, the Nasserian army used all of their reserves to launch a continuous assault on Kebiso Mountain. From the foot of the mountain to the top, corpses of the Nasserian soldiers and the cries of the wounded could be heard everywhere.
The cavalry regiment led by Commander Felidos Ke Finyadi had also run out of ammunition and suffered heavy casualties.
However, they still held on to the last line of defense. When they ran out of ammunition, they used rocks and bayonets to drive the enemy back again and again.
Eventually, the Nasri army lost their courage and didn't dare to charge again. So, they spent countless manpower to bring up a Menfida Mountain Cannon and fired it at the cavalry regiment's line of defense. They wanted to use the cannon fire to destroy the morale of the Nasri army and force them to give up and retreat.
Under the fierce bombardment of the cannons, the cavalry commander named Felidos Ke Finyadi was seriously injured, and his left forearm was blown off.
However, he only ordered the orderly beside him to tear off his uniform and bandage his arm. He endured the pain and continued to command the battle.
Under his encouragement, the remaining soldiers continued to hold on to the line of defense and finally won.
Nearly 110,000 of the Nasrian army were besieged, annihilated, and surrendered.
Felidos Ke Finyadi had led a cavalry regiment of over 2400 men, but in the end, there were only 374 survivors left, and all of them were injured.
However, the victory forced Nasri to send envoys to ask for peace and cede three prefectures to the kingdom, making Aueras the ruler of the eastern part of Freia.
Felidos was also made a viscount by Stellin X for his contributions and was hailed as the hero of the Battle of Kebiso.
Steward Ludian believed that Viscount Felidos Ke Finyadi was a standard iron-blooded soldier, a rare military expert who excelled in cavalry assaults and positional defense.
His only flaw was that he was unyielding towards outsiders. He had repeatedly advocated for the unification of Freia in the banquets of the various nobles in the royal capital and requested for the entire eastern part of Freia to be under the rule of the Stellin royal family.
Felidos Ke Fenyadi's appointment as majordomo was uneventful. He was now the highest-ranking official in Whitestag. Even the newly formed Storm admiral had to bow to him as a sign of respect.
However, the first thing he did after his appointment was to upgrade the town hall to the administrative center of Whitestag. He also promoted the judiciary, finance, and patrol departments to bureau level and made them report directly to him.
The second thing he did was to gather the garrison brigade and tell them some good and bad news.
The good news was that the garrison clan would be expanded into the city garrison. The bad news was that the garrison was sent to a stone outpost far away from Whitestag to rebuild the abandoned barracks there so that the garrison could be stationed there in the future.
As for the security of Whitestag, the newly expanded patrol station would be in charge of it. In case of an emergency, the marines from the naval base would be sent as reinforcements.
After he was done with these two matters, Felidos immediately inspected the Normanley Real Estate Development Company. He carefully looked at the miniature landscape and building layout drawings of the entire community. He also conducted a detailed quality inspection and price calculation for the first phase of the construction project. At the same time, he inquired about the price of some buildings and supporting facilities that he was more concerned about.
While Ludian and the small shareholders of the Normanley Real Estate Development Company were wondering what went wrong, Felidos finally concluded the investigation and revealed a satisfied smile.
Felidos bluntly told everyone that he had received an anonymous report. The report stated that there was an unspeakable dirty deal going on between the Navy and the Normanley Real Estate Development Company.
The navy had spent 300,000 crowns to purchase the entire community built by Normanley Real Estate. It was clearly a money-for-power transaction. The report even included the price of the properties in the slum's east sector with the town hall's stamp.
However, seeing was believing. After Felidos' investigation, he found that the information in the anonymous report didn't match up with the truth. In fact, it could even be said to be a distortion of the truth.
The community built by Normanley Real Estate was well-planned and had advanced facilities. It was easy to get in and out of. They also took into consideration the location of the shops and shops. There were small gardens and plazas between the buildings. It was practically the most considerate residential community.
Chief Steward Felidos praised. If this was the Royal Capital, a suite in such a community building would cost at least two or three times the price. How could it be measured by the low price of acquisition? That was simply absurd.
To be able to buy a residential community with close to 500 apartments for 300,000 crowns was a huge bargain for the navy.
However, it also showed how much the shareholders of Normanley Real Estate were willing to contribute to the nation. Needless to say, they could only hope that Normanley Real Estate would prosper in the future.
Everyone present was beaming with joy. Felidos' words had already sealed the deal between the Normanley Real Estate Development Company and the Admiralty. It was more or less a stamp on the deal.
If anyone dared to talk about the deal in the future, he wouldn't just be offending Maria and the navy. Felidos would also become his mortal enemy.
Ludian took the opportunity to introduce Claude to Felidos. He said that Madam Maria thought highly of Claude and he became her herbalism disciple.
Claude had also contributed a lot to the establishment of Normanley Real Estate. He was quite talented in the planning and layout of the community.
Unfortunately, Felidos wasn't interested in that and only responded to Ludian with a polite smile.
However, when he found out that Claude graduated first in physical studies in Whitestag, no, Whitestag's national high school, he suddenly became enthusiastic. He patted Claude's shoulder and praised him for being a good seedling for joining the army. He also said that Claude should join the army as soon as possible and that a good man should contribute greatly to the kingdom. He looked like he wanted to escort Claude to the barracks himself.
Claude could only smile bitterly and say that it wasn't a good time for him to join the army due to his family. But if the kingdom was at war, he wouldn't hesitate to fight for the kingdom.
Those words finally eased Felidos's expression. But when he considered the fact that Claude couldn't join the garrison because of his late father, the former chief executive of Whitestag, Morssen, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
Had it not been for Ludian finding an excuse to separate Claude and Felidos, Claude suspected that Felidos would've written him a letter of recommendation for him to join one of the field corps.
After all, if the person he recommended performed well in the army, the person who recommended him would be proud. Felidos, who had long left the army, believed that Claude, who graduated first in physical studies and graduated from middle school, had the right to be recommended.
The news of Felidos inspecting Normanley Realty and giving his stamp of approval to the purchase of the entire community with the Navy made the front page of the Whitestag Morning Post the next day.
Thanks to Felidos' guarantee, Ludian quickly reached an agreement with Viscount Wenisk, who was in charge of the construction of the naval base. One side would provide the land and funds, while the other side would provide the labor and construction plans. The Normanley Real Estate Development Company would be responsible for the reconstruction of the old street and the slum area.
"We won't have to worry about work for the next three to four years," Ludian boasted gleefully.
During his meeting with Wenisk, the viscount revealed that the navy planned to complete the construction of the naval base in Whitestag within two years. In the third year, they planned to start digging a canal from Lake Balinga to Sharkmouth Bay. They were already surveying the area.
If Normanley Real Estate's construction projects in the next two years satisfied the Admiralty, the Admiralty wouldn't mind taking a share of the profits from the artificial canal project. Viscount Wenisk expressed his willingness to be Normanley Real Estate's sponsor and guarantor.
"Then, can we take on the construction of the docks?" Tomas asked greedily.
"Viscount Wenisk didn't mention it."
Luther shook his head. "Basically, the warship docks in the naval base will be built by their own labor. Facilities such as the shipyard and repair dock have never been contracted by outsiders.
Currently, the labor camps from all over the kingdom won't be able to reach Whitestag in a short period of time. That's also the main reason why our company was able to take on the construction of the slum district.
That's why we have to speed up the construction of the entire district.
Claude, you have to hurry up with the design of the naval district in the western district as well. Once your design is approved, we can send some of our men there to occupy the land. That way, even if the labor camps from the navy arrive, they won't be able to do anything. "
"I understand." Claude nodded.
Another important event for Claude in the month of July was the letter he received from Maria.
The huge profits that Normanley Real Estate Development Company brought to Madam Maria almost drove her crazy.
That was what she wrote in her letter. She never expected that she would receive 70,000 crowns in such a short period of time.
She said that she had never had that much money in her entire life. When she received the letter from Ludian, she went to the national bank in the royal capital to check and found that 70,000 crowns had been transferred to her account. She went home and rolled around in bed, planning what to buy. Even when her two disobedient children came to ask for money, she threw them ten crowns instead, making them paranoid and afraid that she would go crazy.
It took her three days to calm down. She was grateful for everything Claude had done for her.
So, she told Claude that she had instructed Ludian to pay Sir Fux's debt of five hundred crowns on Claude's brother's behalf and to bring the two notarized copies of the IOU to Claude.
At the same time, she expressed her belief that Claude had an exceptional mind for business.
If Claude were to become a soldier, it would be a waste of talent for the kingdom. So, she was willing to ask Stellin X for a pardon to exempt him from military service.
However, military service was the duty of every adult male in the kingdom. It was also part of national policy. She couldn't guarantee it and could only say that she would give it a try.