Ars, while feeling relieved there were no questions asked about their strange circumstances, simply nodded and indicated to her to take a seat.
Nene sat down and looked at Ars, then said " It's time to talk about the structure of the cities in the kingdom."
Ars nodded, for him this time was as good as any other, and the sooner he completed this talk the sooner he could start training properly again. While he was remembering that, he thought ' while it won't be comfortable, maybe i should increase the resistance from my suit at least 2 times a month, and wear it at all times that way i will train just by existing….'
Nene noticed he was distracted, she faked clearing her throat, he looked at her and showed her an awkward smile, and then said " It would be better if we called either Tom or Oak, who are in charge of the building crew."
She nodded at him and then added "I already called Tom, he will be here soon."
Then they were both stuck in an awkward silence, not knowing what to speak about.
Ars tried to break it by asking a few questions "How is life in this place??"
"Well it has been good so far, all this feels like a dream…" She politely said she was very nervous, since the day she had come back to life, Ars had been referred to, as his majesty by the majority of the people living here, so she didn't know how to interact with him, afraid of offending him.
"Are you happy here?" Ars kept asking easy to answer questions, so they wouldn't be in that awkward silence.
She finally showed something else on her face other than being nervous, she had now a nice smile on her face, and she answered "Yes, I will soon see my grandchild, I can live with my children, and the people are kind, so i'm not just happy, i'm very happy."
Ars intended to keep going but just as he was going to ask another question, someone knocked on the door. Ars gave permission, "Come in!"
Tom arrived with his normal, wide smile, he looked at Ars and then at Nene, and then commented, " I heard I was needed."
Ars laughed and replied "Almost, more like your inputs would be nice to have in the conversation that we are about to have."
Nene calmed down and then started "Until now we have been building mainly houses that will be easily dismantled, and the only 2 buildings that most likely will stay are the docks and the shipyard, so i called you here, to together with his majesty discuss the future plans for the city."
Ars nodded and added " And since you and Oak are basically in charge of the building crew, and have the most experience on the matter, the help would be appreciated."
He nodded and sat down near Nene, Ars then started.
"To begin with you said there were 2 buildings that would most likely stay, and while I agree, I think we will need to expand way more. What are your thoughts about this?"
Nene confused " Why would we need such massive docks and shipyards?? Even if the kingdom grows, the docks you're talking about are bigger than the biggest ones in this world….. And the shipyard is also the biggest, not by a huge margin but….. Why??"
Tom was also confused but he tried to answer the question " While I don't understand why your majesty wants to expand them that much, it is possible, it would take longer to finish them than predicted, since we would probably need to expand the bay area inland."
Ars was happy about it, if it was possible it would be for the better after all this wasn't just an island port, it would be an entire planet port. He nodded and said "Then let's do that, I think one of the most important buildings now would be a bathhouse, since we can't keep taking baths in the river, because while it's not bad, it can lead to trouble. And about the houses, let's keep it like they currently are for now since the population is growing fast and building larger and better houses would take longer, I think that other buildings don't need to be rushed for now, but maybe an extra smoker or two, so we can smoke meat or fish faster. "
Nene nodded, complained and then added.
"It would be nice to get an architect to help with designing the buildings, and I think that the clinic size also should be increased and get more apprentices or even getting an extra doctor or two if possible, and also a few nurses."
Ars also agreed that was a good idea so he gave her permission to get a few more people, and thought about where he could get an architect .
Tom on the other hand had crossed his arms and then commented "I think, no matter what we need a proper training ground, so the guards and soldiers have a better place to train, a proper building for the troops that could serve as a military headquarter."
Ars didn't think of that before but after Tom talked about it, he realized that it would be a nice thing to have. Until now anyone who wanted to train and especially the soldiers, would go to the makeshift training grounds that were mainly a large zone near the houses with a lot of space to run and train in general, thanks to a lot of construction going on on the island it was changing places when needed, but with some effort and the suits it wasn't too problematic to train properly, but a proper training ground would be appreciated by everyone. He agreed and added " I agree, make it big and with two sides!"
That last part of the sentence confused Tom and Nene, when Ars realized they didn't get what he meant he explained " Make the general building big, then separate it into two, one for the troops the second one for everyone who wants to train. "
They both understood and nodded, then Nene continued choosing to forget the size of the docks and shipyard.
"I think those buildings for now would do, but we also need to discuss the location of the buildings."
Ars laughed and then joked a bit before answering " I agree but, the shipyard and the docks are already being built, it will be hard to carry them to the desired position. About the others i think the training grounds should be near the bath house, and the bath house should have access to water, so i think building the bath house near the river that leads to the lake."
Tom nodded, smiled and then added "That's not a bad idea, that way we could use a waterwheel to take the water towards the bathhouse, and then have someone boil the water before being used in the bathhouse."
Nene nodded and then she looked like she remembered something, looked at Ars and quickly pointed out.
"I almost forgot, someone decided that they wanted to explore the island for resources, those later on could be used to get a source of income. And they also took your majesty's map."
Tom and Nene were surprised by the serious look on Ars face, but when Ars opened his mouth again they understood why.
"While I understand why they did it, I don't like the fact that they came into my house and took something that was mine without my permission. "
Tom and Nene smiled awkwardly because they didn't realize until now, that the scout actions could be considered a crime and even if Ars forgave him, it would still be rude, they knew by the fact that Ars wasn't angrier, that he would probably forgive him but would still reprimand him.
After concluding the meeting, Ars decided to go get a suit with a 15 times multiplier, it would be hard to move for a while but it would be good training, he also prepared a suit for Fierzy, it would just be the lowest level but it would help her train.
Ars got the new suit on and then slowly moved towards Fierzy, to give her hers. on the way, he was thinking about the best job for her, until now the only thing she demonstrated interest in was fighting, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to be a soldier, since if she was, she might have to leave her daughter from time to time, for extended periods of time, so he was trying to find something that would fit her in the island, but there was nothing coming to his head until now.
When he got to her, she was writing a diary, or at least he thought so until he saw what she was writing… What was written in there was ' Ars, his majesty is a big jerk, he didn't let me stay with my daughter longer…etc' Besides that, the book was basically, an endless amount of complaints about him with a few insults and curses in the middle.
He approached her very slowly, got just behind her and then whispered in her ear, "So, you have that many complaints about me?? It is nice to know what your actual thoughts are…" She suddenly turned just to see a very fake smile on Ars face, she went pale, she instantly started thinking about the possible punishments, but tried to keep a calm front, she tried to change the direction of the conversation, away from the 'diary'.
"Ar… I mean your majesty, what would be the motive of gracing me with your presence…"
Ars looked at her and responded while pointing at the diary " You know you're not gonna get out of that that easily, and I even brought a present to help you train …." he faked tears, and then continued with a mischievous smile " Now how should i punish you, after all i never once treated you bad right?"
She started to look away from Ars and pouting " Well…. no but you didn't let me stay with my baby longer… So I'm mad at you…"
He passed her the suit and added "You know i came for two reasons, first to give you this training suit, that you will wear at all the time with the exception of going to the bathroom and baths. The second was to discuss a job you would like to do, but since you're being a brat again, I think a good job will be a crew member in one of the ships, that way you can clear your mind, with a trip on the sea… Apparently I am a bad person so no begging me, ok???"
She realized she had messed up, she thought he was angry at her, she knew he was right at being a little bit angry at her, since arriving he didn't have much free time, and she didn't have that many reasons to complain, actually when she thought about she realized in reality, she didn't have any reason to complain other than the pain she suffered in his laboratory.
"Sorry" she apologized sincerely, then she explained "It's is just frustrating, being so close but not being able to be with her… "
He answered calmly, since he wasn't really angry but just wanted to scare her a bit.
"You know this, part of you, that sometimes is a little bratty, with the addition of being explosive and missing a few screws in your head, is literally the reason I need to supervise your time with her."
And before she answered he turned back and left with a few more words "Tomorrow morning you're coming to train with me, and don't forget your suit!"
Ars understood that while she wasn't dumb, most of the time she behaved more like a child than an adult, so he wasn't really angry at her. He decided that he should treat her like a child and keep her under supervision most of the time.