Chapter 406 - Ashaba River Management Foundation

The crowd couldn’t help but swallow their saliva once again.Regina jumped excitedly in front of Gaven, patting his shoulder and said, "I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, haha... with an annual income of a million, with so many Gold Coins, how should I spend them?"

She felt completely justified in receiving this money. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ NovᴇlFɪre.nᴇt

Although she knew she had only moved her lips, her role in it all had been crucial.

Without various promotions and momentum, at best, Ghost Grape Wine would only sell for five or six hundred thousand, and even that would not be easy to achieve.

Valon and Darnell exchanged glances.

In the end, it was Darnell who spoke, "It doesn’t seem quite right to take such a big cut when we haven’t done anything."

Although no one would complain about having too much money, they were devout followers of the God of Just, and faith was more important to them than money.

Now, they were faced with an inner conflict they couldn’t get past.

Gaven interjected to reassure them, "Mr. Darnell, please don’t say you haven’t done anything. What you have done is far more than you might imagine.

Not to mention, when it came to acquiring the manor, I took advantage of you.

And there’s the matter of justice and defense, which cannot be measured in money.

If it weren’t for you and Lord Ilmet assisting in the defense here, I believe the auction would not have gone so smoothly, nor would the scene have opened up so easily.

For this auction, you even staked the centuries-old reputation of the Hammer of Justice. Just for that alone, you rightfully deserve your share of the profits."

Gaven believed more in binding interests through profit-sharing than in prior pledges and alliances.

With the prospect of over a million Gold Coins in annual income, they would not allow any power to harm a single hair on Weizemay Manor.

Valon spoke from the side, "Since we have already signed the agreement, let’s stick to it. We cannot go against it just because of price fluctuations afterward, as that’s the foundation of the principle of justice."

After a brief pause, Valon changed the subject, "We will accept the three thousand bottles of Ghost Grape Wine. The 560,000 Gold Coins will all be donated to the Three Rivers Region to manage the banks of the Ashaba River, not just for this year. The share of the profits that belongs to the Hammer of Justice in the future, apart from the three thousand bottles of wine, will all be donated to this project, unchanged for ten years."

Gaven’s smile stiffened, and he stood up swiftly.

The lofty integrity of the paladins of the Monastery of the Hammer of Justice was something he had fully experienced before.

Now, it appeared he had only seen the tip of the iceberg.

Millions of Gold Coins, donated just like that—could an ordinary person do so?

Gaven asked himself; he couldn’t do it unless it brought him even greater benefits.

Without waiting for Gaven to speak, Valon said earnestly, "Mr. Gaven, don’t be too pleased too soon. I didn’t say that I would give you full control over the funds. Our Order will appoint a commissioner to manage and track this donation to ensure it is used for the management of the Ashaba River."

"That is only right," Gaven agreed with a nod, "In that case, why not establish an Ashaba River Management Foundation to manage these funds? All profits from investments and collected donations should be used for the Ashaba River.

Merely managing the Three Rivers Region is not enough. Once this is complete, we must address other sections of the Ashaba River.

I am willing to donate my share of the 560,000 Gold Coins to the foundation."

"That’s a great idea, a great idea indeed," Valon repeated enthusiastically.

Compared to Gaven’s proposal, his own vision suddenly seemed narrower.

"I want in on this. I’ll donate my 560,000 to the foundation as well, but just to be clear, I want to be a member of the foundation," Regina chimed in excitedly from the side.

For someone eager to change the world, a project that could affect seven or eight valleys and benefit millions of beings was her dream undertaking—how could she miss out?

"Naturally, our three parties, as the largest funders of the Ashaba River Management Foundation, will each appoint a director. Then we will recruit the necessary staff, establishing salary standards and workflow procedures."

Gaven’s brainstorm immediately took off, "We can’t do this alone. Now that we have sufficient funds, we should fully leverage them, encouraging the towns and residents along the Ashaba River to self-govern their river sections via material incentives as a first step.

The second step is to encourage more people to live along the Ashaba River.

The third step is to engage a specialized construction team to identify and fill in gaps, linking the self-governing facilities of the residents into a whole system."

"That sort of thing is my forte. Leave it to me," Regina volunteered eagerly.

"Miss Regina certainly is the most suitable candidate," Gaven agreed with a nod.

"Encouraging resident autonomy is indeed one way to go," Valon affirmed, but he also expressed his concerns, "Limited by their own capacities, the section of the river managed autonomously by lieges will inevitably vary in standard, leaving various risks."

"In this world, there is no such thing as achieving everything all at once, especially not for a project this large. It needs to be done in stages. What we need to do now is to engage those lieges’ enthusiasm, letting them taste the benefits of a stable Ashaba River. Their enthusiasm for managing it will increase over time. Then we can step in, guiding, or intervening more thoroughly."

Gaven had his own perspective on this matter, "The true focus is actually on the Three Rivers Region. Once we manage that area well, the Ashaba River will be halfway tamed. I will personally oversee and lead this project."

"With Mr. Gaven at the helm, we could not be more assured," Valon suggested, "Let’s start by deciding on the staff for the foundation. From the Hammer of Justice side, Mr. Darnell will take full charge of the matter."

Lord Ilmet smiled at Regina and said, "Since it’s money you’ve earned, of course you should manage it yourself, so this matter is entrusted to you."

The staff on both sides were not surprised at this.

Only Gaven’s side was a bit troubled, and after pondering for a few minutes he said, "On my side, Miss Anna will be responsible."

Gaven had not ruled out taking charge himself.

But on second thought, the main purpose of this foundation was to supervise the flow of these funds.

And his own construction team was likely to be the largest one.

If he got too involved, it would make some matters inconvenient.

"Me?" Anna, who was accompanying them, heard her own name mentioned and couldn’t help but shake her head repeatedly, "No, I can’t do it. I can’t... I... I can’t even manage the accounts of a single church, let alone so much money... so much food... so many items."

In a moment of nervousness, her old problem resurfaced.

Gaven, however, disagreed and said, "The most important thing about managing accounts is being meticulous and attentive, and you already possess that. Other knowledge can be acquired through training later on. Recently, when you’ve been helping out, you’ve shown a natural talent for this. We’ll settle it this way. The Ashaba River Management Foundation is also in its initial stages; everything is like feeling for stones to cross the river, so we will progress step by step."

Darnell chimed in from the side, "I don’t have a clue about managing accounts either, and for some time to come, I’ll have to follow Mr. Gaven and learn from his experience in this area."

Considering his own recent headaches, Gaven suggested, "Why don’t all three parties select a few more students with a talent for this, and gather them together? We can hire specialized teachers to train them. After all, 1.68 million is not a small sum, and it may very well grow larger in the future. We can’t let this money sit idle; it must circulate and be used to generate more money."

"That’s a great suggestion. When I return to the Monastery of the Hammer of Justice, I will particularly select some Holy Warriors who have this ability," Valon agreed, nodding, "For them, this is not just about managing money; it is also training. Only Holy Warriors who can resist the temptation of money are qualified."

Regina couldn’t help laughing," We’ll be fine on our side, but Mr. Gaven, do you have someone who can handle the job?"

By now, she had somewhat figured out Gaven’s foundation; his quite extraordinary subordinates were indeed numerous, but they were highly specialized.

While being extremely skilled in certain areas, they had huge weaknesses in others.

The Gnolls clearly lacked the intelligence, not at all cut out for managing accounts.

The Fae Race was smart enough, but they lacked patience and were easily distracted, making them unsuitable for this kind of work as well.

Among the Tesser immigrants, the quality varied greatly; they were mainly common farmers and sailors, with the well-educated being few and far between.

A few Demi-Humans could probably be selected, but they were not Gaven’s lieges.

While Regina was calculating, Gaven was also contemplating. Finally, he sighed helplessly and said, "If there’s no other choice, we’ll have to rely on the Dwarves’ Shadow to act as stand-ins temporarily. However, they can only be confined to managing the main accounts within the manor. For sub-accounts or tracking of goods, they are unsuitable."

"Indeed, that’s a viable option," Regina nodded unconsciously. She had dealt most with the Dwarves’ Shadow when managing the Ghost Manor.

They were truly above the average person in every aspect, and when mobilizing them, it was the simplest and most comfortable.

Because they would think outside the box, coming up with many ideas that she never would have.

Being excellent at frightening people, she believed they would also be capable account managers.

Amidst everyone’s suggestions, a blueprint for the foundation took shape from nothing.

Money was shifted from one hand to the other.

The original sub-account list now became the Ashaba River Management Foundation’s first set of accounts.

With dedicated funding in place, Gaven no longer held back and prepared to bring over 10,000 Gnolls from the Dragon Oak Territory in batches, with the possibility of increasing the number later.

In the end, Lord Ilmet and Regina left Weizemay Manor with three thousand bottles of Ghost Grape Wine, whether for sale or personal use, that no longer concerned Gaven.

Gaven also sent two thousand bottles of Ghost Grape Wine to the Monastery of the Hammer of Justice; in total, that made four thousand bottles. The extra thousand bottles were to cover the nine hundred bottles of Holy Light Liquor and food supplies.

Following this, Gaven was left with two thousand bottles of Ghost Grape Wine and three hundred thousand Gold Coins’ worth of various goods.

Items such as those two cargo ships and three ships’ worth of top-quality cotton, which were extremely beneficial for his subsequent development, were all included in these three hundred thousand Gold Coins’ worth of goods. As the chief accountant, he had the convenience of keeping track.

The next major project was to build a granary.

This granary, Gaven did not choose to build in the new village, but rather in Weizemay Manor.

Placing the granary here had numerous additional benefits.

First, it assured safety; the Mystlock Locks could keep most voyeurs out.

Second, the protection against insects and rodents was fixed; those creatures dared not enter Ghost Manor.

Third, the negative energy effectively prevented mold and inhibited germination and sprouting.

The downside was that items could become tainted with negative energy.

However, as long as one avoided consuming them in large quantities over a long period, the harm would not be fatal.