Chapter 642 – Favoritism
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It’s been more than two months since I took over as president of the Guardians.
‘It’s already been two months… Time flies.’
Guardians headquarters.
In the conference room, a heated meeting was taking place over the end-of-month settlement.
The content was the distribution of the Guardians budget.
“It makes no sense to give this much budget support to the entertainment district! Right now, improving the education of young children is more important than that…”
Shepard was talking passionately about something.
As someone who had no interest in running a slum, I yawned.
Still, I couldn’t ignore loyalist Rania’s request, so I stayed in this boring position.
I had no choice.
With her dazzling service, no man would be able to refuse her if asked.
If you roughly listen to the stories of the executives… They seemed to be unhappy with the budget being pushed to the entertainment district… Especially Rania’s business.
In particular, Shepherd was vehemently opposed to the budget decided this time.
Except for Rania, the other executives were also implicitly giving a look of agreement, although not as much as Shepard.
“Is there someone who is making more money than me right now? Then should I just stay still and tackle them like this?”
“… Are you planning to turn all the slums into brothels!!”
“Hmph! Don’t make a fuss.”
“Chairman. This is not it.”
When the differences of opinion could not be narrowed down, Shepard looked at me with serious eyes and said.
“What do you mean it’s not? Do you feel sick to your stomach that Rania is popular? Stop it, Shepard. A man’s jealousy is ugly.”
I gave Shepard a sharp warning.
“Well, that’s not true. Even for the residents of the slums, support from the entertainment district is only toxic.”
Shepard said as if he was frustrated.
“It’s poison…”
It seemed like I knew why he said that.
From the beginning, he did not like the entertainment district of the slums.
Especially gambling houses and brothels.
But the problem is that the brothels in the slums have been doing quite well recently.
That was Rania’s resourcefulness.
Rania improved the treatment of prostitutes.
Unlike her previous pimps, he promised reasonable compensation.
The method Rania uses is difficult for other pimps.
This is because their profits are decreasing.
If you treat someone like Rania, the profits you would extract from one person would need to be earned from two or three people.
There are very few pimps who can endure that.
Rania’s drastic improvement in the treatment of prostitutes had the effect of attracting quality talent not only from the slums but also from outside regions to her brothels.
If you’re going to work in a brothel anyway, it’s natural as a human being to want to work somewhere that pays well.
As a result, the water in the establishment naturally improved… Unlike in the past, security in the slums was somewhat established, and the number of outside customers in the brothel increased through word of mouth.
Now, the brothel in the slums is emerging as a new hot place in Karaz.
But loyalist Rania did not stop there. Recently, she was aiming to upgrade the brothel.
Actually, that slightly reflects my opinion.
I once visited a brothel at Rania’s recommendation.
The service provided by the store staff was not bad.
However, compared to other brothels in the city center, it was inevitable that it felt old-fashioned, and I told Rania about the improvements.
And she readily accepted my opinion.
The brothels in the slums were preparing to take a leap forward. In short, when the water comes in, it is time to row.
Of course, it’s definitely not my intention to play there.
This was all for the smooth operation of the organization.
However, Shepherd is trying to stop the brothel from investing a huge budget into fancy upgrades.
I felt the need to provide support to Rania, who was being treated so unfairly.
“As you can see from the budget plan in front of you, Rania’s business income this month is much higher. Isn’t she being too greedy to try to share her credit?”
“As expected, the only one who understands my feelings is the chairman.”
Rania’s harsh eyes softened. He seemed moved by my words.
Honestly, even if I said I would support Rania, the others had nothing to say.
The amount of money her business was making was overwhelming, and giving away her budget to each of her executives made Rania feel like she was losing out.
Compared to last month, the budget they will spend has actually increased.
And yet, they are so dissatisfied.
‘Tsk, tsk, they say people’s greed is endless.’
Even though my living standards have improved, I am not satisfied.
What should I do for the slums?…
These guys have changed.
“Promoting a business that is doing well is the most basic way of operating an organization. Don’t you know that? Shepard.”
The more money a brothel makes, the more money naturally flows into the slums.
If the brothel boom continues like this… In the near future, we will no longer have to hear about this area being a slum.
〈I think it would be better to be called a slum than to be called a famous brothel… 〉
‘Cosmos. Haven’t you heard that a well-fed pig is better than a hungry Socrates?’
〈 This is ridiculous. Isn’t it the opposite? 〉
Fortunately, I was the only one who could hear Cosmos’ voice right now.
“… Kahah! Shepherd! This is not only for the slums, but also for the women of Karaz.”
“That… What kind of work is this for women?”
Shepard said incredulously.
Even though the residents of Karaz were of mixed race, they had basically awakened magical powers and had strong bodies.
On Earth, prostitutes naturally go through the process of retirement when they get older, but in Zephyria, there is no such thing as aging, so if you have good looks, you can sell your body for the rest of your life.
What he meant was that a vicious pimp could exploit him for the rest of his life.
Rania was no different from the savior of women who would fall into the pit of hell.
“… Do you understand now?”
“Chairman. Well, that’s sophistry!! Rather than selling your body, isn’t it right to help you do a normal job even if you don’t sell your body?”
Was this guy this naive?
Doing other things to the detriment of others will not bring you as much income as selling your body.
That is the cold reality.
Moreover, since Rania started managing the brothel, prostitutes are no longer forced to sell their bodies.
Do those women want to do other things?
Rania doesn’t catch her employees leaving like other pimps do.
As Shepard said, if she wanted to do something else, wouldn’t she have left a long time ago?
He has wanted to close down gambling houses and brothels before. It seemed like he didn’t like the fact that brothels were being revived contrary to his expectations.
Will the problem be solved by immediately eliminating brothels?
On the contrary, it will get worse.
Regional development can also be done quickly if there is capital to support it.
There is no point in struggling in a slum with no money. The idea is to bring money from outside, not from the slums.
Rania was doing the job very faithfully.
It’s not that I’m favoring Rania, it’s that I need to promote her business in a very reasonable way.
“… Or, if you are confident that you can make as much profit as Rania through another business, I will push your budget.”
“…”
The executives except Rania silenced her.
Conflict of opinion is 2:5.
However, the weight of the position of Chairman of the Guardians and the weak justification of the opposition did not break my will.
“There is no change in the budget for the entertainment district. If you don’t like it, you can persuade Rania to come to me again.”
“… Yes, I understand.”
Shepard reluctantly agreed and answered.
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“What’s going on these days?”
When Shepherd returned home with a tired face, his wife Eleanor took his coat and asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“…”
Eleanor looked like she had a problem, but when Shepard said she was fine, she naturally didn’t trust her.
“What about the children?”
Shepherd asked, not knowing if he knew the woman’s feelings.
“I’m sleeping. What about food?”
“Sorry. I ate.”
Eleanor quietly watched Shepard enter the bedroom with a sullen expression on his face.
Eleanor has only been married to Shepard for a few years. She was once a female leader who actively helped Shepard in the slums.
After giving birth, she was now the shepherd’s wife.
Eleanor knew she didn’t want Shepard to worry about her, so she didn’t tell him what happened outside.
But just two months ago, a person who was extremely bright had his face darkened like that, so I couldn’t help but worry.
Eleanor felt frustrated because she couldn’t understand Shepard’s worries.
Feeling that her husband couldn’t hear her concerns, Eleanor decided to find Callie next door.
Callie was the wife of Graham, a high-ranking member of the Guardians and her husband’s longtime friend.
“That? I guess it’s because Chairman Bark favors Rania?”
“Rania?”
“Yes, that obnoxious girl. You’re the same Rania who flirted with Shepard before you got married. It seems like you’ve really captured Chairman Bark this time?”
“…”
After hearing from Callie about the cause of her husband’s darkening worry, Eleanor decided to take a look at President Bark’s face.
“Can you watch my kids tomorrow?”
“Why? Are you sure you want to go?”
Callie knew that when Eleanor worked with Shepard before she got married, she was a very temperamental person.
“Yes.”
Callie thought there was no use in trying to stop Eleanor.
She sighed.
“I wondered if my temper had died down after giving birth… Okay.”
