I Built This City Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Read chapter 16 of I Built This City by ThePudding on NovelPedia.

Merchant Ellen The Crown Surveyor’s Office was one of the nicer buildings in Merriweather. This part of the kingdom had been ‘frontier’ for at least five generations, so it was common for people to request use of various land parcels or even lease them outright from the king. That made this office an incredibly important place, which explained the mortared stone building that extended up three entire floors, all of them stone rather than wood. In truth, Ellen hadn’t known too much about how land worked until she’d asked Mister Pulani a few casual questions about it. Her parents and uncle had both talked about ‘buying’ and ‘owning’ land, so she’d been surprised to realize that wasn’t technically true. Ownership of land was under the king, and purchasing a plot simply meant that the ‘owner’ had rights to use it under a specific contract. She’d realized this also meant that Hunter Ellen feeding everyone had technically been poaching, but the merchant had assured her that in practice this was never enforced, and most unmanaged land at the edges of the kingdom had explicit exceptions in the rules, since it was otherwise unused anyway. Now she was quietly tapping her foot, her nervous fidget for the moment. Her Gambler’s Face kept her body from shuffling too much and made it easier to control her expression, but she was still feeling an upset stomach from the nervousness of what she was doing. This was a huge risk. It was also taking forever. The clerk had laid out a dozen papers already—more than Ellen had thought possible for such a simple request. Paper and parchment were not exactly cheap, and the office had drawers upon drawers of it anyway. She also knew that almost all of them would be duplicated elsewhere, since this was a satellite office… and that made the amount simply mind-boggling to her. At last, the clerk lined up the final paper and sighed. He’d moved slowly, and Ellen had the distinct impression that the skinny, quiet fellow much preferred sitting in the office and being bored just barely more than actually doing his job. “So,” he droned out. “The total parcel comes to just under 1200 acres. That includes Mount Onroc, the site of the old town of Onroc, the river frontage, and some of the surrounding land.” He set aside several pieces of parchment for those. “In addition, you will be taking over management of the settlement already there. It looks like they’ve been paying a flat presumptive tax for the last… four decades, or so. Probably less than they’re really worth, but that will be your problem now. The new taxes will require a bare minimum of five times what we are receiving right now. I can’t imagine they’re doing that well.” Ellen shook her head. “No, they’re not. I plan on developing the area and reopening the old iron mine, which should increase income. Among other possible projects.” The man eyed her thoughtfully for a long moment… then shrugged. “Right. So this includes all possible rights to the land usage so long as it does not endanger the Crown. That includes river usage, timber rights, hunting rights, farming rights, mineral rights… everything. It would be cheaper if you leave out farming rights and a few others, you know.” Ellen shrugged. “Maybe, but not by much, and maybe I’ll want to have some farmers. Throw it all in there.” A heavy sigh, and the clerk selected a paper and set that aside with the others, while tucking some of the untouched ones onto the table behind him. “Very well. The iron mine does drive the potential value upward, but this parcel has been unclaimed for over seventy years. That does bring down the price significantly. Even so, with existing timber export and river access…” He went quiet as he did some math, scratching numbers onto an erasable slate next to him. “Twenty-two crowns.” Ellen made a face, then shook her head. “This is undeveloped land and I’m going to have to develop up the town. That seems extreme given the taxes and obligations. Fifteen seems more reasonable.” The