Chapter 10 - 010_Staff Recruitment
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010_Staff Recruitment
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There was a man named Sudobein, the younger brother of retainer Roxwell. As the son of a retainer's family, he had trained in the sword since childhood, but like Rodney, he had no talent for the sword. So Sudobein married a village girl and became a farmer, but Rodney summoned that very Sudobein.
"It seems the harvest ended without problems this year, which is good. I hear the yield is the same as usual—is that correct?"
Rodney knew the faces of all his retainers' families. Sudobein had also known Rodney since his birth.
"Yes. The harvest is the same as usual, Rodney-sama."
Rodney nodded at that response and brought up the main topic.
"Actually, I have a request for you, Sudobein."
"For me? What might that be?"
Rodney said he wanted Sudobein to be the person in charge of the Galim Syrup workshop. To manage the production of Galim Syrup and adjust the shipment volume, one needed at least basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. There were widows who could do those things, but they said it was already hard enough just doing the production, so they asked him to look elsewhere. And so the spotlight fell on Sudobein.
"Galim Syrup is at its most important time right now. I want to entrust it to someone I can rely on."
Having grown up in a retainer's family, there was loyalty to the Forvas House, and there weren't many people so close that they had even changed Rodney and Emilia's diapers.
"Is someone like me up to the task?"
"You know many of the women. I think you'll be much better at getting them together than someone who doesn't know them at all."
"Understood. I accept your offer."
"That's a help. Let's work well together from now on."
Rodney immediately headed to the workshop that had already started operating. The smell of new construction and the sweet scent of Galim Syrup were pleasant.
"From now on, this Sudobein will be in charge of this workshop in my place. Yes, the position will be workshop chief. Everyone, please treat him well."
Many of the working employees (widows) were of an older generation than Sudobein's mother. There were even old women with hunched backs, but Rodney let them work, thinking it was fine if their abilities were somewhat lacking as long as they worked earnestly.
Currently, the workshop's employees had increased to fifty. Since they expected to be able to collect even more Galim tree sap from the eastern forest, they were considering further increases. They had also changed the number of furnaces from the planned five to eight, so three more would be operational in half a month. Thanks to that, the workshop was quite lively.
Just then, Manas, a subordinate of Hacklehoff, arrived. Rodney introduced Sudobein to Manas and told him that Sudobein would be handling shipments and orders from now on.
"Is that so? My name is Manas, of the Hacklehoff Trading Company. Please remember me from now on."
"My name is Sudobein. I am still inexperienced, but I look forward to working with you."
Today, they delivered 150 rodems of Galim Syrup. Before leaving, Manas said that Galim Syrup continued to be in short supply. Rodney had heard that many times before, but hearing those words lightened his heart.
The current monthly production exceeded 500 rodems. Thanks to the employees' hard work, but in half a month all eight furnaces would be operational, so production would increase further. If it weren't selling, they couldn't have increased production like this. So hearing it was in short supply made him very happy.
"I need some civil officials too..."
Since the retainers were all military officials, there were no civil officials. Everything from bookkeeping to paperwork was the work of the lord, Rodney. Moreover, many of the documents were related to expenses, and frequent calculation errors occurred. By checking those in advance and handling corrected, proper document processing, he could significantly reduce the time spent on paperwork. If that happened, he would have more time to enter the Labyrinth.
"I'll hire a civil official!"
That said, there were few people suited for civil official work. The one he had in mind, Sudobein, he had already made the head of the Galim Syrup workshop. He racked his brain for any good talent, but none came to mind.
"Everyone around me is all brawn..."
Starting with head retainer Rodmel, all five retainers were muscle-heads. Even his childhood friend Yulin was reliable with a sword, but completely hopeless at paperwork. Once before, he had asked her to help with paperwork, and smoke came out of her head.
He put up a signboard in the village to recruit for the civil official position. It was more of a "if someone comes, lucky" kind of feel. The conditions were the ability to read, write, and do arithmetic. If possible, he also wanted them to manage the lord's schedule.
Three people responded to the recruitment. The first was a man in his fifties, the second a woman in her thirties, and the third a man who wasn't even twenty yet. Rodney gave the same calculation problems to all three and had them solve them. The one who got 28 out of 30 correct was the woman in her thirties; the man in his fifties only got 8 correct, and the man not yet twenty got 20 correct.
After telling the man in his fifties the results and politely sending him home, he had the remaining woman and man check some documents. Those documents were made by Rodney and had several mistakes. It was a test to see if they could notice the mistakes, but the man pointed out the wrong places, while the woman skillfully pointed out all the mistakes.
After sending the man home, a final interview was conducted. The interview was done by Rodney, Rodmel, and Hortus. Since it was mainly an interview to see the person's character, they asked several questions and judged based on the answers.
The woman's name was Kiris, and she introduced herself as a peddler mainly in the Seppa Territory, east of the Dedel Territory. True to being a peddler, her demeanor was gentle and her speech was proper.
"The starting salary for a civil official is 3 small gold coins per month. There's a three-month probationary period, after which we'll decide whether to continue your employment and officially hire you. If you are officially hired, it will become 5 small gold coins. Is that agreeable?"
"I have a question. May I?"
He hadn't expected to be asked about the salary, so he was a bit surprised, but he allowed the question.
"You just said that after official hiring, I would receive a salary of 5 small gold coins. If my abilities are high, is it possible to receive more than that?"
Is she confident? Or does she need more money? But if she's capable, I'd be willing to pay a large gold coin. As long as she does the work to match it.
One large gold coin was enough to live for nearly a year in this Dedel Territory, and nearly half a year in the royal capital. If he was going to pay that as a monthly salary, he would need her to do work worthy of it.
"Depending on your abilities, I might pay a large gold coin."
"Thank you. That is all my questions."
After that, they asked several questions and heard her responses, and Rodney and the others thought that hiring Kiris would be fine. Finally, Rodney asked why she quit being a peddler and applied for the civil official position.
"Peddling isn't as profitable as one might think. I carved out trade routes that weren't in the red and did business, but high-profit goods are backed by big merchants, and hiring hunters to deal with bandits and such is also expensive. So I was thinking of either joining under some merchant or quitting being a merchant. Then I saw the signboard recruiting civil officials and thought 'this is it.'"
The good timing must have been partly due to fortune. After all, if she hadn't happened to come to this Dedel Territory on a peddling trip, there would have been no such encounter.
Rodney thought this was also fate, and decided to hire Kiris. When he confirmed this with Rodmel and Hortus, the two also said there was no problem.
Kiris would once return to Seppa Territory to settle her affairs. Here, Rodney would prepare an empty house for her to live in. He prepared an empty house as close to his own home as possible, and asked Riti to clean it.
"This should reduce the paperwork a little."
That's what Rodney thought, but would it go as he planned? The answer would come someday.
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