23 — 3 (3)

If one could know in advance what a stranger would be good at, then even if they were lacking now, seating them in the right position would eventually make them excel.

It would be better to employ those already competent, but Louis had neither money nor promising prospects.

Unless one were a fool, if they already possessed ability, they would naturally attach themselves to the group with the greatest future and rewards.

That was why Louis had unlocked the Talent Insight trait.

‘It means I can get them cheap. For now, it’s more important to fill the numbers than to recruit people already outstanding.’

The quest window dragged Louis back to reality. An additional quest demanding the construction of two more Colosseums. Considering the linked quests, he could earn a large amount of points.

But under the current situation, expanding the Colosseums was not a wise decision.

The ones who operated the Colosseum were none other than death-row convicts.

If the convicts ran out, the Colosseum would stop.

Discontent would rise again, and misfortune would dominate the city.

Of course, if it came to that, Louis would personally purchase slaves, but for now…

‘I’ll push ahead.’

He had to gather points and unlock traits of higher performance. Was there any method more efficient for Louis than this? None.

The Civilization System contained such immense potential.

The only issue was the conditions.

‘The quests are starting to get tricky.’

If it had simply been a matter of expanding the Colosseum, Louis could have sought cooperation from the poor and had it built.

Hadn’t Louis already won the love of the lower classes? But the quest’s conditions were that he had to build the Colosseums in Dekal’s and Max’s districts. The people there had no reason to like Louis, and more importantly, he would need those two men’s permission.

It was on a different level from the time he had simply raided a warehouse.

“…Consul Louis?”

“………”

Louis looked at the poor lined up before him. The managers might have been ignored by him, but they had already recognized Louis as their rightful consul, so they felt his indifferent attitude was natural.

When one in high position responded to those beneath him at every turn, that in itself would be strange.

In any case, the reason Louis had gathered so many of the poor here was to view their talents.

The young men gazed at Louis, who seemed lost in thought, with eyes of admiration.

Though younger than them, Louis stood above them.

He was the consul who could decide their life and death.

Louis felt the gazes burdensome, but did not show it on his face. He had requested that only those meeting his conditions be gathered, yet the number present was still vast.

Though not a military formation, the people lined up straight were standing at attention on Louis’s command, and Louis rose from his seat.

When he simplified the Civilization System’s interface, personal information appeared above each person’s head.

Even though he had ordered only young literate men among the poor to be gathered, there were still hundreds to examine.

Louis frowned slightly. The Talent Insight trait did not seem as useful as he had thought.

For the first time since he had begun unlocking the Civilization System’s traits, he felt regret.

Even if he focused on selecting those with high administrative stats by checking them individually now, how would he continue to handpick talent one by one in the future?

It would be absurd for a ruler to neglect all his duties just to select talent.

Adjusting the Civilization Information System again, the display of their information changed into geometric symbols.

Louis quickly scanned through them.

He filtered out only the highest scorers.

As Louis passed, the lined-up men showed mixed emotions. If chosen by him, one could become a low-ranking administrator. Even if only at the bottom, for those who might otherwise live and die as beggars, it was a chance to escape their status.

When Louis approached, hearts pounded wildly. Each prayed desperately to be chosen. Some had even gone so far as to fast and sacrifice their rationed food to the gods.

The principle was simple: one offered sacrifices to a god and wished for one’s desire. The stronger the wish, the greater the offering. Even Louis had once made an offering to the goddess of fortune; such acts were common in this world.

That some had sacrificed food while their families starved to death showed just how desperate they were.

Louis knew this. But he valued opportunity.

Everyone gathered here wanted to seize one. If he ordered them to take up a sword and mount the Colosseum stage, even promising them only a minor administrator’s post, countless would obey.

Louis hesitated over the standard administrative stat to use as his cutoff, but finally decided.

He stopped before a man.

The man’s latent administrative stat was 4. Most were 2, and many even negative. Thus, he decided to focus on choosing those with 3s and 4s.

The man beside him had a 1, and the next a -3.

Louis tapped the man’s shoulder.

That was the signal. The official following Louis immediately asked the man’s name and sent him aside.

With an expression of disbelief and excitement, the man suddenly bowed deeply to Louis.

“Thank you so much, Consul.”

Louis only nodded a few times and said nothing.

The man quickly ran to the new position assigned by the official. Everyone nearby looked at him with envy. Those beside him wore twisted expressions, some even biting their lips.

But Louis had no intention of choosing them and moved forward.

In no time, Louis had inspected half the line.

‘So 5 is the limit, huh.’

There had been exactly one man with an administrative talent of 5. The rest were all around 3 or 4.

And even this was only a mark of talent, not yet a developed ability.

Effort had to be added.

Such a variable Louis could not measure.

‘Nothing worthwhile in this row.’

As Louis passed by, some burst into tears on the spot.

They were desperate. But the reason none spoke was because Louis had instructed the overseeing manager that no one was to question his choices.

If every reason had to be explained, it would only complicate matters and slow down the process. That was unacceptable.

Still, Louis could not control, nor wished to, the tears of those who missed their chance.

As he was about to pass the second row, one man suddenly shouted.

“Consul, please, I beg you for a chance.”

Louis turned toward the voice and saw a man kneeling.

The man’s administrative talent was 2. Louis had set his cutoff at 3, so there was no reason to choose such a common one.

“You… you fool. I warned you enough…! Soldier!”

At the manager’s order, a soldier with a spear approached. The next step would be to drag the man out and beat him to pulp.

“Wait.”

Louis’s words stopped both soldier and manager.

Looking at the man bowing low, Louis asked.

“Why should I choose you?”

“I will do anything… even face death. I sacrificed all our food as an offering. If I am not chosen, my six younger siblings will starve to death.”

Clicking tongues echoed around them. There were limits even to offerings. To give away the entire family’s food was an act deserving criticism. But it showed how desperately the man wished to escape his fate.

Either way, death awaited him, so he had tried appealing to Louis.

It was troublesome. An answer designed to provoke pity.

Depending on Louis’s response, this man and his family would either starve or survive.

He wanted to choose him. It was not even difficult. Even with a stat of 2, if he worked desperately, he could handle his small post well.

Louis was not recruiting high officials, only minor ones.

But the timing was the issue. If the man had spoken afterward, it would have been fine. If Louis accepted him now, others would plead the same way.

He could not take them all.

“Sorry, but I can’t.”

Tears streamed down the man’s face. A few others, who might have had the same thought, gave up when they saw it.

After that precedent, the atmosphere grew even heavier than before.

Time passed, and when Louis finally chose two more in the last row, the selection ended.

The manager, beaming, asked Louis.

“Consul, you’ve worked hard.”

Louis nodded several times, then said,

“That man earlier.”

“Yes. I will make an example of him so this never happens again…”

“No, no. Add him to the list.”

“To the list…? You mean?”

“Yes. I’ve changed my mind. We didn’t get as many as I expected. Adding one more won’t hurt.”

“You are generous indeed, Consul. More generous than any consul I have met in Proia.”

“……..”

Being called a generous consul was not exactly a compliment. But Louis had chosen him not from pity, but because he valued the courage it took to speak out in such a rigid atmosphere.

Whenever Louis saw someone fighting desperately to escape their fate, he felt compelled to give them a chance.

‘If worse comes to worst, I can send him as a spy. His eyes looked promising.’