The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (9)

A newly hired Administrator suddenly labeled me a lunatic.

And then, out of nowhere, this thing called a trust rating popped up.

There was only one reaction I could show.

‘Suddenly!?’

What is trust 57 supposed to mean?

Is that high?

If so, does being called a madman count as a compliment for now?

I couldn’t even tell whether the trust went up or down.

If I try to look at the situation as positively as possible…

‘Ronari’s trust in me rose because she felt awe for me “inventing” a wheelchair… or so it seems.’

That can’t be right.

Ronari was looking up at me, eyes glittering.

It was unbearably awkward.

Sure, it’s nice to raise trust with a surprise event alongside a colleague, but…

‘It’s an unreplicable event, that’s the problem. Haah’

That was the only thing on my mind.

A wheelchair.

Now that that’s out there, if I shake my head you’ll only hear the clatter of an empty can.

I can’t exactly announce now that I didn’t invent it.

‘Hehe, what do I do.’

I’m not a genius like you.

First, I gently removed her hands.

“I did act a bit crazy today, didn’t I.”

“Oh my… wait… what is my mouth saying. I’m sorry! That was a compliment!”

“Well, that’s a relief, but…”

“How did you come up with that idea? I thought you were sharp since you caught the Chief Administrator’s embezzlement, but to procure manpower like this… you’re truly remarkable.”

What am I supposed to do.

There’s nothing more uncomfortable than being praised for someone else’s idea.

‘I need to smooth this over somehow…’

The only option is to say it wasn’t my idea after all.

“Please don’t praise me like that… it’s not my idea. It’s embarrassing.”

“Then who made something like this?”

I don’t know that either, though?

“Someone from another territory…”

“Have you ever been outside Denabi?”

“Well…”

Damn it!

Why is this girl so persistent?

“Anyway, I said it’s not me!”

“Alright~ we’ll go with that.”

“No, I mean it… really.”

“Really, I get it. There’s no need to be shy…”

No, she’s acting like she doesn’t believe me.

She gave me no room to explain at all.

‘Ugh, I’m screwed.’

I gave up trying to persuade her.

Fine. Consider it a good thing.

After all, the trust rating did go up.

‘If it’s really wrong, it’ll adjust itself somehow.’

By the way, what exactly does this trust rating information mean?

It says trust 100 is the [employment threshold]…

‘I have no idea what the [employment] the Status Window mentions actually is.’

So far, those judged [employable human resources] are Ronari and Tandel.

Both are already administrators at Denabi Castle.

Does that mean I haven’t already “employed” them?

‘What on earth is this… [employment].’

Even if I asked the Status Window, it probably wouldn’t give a proper answer…

‘Things seem to be going well, but nothing is happening the way I want. Haah.’

It’s strange.

Well, that’s not really the important part.

As long as things go well, that’s fine.

‘I hope it keeps going like this from now on…’

This is only a very small step.

And we’ll have to take thousands upon thousands more.

We can’t afford to fail even at the trivial bits.

For some inexplicable reason, Ronari was giddily cheerful.

I called to her.

“Ronari.”

“Yes, young master.”

“What I just did doesn’t even count as the start of this project.”

“Young master, I know you’re being humble. You can stop now…”

“I’m not saying that to be modest.”

My serious tone changed her expression too.

I continued.

“Administrator Ronari. You’re the one I’ve consulted most about this business. So more than anyone, you should know better than I do what we need to do next.”

“This is merely the first step among the preparatory stages. I know.”

“Exactly. And we don’t have enough money or time.”

“Even so, we must succeed. Right?”

“That’s right.”

So what I intended to say was this:

“For the time being, until this is wrapped up, you won’t be able to go home.”

“Ugh…”

Ronari’s face fell.

It was a hint of what lay ahead: the endless road of overtime.

I felt a little sorry for her family.

‘Pietro, Izack… I’m sorry, but hiring Ronari into Denabi Castle was a mistake.’

As expected, Denabi is a black company.

One of the worst workplaces in this world.

Ronari’s true value became obvious once we started ordering raw materials.

“The brewery must be set up in at least ten days. It has to be. To meet delivery deadlines, we need to secure enough barley immediately.”

“Then I’ll look into suppliers over there.”

But Ronari shook her head at the young employee’s offer.

“There’s no time. Given the volume of barley, transport alone will drag. We need money and wagons, and we must depart immediately.”

“But without scouting, how do we know they have enough barley?”

“We calculate from here and rely on probability. The farms I’ve identified are here, and here…”

‘As I thought, bringing her along so she grasped the whole business was the right call.’

She really has S-rank potential.

I felt the same when I entrusted her with capital estimates.

‘She’s quick with numbers and adept at reading the overall situation and responding.’

So I gave her full authority over raw materials.

She became able to issue orders even to her superiors when needed.

That wasn’t particularly thanks to me… there were two reasons:

1. This project exceeds the usual scope of Denabi Administrators’ duties.

2. The Administrators, including Tandel, actively cooperated.

“Thank you, Tandel. If you hadn’t helped organize the project’s internal hierarchy, we couldn’t have moved.”

“Not at all. It’s because the Administrators decided to trust and follow you, young master.”

“Pfft… say what you like. Flatter me all you want, but nothing’s coming out now.”

Truly, this wouldn’t have been possible without Tandel’s charisma.

“Who would trust and follow the lord’s suddenly appeared youngest son? It’s thanks to the Chief Administrator. No need for empty praise.”

“But that’s not mere flattery…”

I waved a hand, cutting him off.

“Hmm. Really, it’s fine!”

‘To “trust and follow.”’

‘Ah. That has a pleasant ring.’

But I didn’t believe the phrase.

Why would anyone trust and follow me for anything I’ve done?

The words pleased me, but I’m not yet worthy of that kind of trust.

If someone trusts me, there’s only one reason:

Because they have no choice but to trust.

Otherwise this territory collapses, doesn’t it?

“Who would call that trust?”

That’s dependence.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Once the Administrators took charge of raw materials, it got easier for me to handle the rest.

“Young master. About the lease for the building and land you mentioned…”

“Have you narrowed the candidates?”

“Yes. As you said, we found warehouses with a strong water supply and wide grounds.”

“Good. Let’s inspect them now. Prepare the check. If possible, we sign on the spot.”

“Understood.”

Ta-da.

Here’s an easy question:

Q. What’s the foundation of a business?

Dun dun dun dun.

The correct answer is…?

A. A business site!

Ding-dong-dang!

It’s so obvious it hardly needs saying.

Whether business or anything else, you need space to operate.

That’s a physical truth before any economics.

No matter how important raw materials or people are, without a site?

‘You can’t do the work.’

And if your site is poor?

‘Work efficiency plummets.’

If efficiency drops?

‘Before we even sell alcohol, everyone will die of mana crystallization!’

So choosing the brewery’s location and designing the interior were inevitably crucial.

Izack looked around the brewery site I’d selected.

“This warehouse? It should meet the necessary conditions, right?”

“Abundant water, suitable temperature, sufficient space. Right? I selected it based on the criteria we discussed.”

“Well, it looks like it. I don’t really like it, though…”

“What don’t you like? Tell me, and we’ll address it.”

I immediately took out pen and notebook.

Pietro stopped me.

“Ignore my son-in-law’s nonsense. The place couldn’t be better.”

“That’s a relief. Then let’s move to the next meeting.”

“There’s another meeting…?”

Izack’s face contorted like it was dreadful.

Hehe.

I get that you hate meetings, but calm down for now, Ronari’s father.

“It’s only been a few days, and how many meetings have we had? Site criteria, facility scale, required staff. What’s this time? Isn’t it all done now?”

“We still need to discuss staff duties and training. And the equipment layout according to movement paths, and…”

“Hah.”

Izack let out a despondent sound… exasperated already.

‘Why loathe it now? We’re not even finished. Hehe.’

I decided to stop counting the meetings I hadn’t even mentioned yet. If I listed them all, he might bolt.

“I know it’s bothersome, but we can’t avoid meetings. As you know, the staff we’re hiring are somewhat special. We must discuss assignments and how to make workflows efficient.”

“Come on, Izack. Didn’t you agree to cooperate?”

Pietro backed me up.

Thank you, sir!

“But, Father…”

“It’s for your daughter’s sake.”

“…”

Pinned between a pincer of father-in-law and me, Izack finally surrendered.

“Fine. Do as you like. Meetings or whatever…”

“Thank you, Izack… and sir! And I just thought of this… solve the staffing shortage by hiring the elderly…”

“Damn it! One thing at a time!”

Hehe. Alright, alright.

Thanks to Pietro and Izack, the working-environment issues gradually resolved.

Thus, with many people’s help, preparations progressed at astonishing speed…

“…”

…As if they’d ever finish.

Avenger said,

“It seems the staff are having difficulty using the wheeled chairs.”

“…Is that the only issue?”

“Of course not. There’s one more. There was a leak on-site that nearly contaminated all the equipment. We fixed the piping quickly, so it didn’t spread.”

‘We chose a place with abundant water, and now water is the problem…?’