Blacksmith vs. the System

Once the meeting was done, we split. Eleanor went to meet with the guards to arrange the new patrol schedule, trying to make sure there would not be any problems. Maria flew to the nearest city to purchase as many crossbows as she could carry on a griffin along with some alchemical fertilizers. I didn\'t need it since I had a better alternative, but I had requested some in order to have an excuse for keeping those plants in my possession.

Meanwhile, I stayed at the headquarters for a while, writing notes on how to improve Repair quickly, then forging a set of weapons in increasing complexity that could be damaged and repaired at the same time.

They should be able to use that combination to quickly push their Repair skill to forties, which, combined with the Warm Blow perk, would allow them to repair the enchanted weapons. I didn\'t write down my own Repair trick, instead derived a full set of simpler tricks that could be used with Warm Blow.

The situation was complicated enough without another Blacksmith stumbling their path into Mana Forge.

As for the recruitment, I asked the guards to handle that, and ask for volunteers. Knowing how the warriors could treat the production classes, I made it very clear that I needed volunteers, and not coerced farmers.

If none of them wanted to join me in the dungeon, which was possible considering the danger, so be it. I could always find a different method. I wanted to improve, but not through forced labor.

Not when I could finally do something about it.

Once I stepped out, I found a sergeant I was familiar with from the dungeon waiting for me, but I couldn\'t remember his name. Luckily, my new status meant that not remembering people\'s names wasn\'t treated as something rude. "What was your name, sergeant? Sorry that I\'m bad at names."

"Harold, sir," he said. I wondered if it was his real name, or if he was one of the people that changed theirs for a more old-timey feeling. But, I didn\'t ask. It would have been pointlessly rude. "The potential recruits are waiting for you, sir," he said.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"They are at the farm. I thought bringing a crowd here might be too much."

"A crowd," I asked. "You remember what I said about no coercion, right?"

"Of course," the sergeant said, looking surprised. "I actually had to turn down bribes to bring them forward," he declared.

"Really?" I asked. "I would have thought that Farmers wouldn\'t have been willing to risk themselves in a dungeon."

"Not when you offer them double what they are already getting."

"What?" I said. "I thought I offered them only a silver a day, with performance bonuses?"

"Yes, double what they are making," Harold said. "We offer them half a silver, plus food and residence. Honestly, Lady Maria\'s offer was already generous enough. Apparently, they had almost fifty thousand farmers respond to the application, so they were able to pick the best."

"What about the danger?" I asked. I had known that farmers were struggling, but not to the point of moving to a potentially dangerous new town.

"Well, some of them. The money is already more than what they earned in the city. After removing costs, they are lucky to earn a silver a week in the city. Most barely break even," the guard explained. "More importantly, it\'s hard to level up in the city. They have to save for months to get access to even the simplest dungeon."

"So, my offer to work in a dungeon…"

"Frankly, you can probably find volunteers that would work for free. It\'s a waste of silver," he said.

"Interesting," I said. "No wonder they didn\'t even ask about how much I will pay for the bonus," I said, which made the guard skip a step. "What\'s wrong?" I asked.

"The performance bonus? That\'s more money?" he asked, surprised.

"Well, yes. What did you think it was?"

"I thought it would be the right to kill monsters so that they can level up," he said, surprised. "That\'s the traditional way. The opportunity to be protected by someone at level one hundred while doing so…"

I frowned. I knew that the situation with the Farmers was bad, but I had clearly underestimated the extent of their plight.

"I didn\'t know that," I said. Suddenly, I realized that my offer of letting them hunt monsters with ranged weapons was more attractive, enough that I could probably make them pay for the privilege through weeks of physical work.

Not that I had any intention of actually doing that. What was the point of such cruelty? Just to keep salaries low? It was like the worst parts of capitalism and feudalism mixed in to create an unholy abomination.

Humanity… somehow always capable of making a bad situation worse. Even when there is no need.

I said nothing as we left the town, and started walking toward the farming center, where the farmers were working hard to tile the land and plant, leading the horses. The part nearest to the town was being turned into an orchard, while the more distant parts were being tiled to the beast land.

With the beasts pulling the plows, the process was fast. While Farmers only had Vitality as a stat which didn\'t give them the ability to deadlift half a ton with ease, it was still enough to raise their endurance to an inhuman degree. They tiled the land with a steady pace, showing more enthusiasm than I had expected.

However, as I came closer, I realized that their steady work had a frantic edge, and I could already hear a few whispers about the guilds leaving the caravan to go back. They were probably assuming that some of them would be fired and sent back.

Admittedly, it was a realistic fear. Without my intervention to save the finances, Maria was already considering delaying the payment, and firing some of them to reduce the cost was the logical next step. Especially, with the number of guards gone, it would be a reasonable setup.

"The volunteers for the dungeon, gather around," the sergeant shouted. "Sir Arthur is here to make the selection for the team that\'ll join his guild."

The workers froze before they all started to gather, already pushing each other. "Anyone that creates a commotion will be disqualified. I don\'t want a stampede!" I shouted, which had been enough to freeze them. "No running. Walk calmly, and don\'t push each other."

Even as I shouted at them, I didn\'t blame them. I knew exactly where they were coming from. It wasn\'t even two weeks ago that I would have been a part of a similar group. Not for a silver coin, maybe, but five coins would have made me just as desperate.

While they gathered in a calmer manner, I climbed on a rock so that they could see me, and looked at Harold. "Listen to the rules well. I don\'t want any guard violating them either," I warned him.

"Understood, sir," he said enthusiastically.

Machiavelli might have had a dubious reputation for his statement about it being better to be feared than loved, but his book had another, lesser-known quote that was certainly true. If one could arrange it, it was best to be loved and feared at the same time.

Luckily, the inherent threat of someone level one hundred — even if it wasn\'t exactly true — and my new role in the inner circle handled the fear part, and my generosity worked well for the loved part.

"I\'m sure the guards had mentioned what I want to do. I need people who will accompany me to the dungeon. I have already arranged with Lady Maria, so I can borrow you for a day or two before you return to your tasks," I said. "Since we have that many volunteers, I want to make a few changes."

"I\'m willing to work for free—" one of them shouted.

"I\'ll pay a silver as long as I can spend five minutes hunting in the dungeon!" another one shouted.

"I will —"

That looked like it could turn into a stampede. "Enough. No commotion," I shouted. While I didn\'t want to act like a jerk, trying to explain something to eight thousand people at once was not an easy thing. That was why I didn\'t explain the exact details of the offer. They seemed to be ready to kill each other for an opportunity to visit the dungeon and kill a few monsters after a full day of work.

I didn\'t want to see what they would do if they learned the job was to kill monsters from a safe distance.

From a pragmatic perspective, I could have easily convinced them to work for a pittance, or even sign some very punishing debt contracts, which I could easily enforce because of my direct contact with the management. I had no doubt that many in my place would have done exactly that.

It was pointless. I paused for a moment, which both allowed them to process the importance of the moment, while also giving me a chance to adjust my recruitment plan. My initial plan was to just hire the volunteers to join my guild, but I decided against it.

Not only could it turn messy to give them the opportunity, but it was also a waste. The higher their level, the less benefit they would get from killing monsters. I expected them to reach level fifteen quickly, and progress to twenty-five at a reasonable pace, only to be stalled during their class upgrade due to the lack of mana.

I decided to level up all of them. While it might slow down setting up my operation, it would give Maria a bunch of farmers who could work longer and produce more food. Selling it back would have been cumbersome, but it would mean the town could grow without expanding the number of farmers, which would be a bonus.

And, I doubted she would have a problem with increasing the self-defense capabilities of the farmers. Giving them both Stab and Shoot, which was produced in the dungeon, would make things very easy.

I just needed to prepare a set of armor for all of them so they didn\'t die in an accident.

"Now, let me explain the rules. We\'re going to set up a small raffle, and every volunteer will have a number. We will be rotating the dungeon workers, so all of you will have the opportunity to level up. The ones that impress me in the dungeon will have the chance to join my guild directly for even more payment. But, anyone who risks their fellow farmer\'s life in the dungeon will lose that chance. Safety first!" I warned. "Feel free to change your mind if that\'s not attractive."

No one answered, their enthusiasm growing. I was about to stop when I realized how people could act when faced with such opportunities. "There will be no buying and selling your places in the line, and anyone that tries to force others to give up their place or anything else, I\'ll deal with personally," I warned.

Then, I pulled my sword as I jumped down, cutting the huge rock I had been standing into smooth pieces with a few Vitality attacks.

Sometimes, the best way to avoid punishing anyone was to show the power to do so.