Chapter 165: You Are the Boss

North of the Crawford Duchy.

A narrow plain at the foot of Berkal Mountain.

A building was under construction there.

A large billboard read ‘Daepan Group Crawford Branch.’

An enormous crowd had gathered in front of it.

Suddenly a man approached the entrance between the fences.

“Excuse me. I came for the interview. Where should I go?”

A Daepan Group employee in a suit pointed to the right.

“The interview room is over there.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The man was dressed quite shabbily and even smelled, but the staff showed no sign of displeasure.

Instead they kindly offered all kinds of advice.

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Kevin.”

“I’m Riley. Kevin, are you really planning to go into the interview looking like that?”

“They said anyone could apply…”

“Still, you should show at least basic courtesy. There’s a well dug down there, so go wash up a bit. And straighten your clothes while you’re at it.”

“Sh-should I?”

“Of course. You need to make a good impression on the interviewer if you want the job, right?”

“But I don’t think it’ll make much difference…”

“Showing even a little sincerity will set you apart from the others.”

“Hmm… All right.”

Kevin went to the well and washed himself as best he could.

He had only splashed water on himself, but he already looked far more presentable than before.

Of course it didn’t completely erase his beggar-like appearance.

He still looked like a poor man who had scrubbed off a little grime.

Even so, he seemed to have gained a bit of confidence.

Kevin gave Riley a nod and hurried toward the interview room.

“Next person, please come in.”

“Yes— whoa!”

He absentmindedly opened the door and stepped inside, only for a surprised cry to escape.

The person sitting in the interview room had an overwhelmingly radiant face.

His harmonious features were striking enough, but his skin looked cleaner than polished marble.

It felt strangely out of place when that person opened his mouth.

“Nice to meet you. I am Abel Carrius, temporary regent of Crawford.”

“Y-Your Grace the Regent! It is an honor to meet you. My name is Kevin!”

“All right, Kevin. Could you tell me about your work experience?”

“I-I…”

The kind, gentle voice put him at ease, but his mouth still wouldn’t open easily.

That was because Kevin had barely done any real work in his life.

From birth until the age of sixteen, his entire life had been nothing but begging.

Catching rats and insects to eat in the slums and rummaging through other people’s trash had been his daily routine.

So what kind of work history could he possibly have?

“It’s okay. If you have none, you can just say so.”

“Yes… the truth is, all I’ve ever done is beg.”

“What made you want to try working?”

“The Daepan Group employees said that if I worked here I could earn a lot of money. I wanted to make money with my own hands and buy delicious food.”

It was an honest answer.

Born in the slums, he still knew shame.

Who in the world would want to live solely by begging? Yet Kevin’s face turned bright red like a tomato.

The ambition he had revealed felt far too shabby. Wanting to work just to buy tasty food.

It seemed inadequate for joining such an excellent workplace.

Regent Carrius’s reaction, however, was quite surprising.

“That is more than enough motivation. For humans, nothing is more important than making a living.”

“Ah, yes.”

“If I pass you, do you have the confidence to work hard?”

“Of course!”

“I hope you keep that determined spirit until the day you die. Passed!”

“……Huh? That easily?”

“Yes. Well, there’s no need to drag it out. The staff in the next room will explain the details, so you can head there.”

Kevin wore a dazed expression.

This was a job that paid a full gold coin.

Yet they hadn’t scrutinized his character in detail and simply ended it like that?

It made no sense by Kevin’s common sense.

In the Crawford Duchy, even a simple laborer job normally required every kind of verification.

During the process it was common to have wages withheld under the pretext of a training period.

“Th-thank you.”

After bowing and leaving the interview room, the next person asked him a question.

“What did the interviewer say?”

“He asked why I wanted to work.”

“Aha? I see. Thanks.”

Kevin received basic training and instructions from a Daepan Group employee.

While he was doing that, the person who had asked finished his own interview.

It seemed he had gone in and come right back out.

Curious about the result, Kevin asked.

“How did it go?”

“I failed.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I applied to contribute to national development and show loyalty to the empire.”

“Ah?”

Kevin couldn’t understand it.

The answer had been far grander and more impressive than his own.

Honestly, wasn’t it a much better reason than saying he wanted to eat delicious food?

What exactly was the standard here?

Vargas kept tilting his head in confusion.

All they had to do was note down personal information, so he wondered what was so puzzling.

“Why are you acting like that?”

“The interview results are completely different from what I expected.”

“What do you mean?”

“Wasn’t the guy just now pretty good? The loyalty part was a bit much, but his answer was clear and decisive.”

“Still no.”

“Why not?”

“Because he has a fraudulent history. He swindled money from people, lost it all gambling, and drifted here.”

“Eh? How do you know that?”

“My eyes and ears are everywhere.”

I casually used Feltron as an excuse.

In reality I had simply read his character information window.

Who would believe me if I said I had such an ability?

Besides, there was no need to prove it.

System functions were more powerful when others didn’t know about them.

Vargas nodded as if he understood.

“But why is it so quiet? It feels like it’s about time for a counterattack.”

“Yeah. I especially thought the Saltree family would move immediately.”

The Senate, which had taken a direct hit, was completely devastated.

Many influential nobles of the Crawford Duchy had been arrested.

That said, their power hadn’t been completely broken.

They still held considerable influence over the government and the nation as a whole.

“Actually, it may have already started.”

“Feltron said there’s been no troop movement.”

“The bureaucrats have begun a work slowdown.”

“Ah, so that’s why the workload at the regent’s office has doubled.”

“It was already heavy, but now it’s at the level of driving me insane.”

“We can’t keep overworking Shugly and Feltron forever.”

“You’re right. That’s why I’m trying to recruit useful people.”

“Huh? Here? They’re all just construction laborers and loggers, aren’t they?”

“I just need to pick out the smart ones and train them. That’s what I did in Midias too.”

Vargas was left speechless.

He seemed to have remembered that I had built an industrial city in the middle of nowhere.

Even President Paul of Daepan Industry had started as nothing more than a wage laborer on the Parviant farm.

And look at him now.

He was managing multiple factories splendidly.

“You’ve proven yourself so many times that I can’t even argue.”

“Right?”

“No one else is coming. Shall we wrap this up?”

“Yeah. I think we’ve recruited enough.”

Since it was such a small country, the number of poor people wasn’t that high anyway.

Of course I hadn’t only passed those who were struggling to survive.

Whether rich or poor, people’s character varied greatly.

There could be excellent nobles, and human trash could appear among the poor and slaves.

I simply used the character information window as the standard and filtered everyone thoroughly.

It just so happened that most applicants were from the slums, so a high percentage ended up hired.

“All right, then shall we begin?”

“Begin what?”

“Do you know what power holders hate the most?”

“Having their positions shaken, I suppose.”

“Exactly. Then what’s the most effective method?”

“A strong rival? Assassination attempts? Wouldn’t they be most wary of those?”

“Half right.”

“Why?”

“If a power holder has a personal problem, they’re bound to fall. But the system itself won’t collapse just because of that.”

“Someone else would simply rise as the new power holder.”

Vargas nodded as if he understood.

But he had only acknowledged that it was half right.

It seemed he still couldn’t grasp the real answer.

I smiled faintly and spoke.

“You have to shake the very foundation. I’m going to build a school in the Crawford Duchy. I plan to personally create the talent that will replace the bureaucrats.”

“Oh! That is indeed an effective method.”

Why were the bureaucrats ignoring my orders and holding out?

Because there was no replacement for them in the Crawford Duchy.

If I brought in foreign personnel, it could cause backlash.

They would claim the regent was trying to sell out the country.

But if I selected people from the Crawford Duchy from the beginning?

‘I wonder how they’ll react?’

Of course, building the school was something for later.

Right now the priority was setting up the factory and system to process spirit wood.

For that, an agreement with Mosra was essential.

After giving a few instructions to the Daepan Construction staff, I headed to the back side of Berkal Mountain.

Mosra seemed happy that its domain had expanded and was flying around the area.

It looked exactly like an excited puppy sniffing everything in sight.

“Hey.”

—Oh! You’re here? Awesome human.

It seemed grateful I had smashed the annoying intruders.

It brightened the moment it saw me.

It would be nice if Shugly and Feltron were this obedient.

That probably wouldn’t happen, though.

Those two loved climbing the ranks too much.

“Have you been well?”

—The humans coming near has been pretty annoying. But it’s not bad. They’re cutting trees for me.

“Didn’t you say it’s easier to feel the earth’s energy without trees?”

—But it’s not necessarily only good. The earth’s energy becomes active in places where plants and animals thrive.

“Living in a desert would be difficult then.”

I had considered bringing this little one to Deliat if necessary, but it seemed that wouldn’t work.

Besides, there weren’t many trees there anyway.

“Listen carefully.”

—Yeah.

“Make spirit wood.”

Is that all I need to do?

“I’m going to divide this mountain into six zones. You’ll migrate in order once a year, and the humans will follow behind you, cut the spirit wood, and plant new trees.”

—Oho? It feels like I’d be the boss then.

Seeing Mosra’s intrigued expression, an idea came to me.

After all, this was a business maintained by the half-fairy’s power.

In that case, giving it a proper sense of purpose wouldn’t be bad.

“That’s not just how it feels.”

—Hm?

“You’re not just feeling like it—you really are the boss. The Daepan Group employees will only assist. You are the one leading and supporting this entire operation.”

Mosra’s previously blank face gradually began to brighten.

Its life of constantly being pushed around by stronger beings around it was changing completely.

—Me… I’m the boss?

Rumble rumble rumble!

The moment it realized something, the ground suddenly shook and bright light burst from Mosra’s entire body.

Soon the body that had looked like a tiny Tinkerbell grew twice as large.

Moreover, its appearance had changed quite significantly.

Wait, I wasn’t expecting this much of a change…