“Damn it all!”
Viscount Salazar finally exploded in frustration.
The money he had received from terminating the slave contracts had all been wiped out by the fine.
Of course he was not short on funds.
What truly outraged him was that Tristan had received no punishment whatsoever.
No matter that he had scratched the man’s face first, he was still a noble.
A subordinate should have known his place and lowered his head.
“Huu… Let’s calm down.”
He could not keep getting angry forever.
Had he not come to the east precisely to revive his declining house?
He needed to seize something quickly if he wanted to secure a solid share.
Suddenly a friend who had obtained a decent business right in Delriat came to mind.
Viscount Mason Hubert.
The fellow who had foolishly picked a fight with Duke Carius and nearly fallen to ruin.
He had heard the man was now living quietly after buying a small estate in the countryside.
He could not afford to make the same stupid choice.
“Logistics is completely dominated by the Dapan Trading Company. There’s no room to squeeze in.”
Of course merchants from various affiliations were coming and going through Cabel City.
But with the funds Viscount Salazar currently possessed, forming a trading company was impossible.
All he had left was enough property to open a single small shop in the capital region.
It would be the same here.
“Everyone starts small at first.”
Viscount Salazar immediately headed to the administrative office.
His purpose was to rent a suitable property and obtain a business permit.
Instead he was forced to hear a bolt from the blue.
“First you must acquire the qualification requirements. And you must operate the business yourself.”
“Myself? What do you mean by that?”
“The owner must work at the shop for more than eight hours a day.”
“Couldn’t I have two shops?”
“Expansion is currently restricted. You will have to wait a long time before opening a second branch.”
“Huh! And what happens if I only work seven hours or six hours?”
“The permit will be revoked. The inspector will judge that you lack enthusiasm for managing the store.”
“Can they really check and verify all of that one by one?”
Viscount Salazar’s doubt was natural.
How exactly were they supposed to confirm whether the owner was actually working at the shop?
If they had the manpower for such a thing, it would be far more productive to send those people elsewhere.
Yet the counter employee answered as if it were nothing special.
“There are many methods. For example, a reporting reward system.”
“You mean they give money if someone snitches?”
“Something like that.”
“Who on earth would do such a thing?”
“Perhaps an employee or customer of the shop in question. Or someone in the neighborhood who pays a lot of attention.”
“The world has gone mad. A subordinate trying to harm his superior!”
“It is not prohibited under imperial law. Moreover, in Cabel City it is strongly encouraged.”
“Urgh!”
Viscount Salazar let out a groan.
Originally he had planned to rent every shop in a good location.
Even if he could not buy them, leasing should have been possible.
Then the Dapan Trading Company would have had no choice but to supply him with goods.
He had intended to demonstrate competitiveness through numerous retail outlets.
But this made things difficult.
How is the Dapan Trading Company supposed to supply goods when I only have a single shop?
It seemed multi-branch store management would not work.
Moreover, he could not even start in the first place.
Acquiring the qualification requirements was entirely possible.
But working eight hours a day in a shop?
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
“The control is far too strict.”
He muttered to himself, and the administrative office employee answered.
“It is not control. It is management. If we leave people to do as they please, it damages the city’s customs and appearance.”
“Who on earth said such a thing?”
“Duke Carius.”
“……”
Viscount Salazar lost the words to reply.
If that man had said so, how was he supposed to argue?
As he stood there with a hollow expression, the administrative office employee suddenly took out a document.
“Will you acquire the qualification requirements? That is required for a permit to be issued.”
“Never mind. I won’t do it.”
“Then would you like to receive career counseling? I was planning to visit you around today anyway. You haven’t come to the counseling center.”
“What is that supposed to be?”
“It is a project to create a city without vagrants or criminals. You can receive recommendations at the career counseling center at any time. They even provide related education.”
“Can I do whatever I want?”
“Usually we try to match it to an individual’s ability or preference.”
“Fine. I’ll receive it.”
For a brief moment Viscount Salazar’s eyes sparkled.
I can’t do accounting work, but a government bureaucrat position… I’m still a noble, after all.
Of course he did not want to live like the counter employee in front of him.
He would have to deal with every type of person.
But the appearance of the administrative office bureaucrats was fairly decent.
Working in clean formal suits would be far better than being the owner of a small shop.
Yet the words that came from the counter employee’s mouth were quite disappointing.
“You are rather advanced in age, and you don’t seem to have learned any particular skills?”
“I have spent my entire life doing accounting.”
“That has to be excluded. You were punished for embezzlement. In that case, something around this level would be suitable.”
Viscount Salazar’s eyes widened as if they would tear.
He could not believe the words written on the document.
Every single one was some kind of laborer position, and all of them involved physical labor.
“Logging laborer, mine laborer, trading company laborer…… Is this really true?”
“These are formal employments, and the monthly salary is not bad. If you work diligently, the possibility of promotion is sufficient.”
“This is driving me insane! I have spent my entire life digging into writing and numbers. How am I supposed to do this kind of work?!”
Viscount Salazar shouted.
Only then did the counter employee snap his fingers.
“Ah! You know how to write. However, because of your criminal record you cannot take on important positions. This one, at least, should be possible.”
The word that then appeared made Viscount Salazar press a hand to his forehead.
It was written as “copyist.”
The work was simple.
All he had to do was copy books as they were.
Of course Viscount Salazar had experience with copying.
But that had been when he had just become a tax collection officer.
A full twenty years ago, if he remembered correctly.
It was absolutely not work suitable for a man of his age who had become a viscount.
“Only this sort of…… Ha!”
A sigh escaped on its own, yet the counter employee’s attitude did not change.
“Please think it over carefully and come again. Now then, next person?”
In the end Viscount Salazar had no choice but to walk away with heavy steps.
Sak! Sak!
The sound of a quill pen moving steadily filled the air.
This was a branch of Dapan Publishing.
The person diligently copying text was none other than Viscount Salazar.
It was his first day of work, yet he performed the task fairly skillfully.
It was work he had done often in the past, and it was a simple job that only required knowing how to write.
The only problem was that his arm hurt tremendously.
After several dozen minutes had passed—
Ding! Ding!
Along with a clear bell sound, the noise of chairs being scraped back rose from various places.
Deureureuk! Deureureuk!
When he looked around in confusion, everyone was heading outside.
Eventually a middle-aged man with neatly combed white hair spoke to him.
“You’re not taking a break?”
“……?”
“Even if you want to keep writing, you cannot right now. Break time must be strictly observed. Ah, my introduction is late. I am Lugen Sisterf.”
Viscount Salazar, who had been staring blankly, widened his eyes.
Sisterf was a marquis house of the western Empire.
To meet someone from such a prestigious family in a copyist department like this was far too absurd.
Sitting in a daze, Viscount Salazar suddenly came to his senses.
Deureureuk!
“I-it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Jesse Salazar from Count Schultz’s territory.”
“I am not the Marquis of Sisterf himself. I am merely from that house. So there is no need for excessive formality.”
“No. Even so, that cannot be.”
“Did Duke Carius not say that everyone should set everything down here?”
“Then I will only treat you as an academy senior.”
“You are from Shennon Academy?”
“That is correct, Senior.”
“Truly a pleasure. To meet a junior here of all places. Let us go outside for now. Isn’t the workroom a bit stifling?”
“Yes.”
The two men walked through the small garden behind the workroom.
Forty-five minutes of work followed by fifteen minutes of rest.
Even now it was slightly difficult to adapt.
It was a situation Viscount Salazar’s common sense could not comprehend.
Shouldn’t people be driven hard every minute and every second if they wanted to produce great results?
Moreover, a sense of tension was necessary for work to go well.
Yet the copyist department of Dapan Publishing was being operated far too loosely.
Perhaps sensing that atmosphere, Lugen Sisterf opened his mouth.
“You seem to be thinking that you would never run things this way.”
“How did you… Hup!”
“I have not learned mind-reading or anything of the sort. It is all written on your face. You have a rather easy-to-read mouth.”
“I-is that so?”
“Let me tell you one thing. Do not doubt Duke Carius’s intentions.”
“Pardon? No matter how great that man may be, criticism is absolutely necessary. Only then will he walk the correct path.”
“That is the job of His Grace’s close aides. It is not something for ignorant people like us to concern ourselves with.”
“……”
For a moment he lost the words to reply.
Lugen Sisterf’s words were correct, after all.
What right did Viscount Salazar have to offer frank advice to Duke Carius?
Yet there was one thing he could not accept.
Calling a high-class talent like himself an ignorant person.
“Huhu! Your thoughts are completely visible. What I just said displeased you, didn’t it?”
“Th-that is……”
“Do not try to hide it. I thought the same way at first. Then after work, would you care to go somewhere with me?”
“Where do you mean?”
“A place that will shatter your stubborn way of thinking.”
Ding! Ding! Ding!
While they were conversing, a clear bell sound rang out.
Workers who had been resting here and there streamed back into the workroom.
Viscount Salazar also hurriedly moved his feet.
Still holding onto his doubts.
Shatter my way of thinking? Why would I need to do that?
Several hours later, work ended.
When he stepped outside carrying his bag, Lugen Sisterf was waiting.
Unlike when he had been seen in the workroom, a gentlemanly air now strongly radiated from him.
“Follow me.”
“Yes, Senior.”
Eventually the two men walked eastward.
The appearance of the city under the evening glow was beautiful.
Streetlights lighting up one by one and cleanly organized streets.
Even the roadsides completely free of filth thanks to the perfectly equipped water and sewage facilities.
It was a city far more magnificent and clean than the inner castle of Perias.
Being able to live in a place like this caused a subtle sense of satisfaction to well up.
It would have been much better if I had done a large business instead of becoming a copyist.
Yet he could not escape the framework Duke Carius had created.
Eventually Lugen Sisterf stopped walking.
“This is the place.”
“It is still under construction.”
“Look.”
Where his finger pointed, laborers were leaving work.
Every one of them was returning with tired expressions.
Viscount Salazar shrugged.
Around this time of day, it was only natural for faces to look like that.
The servants he had once ordered around had been the same.
But before long something different caught his eye.
“They are smiling. There is strength in their footsteps.”
“Do you know why?”
“I do not.”
“Because they have hope. The belief that tomorrow will be better than today.”
“Duke Carius is showing a happy future. To tens of thousands of people, no less.”
Eventually Lugen Sisterf waved at several of the laborers.
He seemed quite close with them.
“Do you know those people?”
“Of course. Until a few days ago I also worked as a construction laborer.”
“What? Why?”
“I wanted to experience the world Duke Carius created. Even an old man like me managed somehow.”
“Then why did you not continue? Isn’t the pay for construction laborers better?”
“Duke Carius issued an order. He told me not to overdo it.”
“Pardon?”
What on earth was this supposed to mean?
No matter that he came from a marquis house, Lugen was now nothing more than a stringless kite.
He was not a succession noble, and he no longer had any connection to the Sisterf family.
Yet the duke was paying that much attention?
“It is not only me. Those for whom the work is unsuitable often receive new recommendations.”
“Are you saying His Grace possesses some kind of divine eye that oversees everything?”
“I believe so.”
“Surely not.”
“Can you still say that after seeing that?”
Where Lugen Sisterf pointed, something enormous was slowly rising.
When Viscount Salazar saw it, he could not close his gaping mouth.
“Th-that insane—!”
Atop a monstrous form hundreds of meters high stood Abel Carius.
Every time he extended his hand to the side, massive rocks writhed and transformed.
“What on earth is he doing?”
When the question was asked, Lugen Sisterf smiled bitterly and answered.
“He said it is architecture.”
“……”
Only then did Viscount Salazar finally understand.
The reason one must never go against that man’s will.
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