“Argh. Three-day resolution. I will overcome you.”
It was a morning training session made even harder because I had over-drank with Meat yesterday.
Slot worked me hard again today. All the while, Slot was performing even more intense physical conditioning right beside me for anyone to see.
“He’s training so much harder that I can’t even complain… How annoying…”
I really didn’t want to train today. Still, as it became the third day, I felt a bit more accustomed to the sword. Just a tiny bit…
“Huff, huff… whew, it’s over.”
“Organization Leader, you did well today.”
Slot smiled brightly.
Why does he have such a fresh face when he’s doing much more intense physical training than me and even practicing his swordsmanship separately?
And what’s with those fangirls over there?
Even though it’s early morning, fangirls have appeared to watch Slot from afar. They seem to have their own strict rules, as they just watch quietly from the back.
“It’s a bit distracting for morning practice…”
As time passed, Meat, looking haggard from his hangover, staggered out. The number of squids had increased from one to two.
“That’s right, Meat. I was counting on you!”
“Did you sleep well? Deputy Merchant.”
“No, I couldn’t. Even after drinking that much, I couldn’t fall asleep easily…”
I suppose it’s because he was almost lynched by the coachmen yesterday and then had to take on the responsibility of managing them, so he wouldn’t have been able to sleep easily.
“Alright, here is 110 Gold.”
I handed over the sack containing 110 Gold as if it were nothing, but I couldn’t control the way my hands were trembling.
Meat was the same. He couldn’t accept it coolly and instead took it politely with both hands.
‘Why are you bowing your head?’
In fact, Slot had been holding the sack in his arms until a moment ago. That seemed like the safest place for it.
‘It’s 200 million won…’
Yesterday, the agreements with the 50 coachmen were all completed smoothly, and after receiving 2 Gold from each, 100 Gold was collected.
I decided to use about half of the deposit first.
“If a problem arises, I’ll have to liquidate assets again to make gold coins, but…!”
The 10 Gold I added was the maximum amount I could provide from my own pocket.
After paying the 10 Gold from the contract fee received yesterday and the 10 Gold today, I have about 3 Gold left in my possession.
Out of the 100 Gold received yesterday, 40 Gold will be used to pay for the horses, and the 50 Gold deposit cannot be used because it might have to be returned later.
I plan to use the 10 Gold I provided and the 10 Gold from the deposit as initial operating expenses.
The operating expenses include hiring two office staff to help Meat and the monthly operating costs for the Maber.
This also includes Meat’s salary. This operations team will handle customer reservations and the dispatch system.
Next month, we also have to pay the rent for the horse-drawn carriages, so it’s a tight budget.
Additionally, I hired Juli Taylor as a horse veterinarian and manager.
Aside from supplying horses, she agreed to help us entirely in exchange for additional fees.
“Meat, you’re going to the site after the interviews, right?”
“Yeah. After the interviews, I’ll go to the temporary place of business with the coachmen.”
Slot and I headed to the temporary workplace. It was located right next to Julie Taylor’s horse ranch.
It was next to the place where I was first shocked to see a horse spitting.
Julie Taylor was leasing a fairly large vacant lot around the ranch, and it was a perfect location to line up the horse-drawn carriages.
“It’s right next to Julie’s temporary ranch, so horse management is possible, and it’s a great open space to park the horse-drawn carriages, right?”
When I asked Julie who owned the lot, she said it was Sir Hailey.
She said he had bought land in various places with the intention of parking horse-drawn carriages separately when he eventually mass-produces them, and he had leased part of it to Julie.
I agreed to lease the land from Sir Hailey for 1 Gold per month. We also agreed to change Julie’s ranch into a ranch exclusive for the Maber.
“Wow, Organization Leader. It’s a magnificent sight.”
Slot marveled. In the vacant lot, 50 horse-drawn carriages were neatly arranged in rows of ten, seemingly brought there throughout the night.
The lines and curves of the black Fort Rick T reflected the sunlight and sparkled. The Fort Rick T stood majestically upon the solid ground.
Its appearance felt like the dignified presence of a noble’s butler.
“How is it? Do you like it?”
Someone spoke from behind. I turned around to see Sir Hailey.
His face looked quite tired, perhaps from moving 50 horse-drawn carriages all night, but there was a strange excitement lingering on his face.
“Sir Hailey, welcome.”
I bowed my head deeply with all the sincerity I could muster.
If it weren’t for Sir Hailey, this Startup wouldn’t have even been able to start.
“No, no, don’t do that. How can a Merchant bow his head so easily? I am the one who is grateful. These were the same horse-drawn carriages that were lined up in another warehouse, but seeing them lined up next to a horse ranch like this brings back new emotions.”
“Yes. I can’t help but be excited seeing that sight.”
The three of us stared at the 50 horse-drawn carriages for a long time in silence. Just then, the sound of a horse neighing was heard from somewhere.
Julie Taylor and Hyde Taylor were managing the horses at the ranch next door.
I could see fifty horses gathered in groups within the ranch. Even at a glance, the condition of the horses looked good.
“Hello, good morning, William.”
I turned to see Julie raising her hand in a cheerful greeting. Perhaps because we were close to the ranch, there was that characteristic smell of a horse ranch.
“Yes, Julie. It’s a good morning with a fresh and tangy scent.”
Julie Taylor took a deep breath as if it truly was refreshing.
***
“William. Did you sleep well? I’m sorry about yesterday.”
Hyde was standing next to his sister. Perhaps impressed by the contract with 50 coachmen yesterday, Hyde bowed his head as if he were truly sorry.
“Did you sleep well?”
Slot answered, his voice a mix of friendliness and a bit of playfulness.
“Well, after getting a bit of a massage yesterday, I slept like I was dead.”
Hyde playfully referred to yesterday’s duel as a massage.
“I could give you a massage so you can sleep even better today.”
After completing a fierce duel yesterday, they seemed to have recognized each other to some extent, and a bit of friendship and competitive spirit seemed to have built up between them.
‘Hmm. Is this men’s friendship?’
Hyde looked at Slot and held out his fist. When Slot lightly bumped it with his own, a thumping sound echoed.
Even though Slot was polite and well-mannered, he was bickering with Hyde from early morning.
“Stop it, both of you…”
“Miss Julie, is everything ready?”
I looked at the space in the middle, between the lot where the horse-drawn carriages were lined up and the ranch.
“Of course. You mean managing the horses at the ranch and then moving the horse-drawn carriages here to connect them to the horses when operation is needed, right? I also thought accidents might happen if we connected horses in that narrow space, so I think it’s a good idea.”
Thinking of Earth, I had imagined a picture of bringing horses to where the horse-drawn carriages were displayed, connecting them, and then heading out.
However, Meat opposed this. His reason was that a horse might bump into the carriage in front and cause an accident.
So the method I came up with was to create a space for connecting or disconnecting the horses and carriages in a specific area, like a Starbucks drive-thru.
‘Named the Carriage Docking Station.’
With Sir Hailey’s help, using equipment to pull the horse-drawn carriages made it much easier to move them.
Well, if a horse can pull a horse-drawn carriage, a person can probably pull one too…
As the carriage stood ready at the docking station, Julie brought a horse over.
It was a brown horse of the Makwin Bred species.
“I’m counting on you, McDonaldo.”
It was a name that made me crave a hamburger…
Julie carefully adjusted McDonaldo’s saddle and then tied firm knots in the harness to connect the horse and the carriage.
She soothed the horse and placed her hand gently on his neck. The horse stood still, waiting for Julie’s guidance. It was a dignified sight.
“I’ll do the trial run.”
Hyde climbed into the coachman’s seat as if he were used to it.
“Wow… It has a sunshade and the stability is very good?”
Hyde marveled.
“Haha, the coachman’s condition is just as important as the interior of the horse-drawn carriage. I paid a lot of attention to that part.”
“I had some prejudice because I heard it was cheaper than other carriages, but it exceeds expectations.”
Hyde seemed quite satisfied after seeing the state of the coachman’s seat.
“Then shall we take a light lap?”
Julie Taylor confidently invited us into the cabin. Slot, Sir Hailey, and I took turns boarding the cabin.
Julie Taylor decided not to ride in the carriage but to watch from the outside to see if there were any problems with the horse.
“It looks like up to six people could fit.”
It’s a bit cramped, but if we sit close together, three people can sit facing each other. It seems possible for up to six people to ride together.
Unlike the black exterior, the interior is mostly beige, giving a sense of comfort.
“Passengers will be able to ride and move comfortably.”
At Slot’s words, Sir Hailey smiled contentedly. Sir Hailey didn’t show it, but he seemed nervous.
As Hyde skillfully and gently swung the whip, McDonaldo started moving. I shouted internally.
“Fort Rick T, move out!”
The Fort Rick T started smoothly and did a lap around the nearby ranch.
We returned to the carriage docking station. Julie was standing at the docking station.
“Julie. It was a very comfortable journey.”
I gave Julie a thumbs-up. Julie also gave a thumbs-up back.
“Hyde is quite a veteran at driving a carriage too.”
“Haha. This might look easy, but following the basics is what’s important. If I hadn’t become a Monk, I’d probably be working as a coachman.”
Hyde asked why I was praising him for just going around the neighborhood once, but I could see the corners of his mouth hanging by his ears.
‘He has quite a simple personality.’
In the distance, I could see Meat and the coachmen coming. Even from afar, I could see their mouths were hanging wide open.
Well, it would be strange if their mouths didn’t hang open seeing 50 horse-drawn carriages and 50 horses lined up like that.
“Hey, be careful. A gnat might fly into your mouth…”
Meat had hired two employees as planned. One was a coachman who had placed within the ranks in yesterday’s marathon but was dropped because he had never actually gone out on a run.
“Oh… You’re here too, mister??”
“I’m not a mister…”
The other person was a coachman who had worked for Miss Celine but had recently been kicked out. He was also one of the losers of the marathon race.
The coachman was happy just to have management work.
“Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”
“I look forward to working with you as well.”
He greeted Meat and me. Then he spoke tentatively.
“The old man’s butler came looking for me this morning. It seemed like the old man hasn’t been able to hire any coachmen yet. Since so many coachmen were hired here… it seemed like he was frantically looking for coachmen to operate today… He asked me if I could come back as a coachman. I refused him flat out.”
It seems the demand for coachmen has temporarily exceeded the supply because 50 coachmen were hired all at once.
This period won’t last long, but… for now, it feels refreshing.
“I see.”
We grinned.
“The leader coachman is here too.”
I greeted the coachman, Mabelly, who had stepped forward and threatened (?) us yesterday.
“I’m not the leader. It’s just that I’ve lived around here for a long time… I’m sorry for doubting you yesterday.”
“No. It was a situation that could easily be misunderstood…”
We smiled awkwardly at each other.
The coachman Mabelly organized the situation like a leader.
“Alright, so what are we doing today?”
“Today, you’ll be assigned your horse-drawn carriage and horse. There will be an Orientation.”
“Orientation?”
“It’s a way of letting you know the operating guidelines.”
Meat and I told them about a few rules we had prepared regarding the operation of the Maber.
They were stories related to etiquette, such as welcoming greetings, safety checks, destination confirmation, and arrival greetings.
And we told them a few more guidelines regarding operation.
For about three hours, many questions were asked and answered meticulously.