Chương 446: 441. Rewards - I

The majordomo shut the main ledger and tapped its edge against his palm.

"This banking system is a strange thing though... We pay people their wages, and then they give some of it back to us, only to withdraw it again when they wish. I guess you're right in saying that money always moves in a circle. But either way, this will help us in the near future. We are about to pay out a great deal of gold over the next few weeks. If even 100 or 200 gold comes back to us as deposits from those living in the manor, that will still help a lot in paying the taxes."

"Indeed," Kivamus agreed.

"Well," Duvas rose up from his chair, "now that we have finalized everything, so I'll go speak with Madam Nerida and Hudan about the arrangements. She will have to continue calculating the weekly rations to give to the longhouse blocks, while the captain will need to arrange guards to provide security during the event where you give the bonus and I pay the wages.

We cannot possibly pay the entire village in one day—it will take far too many hours—so we'll pay the manor residents today and the rest of the villagers tomorrow and in the next few days, depending on how long it takes." Kivamus smiled.

"That works for now, but in the future you will have to delegate it. I mean, instead of handing over the wages to every single laborer yourself—which will take longer and longer as the village grows—you can hand over a calculated amount to the supervisor or foreman of that group. For example, you can give Yeden the total amount of weekly wages for all the diggers he is supervising for making the road to the mines, and he can distribute it to the workers himself after the workday.

Similarly, there is always a foreman for each mineshaft, so you can just call up the foremen here—for all 11 mineshafts which are currently active—and give the gold to them. They will be ones who will distribute it to their own workers. The same logic stands through for all the other active projects—farming, longhouse construction, paper making, blacksmithing, carpentry, steel making, sawmills, triphammers and so on. Just delegate it to their foremen. That's the only way to make it sustainable."

Duvas nodded slowly before he grinned.

"Actually, that's an excellent idea... I was already thinking that the captain will complain about having to manage such a huge crowd. But delegating it to the foremen will prevent any crowding at the entry gate of the manor, since only two dozen or so people will need to come here, which is easily manageable. But hundreds of villagers shoving and pushing in a large crowd to get their wages first can lead to all kinds of problems... Shouldn't we do it immediately instead of leaving it for the future?"

Kivamus shook his head.

"No, it's fine to give everyone the coin ourselves for the first time, since we are making a big event of it to show that the village is in a much stronger position now. We also have nearly all our guards available in the village right now, so Hudan will be able to manage the crowd, especially since you are only planning to pay a small section of the village each day. But in the future it will be better for you to delegate. We plan to distribute the wages every week, so you can start delegating from the next week."

"As you say," Duvas agreed.

"I'll talk about it with the captain. I'll take my leave now." Kivamus pushed his own chair back and stood as well.

"Go on. I'll also return to the blueprint I was working on. There isn't much daylight left, but I still want to get some more work done. It's much easier to focus on the sketches in the sunlight, since we cannot light any braziers in this heat, even if it's still early summer. Candles work for general usage, but it's difficult to make accurate blueprints in that flickering light.

Anyway, the designs for the barracks and the tenement blocks need to be finished as soon as possible, apart from some other half-finished projects I've been working on." Duvas nodded and left the hall. Kivamus looked at the long dining table where a few rolled up sheets of paper were spread out. It made him remember his modern office in London, where there were state of the art computers available to do the calculations and make the blueprints with just a few clicks.

But here in this world, he didn't just have to sketch by himself, he also had to make all the calculations of whether a longhouse beam will be able to handle the expected load on it, depending on how many people stayed on the upper floor, and whether a particular hinge of the scorpion would be able to handle the stresses involved when it was reloaded and so on. He also had to do all the required mathematical calculations himself, without any help from a calculator. Enjoying the story?

Show your support by reading it on the official site. Something which barely took a second to do back in London, took much, much longer in Tiranat. Here he had to make all the calculations by hand, using formulas he had been writing in another sheet of paper for reference. It made the process of designing even a simple blueprint which would have taken just a few hours in London, take many days or even weeks here depending on its complexity. But there was no point in wishing for what wasn't possible.

If there were no computers or even calculators in this world, then so be it. It hadn't stopped him until now, and it wasn't going to stop him in the future. He had people to protect, and a village to grow. He stretched his hands and breathed deeply. It was time to work.

Later in the evening, Kivamus was still working over the long dining table in the manor hall, adding another line to the rough blueprint in front of him. The light coming in from the windows had already started to weaken. The sun hadn't set yet, but it was getting low enough that the shadows in the corners of the hall were thickening. It was still uncomfortably warm, though he hoped the air would cool once the sun finally went down.

He had just finished marking the edge of a wall on the blueprint when he heard the inner door open. Duvas stepped in with a hefty satchel in his hand. It clinked softly as he walked, and that sound alone was enough to make Kivamus look up with a grin.

"The crowd is ready," Duvas said.

"Everything has been arranged. We should go now." Kivamus set the quill down at once. It had taken a long time to reach this point. Too long, honestly. But finally the day had come. He pushed himself away from the table and stood.

"Good." They left the hall together and walked toward the southeast side of the manor. Once they rounded the two-story bulk of the manor house, Kivamus could see the training ground ahead, and for a moment he slowed slightly just to take it in. It was the only open space left inside the manor grounds that was large enough to hold this many people, and even then it was crowded past comfort. Soon, the training ground itself would be moved outside the manor, east of the walls, once the barracks were built there.

After that, this patch would likely be turned over to vegetable beds as well. But for now it was packed with people. Even then, not everyone could fit properly on the ground. A few guards still had to remain on duty at the village gates and the watchtowers, but everyone else who could come had made the effort. Several dozen guards had climbed onto the roof of the servants' hall for a better view of the upcoming event.

A few more servants and guards had taken places on the nearby barn roof, legs hanging over the edge as they waited. Those on the ground had spread themselves as best they could, with the maids and the female guards given enough room near the front. Madam Nerida stood among the maids, her plump frame easy to spot even in the crowd, her dark hair streaked with gray adding sternness to her usual strict expression. On another side Madam Helga stood near Gorsazo.

Lucem was standing beside them with his very short cropped dark red hair—he was inspired by the guards these days and had copied their look—and was whispering something to Clarisa, who leaned in close as if she was trying not to laugh too loudly. Syrene stood a little apart from her mother, speaking with Leah. Those two had become fast friends in the recent months. Feroy was saying something to Levalas in a low voice—probably mentoring him even now—and the younger guard was listening closely.

Levalas had more or less proven his loyalty by now, and hadn't done anything to harm the village. Feroy's instincts to trust him had been right, as usual. Kivamus had no doubt Levalas was going to become a huge asset for them in the coming days. Near them, Hyola stood with Calubo and held his hand openly—trying to glare at every other woman who looked at the man—which made Kivamus suppress a smile.

That whole matter had become enough of an open secret around the manor that he sometimes wondered whether Calubo would finally gather the nerve to propose before everyone simply forced him into it themselves. Of course, Feroy had told him about rumors that Calubo had bought something for the girl in his last escorting duty to Ulriga, and was still waiting for the right time. Kivamus hoped it worked out for both of them. They had gone through a lot already.

On another side, the brown haired girl Widel was speaking enthusiastically with a maid, and judging by how easily the two were talking, they had probably become friends recently. It was good to see Widel becoming a part of the manor, even if she lived in one of the longhouse blocks for now. The short, fiery woman had come from that poor encampment in the north and it hadn't been easy for her to adjust to life in Tiranat, even after she had been selected as a guard.

He had even heard of some rivalry developing between Widel and Hyola, since both were said to be hotheads, but so far it was just friendly competition—usually to see who got more bullseye shots from their crossbow, although it was often the tall redhead who won.