Chương 461: 455. Progress Check - IV

The majordomo grinned.

"We got over a hundred gold back as deposits already." Kivamus looked at him in surprise.

"That is a lot."

"Most of it came from those who got the medal rewards," Duvas said.

"We gave out around 100 gold for that, and we got around 73 back as deposits. We also distributed around 90 gold as the first week's wages to the manor residents and guards. So on top of the deposits from the rewards, we got around 35 gold in deposits from the weekly wages, since many of them—especially the ones who are single and don't have a family—decided to keep some of it safe with us." He adjusted the ledger in his hands and went on.

"Those in the senior positions get a high wage, and most of us don't have that many expenses. Me, Madam Helga, Madam Nerida, Gorsazo, Syrene, and Hudan each get a wage of 21 coppers a day after deductions, and most of us decided to put most of what we got back into the bank. Syrene even said she would only occasionally take a few coppers for buying little things for Lucem and Clarisa, and the rest should be deposited to the bank by default.

For me too, I plan to deposit most of it back, apart from the occasional purchase. The peak of summer is coming soon and I'm thinking of buying a new tunic or two, since I've heard Joric's wife has brought some ready-made clothes from Kirnos. But apart from that, I don't really have anything else to buy." Hudan nodded.

"The manor provides the leather armor for the guards, but I'm thinking of getting another one made at my own expense, one that fits me better. But apart from that, I don't have many expenses either." Then he looked at Kivamus.

"What about you, milord? You didn't keep anything for yourself. You aren't even taking a wage, for Goddess' sake! How are you going to manage?" Kivamus snorted.

"The same way we've all been managing till now. The manor already provides basic clothing for those living here, so I'm fine there. And it's not like I can buy more comfortable clothes here even if I wanted to." Hudan nodded at once.

"Of course. This is not Ulriga. Joric's wife may be good, but she can't sew anything like what you wore at the palace there." Kivamus nodded after giving Duvas a quick glance. That was not really the reason. It wasn't that he wanted noble clothing from Ulriga. The truth was far more troublesome than that. What he wanted was not available anywhere on this planet.

He would have gladly given an arm and a leg for a few decent sets of sweatpants and sweatshirts for winter, and some comfortable light clothes for summer as well. The clothing in this kingdom did not appeal to him much in either comfort or appearance. Of course, he had plans to change that eventually. Once Tiranat could produce its own fabric and clothing in large amounts, he intended to introduce some designs from Earth.

But that would only come after Isuha moved here and after he had managed to make the cloth-making machines. Until then he would just have to wear whatever this world offered and not complain too much. Hudan was still looking at him.

"But what about other stuff? Surely there's something you might want to buy now that we have more coin. Maybe that luxury soap Pydaso was talking about. Or some good bottles of wine." He shrugged.

"Or, I don't know, whatever rich nobles like spending their money on..." Kivamus chuckled.

"Just wait another month or two and we'll make that luxury soap right here, and then all of us can use it. No need to waste our precious coin buying it from those money-grubbing guilds in Plumron." Then he shook his head.

"And you know I don't really drink much these days. Or at least not as much as I used to before coming here." He remembered the way the original Kivamus had tried to kill himself through drinking, and he had no intention of testing whether drinking himself senseless once again might land him in yet another world. These days he only took a mug of ale when everyone else did, on the rare occasions when there was something worth celebrating, like the guards returning successfully from the counter raid on Torhan.

"Apart from that," he added, "I don't really care for the luxuries the nobles in the bigger cities like to enjoy." They could hardly compare with even the middle class' comforts from Earth.

"I'd rather keep the coin where it is until we're in a stronger position." Hudan nodded slowly.

"That makes sense. But are we really going to make that luxury soap here? Wouldn't it be too costly to waste those on commoners like me?" Kivamus laughed.

"I'm not sure how those guilds make theirs, but trust me, a lot of that high price is just markup. They want nobles to feel like they're buying something superior. Once we're making soap here in bulk, there'll hardly be any real difference in the production cost between ordinary soap and luxury soap bars." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. He leaned back a little in the chair.

"Just wait until I make liquid soap here. We might even be able to sell it to nobles at double or triple the price of the luxury soap they're using now, and the cost of producing it won't be much different from the cheapest soap." Hudan stared at him for a moment, then shook his head and laughed.

"Of course. I forgot who I was talking to. Obviously you know how to make soap which is better than even the luxury kind. And a liquid soap? Yeah, I can't wait to see that!" Duvas only smiled. He had already heard enough about liquid soap and the endless number of products available on Earth to stop being surprised by such things. Then he returned to the ledger.

"Anyway, coming back to the original question. We got around 6 gold from the senior workers wages, and around 22 gold from the guards, servants, and maids. Including the deposits made from the medal rewards, that brings the total to 101 gold and a few silver coins as deposits this time." He tapped the edge of the ledger with one finger.

"The medal rewards were a one-time thing, of course. But the wages will be distributed every week, and I think it's safe to expect that those who chose to deposit part of their pay this time will continue doing so. If that holds true, we should get that 28 gold back as deposits every week, which means a little above 110 gold of deposits every month." Kivamus nodded.

"I think that amount will rise later. Once the first rush of getting wages in coins settles down, and people have held some money in their hands for a while, more of them will notice others saving it and will want to do the same. That weekly amount should rise. We might even end up getting around 150 gold of the wages we pay to the manor residents and guards coming back to us as deposits. That would be about a third of what we pay them." He gave a small shrug.

"Of course it will increase by a much larger amount once we open this banking facility to the whole village, but that's for later, once we're more certain about our own finances. Even this 110 gold we expect to get back every month will be very helpful." Duvas nodded.

"Yeah, I agree. Our expected monthly deficit was 210 gold. But if we get 110 gold back every month as deposits, then that is basically money we aren't truly spending. So in a way, our expenses drop." He looked down at the figures again, and this time there was more excitement in his face than worry.

"That means the deficit drops to just 100 gold for the first month by the workers' wage redeposits, even without any increase in coal sales. Actually, since we got 73 gold back from the medal recipients alone, that almost wipes out the deficit within this month itself." He glanced up with a grin.

"Of course that part won't repeat next month, since the rewards were one-time payments. But even in the next month we would only be around 100 gold in deficit, and the expected increase in coal sales by then should reduce it to almost nothing. Earlier we thought it would take two months to break even, but I think it'll happen within one." He let out a short laugh.

"This bank idea was a stroke of genius! I never would have thought of it myself, and it has already reduced our deficit to nearly zero within the first month. And within another month we should break even, and after that we'll actually be in profit." Kivamus grinned.

"A banking system is always a good idea if you can make it work properly. That's why I said we needed to start paying wages now. See? Everything already worked out better this way." Duvas chuckled.

"Yeah, I agree. I'll admit I was worried when you wanted to start spending so much coin while we were still in a deficit of above 200 gold—which was nearly half of our monthly revenue till last autumn—but I really should have trusted you more." He shut the ledger partway and looked at Kivamus more seriously.

"You are the one who has managed to nearly triple our revenue in less than a year, while it had barely changed in the decade before you arrived. Even if it's hard to believe in advance that any specific idea of yours will work, one thing I can be sure of with you is that you'll bring change to Tiranat." He smiled then.

"A lot of it."

"I'll support that statement," Hudan said. He shifted his weight and glanced toward the yard outside before looking back at Kivamus.

"I came here along with you, milord. And Duvas told me that before the murder of the previous baron and his guards, there were only a little over 20 guards here. By the time we arrived last autumn, there were only around a dozen left available." He gave a short shake of the head.

"And now we have 120, even if a lot of them are still just recruits. At this rate, we will soon be…" The captain stopped, frowned, and then let out a breath.

"Actually, I don't know what we'll be. I really can't imagine the kind of changes that'll come in another year. We might even have knights here by then. We already have a full set of plate armor here, even if it is still banged-up. That would make it easy to deal with any attacks from our neighbors, even if they come led by knights." Kivamus chuckled.

"I don't think keeping knights here would help us much with all their demands for land and power. But maybe in another year, I do think we might have something you could call a knight-killer."

"That weapon would work far better for us than keeping knights to fight knights," Kivamus added with a grin. Hudan raised his eyebrows.

"Don't you mean scorpions?" he asked.

"We're already building those here."