Chương 54: Chapter 52 – Interviews

Alric and the staff had just finished eating breakfast. It was porridge. At least it had butter, milk, and honey in it, which elevated it from punishment to routine. Sometimes they got nuts, but not often enough for Alric's taste, or often enough to justify hoping. He walked out into the warehouse proper and stretched. The warehouse had settled into its morning rhythm.

Water dripped steadily from the edge of a half-finished gutter into a waiting bucket, which had been waiting long enough that no one remembered placing it there, only that removing it would feel irresponsible. He noticed a grumbling dwarf inspecting a very heavy box set beside the boilers. Alric headed over.

"You starting the roof frame today?" he asked when he got close enough. Stromni nodded, still inspecting the position of the box he had made. On top of it were what looked like shells, eight of them, arranged with the quiet care reserved for things that were both valuable and dangerous. That was the box Stromni had made to hold the hero's sword. The box did not belong where it stood.

It forced a wider walking path around it, and the staff instinctively gave it space without being told, the way people did with angry animals and in this case, unfamiliar tools.

"Lad, when ya planning on running this?" Stromni asked, checking its position relative to the boilers.

"Tomorrow. I think we should move it first though. I don't want it rained on or catching water from barrels. What do you think?" Alric asked. Stromni paused, then considered. A cart rattled past outside, its wheels thumping unevenly over stone.

"Opposite wall. Folk learn quick. If someone's carrying gloves, ya let 'em through first." He shrugged after, the matter apparently settled. Alric nodded and moved to help lift the box. It resisted at first, as heavy things often did when they suspected they were being relocated for reasons that did not concern them. Then it shifted with a dull scrape across the stone floor. Soon it rested in its new position.

"Just so you know, we're running it hard tomorrow. We'll use my item box until the roof frame is up. Too much grain's coming in now. It needs to move." Stromni nodded.

"I'll be in early then. Ya better make me a good breakfast," he said with a grin.

"How many boils?"

"We'll start early. Six boils each. Seventy-two casks in total," Alric said, looking at the boiler arrangement. The stone placement for the third boiler was ready, though still empty, like a seat reserved for someone important who had not yet arrived. One of the boilers ticked softly, the scent of copper hanging heavy in the air, as if it too was ready. Stromni blinked.

"Lad, ya better make everyone a good breakfast." Alric nodded.

"I need to see how far we can push it. See what fails."

"Can't pretend I'm not a bit jealous," Stromni said with a sigh.

"I can only go as fast as my arm." Alric shrugged.

"You can fix most of your mistakes. I have to throw mine out." Stromni considered that, then shrugged.

"Well, I'll head for the roof then. I'll even wear ya stupid rope."

"Thanks," Alric said dryly.

"Sorry for wanting a miserable dwarf in my life."

"Ya sure? I'd make a nice carpet, me thinks." Stromni countered, and both laughed. Their laughter echoed briefly, then was swallowed by the larger space, which had heard worse.

"Off you go then. I've got interviews. There's Mara and Hal," Alric said as he turned for the entrance. Mara and Hal fell in step with him as they headed for the docks. It was the ninth and final interview that made Alric frown. Something didn't sit right. Mara and Hal were already discussing their preferred candidate with the careful enthusiasm of people who believed they were being helpful. They were sitting at a dockside tavern to conduct the interviews.

It was pleasantly cool, the river moving lazily behind them, demonstrating the sort of patience that only came from having nowhere else to be. A barge drifted past without anyone on deck, its mooring rope trailing in the water like an afterthought. Alric let out a sigh. Every candidate had been a former tavern keeper. Their answers were clean, confident, and fluent in brewing.

Alric had mostly listened while Mara and Hal asked the questions they had prepared earlier, questions that had apparently been answered many times before. Thinking it through, Mara and Hal were effective precisely because they came from other trades. Mara had brought sewing skills and made proper grain bags. Before that, Alric had tied knots and called it a day, which had worked in the same way leaning boards against things sometimes worked.

Hal had brought netting from his fishing work, improving storage more than Alric had expected. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. A mug was set down at a nearby table, the wood dull and scarred from years of use, and possibly years of disagreement.

"Listen," Alric said, interrupting them.

"You both went through all of this. Learning to brew and everything. What part was hardest?" They paused. Both explained it was complicated at first, with constant cleaning and timing. The boiler made some parts easier and others harder. Eventually, it became routine, which was to say survivable.

"Right. You both came from other trades. What do you think is harder. Learning from nothing, or unlearning everything?" Alric asked. They paused again.

"Unlearning," they answered together.

"So how easy is it to skip a step?" Alric asked quietly.

"Not steaming a cask properly, because it worked before." The river lapped softly against the stone embankment behind them. Both considered that and shrugged.

"See, you each brought something I didn't have," Alric said, shrugging himself.

"Are you saying we should turn carpenters into brewers?" Hal asked. Alric shook his head.

"I think we're better off taking people who know nothing. Do you both know anyone who needs work?" Mara blinked.

"Are you serious?" Alric nodded.

"I can think of thirty, easy," Mara said. Hal nodded with her, the way people did when numbers were suddenly not theoretical.

"How many of them are honest?" Alric asked.

"Not all. But a few," Mara said after a moment.

"And of those few," Alric continued, "how many can you work with? Friendships get tested." Mara exhaled.

"I see now."

"What about Lessa?" Hal asked.

"She's looking for work at a tavern," Mara said, frowning.

"So? This is safer. At least ask her," Hal said. Mara shrugged, which settled it as much as anything ever did. Alric raised a hand.

"Here's the catch. They'll be your juniors. Mara, you'll be in charge of germination, grain, and bags. Hal, you're in charge of boilers. These need to be people who can take orders from you." A shout from the docks cut off, replaced by the creak of rope under load, the sound of things being moved because they had to be. There was a long silence.

"Are you promoting us?" Hal asked.

"Why not? Who has more experience running a boiler than you?" Alric said.

"Does that mean more pay? We have family responsibilities," Hal added. Alric nodded. That was fair. It was also, inconveniently, how things worked.

"Mister Alric, we haven't been here that long. Are you sure?" Mara asked.

"I don't think brewing itself is complicated," Alric said.

"What's difficult is new stuff. New recipes. That comes with time. I'm asking you to run a process, not the whole thing." Mara smiled.

"Alright. I'll do my best not to make you regret it."

"Mistakes happen," Alric said.

"Hal, anyone you'd want to work with?"

"I know a fisherman. Jory. We get on well. Times are tough. I'll ask him."

"Should we bring them tomorrow?" Mara asked.

"No. Tomorrow we run hard. I don't want greenhorns in the wrong place when a boiler's full and heating. Day after. Interviews only. I do have a condition though. Both of you have to learn to read and write. I'll ask Seren to teach you." They nodded but winced at reading.

"Go talk to your people. I'll speak to Henry and Seren. You're not the only ones who'll need help." They left in different directions. Alric stayed seated a moment longer, watching the river slide past, then stood and headed back to the warehouse. The first person he ran into was Henry, preparing casks for the boilers. Steam curled from one as he worked the bung free, treating it with the careful confidence of someone who had learned where fingers were most often burnt.

"Henry, do you know anyone who'd want work here? Same kind of work as you." Henry paused.

"Only my brother, Jase. Wanted to work a barge, but this is better. Honest work."

"I can promise an interview. Day after tomorrow?" Henry nodded. Alric took a breath. The next conversation would be harder, mostly because it involved admitting he was wrong about something. He found Seren in the kitchen. The space smelled faintly of boiled grain and felt humid, with clean cloths hanging to dry along one wall in a way that suggested someone had decided not to think about airflow.

"Seren, can we talk for a moment?" he asked, sitting at the table. She looked concerned and joined him.

"First thing, I need to ask you to teach Mara and Hal how to read." Seren nodded and waved her hand dismissively, waiting for him to get to the point.

"I don't want this to come out wrong, but we need a clerk. Someone to handle accounts." Seren's shoulders dropped in relief.

"I agree, Mister Alric. It's already more than I can manage once we're running fully. And it means I can assist you properly again." Alric blinked.

"You're sure? You handled winter well."

"I did fine," Seren said.

"But running fermentation, assisting you, and handling accounts once we're supplying the whole city. It's too much." A pot shifted slightly on the stove as it cooled, making a small tink noise. Alric nodded.

"Do you know anyone?"

"I do. He's very good with numbers, but he can be strange."

"How strange?"

"He tells people how they should be doing things. You can imagine." Alric found that oddly reassuring.

"We don't really have a system. He can build one properly. Ask him to come in the day after tomorrow." Seren nodded.

"And just to check," Alric added, "is he stranger than me?" Seren considered, then shook her head.

"You are definitely the strangest person I know, Mister Alric." She said it without smiling, which made it harder to argue. Alric winced inwardly. Outside, an apparent homeless man tried to draw a boiler. The charcoal left heavy, uncertain lines, as if the idea itself resisted being put down. On another page, he noted that Alric had returned alone.