Chapter 58 - Volume 4 (1/2)
Isaac’s new business project swept the Empire like a storm. Magical artefacts were vital military resources in the Empire because of the cycle of perpetual provincial wars, but the problem was that there were too many spires which produced these goods.
But because all of the spires competed for business in a single market now, customers could haggle for lower prices and promotional bundles when purchasing products. Buyers flocked to the city in order to utilise this market to its fullest, and their payment for lodgings went straight into the city’s coffers.
Also, the chance to use these rare magical artefacts piqued the curiosity of the general populace. Some entered the area to try these artefacts themselves, while others that couldn’t afford it came to watch as bystanders.
Dividing the business in three different forms of entertainment was also very effective. People who were frustrated or stressed out headed straight to Form 1 buildings, blowing both their stress and the building to smithereens. They were more than happy to advertise the cathartic effect afterwards.
But the more popular types were Forms 2 and 3, where many were tempted by the reward of ten thousand Giga. Isaac also stipulated that the construction guild which constructed the building that withstood the greatest number of magical artefacts would also receive a reward. After some practice, the construction guilds began constructing buildings which gave the illusion that it was about to collapse even though its true structural integrity was sound. Of course, the contestants were taunted by these structures and threw shot after shot at these buildings. Each time the building withstood the blow, the grin on the construction guilds grew larger.
PR Note: The activation mechanism of these artifacts is ambiguous. The book doesn’t explicitly say how they are activated, but we can a.s.sume that they are projectile weapons of some sort. What type of projectile weapon (e.g. guns, bullets, lasers, grenades, etc.) they are similar to is unclear.
The spires were quite happy with the fact that they could reduce the funding on their marketing department at first. But it soon became a battle of pride between the offensive and defensive spires, where the strongest spears were pitted against the strongest s.h.i.+elds.
A strong defensive magical artefact was necessary to create a strong structure. Offensive artefacts were tasked with breaking these structures. It was the most simplistic form of battle between the spires. Form 3 entertainment was where this battle of pride was highlighted the most. Since it was a contest of hitting a target with an artefact, all sorts of artefacts were used to dodge, avoid or increase the accuracy rate no matter the cost. It also clearly indicated which spire maintained superiority. This battle of pride and technological superiority was fought fiercely by the spires.
In order to deal with this, more employees were deployed into New Port City to respond in a timely manner in the ever-changing battlefield, which also led to added lodging revenue for New Port City.
Bringing in the revenue from all sorts of people by starting a battle of pride was good and all, but Isaac was still frustrated by the employment rate, which was much less than what he originally antic.i.p.ated.
“Hm, this isn’t enough. Isn’t there something else?’
New Port City’s workers only had three choices of occupation: construction, clearing debris, or running small errands for the spires and construction guilds. But there was a problem.
“They should have stayed the hopeless, dreamless people of the slums they are. Why are they working so hard instead of slacking off at every opportunity?!”
Rizzly sent a troubled look to Isaac, who grumbled on.
Just as Isaac said, the people in New Port City were hard at work. They originally expected to hire two or three times the number of workers to operate this business in New Port City. Isaac and his administration a.s.sumed that because New Port City was stricken by poverty, the subpar quality of work would have to be made up with numbers. But all of the workers completed their tasks in a degree of quality on par with an average worker, so the employment rate did not increase as much as Isaac hoped.
Because of this, Isaac had to think of a new project to increase the employment rate, which frustrated him even more.
Isaac looked to the plaza from the rooftop. The crowd gathered at one of the buildings near the plaza; it housed the Communicator which was used to speak with the Emperor for the first time. Humans were animals which loved to give symbolic meaning to simple tools, but Isaac couldn’t understand why so many people gathered to look at some cloth and a few machines.
Isaac had no choice but to take good care of those tools, however, since it led to a huge increase in the number of guests. Isaac tasked Cordnell with the job, and for the first time, Cordnell, who loved to complain about unnecessary expenditures used as much money as possible to get the job done. Isaac remembered Cordnell’s smile as he did this, and the smile on the crowd began to match with this memory. The s.a.d.i.s.tic nature inside Isaac began to surface.
“Rizzly.”
“Yes?”
“I’d like to practice my hobby for once.”
Rizzly flinched and stumbled back. From the surface view, Isaac’s hobby was playing the violin, but Rizzly was confident that Isaac’s real hobby was to watch others around him suffer in pain.
Isaac’s scornful gaze forced Rizzly to action after a moment of hesitation. He picked up the violin and walked toward Isaac. But in an instant, Rizzly tripped and dropped the violin on the ground.
Crack!
“…”
“Ahaha. I apologize. I think it’s broken. I’ll bring you a new instrument soon.”
“Forget it.”
It was obvious that Rizzly did this on purpose. Isaac stared at Rizzly disapprovingly and then turned away. Isaac could hear Rizzly let out a sigh of relief, but he tried his best to ignore it. To be honest, only Rizzly, Isaac’s personal butler, could have the nerve to destroy the instrument. If it was anyone else, the person would have been thrown into an endless cycle of torture disguised as work.
“Ah! Was creating jobs always this hard? How can I not have work to give out?”
Isaac was well aware that scolding the merchant employees and his hubaes to come up with more jobs would be a fruitless endeavour, since they were already at their limit with the current number of jobs. So the task naturally fell onto Isaac.
Back when he was in the old world before the wars, Isaac was the kind of man to cooperate with the quartermaster to force his men into some makes.h.i.+ft work just because he couldn’t let them be idle and enjoy their time in the army. With a record like that, it hurt his pride to see that he wasn’t able to provide enough jobs for those who were in desperate need for work.
Isaac grumbled with his arms folded and continued to look down at the plaza in hopes of coming up with a new idea. Suddenly, there was a roar and rapturous applause at one of the corners of the plaza.
Isaac’s eyes flickered to the area, his eyes s.h.i.+ning. The grin that came upon his face was sinister at best, and he turned to Rizzly and shouted.
“Rizzly!”
“Yes?”
“Tell the administrative body immediately.”
“What am I supposed to tell them?”
“Tell them to get ready, because I’ve come up with a new project.”
The administrative body hurriedly came up to Isaac and performed all sorts of feats to stop Isaac in his tracks. The elves and North Bears, however, were supportive with Isaac and mentioned that it sounded fun; the syndicate bosses simply said ‘do as you will,’ since Isaac was their lord, in a way. Outnumbered and outgunned, the administrative body lost and Isaac’s new industry was implemented.
“W, what is this?”
“Huh? Is someone supposed to ride it?”
“It looks like a palanquin.”
The guests who just crossed the sky bridge to visit New Port City were confused at the sight of a group of men offering them a ride. Behind them sat a bunch of poles and a comfy looking chair placed in the middle. The guests wondered what bizarre event was happening again in New Port City.
“Hey, what is all this?”
“Yes, this is the method of transportation for guests, provided by the city.”
“Ha! You’re telling us to move around here on a palanquin? In this age?”
Why would one travel in such a primitive method as a palanquin when there were much faster methods of transportation utilising magical artefacts? One of the confused guests asked another question.
“How much is it to use this?”
The young man, brainwashed by Isaac’s speech to be kind to any who will pay them, responded with a polite bow and a friendly smile.
“This is a transportation service provided free of charge by the city, honoured guest. Just tell us where you want to go, and we’ll take you there swiftly and safely.”
“Free, you say? Then mind if I try it out?”
Tempted by the word ‘free,’ the guest got on the palanquin. With a huff, the men raised the palanquin. The guest flinched at first but was soon enraptured by a strange feeling.
The guest did feel like he had become a spectacle, but what really took over was the fact that others had to look up to him, as if he had become a king. He soon acted like one, burying deeper into the chair and tilting his chair up arrogantly.
“Ooh! This is quite good. I will have to use it from time to time.”
“Thank you for using the palanquin number 27. If you call out our number again, we will come to your side in a moment’s notice.”
The guest’s mood lightened when hearing those words from someone who seemed to be the leader of the group and tipped him. The tens of men bowed at the same time, and shouted out their grat.i.tude.
“Thank you for your patronage!”
The guest’s mood was even better after that, and similar events happened all across the city.
“I guess the employment rate is settled for now. If there is anyone else who uses the lack of an available job as an excuse to not work, throw them into the mines.”
Isaac smiled with great satisfaction after reading the report that was handed to him for the monthly meeting. The project launched the city’s expenditures through the roof, but its reception was overwhelmingly positive.
“How can this work… Was it my common sense that was flawed?”
Cordnell spoke with a sense of doubt in his words, and Kalden replied.
“Basically it goes like this. There’s nothing that can’t be done if you have money.”
“…”
These were business projects which could never work unless the factors of limited time, a large unemployed population, and extravagant funds were all present.
“Now, I guess all of my work is done, so you guys better do your part.”
“There’s a few things you have to take care of beforehand.”
Isaac frowned when Kalden spoke those words.
“What? Don’t tell me you’re only saying that because you don’t want to see me play around.”
“That’s not it. These are subjects which require your permission.”
“I thought I told you lot to take care of it yourselves.”
Isaac had even given the authority of the Lord’s Representative to them, so there was nothing they couldn’t do.
“They insisted that they must receive permission from you, sunbaenim…”
“What is it?”
“As you know, there are many merchant guilds and spires which have sent their employees to work here. The children of this city are so cunning that they began making money by performing small tasks for these people.”
“We’ve known that for some time now. What, did one of the brats steal some goods?”
“That’s not it. It seems some of these employees like some of the children and wish to take them.”
“Take them? Like adopt them?”
“There are some who do wish to adopt them, but most of them would like to take them in as their apprentices or students.”
Isaac frowned and took out a cigarette when Kalden explained.
“Why do they need my permission for that? Tell them that if they want to take them, just take them.”
“We of course allowed such practice since it’d give the children a much better future, but these stubborn children insisted that it must be you who give the permission…”
Isaac snickered when he heard those words.
“What, are they hoping that I will give them a blessing on their farewell? Tell them to stop wasting time and grab onto the opportunity when it presents itself. Ah! Why don’t we make this one of the city’s policies?”