chapter_0002

2 – Voluntary Overtime

2 – Voluntary Overtime

The most important thing for a ruler is to win the hearts of the people.

No blessing or magic is greater than winning the hearts of the people.

Remember this, rulers.

When you truly win the hearts of your people,

You will witness miracles you have never seen before.

Baron, who works at the Crones Family salt farm, can never forget that day.

“Hey, is this for real?”

“Right? I can’t believe it either.”

That day, all the workers at the Crones Family salt farm were buzzing.

It was because of the news that came in the morning.

“From today, the daily wage will be doubled.”

The proclamation posted on the salt farm bulletin board clearly stated so.

It sounded like a lie.

Could something like this happen to workers like us?

For 20 years, it had been a life of scraping by, working day by day, and it had always been taken for granted.

But suddenly, the daily wage was doubled?

I couldn’t believe it.

“I went to check just in case, and it was true.”

“And it wasn’t just talk; they actually gave us exactly double the silver coins.”

At first, everyone was skeptical.

They thought they must have misheard.

But after seeing the 10 silver coins in hand after work that afternoon, no one could deny it.

Their daily wage was 5 silver.

And just like that, it had become 10 silver overnight.

Hans, the oldest worker at the salt farm, stroked the silver coins with his deeply wrinkled hands and said, choked with emotion,

“This is the first time in my life something like this has happened…”

His eyes were glistening with moisture.

I too felt my heart swell.

We had always been treated the same.

No matter how much salt was produced, no matter how much the lord’s wealth increased, our share was fixed.

But this time was different.

We received a reward for our hard work.

At that moment, Hart, the steward, personally visited the salt farm.

With his gray hair, he looked at us with a dignified voice and said,

“Everyone, listen quietly.”

The workers held their breath in unison.

Hart, who had served the Crones Family for two generations, was not someone we could see like this.

Moreover, it was the first time he had come to the salt farm himself.

What was he going to say?

He looked around at each of us and spoke in a low voice.

“This is not a grace bestowed upon you by the lord.”

His voice was firm.

We waited nervously for his next words.

“Our Crones Family has lived by one principle for generations: ‘Think of the highest from the lowest place.’ The lord has not forgotten those words. Without you, this family cannot exist. It is because of you working at the salt farm that the family is sustained and the territory can prosper.”

Steward Hart stepped forward.

And in a calm yet powerful voice, he declared,

“Therefore, in accordance with the lord’s will, your daily wage will be doubled. This is your rightful share created from your blood and sweat.”

For a moment, silence fell.

We couldn’t say a word.

And a few seconds later, a roar erupted as if the salt farm would take off.

“Hooray!!!”

“Long live the lord!!!”

“Long live Lord Calix!!!!!”

Some cried.

Some clenched their fists.

A warm feeling rose in our chests.

We thought no one cared about us.

But there was someone who had not forgotten us.

The lord recognized our efforts.

We could not just stand still.

We had to repay what we received.

That evening, while enjoying a drink at the tavern after a long time, we discussed.

“Let’s not just work; let’s do it properly.”

“Of course we should!!!”

“Now we can feed our families properly every day!!”

“The lord has thought of us this much! We must work harder!”

Even Hans, who always said, “I should just die soon,” began to actively suggest that we work harder.

In the tavern, numerous opinions started to burst forth in an instant.

“This is how we used to produce salt. We scoop seawater into a reservoir and let it evaporate in the sun to crystallize. The problem is that this process takes too long.”

“But is there a way? After all, we need sunlight for the salt to solidify…”

I shared the method I had thought about but never mentioned.

“Right, so I thought, what if we use the wind? If we properly trim the trees around the salt farm and create paths for the wind to dry the salt layers more effectively, the moisture will evaporate much faster.”

“Ah!! Then the crystallization time will decrease!!”

Everyone murmured in response to my words.

At that moment, Leon proposed another idea.

“What if we make the reservoir water shallower? Shallow water dries faster than deep water, so instead of putting in a lot of water at once, if we repeat the process with shallow layers, we might increase production!”

“Exactly!”

“Also, let’s place stones next to the salt farm to maintain a certain heat at night!! If the stones absorb sunlight during the day and slowly release heat at night, crystallization could continue even at night!”

Thus, for the first time, we began to work voluntarily.

We collaborated on how to dry the salt, the speed of evaporation, and methods to utilize the wind.

Overtime became a given.

And as a result, the salt production increased exponentially.

“If we keep this up, we could produce twice as much as before, right?”

“No, not just double; I think we could even triple or quadruple it!!”

People were sweating but smiling. Was the work hard?

That didn’t matter.

We had now gained pride in our work.

A few days later, we stood before Steward Hart again.

He looked at us with a face full of emotion upon hearing that we had produced more salt.

“You are the greatest pillar of the Crones Family.”

After hearing the production report, Steward Hart awarded us additional bonuses.

The additional bonuses were also doubled!!

That night, everyone working at the salt farm raised a toast together. Under the lights, we embraced each other, feeling this miracle.

We felt hope that we too, and our lives, could change.

Now we were no longer just workers.

We were the ones supporting the Crones Family.

“As a result, the salt farm’s production increased by 300%, or more precisely, 312%.”

I had a headache from Hart’s report.

The document he brought detailed the miracle brought by the doubled daily wage.

It stated that the efficiency of the workers’ labor had increased, a new method of salt crystallization had been developed, and with voluntary overtime, the efficiency of salt production had increased by 312%.

As a result, the salt farm’s profits increased by 280%, and even after excluding the doubled daily wages and salt farm taxes, profits increased by 82%.

An additional profit of over 80%… For someone like me, who had experienced -80% in my previous life as a department head, it was an unbelievable figure.

As I was in a state of shock over a reality I could not accept, Steward Hart looked at me with a face full of emotion.

“My lord… it’s truly moving.”

“What’s moving?”

“All of this is thanks to the policies you decided upon for the improvement of the commoners’ treatment!”

Steward Hart spoke with tears in his eyes.

Why is this old man acting like this all of a sudden?

“At first, we were all worried. We thought that suddenly doubling the daily wage would shake the family’s finances. But I failed to grasp the deep intentions of the lord!”

I screamed inwardly.

That wasn’t my intention!

It seemed that Hart, regardless of my thoughts, spoke with tears in his eyes, overwhelmed with emotion.

“The workers initially couldn’t believe it. But after confirming that the daily wage was actually doubled, they were greatly moved. They felt that the lord recognized them!”

Hart wiped the tears flowing from his eyes and spoke.

He looked at me as if he were seeing a wonderfully grown grandson.

“All of this is thanks to your deep insight, my lord!”

“…”

“You instructed us to think of the lowest place. Isn’t that the principle of the Crones Family? Your command was never just a simple act of grace. It was a noble policy that moved the hearts of the commoners!”

“……”

“Thanks to that, the commoners have come to truly respect you, my lord. Now, they are working not because they are told to, but because they want to!”

I was at a loss for words.

While it was my plan to be loved by the commoners, it was not my plan for them to work this hard.

Steward Hart looked at me with eyes full of respect and spoke again.

“I am now convinced. You will become a great lord who surpasses the previous lord.”

As he said this, Hart knelt down.

And he pledged his loyalty to me.

“Hart Ansus, on behalf of the Ansus Family, once again pledge my loyalty to you, my lord.”

Steward Hart, with his aged body, pledged his loyalty to me.

Looking at his white, aged head, I held my head in my hands.

What is this… It was supposed to be a perfect plan…

Something has gone terribly wrong.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

???: Life never goes as you think it should.

??: That’s what makes life interesting, isn’t it?

Thank you for reading today!!!!