Ch.101Industrial Organization

Currently, there were two main guilds in Amurtat.

One was the Adventurer’s Guild, and the other was the Alchemist’s Guild.

However, considering that these two guilds were not exclusive to Amurtat but rather part of continent-wide organizations, it would be fair to say that Amurtat currently had no guilds of its own.

In fact, more guilds had been established under Stilyard’s leadership, but they were only used during the construction of the clock tower and were subsequently forgotten, eventually fading into obscurity.

But now that Amurtat’s economy was on track, systematically classifying current labor and commerce was an inevitable step, and guilds were essential in this process.

First, they began establishing the Metallurgy Guild for those working in the Stilyard, the Potter’s Guild for those in the Bonyard, and the Bricklayer’s Guild for those in the Brickyard. The workers’ responses were also favorable.

“Guild…? Didn’t we already have one? What? Now they’re doing it more properly? Well… that’s fine by us.”

“Potter’s Guild? What’s that? A cooperative association of pottery craftsmen? Well, if there is such a thing, I should join too!”

“I heard a Bricklayer’s Guild is being established. Does that mean I could secure a representative position?”

Humans, being inherently social creatures, couldn’t help but react sensitively to their social positions.

Typically, professions requiring specialized skills tend to form tight-knit communities, which was good in itself, but while they were preoccupied with internal socializing, negative consequences could arise, such as declining product quality or reduced supply.

However, by belonging to a systematic organization like a guild and being under the systematic management and supervision of officials directly appointed by the court, such issues could be prevented in advance.

Of course, the guild system didn’t just serve as a surveillance network.

Just as a work supervisor informs workers about current progress and points to note before starting work, the external administrators managing the guilds should also be committed to improving the welfare and productivity of guild members.

The guild staff would handle matters requiring credible personnel, such as “Employee of the Month” awards, commendations, and bonuses often seen in dramas. This would allow practitioners in each field to focus during work hours, increasing efficiency, and in case of unexpected accidents, the aftermath could be cleanly resolved.

Since responsibility was clearly defined, the issue could be resolved by finding the responsible person, hearing the full story, and imposing punishment.

Surprisingly, accidents in these technical communities often went unresolved, with no one taking responsibility.

This was because the processes themselves were complex, and assigning blame could be endless, so those who didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere would quietly let things slide.

Naturally, remedies or compensation for victims would be glossed over, and the factory or workshop would continue operating after losing a worker.

This could truly be called the epitome of medieval customs, but things would change from now on.

No matter how small the matter, there would be someone responsible, and no matter how complex the process, it would be under watchful eyes. Workers who continued to work in outdated ways without a sense of ownership would boldly receive termination notices.

It might be unfortunate for workers who lose their jobs overnight, but the time had come for freeloaders in Amurtat’s industrial sites to be weeded out.

*

While the industrial guilds were finalized, “commerce” was a different matter from industry.

While the blurred boundaries between commerce and industry could somehow be adjusted and overcome, the real problem was that even people in the same business often didn’t get along well.

For example, even among transporters, one might be a self-employed individual driving their own carriage, while another might be contracted with a merchant company to simply drive a carriage—in other words, no different from a coachman. Since this wasn’t particularly unusual in this field, many found it difficult to belong to a single guild.

“Then let’s put restrictions on guild membership! Only those who drive their own carriages can join the guild. What do you think?”

“Are you crazy? Do you know how expensive carriages are? Maybe a cart pulled by a single horse, but a proper freight carriage pulled by two or four horses costs as much as a decent house. How many coachmen in Amurtat do you think own such carriages?”

“Hmm….”

“Besides, are all transporters carriage drivers? Aren’t postmen and deliverymen transporters too?”

“Well… This isn’t easy…”

…It was roughly like this.

But if guilds weren’t divided by occupation, there was no clear criterion for dividing them, making it painfully evident why merchants’ worst enemies were other merchants.

Even trying to classify them as self-employed individuals would put people like scribes, who earn money using personal knowledge, in the same category as café owners, who earn money using real estate and labor, making classification even more difficult.

“Damn it! This is getting nowhere! Let’s just group similar ones together first and then adjust if there are complaints!”

“That’s much better! Bring the parchment!”

However, since administrative resources couldn’t be devoted indefinitely to occupational classification, they eventually concluded, “Let’s just create them first and modify later!”

After all, they could only judge whether it would roll or crawl once they set it in motion, which was quite a reasonable judgment.

Once firm criteria were established, each guild formed surprisingly quickly, though behind this rapid progress lay the sad reason that they had been working overtime for a month.

Thus, the Transport Guild, Food Service Guild, Construction Guild, Healing Guild, and Freeter Guild were established in Amurtat.

Only these guilds were created because they were sufficient for the time being.

*

“So you want our Adventurer’s Guild to participate in this ‘Guild Council’… is that it?”

“That’s right. His Majesty has stated that the Adventurer’s Guild, Alchemist’s Guild, and Magic Tower will be granted special status together.”

“Hmm… But wouldn’t other guilds object to that?”

“No need to worry. His Majesty will handle it. Besides, adventurers, alchemists, and mages… these three are somewhat different from other guilds.”

“Well… that’s true.”

Now it was time for the Adventurer’s Guild, Alchemist’s Guild, and Magic Tower.

What they had in common was that they all operated somewhat outside the state system. Unlike other professions that could be arbitrarily governed by the monarch’s influence, adventurers and alchemists belonged to continent-wide organizations, and the Magic Tower was… essentially an organization beyond control.

Therefore, grouping these three together and giving them special status didn’t particularly provoke other guilds.

Being special didn’t necessarily mean being superior.

Rather, being a continent-wide organization meant they were difficult to control and could potentially threaten royal authority using their privileges if things went seriously wrong. Most royalists didn’t view adventurers, alchemists, or mages favorably.

In other words, the special status granted to them was closer to an expulsion order to go to a ghetto than the right to sit at the high table.

And naturally, the leaders of the three organizations weren’t obtuse enough not to know this.

The branch head of the Adventurer’s Guild, Viriditas, the branch head of the Alchemist’s Guild, and Bladek, the master of the Magic Tower—all had accumulated enough career and experience to reach their positions. They knew that the true purpose of this “Guild Council” was ultimately to bind everything in the state under the monarch’s authority.

“So… your answer?”

“Tell His Majesty that the Amurtat branch of the Adventurer’s Guild will follow his orders.”

“An excellent choice.”

However, they had no choice.

The branch heads of the Adventurer’s Guild and Alchemist’s Guild, who had already received too many benefits, feared that their special privileges would be revoked, and the result was naturally submission.

In the case of the Magic Tower, it was currently almost a one-man show by Bladek, so they had no choice but to comply with the pressure from state power centered around the monarch.

Thus, the military and quasi-military groups that could uniquely challenge the monarch’s power were perfectly shackled, and now there was no one anywhere in Amurtat who could defy the orders of Tiberius von Adler.

Except for the cultists and heretics hiding deep underground.