episode_0381

“Can I go now?”

“yes. At this point, it seems like all the urgent matters are over. “It would be nice to be able to contact you from time to time, but you are very busy, right?”

“… “You will be able to contact us well for the time being.”

“oh! That’s good news. “As the work progresses, I will report the situation immediately.”

This is the first time I’ve seen a smiling, satisfied employee look scared.

“ah! And I want you to write down the list.”

“A list? “What list are you talking about?”

“A list of nobles who cut the salaries of commoners under the pretext of war rations.”

“ah!”

Also known as blacklist.

I’m going to make it.

We cannot take revenge on the nobles who used our business right now.

‘It takes all kinds of hardships to take down one noble family, but there is no way you can pull out all the nobles who are connected to each other.’

There is a need to be careful because of the tangled connections between noble families, whether blood or regional.

But isn’t it shameful to not be able to pay back when I was the first to suffer?

Besides, I didn’t want to laugh and talk with the guy who took advantage of our business.

That’s why we need to make a list.

‘When I meet you, I have to tell you.’

It will still be my own blacklist, but as my influence grows, the damage they will suffer will increase exponentially.

‘It’s like burning down a house while trying to make a small profit.’

If you steal a few pennies from a commoner’s salary, would you be able to afford one more meal for the nobles?

Taking away a commoner’s salary, which was only a few pennies, could be seen as a truly malicious act.

‘It’s shocking that nobles are doing things that only psychopaths would do. ‘You can’t help but spit on it.’

It makes me think that all humanity has fallen behind.

And didn’t they use our top as an excuse?

That means that they treat our business with such contempt that they can easily take advantage of it.

There was an argument over there first, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘Nobility are very good at changing their faces.’

That’s why we secured the list in advance.

When we meet later, at least we won’t send it away with a smile.

“It won’t take long to secure the list.”

The top staff were competent.

A few days have passed since that day.

“The list has been secured.”

An employee came directly to my general store.

※ ※ ※

“I see you again.”

“yes. how are you?”

The employee appeared with a more grumpy face than before.

However, judging by the bright expression on his face, the problem was that he was tired from being busy, and the situation itself did not seem to be bad.

“I’ve been busy.”

I met Sasha for the first time in a while and worked out, met Yul and had a conversation, and helped select Princess Mona’s punitive force.

‘If the SSR character runs out, it’s a big problem.’

I picked up all the SSR characters and was satisfied.

“They said it could be done quickly, and they did it really quickly.”

“Actually, we have been investigating it for a long time.”

“Ah, so that’s why I was able to do it quickly.”

“I’m giving it to you because you asked for it, but what do you plan to do with it? “As you can see, there are nobles who are difficult to touch.”

“Let’s take a look.”

When I looked at the list, surprisingly, the name of a nobleman I knew was written down.

For your information, making acquaintance with me means that the noble is from Princess Mona’s faction.

‘There was a bastard nearby.’

If I hadn’t seen this list, I would have been so fooled that I would have laughed and laughed with that nobleman.

“I have no intention of doing anything right now. I just asked you to tell me so I could remember what happened today. “If you know who they are, you won’t become friends with them, right?”

“oh.”

The staff at the top are impressed by my words.

“That’s scarier than saying you’re going to do something.”

“These people tried to be selfish for small gains and ended up missing out on something bigger.”

At least the disadvantages will be greater than the benefits they see.

Was my determination conveyed to my employees?

The employee, who began to treat me more difficultly, told me about the mood at the top these days.

“As you said, a notice has been posted. The reaction was as expected. “The protesting merchants were the first to become targets of resentment.”

“No, what do you mean? Discontinuation of combat ration discounts!!!”

Notice of discontinuation of discounts announced simultaneously at the top where combat rations are sold.

The commoners who came at least once a day to buy combat rations were in an uproar.

– You’ve been selling well so far, so why are you suddenly not selling?

-What the heck!! Isn’t that because they are protesting!?

-It’s because of you!

-Ooh, what did we do… .

-You guys kill us so we can survive?!

-Did you think I would go to your store if they didn’t sell combat rations!? Never go! Let’s all die together. Let’s all die together!!

The commoners were trying to kill the merchants, so it wasn’t a fuss to run.

‘Even if the prices were raised in a situation where the common people’s situation was improving, would they have accepted it?’

No way.

I would have been as tearful back then as I am now.

Because it feels more unfair to take something that was originally given.

‘Because this is something that must be experienced and passed by.’

It wasn’t that they were going to raise the price right away, but the 50-day deadline was to give them time to accept it.

“It wasn’t even a sight. At first he denied it, saying it couldn’t be that way, then he got angry, saying it was the merchants’ fault, and then suddenly started crying and wailing. “Then they lifted us up and laid us down, saying we were all dead.”

Denial – Anger – Bargaining – Depression – Acceptance.

It can be seen that the 5 steps were followed exactly.

“Incredible.”

“It wasn’t just one or two people doing it, it was hundreds of people coming, so I was embarrassed.”

“But you did a good job.”

“Won’t this be a problem from now on?”

Commoners will move to find a way to survive.

You can either earn money within 50 days and stock up on plenty of battle rations, or fight with the nobles of your territory to get your salary back to normal.

One of the two must be accomplished, and neither was easy for them.

“The hardest thing is people who insist even though they know they can’t do it.”

People are trying to force merchants to continue selling combat rations because they will prevent them from protesting.

They were the most embarrassing and difficult guests from the top’s perspective.

-If we don’t sell food, my family will starve! I can’t buy edibles with my reduced salary!

-When we started selling combat rations, we announced that prices could rise at any time. Don’t you know?

-But I didn’t know it would close so quickly!

-It’s not closing right away. There are still 50 days left, right?

-We don’t know much about that. Can’t you just keep selling it at this price? If we don’t sell this, our children will starve right now!

-You can’t insist like that.

What’s really ironic is that people who really need combat rations don’t have money on hand right now, so they can’t stock up on them even if they wanted to.

“What happened to the hoarders?”

“There was some opposition to the ban on purchasing more than 10 items per person. “What should I do when there are more than 10 family members at home?”

Commoners usually have many children.

This is partly because contraception is a luxury, and partly because having children and growing up becomes labor force.

“Still, I decided to average it out as much as possible. 10 per person. “If you have that much family, I told you to come and buy it with your family.”

“And then it was resolved?”

“yep. “There are some people who seem to be using tricks to hoard, but I feel relieved that I don’t have to see at least one person taking hundreds of items at a time.”

“Good job.”

It’s not that there are no pains at all, but if you proceed step by step, things will go well.

Since I confirmed that the staff was handling the work smartly, I felt like I could leave it to them and not worry about it from now on.

I kept the list I received from the staff in my hand, fed him a meal, and cheered him on.

“I work while thinking about my body. “Your face is rough.”

“thank you!”

As they gave me pocket money to encourage me to work harder, my tired face became brighter.

When an employee is competent, the boss’s body and mind feel at ease.

This was done because there seemed to be a need for technology to encourage competent employees to prevent them from deserting.

Fortunately, I was soon able to hear good news as if my encouragement to the employees had worked well.

※ ※ ※

“Fortunately, it didn’t involve high-ranking nobles.”

“is it so?”

“yes. “It seems that those in charge of practical work have been stealing the salaries of common people to bribe middle managers.”

Nobles are people who receive reports from subordinates and give orders, and middle managers are people who are in charge of delivering orders to the working staff and managing them to ensure that the work is carried out well.

It seems to be an almost natural practice for working-level staff to bribe middle managers to take good care of them.

“Your income has drastically decreased due to the locust monster, and in your attempt to fix it somehow, you even tampered with the flea’s liver.”

no wonder.

I thought it was too small for a noble to touch.

I wondered if there was a need to be this salty, but I understood it when they said it was related to corruption.

‘Should I have suspected it in the first place? ‘Because nobles are not interested in what commoners eat.’

What does it mean to know if their pay has gone down or up?

Unless you were a working-level official or middle manager, such matters would not have been reported to the nobles.

It just ends with an order saying how much tax was collected this year.

Due to the indifference of the nobles, commoners had no place to complain even when they suffered from corruption committed by their subordinates.

This time too, as it has always been the case, the working-level staff are optimistic that nothing will happen and are turning on the common people.

“Our boss almost suffered because of those guys.”

“Now that the situation has become clear, all that remains is a solution.”

“How are you going to solve it?”

“I plan to meet one-on-one with the middle management and try to resolve the issue. “If we catch someone lower in rank, it will only increase the workload.”

“I wonder how they are going to solve it.”

I won’t ask you to return the bribe you took.

If you take away what you already received, the resentment will deepen.

The employee at the top smiled as if my worry was evident on his face.

“It’s not like I have to deal with a real noble, and I’m just a middle manager, so it’s not difficult. Do not worry. “Even if we cannot recover the salaries that commoners should have received, future salaries will be paid normally.”

I nodded, thinking that he was speaking so confidently because there was some way.

And as the employee boasted, the problems related to combat rations were naturally resolved over time.

Before the anxiety of the common people reached its peak.

This was thanks to the announcement that salaries would be paid properly.