Working temporarily as a street cleaning supervisor, I discovered something unexpected about myself: I actually enjoyed managing people. Back at my old job, managing people was incredibly difficult, but here it was surprisingly easy, probably because I had a clear position as a noble.
Neumann, the first bureaucrat I'd connected with, was keen on profit, but he also tried hard to provide me with benefits and convenience. He cooperated because it benefited him too, but connections with nobility were attractive in their own right.
After the executioners returned, I handed over the temporary supervisor position, but Neumann started giving me other work. The job was catching beggars without beggar's licenses. At first, I didn't understand what he was talking about.
"You need a beggar's license to panhandle?"
"Ah, you didn't know, sir? There have been so many beggars lately that we've started issuing licenses, but there are still plenty of illegal beggars operating without them, so we conduct regular crackdowns," Neumann explained.
Well, I'll be damned. I had no idea beggars needed licenses. The bureaucrat received support from the judicial department's guards for this enforcement. If beggars resisted, the guards would step in to handle it. Neumann asked me to take the guards and crack down on beggars along Linz Boulevard, my assigned area.
Naturally, there was a job repetitive quest.
[Repetitive Quest: Occupation]
[Beggar License Enforcement Officer]
[Crack down on beggars without licenses]
[Manager Scouter temporarily provided]
[Reward — 200 points, 200 copper coins]
Just when I thought I was getting used to this world, I didn't expect something like this.
Anyway, I led five guards through the southern alleys branching off from Linz Boulevard like veins, focusing the crackdown there. The Manager Scouter could determine whether someone had a license or not.
[Boed Lindemann's History]
[Age 25][No Affiliation][Address: Alley 8]
[Quest: No beggar's license]
"Please, sir! What's this about a license for a beggar!"
"If you want to beg, go through the proper procedures and get a license."
"They won't issue the licenses!"
After being hounded by beggars, I no longer viewed them favorably. Because rich people believed that giving to beggars could earn them a place in heaven, beggars actually made more from panhandling than commoners did. Seeing this, every Tom, Dick, and Harry became a beggar.
When the numbers grew out of control, the duchy government issued licenses to regulate them. Of course, it didn't work properly, so they conducted regular enforcement activities. That's why I could easily identify who had a license through the Manager Scouter.
"Wait, what the hell is up with that knight?"
"How's he catching them just by looking once?"
The guards seemed pretty surprised as I cracked down on beggars without hesitation. So I made up some excuse about deducing it from the beggars' behavior. Then I got called a knight with amazing observational skills. That's how I cracked down on all the beggars in every alley connected to Linz Boulevard.
About thirty beggars got caught and fined.
Naturally, I wrote down their names and ages on linen paper and handed it to Neumann. Neumann blinked, looking back and forth between me and the paper. When he turned to the guards, they praised me as a knight with remarkable abilities.
"Ahem, Sir Knight. May I continue to request your services?" Neumann asked.
"Having steady work is always welcome. You can count on me anytime."
So I worked as a beggar license enforcement officer for a while, and my bad reputation spread among beggars not just on Linz Boulevard (west) but on other boulevards too. Beggars would flee at the mere sight of me. So the beggars who used to pester me during morning training didn't come near me anymore, which was deeply satisfying.
[F-Rank Management Title Achieved]
[Hall of Fame has been opened.]
Besides the shop, something new called the Hall of Fame had opened. When I accessed it, there was a listing for F-Rank Management, and the benefit was a 20% increase in management ability. But this was too vague a stat for me to gauge. Did it mean my work performance improved by 20% when doing job quests?
Without experiencing it firsthand, it was hard to tell.
The fact that it was F-rank meant the grade could go up, right?
But then I spotted a big guy sitting listlessly in one corner of the plaza.
That guy stuck in my memory. His name was Hans, if I recalled correctly.
When I had worked as street cleaning supervisor, he had been particularly obedient and diligent.
I didn't know why, but he looked dejected.
Thinking it was fate, I took Hans to a restaurant.
It was a place I sometimes visited, called Rosemary.
"I don't know if I deserve to be treated like this," Hans mumbled.
"Don't hold back. Eat plenty. You've got to eat your fill to have some peace of mind."
"Th-then I'll gratefully accept."
When I had worked as street cleaning supervisor for a week, Hans had shown up consistently for street cleaning, and far from complaining, he had actively pitched in and worked very faithfully and diligently. That's probably why I remembered him. When I had stepped down from the supervisor job, I thought that was the end of our connection.
He had a big build and good strength.
It seemed he hadn't found steady work since the street cleaning job had ended.
From what I remembered, this guy's disposition was honesty (good).
And his favorability toward me was particularly high.
"Um, can I take the leftovers?"
"You want to take this? Why?"
"I want to feed my little sister."
He had a little sister?
The Manager Scouter didn't cover family relationships. If you wanted to add functions beyond the basic two, you had to pay 5,000 points to buy them. Thinking about Hans's build, I'd ordered a generous spread of different dishes, but Hans only ate half and seemed eager to take the rest. When I gave permission, he happily took off his shirt and bundled up the leftovers.
I watched him quietly.
A good guy who cared for and loved his sister.
Maybe he was the type who wouldn't survive long in this brutal medieval era, but that's exactly why I liked him.
"Hans. Want to work as my attendant?"
"What? Me? But all I know how to do is day labor."
Perhaps because it was an unexpected offer, Hans was genuinely flustered.
Hans didn't jump at my offer. He honestly admitted he was illiterate, couldn't do calculations, and was just a day laborer who wouldn't be of much help. He was an honest person, true to his disposition. That's why I could trust him.
"I think it's about time I had an attendant. I'll teach you what you're lacking."
"Th-thank you so much for giving me this opportunity! Supervisor! Work me like an ox!"
"Don't shout so loud in the restaurant."
Hans trembled with emotion.
And I got to hear Hans's story.
Hans and his sister hadn't been born in the capital. They were from the southern Duchy of Beren, living in an area close to Switzerland, when an epidemic (presumably measles) had broken out in their hometown. As a result, Hans and his sister, who had fled the village, came to depend on their aunt living in the capital.
They were lucky it had been before the epidemic became known and the roads were blocked.
Their aunt had married a textile merchant and was fairly well-off, so she could take in the siblings.
She was nothing short of their savior. And whenever Hans talked about his sister, his eyes welled up with tears as he said he'd put her through too much hardship.
"My wish is for my little sister to marry into a good family."
"Then I'll hire your sister as a handmaid too."
"What?"
Since I was earning not just points but also copper coins through repetitive quests, I could definitely afford their wages. If Hans took care of outside work requiring strength and his sister handled housework, the balance would be perfect. Plus, I'd be employing a whole family. Was this a noble's responsibility?
"Thank you! I'll serve you with my life, Supervisor!"
"Call me Wolfgang. I'm not your supervisor anymore."
While nobles held a position of dominance over commoners, they also provided quality employment to commoners and took responsibility for their families and livelihoods. You could call it the ideal noble's attitude, but not all nobles in this world were good ones. Still, I wanted to be a good noble.
"You hired this guy as an attendant? A pauper?" Neumann asked.
"Is there a problem with me hiring an attendant?"
"N-no. It's just so unexpected."
Was hiring a pauper really that strange?
Neumann looked at Hans with some distaste but didn't interfere further. He'd earn my ire if he overstepped his bounds. He knew his place well enough. From a bureaucrat's perspective, he didn't view paupers, who were essentially vagrants, favorably, so it might seem odd to hire one as an attendant.
"Anyway, is it beggar enforcement today too?"
"No. We've done enough enforcement. But we got a support request from Beien (south)," Neumann said.
"What request?"
"The Church requested building materials for the cathedral expansion, but it happened to coincide with the financial audit, so the bureaucrats there can't respond. That's why we can rake in a ton of work bonuses."
The stipend from the government office would be the basic allowance, but Neumann would squeeze money out of the Beien bureaucrat in charge. Neumann used me like that, but naturally I also got half the money Neumann extracted. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. But Hans seemed quite displeased.
"That bureaucrat bastard. Seems like he only sees Wolfgang as a tool," he muttered.
"I'm just going along with it for now. It won't be much longer, so just bear with it."
"I'm fine, but it angers me that he seems to treat you like a subordinate."
Though I'd just hired him, Hans was already proving to be an excellent retainer.