Chapter 7: Get Started.
"Milk? Seriously?" Mina asked in disbelief. The rice they had just eaten was literally more than many citizens, even better positioned ones, could afford. That this subject wanted to give them milk for the winter seemed like a particularly cruel joke.
"Look... I don't feel like fighting with you about that," Rose said honestly. He had better things to do than argue with Mina, or with anyone in general. "Right now, I have to worry more about the harvest and the thieves than about winter."
If he remembered correctly, the harvest was at the beginning of autumn. Unless there was an early winter, which was possible, he would have more or less three months to prepare the city and ensure its survival until spring.
"Which towns would be attacked first?" she asked, while Desmos felt an irresistible urge to make the thieves' blood and guts run. In reality, of the three, he was the only one happy with the whole affair... although Mina couldn't hear him.
"The weakest and most unprotected cities," Mina stated with certainty. She had already participated in similar events and knew that places with a precarious army would be the first to be attacked.
This finally cleared the complete picture in the young prince's mind: it was late summer, only twenty days away from autumn. Carter had sold him the city simply to save his own skin, as he knew he would probably die during the Festival of Thieves.
Besides, he didn't have time to send a letter to his father requesting reinforcements. It had taken him six months to cross the damn ocean to reach the Badlands, and even his fastest infernal messenger would take several weeks. And if the reinforcements were sent, they would take months to arrive.
"We're basically alone, old friend," he said to himself, firmly gripping his lifelong companion.
[And I'm happy with that... more blood to paint my blades]. Desmos, in reality, sounded incredibly excited at the idea of fighting such an unfavorable battle.
Mina, completely ignoring the comment from the Berserk Lance, crossed her arms.
"You don't have a single knight. Even being from Parnam, it will be impossible for you to resist the thieves' attack. They will kill you and occupy your castle."
She had witnessed this in past winters: several cities had fallen into the hands of thieves without anyone being able to prevent it.
"I won't fall that easily," Rose retorted. He looked at Mina with his silver eyes, which for the first time since they met, reflected a genuine emotion: pure and absolute determination to defend that place and its people, or die trying.
"Do you want to come with me?" Mina offered suddenly, honestly not knowing why she had said it. "I'm just returning the favor, you saved my life after all... Yes, just that."
[She's a terrible liar... she's just like you] Desmos said in an amused tone, as Rose was a lousy liar.
Rose smiled calmly at the young woman, chuckling at his best friend's comment. "Don't worry, I won't die that easily," he assured her.
Seeing his confident look prevented her from yelling at him for his foolishness and recklessness. "You better not die," she warned him before leaving without even giving him a second glance.
[I like her. If we survive, you should court her] Desmos commented. That girl had character and was the first one Rose paid attention to, besides his sisters, of course.
Rose simply rolled his eyes at his old friend's cheeky comment, immediately returning to his work; the administrative stuff could wait. While it was true that, being a demigod, he was strong enough to face an army alone, an army was one thing and an endless wave of thieves was quite another. Not even he had that much stamina.
"It looks like we'll have to plan this with extreme care," he muttered to himself. Then, he unrolled a parchment on the desk and began to trace a more meticulous strategy.
[Damn it! Military recruitment lacks any meticulous strategy... And how are you supposed to train them in only 20 days?] Desmos complained. He knew this was not only a titanic task, but virtually impossible.
Rose ignored his best friend's comment and focused on finishing his recruitment poster. Once he rolled up the parchment, he left the study. On the way, his mind was working at full speed, devising a solid plan of action, as he knew he desperately needed to solve this problem if he wanted to succeed.
Upon reaching the public square, he pasted the poster on a wooden bulletin board and rushed back to the palace to begin preparing the defenses.
"Hey... it looks like they're going to raise taxes again," commented one of the villagers. Not being able to read, the villager could only see the money symbol and assume that from the poster.
Rose, of course, had overlooked that detail: if people could barely afford food, and barely at that, knowing how to read was a truly distant dream. If it weren't for the fact that his father had spent the last year teaching him the written and spoken language of these lands, he himself wouldn't have been able to understand anything until this moment.
Fortunately, among the elders was one who had worked as a teacher in the city school before the previous nobles closed it down. This man approached the board to read the announcement in silence. When he finished, the surprise was such that he felt his heart stop for an instant.
"Mr. Han, what's wrong? Have the taxes gone up that much?" asked a young man, worried about the health of the elder whom everyone in the village respected.
"The new baron is hiring employees," the elder informed him, regaining his composure.
After that, and to make sure he didn't omit any detail, he simply proceeded to read the poster aloud:
Urgent Notice: Call of the Lord of the City
Literate personnel are requested to fill administrative positions in the palace and collaborate in the management of the territory.
We Offer: Immediate hiring for those who pass the interview and a generous salary of 120 copper coins monthly.
Interested parties: Present yourselves at the City Mansion this Saturday morning.
Employment Opportunities in the Town
The town needs your strength! Citizens fit for the following positions are sought:
Hunters (50 vacancies)
Requirements: Young men and women, aged 16 to 30, with excellent physical condition.
Salary:One hundred copper coins for those who pass the endurance test.
Appointment:Sunday morning.
Defense Builders
Prepare for the "Thieves' Feast"! We need strong hands to fortify the town.
Requirements: Robust men aged 21 to 30, free from drinking or tobacco vices.
Salary:Eighty copper coins for those selected after the physical test and interview.
Appointment:Monday morning.
Army
Men and women who meet the requirements established for Hunters and Builders are being recruited. Your bravery is our shield.
Appointment: Starting on Tuesday
Monthly Salary: 120 copper coins.
Castle Staff
Female personnel are requested, preferably married or in a stable relationship, for maintenance and cleaning tasks inside the castle.
Salary:10 copper coins a week.
"That... that has to be a lie!" exclaimed the same man as before, incredulous. "Eighty copper coins just for building walls! No one has that much money."
"One hundred copper coins for going hunting, that's even more absurd," added another young man.
Their incredulity was natural. After all, the previous lord, with luck, offered a salary of twenty coins for serving in the army. To think that a much younger lord had so much money without collecting taxes was, quite simply, impossible.
Even outside this barony, which was particularly poor and cruel, salaries did not improve much. The monthly salary for most people ranged between 30 and 40 copper coins, and that was in the best-paid jobs. A nuclear family where both parents worked would barely reach, with luck, 60 copper coins a month, just enough to subsist. After all, in the city of Sedena, where the baron regulated the price of wheat, a pound of flour cost four copper coins. If they didn't supplement their diet with wild vegetables, they simply wouldn't be able to feed themselves.
However, if the new baron really offered the salaries written on the poster, this would mean a monumental change for the city. Little did they know that Rose, in reality, was unaware of the difference between the symbols for copper and silver coins and that he had brought not copper, but gold and silver, and his intention was to pay them in silver.
End of chapter.