The First Step

Gawain had no way to explain the plans in his heart or those far-reaching concerns to others—even to the trustworthy Rebecca and Heti. He could not clearly explain what he was thinking to them, so all he could do was break his grand plans into stages and details, then slowly build them up.

What he had done today could be considered the most basic part of it all. It was merely a foundation, even for the construction of this territory.

But to Rebecca and Heti, Gawain had shown them an unbelievable side of the commoners and serfs.

They had never seen commoners and serfs work with such enthusiasm, nor had they ever seen them complete tasks they normally could never do well so quickly and so well.

They believed Gawain's promise that they could "eat meat tonight" was motivating these people, and in fact, it was.

It was still too early to build a culture of public confidence and pride in labor. Using a meal of meat to motivate the workers was the simplest and most effective method.

Back in the tent at the center of the camp, Gawain found some paper and a pen and began recording a few things. At the same time, he instructed Knight Byron, who had followed him in, "Send two men to take out the meat and cook it. Prepare enough for ten people. Also, anyone participating in the work gets all the vegetable soup and black bread they can eat. We have plenty of food left. In these early days of building the territory, no one must fall ill from cold or hunger."

"Are we really preparing enough meat for ten people?" Byron asked in surprise.

Gawain answered as if it were only natural. "Of course. I have to keep my promise. Is there a problem?"

"I thought you merely intended to stew a pot of meat soup," Byron explained. "Just a few walnut-sized pieces of meat, along with vegetables, would make a large pot of soup. Those people would already be deeply grateful."

"Do as I say." Gawain waved a hand. "There will not be the slightest discount on a promise I have made. Oh, and have the cooks set up the cauldron in the most conspicuous place in camp. I want everyone to see the meat being stewed. Have the soldiers maintain order nearby as well. No one is allowed to rush in and grab food."

Knight Byron's expression became slightly strange. He bowed, accepted the order, and left.

Gawain noticed someone's gaze beside him. Turning his head, he found Amber staring at him without blinking.

"What are you looking at?" He shifted his neck uncomfortably. "Is there something on my face?"

"I'm checking whether something that affects the mind possessed you while you were in the treasury, but it doesn't seem like it," Amber said with a serious expression. "I've never heard of a noble voluntarily reducing his own wealth..."

Gawain found it rather amusing. "You think my measures are reducing my wealth?"

"Otherwise?" Amber spread her hands. "Turning serfs into free citizens means they only need to hand over part of what they grow in the future. And you have to pay the free citizens wages, too. That's money straight out of your own pocket... Can nobles even do that?"

"If I asked you to help me paint a wall, how much could you do in one day if I only gave orders and no money?"

Amber thought for a moment. "I'd steal a few coins from your pocket, hire some boy from the servants' quarters to do it for me, and use the rest of the money to buy booze!"

Gawain said, "...Why am I wasting my breath reasoning with a Disgrace of All Things like you?"

Amber snapped, "How am I a Disgrace of All Things?!"

At that moment, Heti entered the tent, interrupting Amber's outburst. The lady still wore an expression of disbelief. "Ancestor, this is simply unbelievable. They have never worked this hard before—especially the serfs. They can finish their tasks without even needing overseers..."

"Because before, they were only working for the lord, while now their work is directly tied to their meals," Gawain said, entirely unsurprised. "This is only the first step. You can already see it: compared to the additional food and wages we need to provide, what we gain is far greater."

"I once considered motivating them to work through incentives as well, but I never dared take it this far," Heti said, shaking her head. "I cannot imagine what the territory's future would look like if these systems were truly continued."

Gawain smiled. "It will certainly head in a better direction. You only need to trust me. And what I did today was merely the first step. Come, take a look at these..."

He had been writing and sketching on several sheets of paper since earlier. Amber had glanced at them twice before finding them boring and losing interest, but when Heti heard Gawain's instruction, she immediately obediently came over. "What... are these?"

The pages were filled with sentences she could not understand. They looked more like a collection of strange terms: work groups, competition and contracting, assessment methods and efficiency statistics. Several other pages bore the words "mid-term plans," followed by general education, magical aptitude surveys, talent recruitment, and more. They were even more baffling.

"These are all things I came up with during this time, but the opportunity to put them into practice had not come before. Now that construction of the territory has begun, some matters should be put on the agenda." Gawain pointed to the top sheet. "These things may be difficult for many commoners and serfs to understand, so I'll explain them to you first. Then you can explain them to Knight Byron and the people responsible for supervision, and have them repeatedly teach these matters to everyone. Oh, where is Rebecca?"

"She... is helping burn off the weeds and brush south of the riverbank," Heti said. "That is also one of the ways she usually practices magic."

The corner of Gawain's mouth twitched. "Have her come over too. She can practice her big fireball anytime."

Rebecca was soon called into the tent. This young viscountess had a face blackened with soot and reeked of smoke. Rather than looking like she had been practicing magic, she looked as though she had just crawled out of the kitchen—no wonder she only knew one big fireball spell even now.

"I'll explain the work shift system for the camp next." Gawain spread out his plan and began explaining in detail. "First, work groups—I require all laborers to be divided into groups of five to ten people. Work assignments and shifts for rest will be arranged by group...

"Before beginning work, every group must report to an overseer. They must report again when they finish for the day. The overseers will be responsible for recording each group's work. In addition, each group will have a leader, who will be responsible for assigning tasks within the group...

"Let them choose their own group leaders, and tell them that the position is not permanent. If a leader affects work efficiency or deceives the overseers or the lord, they will be replaced immediately.

"Work results will be evaluated by group. The whole group will be rewarded, and the whole group will be punished. I'll explain the reward-and-punishment system and the competition mechanism later...

"As for the points system I mentioned earlier, considering that most people cannot read, write, or count, Heti, you should record each group's completed work for now. We can slowly discuss the exact method for calculating contributions...

"Also, we need to discuss how each group will record the receipt and return of tools."

Gawain rattled off a great many things in one breath. Not only Rebecca, but even Heti was becoming dizzy. She stared blankly as Gawain continued talking and scribbling on the paper. Under the earlier entries that had contained only a few terms, rough shorthand notes swiftly appeared. Unable to hold back her confusion, she asked, "Ancestor, won't making simple work so complicated instead reduce... efficiency?"

"These systems only look complicated. But at the bottom of the system, for those commoners and serfs, all they need to do is work quickly and well to gain benefits. Once they have tasted the rewards, they will naturally follow the rules seriously. And once they begin following them, you will see efficiency even more astonishing than today's tent building. Of course, implementation may be difficult at first. That is why you must keep teaching and explaining them. Beyond that, they must be forcibly implemented and promoted. There is no why—simply tell them this is the new law of Cecil Territory."

At that moment, Gawain could not help feeling somewhat grateful for this backward age. The people were unenlightened; whether free citizens or slaves, they regarded obedience to orders as only natural. A lord's words were absolute, and the so-called "lowborn" had no room to resist. Under such circumstances, many of his ideas could be carried out without much explanation...

Yet this was not the situation Gawain wanted. His goal was to break this environment, to ensure every "lowborn" person in Cecil Territory was no longer lowborn, but a living human being.

He needed people—vast numbers of people.

Because what he intended to do could not possibly be accomplished by his strength alone.

That was why, while having Heti forcibly promote these systems, he also had her continually explain them to the people. It did not matter if the commoners could not understand now. One day, they would.

Heti was no fool. She possessed enough wisdom, and her views were already far ahead of the nobles of her era. After Gawain explained it and she thought for a while herself, she vaguely understood the significance of doing this and nodded in agreement.

"What about me?" Seeing that Aunt Heti had been assigned a task, Rebecca eagerly leaned forward as well. "What should I do?"

This young viscountess, who had still been the lord of Cecil Territory not long ago, had now completely placed herself in the role of Gawain's assistant.

"Tomorrow, take some people to survey the soil. Confirm how difficult it will be to reclaim the land and how much can be reclaimed initially. Don't go too far."

As he spoke, Gawain swiftly sketched a rough map on a blank sheet of paper beside him. It covered a broad area centered around the riverbank, and he casually marked the distances between various places. Though it was only an outline that barely even counted as a sketch, Rebecca stared at it in a daze.

"Just follow this boundary. Ignore anything beyond it for now."

Rebecca took the "map" blankly. "Oh... okay..."

Amber looked at Gawain as though he were a monster. "You... were all the people who carried out the Second Expansion monsters back then?"

Gawain thought about it. He figured the other old fellows from seven hundred years ago probably would not climb out of their graves to beat him, so he casually made something up. "That's right. Drawing the terrain of half a kingdom from memory with our eyes closed was standard for our generation."

Amber said, "..."