Negotiating Salaries

After settling Ryan and the others, Roland returned to the settlement.

The settlement on Rising Light Island could now barely be called a village.

Not only did it house nearly five hundred slaves, but it also had dozens of mercenaries.

Its area had expanded several times over since its founding, and all kinds of buildings had become increasingly complete.

Upon returning to the settlement, Roland immediately summoned Old Nob, O'Neal, and the other three to the meeting room.

"Old Nob, how many gold coins are left in the territory's accounts?"

"Young Master, the territory currently has five hundred and thirty-four gold coins and sixty-eight silver coins." Old Nob was clearly very familiar with the figures and answered swiftly. As he spoke, he cast a deeply dissatisfied glance at O'Neal, who sat to Roland's left.

Roland nodded expressionlessly.

Over the past three months, Roland had also been quietly improving his success rate in brewing Level 4 Potions, which had now reached nearly thirty-eight percent.

He provided Leslie with around thirty-five Level 4 Potions each month. After deducting the cost of the Magic Materials purchased from Leslie, his monthly earnings were roughly thirteen hundred gold coins.

For a Pioneer Knight who had only just opened up a territory, this was clearly no small income.

After all, Neil Bergman had developed his territory for three years, and Yellow Stone Island was more than twice the size of Rising Light Island, yet it only brought in five thousand gold coins a year.

However, Roland had to pay the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group one thousand gold coins in hiring fees every month, leaving him with only a little over three hundred gold coins monthly.

Fortunately, Roland's territory was now barely self-sufficient. As long as he had no major plans, no further investment was needed.

Thus, over the past three months, apart from purchasing fifteen Magic Crystals from Leslie, Roland had bought no other supplies.

Perhaps Leslie had noticed that Roland's territory was gradually getting on track, because he had transferred away two three-masted merchant ships. Only one remained outside Rising Light Island for Roland's use.

At the same time, after sensing Old Nob's gaze, O'Neal became somewhat awkward.

He naturally understood Old Nob's dissatisfaction. Since accepting Roland's employment, O'Neal had gained greatly, with one thousand gold coins coming in every month.

Yet the sudden war three months ago had swallowed up all of his earnings from the past half year.

Compensation for more than thirty men, along with treatment costs and settlement payments for over a dozen severely wounded members.

Not only had that drained the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group's reserves, but it still had not been enough. Only after Roland paid this month's hiring fee had they barely managed to fill the gap.

As a result, the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group had yet to recover its numbers over the past three months.

This left O'Neal sitting on pins and needles. His eyes kept furtively darting toward Roland, afraid that dissatisfaction might appear on his face.

Roland naturally saw the undercurrents in the meeting room, but he showed no displeasure.

Although the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group's current size was no longer remotely worth one thousand gold coins a month.

Roland still had no intention of terminating his employment contract with O'Neal.

It was not because the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group had been badly damaged while protecting Rising Light Island. That was their duty, and Roland had already paid gold for it.

Rather, he still needed O'Neal to help train the territory's own guard force.

Leaving aside everything else, the inherited Breathing Technique O'Neal had provided was alone worth keeping them around for. Otherwise, Roland would have had to spend a large sum of gold to buy a Breathing Technique and hire someone to train the guards.

Thus, to reassure O'Neal, Roland smiled faintly and said to the five people present, "I have now advanced to Level 6 Mage, and I have successfully brewed a Level 5 Potion."

"From now on, the territory's income will only grow greater and greater. As long as you work diligently, I will not treat you poorly."

As Roland's words fell, the meeting room immediately fell silent.

They naturally understood what an apothecary capable of brewing Level 5 Potions represented.

Yet what shocked them even more was Roland's age. He could already brew Level 5 Potions at such a young age. Even in the Terra Kingdom, such talent might earn him a place among the best.

But after the shock came joy. Following an apothecary of such exceptional talent, they would surely gain enormous benefits as well.

Therefore, after Roland announced this news, something seemed to subtly change in the hearts of James, Artur, and Fili. They began to value their current positions on Rising Light Island even more.

"Congratulations, Young Master. With you here, Rising Light Island's future is bound to be glorious." Old Nob was the first to respond, his face full of delight.

"Congratulations, Apothecary Roland." O'Neal also breathed a huge sigh of relief and followed immediately after.

"Congratulations..."

The atmosphere in the meeting room immediately turned joyful.

Seeing this, Roland raised a hand and pressed it down a few times, reining in their emotions slightly.

Roland was quite satisfied with their reactions.

After all, they were indeed indispensable on Rising Light Island.

Without them, how could Roland alone manage hundreds of slaves and make them work diligently, let alone handle the territory's countless miscellaneous affairs?

"I called you here today to discuss the salaries of the territory's free citizens, as well as your own compensation," Roland continued.

Now that two free citizens had appeared in the guard force, Roland naturally had to pay them monthly wages and guarantee their treatment.

These were rights free citizens deserved. Even if Roland gave them nothing, no one would dare say anything.

However, the consequences might dampen the enthusiasm of the other slaves, especially within the newly formed guard force, where most were still slaves.

So even for the territory's guard force alone, Roland would not lose the greater for the sake of saving a few gold coins.

But since Roland intended to pay the wages and benefits of the newly emancipated free citizens, he naturally could not leave James, Artur, and Fili out of consideration.

Even if they might still be receiving payment from Leslie, Roland still needed to make his position clear.

"Th-this... Thank you, Apothecary Roland." Upon hearing Roland's proposal, traces of delight immediately appeared on the three men's faces.

They did not refuse. While they were indeed receiving a salary from Leslie, having the chance to earn another payment from Roland was no small gain for them.

"There is no need to thank me. This is what you deserve. Let us first discuss the salaries of those two Tier 1 Warriors. According to the armies in other noble territories of the kingdom, how much gold should they receive each month?"

James undoubtedly had the greatest right to speak on this matter. He had once served as a steward in one of the Oroko Family's merchant caravans traveling throughout the kingdom.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Apothecary Roland, because the wealth gap between the eastern and western regions of the kingdom is quite large, the salary levels for Tier 1 Warriors also differ noticeably."

"As far as I know, among some poorer nobles in the western part of the kingdom, a Tier 1 Warrior receives only one gold coin a month."

"Among the coastal nobles in the eastern part of the kingdom, a Tier 1 Warrior's salary is often between three and four gold coins."

"The gap is that large?"

Roland was not particularly surprised by the high salaries offered by coastal nobles.

After all, the average monthly salary of Highland City's citizens was already two gold coins. A Tier 1 Warrior would naturally earn more.

What shocked him was how cheap labor was in the west of the kingdom. A Tier 1 Warrior earned even less than an ordinary citizen of Highland City.

"Yes. Due to the prosperity of overseas trade, the income gap between the eastern and western regions of the kingdom is quite substantial."

Hearing this, Roland slowly suppressed the shock in his heart.

"Tell me in detail about the income of warriors at each level along the eastern coast."

"Based on the eastern region's average rates, a Level 2 Warrior earns around five to six gold coins, while a Level 3 Warrior earns six to eight gold coins."

"A Level 4 Warrior earns around fifteen to eighteen gold coins a month."

"A Level 5 Warrior earns twenty to twenty-four gold coins."

"A Level 6 Warrior earns twenty-seven to thirty gold coins."

"A Level 7 Warrior earns eighty to one hundred gold coins."

"A Level 8 Warrior..."

As James finished speaking, a trace of awkwardness surfaced on O'Neal's face once more.

After all, according to James's calculations, even the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group at full strength would only be worth around six hundred gold coins in hiring fees, much less its current state after losing more than half its members. It was clearly nowhere near worth one thousand gold coins a month.

However, Roland showed no dissatisfaction. When he had first hired the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group, he had already known that its hiring price far exceeded its scale.

There was even less reason to fuss over it now. Roland rather admired O'Neal and wanted, over time, to slowly turn him into a true subordinate rather than maintain their current employment relationship.

"In that case, the monthly salary for Tier 1 Warriors on Rising Light Island will be set at four gold coins from now on."

"Not just Tier 1 Warriors. Announce it: the salaries of warriors at every level on Rising Light Island will be directly benchmarked against Highland City." After considering it for a moment, Roland made his decision.

With his future income, he would never lack gold coins. In the perilous Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, without generous benefits, who would be willing to risk their lives for him?

Sure enough, after Roland made the announcement, enthusiastic smiles immediately appeared on the faces of Artur, James, and Fili.

Artur in particular, with his strength as a Level 5 Warrior, could earn five to six hundred gold coins a year by receiving two salaries from Leslie and Roland, far exceeding what his rank would normally bring.

When Roland's salary standards were announced across Rising Light Island, they immediately caused a tremendous stir among the territory's slaves. Many even volunteered to join the territory guard force.

Likewise, when the remaining forty-eight slaves in the guard force learned of this, they threw all their energy into training. They did not even need O'Neal and Artur to urge them on, and could complete more than their daily training quota on their own.

Thus, under Roland's gold coin offensive, everyone on Rising Light Island erupted with tremendous enthusiasm, greatly increasing the efficiency of the island's construction.