On February 1, in the lord's room at Iron Mine Castle, Landen sat before a large map, listening to the Mana-Less Dolyaf report on the reservoir's construction.
"Your Majesty, as you requested, all the construction teams have completed the first phase of the project—the section at the reservoir's far southwestern end," Dolyaf reported, taking out a thick stack of forms. They recorded each team's performance, including construction quality, points redeemed, the team leader's ability to learn, and the overall state of the team.
As Landen leafed through the forms, he asked, "Who do you think is the best among them?"
Dolyaf replied, "I think the most outstanding team leaders are Enperth Gallop and Umoni. Not only is the quality of their work the highest, but even after they went to recruit students in Dragon Tooth City, their teams were still able to keep up the pace."
"They stood out at Gallop Academy, though not as much as Wufi, Britt, and Dandelion," Landen said. He wasn't surprised that the academy's students had distinguished themselves, so he moved on to ask, "What I'd like to know is, all things considered, which teams have performed better based on their backgrounds?"
Dolyaf replied, "In terms of team management, the Mana-Wielders from minor noble and commoner families are better. They can generally motivate all the Mana-Less workers very quickly. But when it comes to the quality of the work, the teams from the Imperial Capital do better, and work faster."
"Oh? Why? Aren't they bad at motivating the Mana-Less?" Landen asked, intrigued.
"They're more familiar with magic, and they're also more willing to punish the Mana-Less," Dolyaf explained. "They can see when their team is falling behind the teams around them, and they can cast punishment spells to frighten the Mana-Less. In the past few