The name carried Annan's hopes: that these Ratfolk Artisans would bring good things.
And they were doing well. After reviewing the day's progress on the Tunnel, Olmedo said the hundred Ratfolk had nearly doubled the excavation speed compared with the previous two days.
"If they're this useful, should we ask the Stuen Ratfolk to send another hundred Ratfolk Artisans?" Annan ventured.
"Why recruit so many Ratfolk? If it's efficiency you want, Golems and Earth Elementals would do just as well." No one from the Northern Frontier liked Ratfolk. Even Olmedo did not want too many of them in Free City.
"If you're in such a hurry, why not use those?"
Annan shook his head. "If Golems and Earth Elementals do the work, what will the workers do?"
Another hundred Ratfolk Artisans would not take the workers' jobs. Golems might. It was like the Susan Spinning Machine Annan had once brought out...
Getting more done at less cost was not a bad thing, but doing it at the wrong time was. A hasty upgrade would send unemployment soaring, and unemployment would breed instability.
Free City could support those people, but it could not encourage idleness. The best time to upgrade would be when the city struggled to find enough workers.
"Let's watch them for a few more days," Olmedo said. "We need to see how the citizens feel about them."
"Then we'll do that."
Something else happened that day: the Elven Celebration, which Annan had been quietly following, officially ended.
Apart from rumors of an alliance and an unusual attack, the Elven Celebration had been much like previous years—not that most factions were eligible to attend twice.
With the Elven Royal Court and Paem Kingdom both playing down the attack, the story became that Prince Aidan's hatred of the elves