After signing the loan contract, Joan returned to the Mine Tunnel and found a crowd kneeling in the clearing.
Harding sidled up to her with a fawning smile. "I told them about your kindness, and they refused to get up..." He said nothing about how he had kicked them down one by one.
The two officials from the Empire had not wanted to kneel, so he had given them a couple of particularly hard kicks.
Joan did not need to stand above others to feel superior. "Get up!" she called. "No one needs to kneel to me!"
Fortunately, she had spent the past two days watching how Annan spoke to the laborers.
The laborers looked helplessly at Harding. His scalp prickled, and his voice rose to a squeak. "Why are you looking at me? Boss Joan is our leader!"
They got to their feet. Joan continued, "You know what your terms are, so I won't repeat them. But there's one thing: buying you back used up all my money. For the next half month, you'll get food and clothes, but no wages yet."
She figured that earning money for the Freedom Gang did not count as lining her own pockets.
The workers showed little reaction. Even if she never paid them, what could they do?
"All right. Rest today and get something to eat. We'll start work tomorrow." Joan waved for the cook, whose only talent was making food edible, to prepare dinner.
Dinner, too?
Joan walked away under the workers' disbelieving stares, then came back.
"Oh, one more thing. You were taken here by force, weren't you? Do you remember where you live?"
The workers fell silent. Beside her, Harding glared at them. "The boss asked you a question! Are you deaf or mute?!"
"Be quiet."
"Right." Harding shrank