Every month, as midmonth approached, the workers of the Xinfei Merchant Guild grew especially excited.
The reason was simple: midmonth was payday.
After a month of hard work, anyone would be much happier than usual when it was time to collect their wages.
What was more, early that morning, Heinz and Canby had each announced some good news to the workers in their respective workshops.
Not only would there be no overtime after work today, but the guild would also hold a grand banquet in both workshops, free for all workers to attend.
The banquet would offer not just lavish fish and meat dishes, but fine wine as well!
When they heard that the wine actually came from the famous Sachi Manor, the workers in the Domestic Magic Machinery Production Workshop erupted in cheers, while the dwarves in the Magic Machine Tool Workshop let out such a thunderous roar that they nearly brought the whole building down.
Buoyed by excitement bordering on frenzy, both workshops actually increased their productivity by a full twenty percent that day, finishing work during normal working hours that would otherwise have required overtime.
As dinnertime approached, Heinz and Canby announced the end of the workday half an hour early, then gathered all the workers to distribute their wages.
Since the Xinfei Merchant Guild had received a large number of orders, both workshops had worked overtime many times the previous month. With overtime pay included, every worker received considerably more than their usual monthly wages.
The dwarves working on magic machine tools had originally been promised eight gold coins a month, but even the lowest payout now exceeded twelve gold coins, while some received more than fourteen.
That was already a very respectable wage in Bunta City. Even veteran workers at many large merchant guilds might