I waited a few more seconds in order to let reality sink in before asking the last three armed citizens within the group who stayed behind to guard the open gate in anticipation of Max's group and the other group of people who went to collect the materials for the ovens. I expected that the latter group would show up pretty soon since they were sent out quite a while ago, so I didn't want to go back into the castle itself, therefore I decided that I would address the crowd of people who decided to stay behind with me in the open space we were in currently.
Instead of a speech though, I decided that I would ask them a few things to get a general idea of their intellectual foundation, so to speak, as well as the skills some of them may know that would be useful for us in the near future. With this in mind, I began my questioning by first calling out to the crowd.
"Okay... Everybody listen up. I have a few questions to ask that will determine what department y'all will be assigned to once we get things up and running. As I said before inside the great hall, there will no longer be any other 'status' within our hierarchy in the castle beside the citizens, which includes all of you, and the lord, which would be me of course. But this structure doesn't allow for enough delegation within our ranks to get anything done effectively and in a timely manner." I paused for a second before continuing.
"We would get bogged down due to the lack of effective leadership simply because I can't be in all places at once. This can be mitigated through the use of departments since I can divide you into groups based on your skills and interests while allowing for better delegation of tasks since each department can then focus on its specific area of expertise." I said while thinking about a few basic questions to ask the group who were currently listening intently to everything that came out of my mouth.
I mean, yes this would determine their jobs within the castle but a majority of the jobs I had in mind for them didn't even exist yet, so I thought the intensity was unnecessary... But it was good to see that they were listening nonetheless.
"Now... Firstly, and please don't lie thinking you will achieve better results or something like that. There will be follow-up questions that will verify your claimed expertise. But as I was saying, raise your hand if you have experience with either masonry or carpentry." I said before watching twenty or so people raise their hands within the crowd. This was a decent number given that there were only seventy people present but it made sense given that most of the buildings within the castle grounds were made from stone and wood.
Seeing no more hands being raised, I asked that group of twenty to step out of the crowd before scanning their faces to see if I recognized any of them. To my surprise, I actually did recognize one of the people in the crowd and that person was Sam, the guy who helped Leon into the castle when first arrived here the other day. Unfortunately, he was dismissed after finishing that task and missed out on the meeting that happened after he left but seeing that he stayed behind instead of leaving gave me a good impression of the guy.
"Sam... I'm glad you decided to stay with us. You will see that you made the right choice in the future." I said while giving the man a 'thumbs up' motion with my hand.
Sam nodded while wiping a few drops of cold sweat off his brow as he probably remembered the way he acted toward my cousins and me the day prior, but I wasn't one to hold grudges over little things like that so I found his actions amusing, to say the least.
"Now of you twenty, how many of y'all have experience working with metal as well, it can be something as simple as a nail it will still be counted," I said while watching around twelve of the hands drop from the air leaving only eight people with their hands raised, some of which with having only basic experience in smithing at least, but this should still be more than enough given that we could rely on Sasha for most of the essential stuff. Funnily enough, Sam was one of the people with his hand raised still but seeing as I poked fun at him earlier, I decided I would give him a break for now.
After thinking this I had those eight people group together before moving away from the larger crowd of people watching this whole process go down. I then had the other twelve individuals group together as well before having them move toward the same area as the eight I mentioned before. Once they had settled, I address the entire crowd once again.
"Alright. These twenty people will make up the construction department and they will be responsible for our masonry, carpentry, and smithing needs for the foreseeable future. The larger group of twelve will be the general construction team with my cousin Luca serving as the chief of that team. The smaller group besides them will be our engineering team and Sam will serve as the head of that group. Both of these groups will work in tandem with each other and the other departments that have yet to be formed to fulfill our construction and engineering needs. That includes the beehive oven as well as any extra housing we may need once your relatives arrive. But for now, let's move on to the next department as they will be just as important as this one." I said while patting my cousin Luca on his back before pointing over toward the group of twelve that he would be leading in the future. He obviously didn't expect to be pushed into a position of power so soon and showed disbelief on his face as he stumbled toward the direction I was pointing.
I found his reaction amusing but I was also confident in his skills at least when it came to building things with wood since that was the primary building material back in the village. Not to mention that he was already being raised to serve in a position similar to this because of the position his father had back in the village, so if anything one could just consider this fate.
I didn't check Sam's reaction to his promotion but I would bet a few gold coins on him being just as surprised as Luca. Instead, I waited until Luca had reached his new subordinates before continuing my announcements.
"The next department we will be discussing is the industrial department, but first I need to know something. Excluding those in the construction department, raise your hand if you have experience working on a farm or in a mine. As I said before, these jobs are just as important as any of the others and they will be treated as such under my rule. As long as you stay loyal to the cause then you won't have to fear exclusion in any shape or form. So please raise your hand if you have worked as a farmer or as a miner." I said before I began trying to count the wave of hands that flew into the air.
Due to my relative lack of height when compared to the large group of adults in front of me, I could not make out all of the hands that were raised in the crowd but I had already thought of a solution to this minor inconvenience. And that was to have all of the people with their hands down walk a few paces away from those who had their hands up.
The crowd carried out my orders with a bit more efficiency this time around as they split off from the now larger group of people with their hands still raised. I counted the number of hands that were still raised and got twenty-eight people making this department a bit larger than the previous one. But this was to be expected given that a majority of the population of the town worked in the fields or mines owned by the three noble families. Unlike the previous department though, this one seem more mixed when came to the genders of the people which was kinda weird but that was the only thing that stuck out with the group.
After counting the hands, I gesture for the group to lower them before asking them to separate into two groups based on which area they had experience in. This caused the group to spilt into two almost equal groups which caused me to smile for the first time today simply because this made my 'job' a whole lot easier. I waited until the two groups settled in once more before addressing them once again.
"Good. Now that we got y'all group together, I can explain what your jobs will be from now on. As I said earlier, your collective group will be known as the industrial department, but your individual groups will be called the miner's guild and the farmer's association respectively. Remember these names as they will become synonymous with the profession soon enough, mark my words. But to get there we first need to start with our basics such as mining quality ores with efficiency or growing a large enough crop without sacrificing the quality of the good in question. At the moment we don't control any farmland but that time will come, so until then we will focus on improving our mining operations." I paused for a second before continuing.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"I have a few methods to do so but we need a few err... Devices to see these plans through. I will have another meeting with your department in a week's time to explain everything in detail, but until then I want the miner's guild to man our last two mines. You don't have to work but just make it seem like everything is running. There should be some leftover materials in mines still so just bring that in once finish your 'shifts'. The other half of your department, namely the farmer's association will be responsible for scouting out a few farms that we can buy. Try to find the worst farms since they will be the cheapest. Your group should also expect a meeting in a week's time to discuss my plans for y'all in detail. I will also be assigning leadership to both of these groups at these meetings, but for now, let us move onto the last department that we will be discussing for today." I said before shifting my attention to the last group of people.
This last department wasn't really necessary in my eyes. Still, since it was already ingrained into the way of life within the castle it would probably cause chaos if it was suddenly removed without a replacement. I was talking about the kitchen and maid staff, of course, both of which being almost as important as the former guards themselves.
My plan was to rename them to the homemaking department simply so that they wouldn't feel left out of the process we had going on but I wouldn't change their day-to-day activities because of the chaos it would cause as I said. After thinking about this I started to address the last group of people who hadn't been assigned yet.
"Alright for this last department, we will keep things as simple as possible given that their roles are already critical to the functionality of the castle. This department will be called the homemaking department and it will consist of two teams just like the previous departments but we won't be making any changes to their workload since their jobs are critical to the lives of everyone within castle grounds already. However, we first need to figure out who will be assigned to this department..." I said before pausing to make everyone was on the same page.
Nobody seemed to have any questions so I took that as a sign that I could continue but once I turned my head towards the group of unassigned people I saw a hand being held up within them. After taking a quick double take, I spoke to the person with their hand raised while asking them to step out of the crowd.
"Someone seems to have a question. Or perhaps you wish to make a statement? Either way, come up to the front so I can see who I'm talking to." I said while focusing my attention on the graying head of hair that was on its way toward me through the crowd.
Once the person in question made it to the front of the group, I was met with another familiar face for the second time during this whole ordeal. It was the chef, Karl, the very same one who was allowed to attend the impromptu meeting last night. This revelation almost shocked me until I remembered how close he and Sasha seemed to be at said meeting last night, not to mention the genuine hope for change that flashed through his when I was talking about what the future would hold under my rule.
'These folk are good people and some of them are definitely willing to act when necessary... I just need to figure out who all fits that bill...' I thought to myself before addressing Karl, who had begun to sweat because of the blank stare I was giving him currently.
"Karl huh?... I can't say that I'm surprised that you stayed given your character. This world could use more good men like you." I said blatantly praising the man who was likely an accomplice to the unfortunate demise of the late lord of the castle, Leon.
Twisted? Yes. Borderline Evil? Perhaps. And the ends may not justify the means, but I'm not a god so I can only accept good enough. But that's enough introspection for now. I had more pressing matters to attend to after all.
"Thank you for the praise Lord, but I only do what I can. I have a question regarding the last department the lord wishes to create, if I may?" Karl said bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Go ahead. I'm listening." I said even though I was sure that he was going to ask something that would have been answered if he had just waited a few more seconds.
"Well, I wonder if we would be able to bring our relatives in even if they don't want to work in the same job as us. They will certainly be willing to fight or build for the lord, but I doubt most of them will want to clean or cook without coin, which I know we are short on right now. Will this be a problem Lord?" Karl said posing a question that I did indeed look over when starting this whole process.
After thinking about his question for a few seconds I figured that what he said wasn't really a problem as much as it was a nuisance given that we needed more cooks and cleaners to support the influx of people who are coming to live in the castle. But like I said, this was only a nuisance at most since I could just have them do other jobs if they are capable enough...
"That is a good question, Karl. But this is not a problem since there are other jobs that they will be able to work in if they are skilled enough. Remember that this only applies to adults though as those around my age will be focusing on physical training and educating themselves. Anything else?" I asked after answering the man's question hopefully without giving up too much information on what I planned on making of their loved ones.
"Err Yes Lord. One more thing... Will I be able to keep my position as head chef within the castle? I am not sure that there will be anyone qualified enough to replace me on such short notice." Karl said while bowing at his waist causing me to raise an eyebrow at his forwardness.
"This is more of a request than a question, Karl..." I dragged out my words in order to build a bit of suspense but I was cut off by the man in question as he quickly spoke in a frantic tone whilst bowing still.
"Forgive my impudence, Lord. I did not mean to offend the--" I stepped forward and pulled the man up from his bowing stance which caused Karl to stop his ramblings before shaking my head at the man. I then spoke to the man once again.
"Calm down my guy... I was gonna say that of course, you should keep your role as head chef but you cut me off. I also agree that we probably wouldn't be able to find someone to replace you so soon, so obviously, you will be keeping your job. I was gonna explain all of this during the selection process of the last department... But I guess doing it like this will suffice as well." I said while patting the man on the shoulder before walking back to my previous position alongside my cousins Kai, Zoe, Ash, and Bell before continuing.
"Well like I said earlier, the homemaking department will consist of two teams, namely the cooks and the cleaners. Going by the apparel of those present, we should have six cleaners and four cooks but this number is entirely insufficient when considering the number of people coming to the castle in the near future. This can be solved--" Just as I began explaining a solution though, I was cut off once again by Karl who was shaking his head at my words.
"I do not mean to cut you off Lord but I believe you are mistaken about something. The cooks only make specialized dishes for the lord and his family and the maid-- no, the cleaners, well they only personally clean the rooms that the lord and his family reside in... We cooks do make a community meal every night after finishing the preparations for your meal though, so we would only need maybe three or four extra hands to scale the meal sufficiently. I am sure that I will be able to get this at least this number of people once the newcomers arrive." Karl said before bowing once again, leaving me speechless for the first time if I wasn't mistaken.
I simply nodded my head since I had no words for the man before addressing the crowd of people once again.
"Okay then, I guess that works as well... I suppose we only have to assign teams but that is more or less done already. Let's have the four cooks line up behind Head Chef Karl, while the six cleaners will line up beside them... I will have Sasha choose a suitable leader for you ladies later this week. But as I said earlier, these two divisions will be a part of the homemaking department from now on... However, this last group of twelve will be used for something else entirely." I said before sighing deeply in relief while scanning over the faces of the last twelve people who hadn't been assigned to a department yet.
This was deliberate on my part though since eight of these people were part of the group of former knights who had chosen to give up their armor and weapons earlier today. More importantly, though, all of these people seemed to be around my actual age, which is twenty-two, making them perfect candidates to serve as squad leaders for the incoming teens who will make up the majority of my forces in the future. This saves me the trouble of having to build a capable officer corps from scratch at least when it comes to things such as building discipline within subordinates. However, I will still have to change some things regarding their training regime or the basic tactics they should be teaching the new troops but that is a given since I will also be introducing new weapons and the like.
"These last twelve people will be the core of my officer corps. I have high hopes for all of you and I believe that you have what it takes to lead the next generation of soldiers in defense of our brighter future. I will personally oversee your training and development in the coming weeks. And together, we will build a strong and capable force that will protect our home and keep our people safe." I finished, looking at each of the twelve individuals with a sense of pride and determination.
The crowd began to converse between themselves and I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment for having made some progress in organizing my forces.
There was still a lot to do, but I was determined to see it through.