...

Wolfsteeth, Southern District, The Writing Cloud, Scribe shop

Ding Dong

Aurum walked inside a scribe shop with a guard whom he had brought over from the main headquarters in Wolfsteeth since Maurice was with Ariana. She sounded very nervous going to a more dangerous district than what she was acquainted with, so giving her the big guy should've relaxed her.

Aurum had, more or less, the same job but a little different. Because of his Master, he couldn't join his workers in finding orphanages, widow homes, etc., but needed to find teachers. Even though he thought it was a little too much to give, besides the gold for food, clothing, and housing, his Master also wanted to educate everyone. So, Aurum would also obviously follow his command since his Master funded the whole charity in the first place.

Through lengthy discussions, they decided that at the beginning, it was enough to recruit some scribes, merchants, and so on to teach them basic reading, writing, and arithmetics skills, which was already an enormous privilege.

With this in mind, he looked for dilapidated scribe shops and merchant offices around the city till he quickly found one. He thought that someone with such a shop, which ran poorly, would love to make some extra coin.

The first shop he found looked horrible from the outside. It needed overall repairs, from straightening the walls to having a new paint job. However, the moment he went inside, it wasn't so bad. It was chaotic, with parchments, ink, and so on lying around without any system, but the overall look was decent. The furniture was old, yes, but not in a too-bad state.

He immediately frowned as a doubt sneaked into his mind, 'Who would actually want to teach? The scribe probably makes more than enough coin and...'

Before thinking further, he was already interrupted, "Hello, my good sir!"

It was an ape-kin with some weird glasses, which was a rarity since most would simply go to the Temple and fix their eyes for some small coin. However, Aurum smiled and readied himself, "Yes, hello. My name is Aurum Leonandra, and I am here in the name of my Master, Alexander K. Leonandra."

The ape-kin became immediately giddy, "Oh, is the little archmage in need of parchment or ink? I can sell you as much as you want!"

He inwardly laughed, thinking it was the last thing they needed at the moment, and sold it for sums the ape-kin couldn't even imagine. He shook his head, "You see, my Master opened a charity, and we require teachers, which we will also pay well. Do you have maybe any interest..."

Before he could even say more, the ape-kin bashed his hand on the counter, "I am in! How much?"

Aurum raised an eyebrow, "Well, you will be teaching orphans in groups..." He tapped his chin, thinking if he should bargain, but in the end, decided against it, wanting to use what his Master suggested for untrained teachers, "...how about one small silver coin..."

Before he could end his sentence, the ape-kin nodded enthusiastically, "One small silver coin per day! Deal!"

Aurum raised his eyebrow and looked at him like he was insane. However, before he could say more, the ape-kin already tried to haggle, "Okay! This is too much! I teach reading, writing, and a little mathematics, so three days of teaching; one small silver coin!"

Aurum thought about how much they paid Anastasia and heavily overthought how much teachers, which his Master suggested, would cost. Even the cost for his school for one semester, with lodging and food, was the pay for Anastasia for two months. He only now became aware of his crooked view of how much education costs as he only thought about his experience.

Aurum shook his head, and this time, before the ape-kin could say anything, he replied immediately, stopping this nonsense, "One small silver coin per hour, but you would need to do it 40 hours a week."

The ape-kin suddenly stood still and didn't move, obviously thinking, looking at Aurum like he was insane. Aurum understood it, 'Well, he has a shop with services and other stuff, I don't think..."

He was immediately interrupted, "Deal! My name is Otto, and I have the [Teaching] skill since I had multiple apprentices, and my writing is not bad, right?..." He shoved some scripts into his face, "...I also have..."

Before it could go on, he interrupted Otto, "Wait! Isn't this too much work for you? I see that you have a scribe shop, so customers should come to you for all their necessities and services like writing protocols or documentation. Even though it looks a little worn down and needs a bit of love, you should have customers, right?"

Otto looked at him and then loudly laughed after a moment, "Haha! Are you kidding me? I am barely making ends meet! Most companies have their internal scribes for decades now, and only the small shops and companies come to me, but even they can barely pay."

He walked from behind the counter. Aurum could see in his walk and posture the decades of work he went through, 'I think he is at least experienced.'

Otto stood before him, "Listen, Aurum, do you mean it seriously that you would pay me that much for teaching? However, I will not buy the supplies for my students!"

Aurum shook his head with a smile, "We have a deal then, and don't worry. However, we will have some things to discuss about how to teach, right? Like no violence, and you can't just throw students out because they don't understand things, okay?"

Aurum's Master wanted to standardize education and teaching to some degree. So, things like homework, regular tests, etc., needed to be implemented as teaching for lower classes was more or less only telling someone how to do it, and that's it. However, such things were mostly plans for the future, as their primary goal was to get teachers in the first place so the cygnets could learn at least basic skills.

Otto tilted his head, "What?! Impossible!"

However, Aurum only said the magic word, bringing his index finger before him, "One small silver coin per hour."

Like he was charmed, he nodded vigorously, "Of course! Violence is bad, and even worse, if they don't understand something! I will bea..." He cleared his throat and corrected himself, "... Ahem! I will try to be the most amiable teacher there is!"

Aurum smiled at him, "Good, let's talk details."

...

Two hours later

Aurum came out of the shop, tired but happy. He took out his small booklet and wrote down the information. He would come in a week again and give him the orphanages where he would need to go, 'Master was right... again.'

At first, he thought that hiring a couple of teachers for some orphanages would be enough. Still, now he understood that actually buying a building and making it into a school for the public was a much more efficient way, 'Urgh, I need to throw away all the plans I made and look for a building, ...and I need more people... fuck!'

Aurum was annoyed. Everything was as it should be. He got teachers for cheap who should be somewhat well versed, yet it could be much better. However, to do it like his Master wanted, he would need literally a dozen more workers, and finding trustworthy people wouldn't be easy.

He looked at the guard and threw him a small gold coin, "You will follow me."

He vigorously nodded while Aurum asked, "Is there a small and failing bookkeeper?"

The guard nodded, "Follow me, Mr. Aurum! I know such trash around here!"

'This is easier than I thought.'

...

Late evening, Wintersleep Hotel, Aurum's room

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Three teens sat around a table filled with food, drinks, and their notes and documents. All looked tired and had bags under their eyes.

"I got four, but I could've done more if they wouldn't have such a mistrust."

"All orphanages?"

Quill shook his head, "Nah, three of them though, but one was a widow home."

Aurum nodded, "Great, I have three teachers. One poor scribe, one lousy bookkeeper, and a pharmacist who tends to poison his customers. They can teach reading, writing, and mathematics."

Quill looked at Ariana, "What about you?"

Ariana was hanging her head low, "Zero."

Quill asked again with a smirk on his face, "What did you say?"

She suddenly snapped, "I have zero, you stupid thug! Zero! Zero! Zero!"

Quill started laughing while Aurum asked her, "Everything fine?"

She turned toward him furiously, "Obviously not! They don't trust me even if I threw the gold in their faces!"

Aurum nodded and started writing it down, but suddenly, the piece of paper got ripped out of his hands, "Don't write it down!" and tore it in two parts.

He looked at her baffled and smirked, "We sell this parchment, which we call paper, to the Temple for about 20 average gold per piece."

Quill laughed even louder, "Buhahaha! Can't believe Ariana is the same as before!"

Aurum nodded with a tired smile. Ariana was highly talented but also a perfectionist. So the moment she failed, she started to get furious. However, she immediately apologized, "I am so sorry, Aurum! Here! We can use it... no, I will use it! Wait, I can stitch it, right?"

Aurum chuckled, "Hehe, calm down. It costs us a couple of coppers to make it."

Quill whistled, "Wow, you have a great margin, and you said Mr. Alexander invented it?"

He nodded, "Yep, and much more. You will see when the time is ripe, but most stuff we sell directly to the Temple, so it is rather unimportant for now."

Quill nodded back and took out a cigarette, "Gotcha."

Aurum turned to Ariana, "Listen, try it some more times, and if it doesn't work out..."

She stood suddenly up, making the table shake and almost throwing over their drinks, "No! I don't want to lose my job! I can do it!"

Aurum frowned, his tone becoming more serious, gesturing to her, "Sit down."

She became much more subtle and flustered, sitting down again. He cleared his throat, "Ahem! After today, I had multiple realizations after hearing Quill and going out myself..."

He held one finger up, "We need many more people. We need someone who can coordinate us, do bookkeeping, and many other things. So the moment you cannot do the job, I will give you just another, okay?"

She nodded and became much more relaxed. He continued, holding a second finger up, "Second problem: Gold."

Quill raised an eyebrow, "We are already out of gold?"

Aurum shook his head, "The opposite, we have too much, and we can't spend it fast enough as Mr. Alexander wanted it."

It was silent for a couple of seconds until Ariana and Quill laughed.

"Buhahaha! Too much gold?! If my old Master would hear this, he would roll in his grave!"

"Hehe, I never studied such a problem. Is this even possible?"

Aurum frowned and tried to explain the problem, "Let me explain with an example: Let's say we can get five places a day that need help. After a month, we would have ~150. We pay now 100 average gold pieces per three months, which is probably four times the gold they need, and with 450 social stato... sati..." He took out his booklet and looked up the word his Master used, "...social stations, we will pay around 15,000 a month. Even if we include 100 teachers, for which we pay one small silver coin per hour, and they do 40 hours a week, plus materials which we make ourselves for coppers, it will only be what? If we go by the current exchange rate, three to six average gold coins or so?"

Quill raised an eyebrow, "Wait, how many social things are there?"

Ariana suddenly understood, "We are too slow... this is a city of around four to five million, with all the surroundings included."

Quill looked at her like she was insane, "Four to five million?! How the fuck are there so many people here?!"

Ariana tried to explain, "The so-called Teeth cities in the east of Moorgrel have a lot of pull factors: Low taxes, freedom, and high security. The North, South, and West are more or less the same, so commoners usually choose the one with more promise at any given time."

Quill raised an eyebrow, "Commoners? I mean, I get that no sane noble from central Mal-Gil would come here, but shouldn't cities be oriented toward nobles? I remember this from a lesson or so."

Ariana nodded while biting her fingernail, "This only applies if you want to pull as many nobles, wealthy commoners, and rich artisans to you as possible since they pay the most taxes. However, Teeth cities are weird..."

Quill interrupted her, visibly noticing something, "Yeah! There is no real separation between districts! I found it always bizarre how I could go anywhere I wanted but couldn't put my finger on it. So, they pull intentionally commoners in?"

Ariana nodded and continued, sounding excited, "You are right! However, even though the city area income is probably not as high as it could be with more nobles, yet..."

Aurum interrupted her, "It is."

She now raised her eyebrow, confused, "No, it isn't? In theory, the masses couldn't make up the loss of wealthy individuals."

Aurum nodded, "True, but that only applies in theory and in an idealistic scenario where everyone pays up, but this is not the case..." He remembered how he rummaged through his ancestral [Mystic Skill] called [Familiar Analyzing], which gave him the numbers of hundreds of years of the finances of the city, "...since nobles try to avoid taxes in every way possible. Through direct bribes, hiding, etc. Somewhat wealthy commoners usually don't have the same means and only hide a smaller percentage."

Ariana took the ripped paper and a piece of charcoal she had in her blouse pocket, writing it immediately down without saying anything. However, Quill continued, mentioning something Aurum hadn't considered: "You forgot as another pull factor: the missing nobles. There aren't any parties or factions here who fight for every piece of the market as only the Leonandra household dominates it, right?"

Aurum was about to answer, yet Ariana answered faster while still writing, "Yes and no. While the Leonandra's can't pull any guilds, businesses, etc., who thrive in already dominated and regulated markets, the Teeth environment is more a free-for-all. While there are certain things which are highly controlled, it is not to the extent like in High-Town."

The market in High-Town was not something one could call a real market. The dominating businesses bribed the nobles so strongly that it was, for example, impossible to open a little shop without any support of a noble, guild, or anything of the sort. Otherwise, it would be quickly visited by some administrators who would find faults and close it down the day after it opened.

While Wolfsteeth was far more chaotic and prone to failure, it also exemplified what he would call fairness. Even far away from a picture book example, it was better than what he saw in central Mal-Gil.

After a short silence where everyone was thinking it through more thoroughly, trying to grasp the environment, Quill broke the silence by returning to the topic at hand, "So... how many social stuffs do we have?"

Ariana nodded, also returning back to business and putting her notes into a spatial pouch, "Depends. We have an overflow of commoners who are also the most prone to live in such facilities. I think..." She turned to Aurum, curiously looking at him, "...our boss knows."

Both looked at him, waiting for an answer, but Aurum only shrugged, "Who knows? Nobody cares in this fief. As long as they pay their land taxes, they can do whatever they want in their home."

Quill asked, visibly frustrated, "Fine with me, but how do we then find out?"

Ariana suddenly became joyful, "Centralizing!"

Both boys looked at her, and she explained, "I wanted to talk about it, and now it seems perfect. How about making an organization where they could come to us? We can, of course, first start to look for Orpha... I meant social stations, and by word of mouth, they would come to us then."

Aurum nodded, "Well, here you go..." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pouch and gave it to her.

She looked at it, and suddenly her eyes sparkled, "What a beautiful handwriting! Is this Mr. Alexander's idea?"

Aurum nodded, "Pretty much. I was initially against it since I didn't know it would work so fast, but now we need someone to build it up. Want to do it?"

Ariana nodded vigorously, "Yes! The name is also great!"

Quill looked over and raised an eyebrow, "Helping Paw?"

Aurum shrugged, "Who cares about the name..."

But was immediately interrupted by Ariana, "Mr. Alexander cares, obviously! So, we should take it!"

Both boys nodded, and Aurum thought that the sparkle in her eyes became a little too much for her own good, 'Just wait till you meet him...'

He heard her murmuring, "Whoever writes like this must be a real noble and sire... no wonder he has such a big heart..."

He remembered Alexander's cursing, casual kind and how he just threw ideas and tasks at him till he exploded in rage, needing to drag him to his office every time to explain what he meant and what he wanted, 'Well, let's not kill her fantasy too fast.'

He decided, "Ariana, you will do it then? Buy some building and look at the right place and..."

She interrupted him, "This will be easy! Trust me! I will create a great headquarters for us! Mr. Alexander will be proud of me!"

He turned to Quill, who nodded at him, "Yeah, yeah, I will go out and try to get some more."

Aurum nodded, "Fine, then it's done; any more questions?"

Quill took another cigarette while Ariana was already writing down everything she would need to do in the next few days, 'At least they are good... I need to find more people like them somehow ASAP.'

...

30 minutes later, in front of Quill's room

"Quill, wait!"

The rabbit-kin turned around and looked at Ariana, "Wha'?"

The meeting was over, and everyone had their tasks, yet Ariana needed to talk earnestly with him, stopping him before his room, "I need to have a word."

He raised an eyebrow and waved his hand in dismissal, "Listen, if it is about the tax code, I am about to study it, so calm down."

She shook her head and became slightly nervous, "No, it's about Ocilia."

He tilted his head in confusion, "What 'bout her? Is she free tonight? Damn... I really like her figure and how..."

Ariana interrupted him, getting a little agitated and remembering how he was. He had a very casual and rude attitude, but she also trusted him fully since he was a very loyal friend. This is also why she spoke openly and honestly with him, "I really... like her, you know? Can you not..."

Quill raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Hehe, so, you want me to stop hunting for her?"

Ariana nodded carefully, as it was the first time she had asked something like this of him. However, he only shrugged, "Fine by me." He went into his room and closed the door before her nose.

However, she was slightly perplexed, 'It was that easy?'

At first, she thought she would need to give something back, but even though it was a bit cold, such a reaction made her feel warm, remembering his attitude from the past. He would always do things unconditionally if asked, like a true friend.

After that little moment, she turned around and jumped happily toward Ocilia, 'Hehe! What do we talk about today?'