Volume 5 - CH 5

While the Hero and Saint are being charged for their crimes at the royal castle.

Rou, the guildmaster of the Craftsmen’s Guild, had finally met his doom.

“N-No way …… w-what is this decree!”

What Rou was holding in his hand and reading while screaming with a red face was a decree presented from the royal castle.

The contents of the decree–first, Rou was dismissed from his position as the guild master due to his management skills in the case of the expulsion of Cyclo Owen.

Secondly, the government will terminate its support for the craftsmen’s guild, whose performance has been deteriorating significantly. And, its accreditation as a national business was revoked. And if no improvement is seen under the new system, the organization will be dismantled.

And finally – a claim for compensation for damage to the facilities of the royal palace.

The amount of money claimed was enormous and could not be paid even with the funds of the Craftsmen’s Guild …… not to mention Rou’s personal assets.

In summary, Rou lost his status as a guild master, his place in the guild, and all of his assets.

“I-It can’t be, why did this happen ……!”

Rou thought as he scratched his head.

“As I thought …… it was that pestilence! So that incompetent Cyclo was only good at getting old people to like him!! That scum!!!”

He shouted, shifting the blame to Cyclo, who was not there.

In the first place – Cyclo had nothing to do with the worsening performance of the craftsmen’s guild, which was mentioned in the decree. The failure of the request from the royal palace was also not Cyclo’s fault, but Rou’s son, Koh’s.

Neither of them had anything to do with Cyclo, and if they did, it was probably only because Cyclo’s dismissal exposed his inability to manage the guild.

But Rou doesn’t know that. He doesn’t think it was his fault, and he doesn’t think he has failed so far.

The reason for the worsening performance – it was all due to problems with Rou’s measures. Even that, he believes, is Cyclo’s fault. He even skips over the logic of what is involved and how.

“–Guildmaster, I’m coming in!”

In the office where Rou’s scream echoes, someone enters with a light voice.

“What! …… I didn’t say you could enter!!”

Without waiting for Rou’s reply, a young man enters the room.

“Oh, well, I’m going to quit anyway, so can I ask you to give me a break on that part?”

“Huh? What did you say!? Quit!?”

Rou snapped at the young man’s words.

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“There’s no way I can accept that! The whole guild is going through a hard time right now, you know!? What if you guys at the bottom of the guild don’t work and support them!!”

“No, I don’t like that, so I’d like you to let me quit~.”

The young man said in a light tone.

“I joined the guild because they said it was a job where all I had to do was read the manual and follow it. Everywhere I went, I was forced to do things that were not written in the manuals, and if I had followed the manuals, I would never have finished my work. I couldn’t motivate myself like that.”

“That’s a matter of course!! You can’t buy the hard work of your youth!! It is through such experience and hard work that a craftsman grows up to be a full-fledged craftsman!!”

“No, I’m not interested in being a craftsman, though.”

Rou was absolutely stunned by the young man’s words.

“What ……!?”

“I came here in the first place because it’s an easy job with a low salary. In reality, the work is hard and the pay is low, so there is no reason to continue.”

“D-Don’t think you can make it with that kind of naive thinking!! If you can’t make it here, you can’t make it anywhere! Don’t underestimate society, youngster!!”

The young man suddenly burst out laughing at Rou, who was losing his temper.

“Pfft. There he is, the old man who knows everything about society! How much do you understand about the world? It’s too much!”

“Huh!?”

“Please tell me~, what do you know about society? You probably only know about the craftsmen’s guild, don’t you?”

Agitated by the young man, Rou was so angry that he was in a fit of rage. With his face turning red, he almost raised his fist in the air.

But before he could react, the young man made a shocking remark.

“Well, that’s the reason. That’s why I’m going to quit. Also, there are a lot of other people who won’t be coming tomorrow.”

“Wai, what do you mean!!?”

“Well, isn’t it natural? In a workplace like this, anyone with common sense would quit immediately.”

With these words, the young man leaves the office.

After watching his back in dismay, Rou’s anger gradually returned.

“…… Nuggaaaaahhh!!! How!? How did this happen!!!”

Scratching his head, Rou had no choice but to go mad at the situation he was finally trapped in.

–While Rou was venting such anger.

In a certain workshop in the facility of the Craftsmen’s Guild.

Rou’s son, Koh, was working single-mindedly.

His eyes are covered with dark circles, and it can be seen that he’s lacking sleep.

(…… Damn! Why, why must I do all this stupid work!!)

Koh continues to work in frustration, partly due to lack of sleep.

What Koh is doing is making general-purpose parts for the craftsmen’s guild to use in various places.

Normally, such parts can only be produced with consistent quality by skilled craftsmen.

However, all such craftsmen have left the guild.

As a result, only Koh and a few skilled and talented newcomers were able to make parts properly.

(…… Even though this level of parts making is a simple task of using magic tools and moving them according to the procedure. Why can’t any of them work properly!!)

Because he can’t take out his frustration directly on them, Koh vents his frustration in his head.

However, this triggered further frustration and irritation – in short, it was a vicious cycle.

In this way, the stress continued to build up on its own, and Koh’s mental state was already on the verge of collapse.

That is why he is unable to notice. It is because the work is so simple that there is a big difference in the skill of the craftsman that determines the quality of the work.

It is precisely because it is a job that anyone can do, that skilled craftsmen improve the quality of their work with techniques that are beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

“…… Damn it! Again!”

The part Koh was producing cracked due to an operational error. It was a product failure.

Koh has no choice but to move to the material storage area to get the materials.

The workshop has other employees working and many large magical tools are set up for production, so it is narrow and difficult to walk around.

Despite this, Koh dared to walk with his shoulders angry.

Of course, if he walked like that, he would bump into an employee who was working.

With a bump, Koh hits the employee in the back. The employee’s hand goes haywire in reaction and he fails to produce the parts.

“Hey, sir. What are you doing?”

“Shut up! I’m the one who’s annoyed! You’re the incompetent one who can’t even give way to your superior!!”

“…… Tch.”

The employee clicks his tongue and returns to his work.

(There’s no way to yield the way in such a small place, except to avoid each other, you idiot!)

The worker swears in his chest.

In this way, Koh, who is in the worst state of mind, can only vent his feelings by taking out his anger on the workers in a kind of petulant harassment.

Because of this, employees are getting fed up with the working environment and quitting one after another.

Then, before their skills are developed, people leave and new people are brought in — and Koh has to work until he has lost sleep in order to handle the increased workload.

It was a vicious cycle of self-inflicted suffering.

However. That vicious cycle will soon come to an end.

After all, since Rou, his parent, has been kicked out of the craftsmen’s guild, there will be no one who can guarantee Koh’s executive treatment.

No matter how things turn out, Koh will not be able to continue with his current attitude.

In fact, it is far more likely that he will be fired and lose his job.

In a sense, the day when Koh would be released from this poor working environment was approaching.

—————-

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