Chapter 173 - Another idea.

It has been a few days since the governing team arrived here in BaleTown. The Construction Workers progressed extensively well with improving the town's housing even after considering the short period of time they have been here. But one problem remained strong, this town doesn't have an income of gold but will have a lot of monthly expenses considering the newly hired employees of different crafts and tasks. Why don't they have an income? It's because until now Gustav has been focusing on establishing teams that would cover the towns primary requirements. Income is the second issue since they have a budget to work with.

Different from establishing new teams, he also converted 10 Lumberjacks into Patrol Guards. The town only has 15 of its own Native Guards, thankfully they all are Warriors (Level 2 in Swordsmanship.) Which can be a tide turner in Battle. But the quantity isn't enough to provide professional protection if an attack was brought upon this little town. The town can't be depended on Farmers to take on attackers with hoes, the town needs qualified Guards or some in training at least. 25 should be enough for now, they will earn 30 Gold Coins a month for now(Regardless of experience.) But will also be provided with free necessities. With the little equipment they have, they will aim to increase their level of skill with the Sword until better circ.u.mstances are provided, they have to grind.

As for Lumberjacks, the town needs only 10 right now considering the lumber the town needs to keep warm, plus the thicker wood they require for planks can be provided by this small number of Employees. One experienced Farmer with a couple years of experience and a mildly proper physique, can cut down 50 arm thick trees in an hour!

That defines that this is the only craft with a stable amount of employees in this town. As for the salary, dragging stocked up wood for an extended period of time can be both difficult and time consuming. You can consider it as a full body exercise since it engages most muscles. Don't mess with a Lumberjack! They will be paid 45 Gold Coins a month with of course free daily necessities provided by the newly established government. But they will be given priorities when salary raises are more reasonable to do.

Another issue that needs Counseling, is that the town has 44 men who just qualify as farmers and don't have any other skills that would prove useful in the winter season, they aren't assigned on different tasks either and just lend a hand here and there now. The best idea with such a predicament, is to establish a new business that brings profit regardless of the season.

But what business could they start here? This question has been haunting Gustav and Delrus too! Although it isn't entirely up to them to decide, they still need to figure out a solution since no one else will. With a Hunting team established, Gustav found it smart to start a tailoring business. Because apart from the 44 Farmers, there also are around 45 women (Clay Sculpters Discluded.), who don't qualify with any specific task or craft except for helping their father with farming throughout the warmer seasons. It isn't a good idea to let healthy capable people just stand around wasting time. The more employees, the more Gold!

But to start a Tailoring business? Two problems come along with it. The first one would be to establish a stable income of fur and leather, which means that more Hunters are required to be hired in order to get enough material for a large team of tailors to tackle, instead of working with a limited amount of materials.

The second one would be finding buyers, a stream of income. When thought about that, Lav Kingdom would be the best idea. King Zar opened a Tailoring business in Pameres Kingdom too. If he manages to work around some kind of deal with the Zamerians about tailoring, they sure would inquire a large order. They don't work with a hundred but with a thousand or more. Because considering the different economies, most of the things there can be sold half times more, to double to triple. Depending on the product. Bale Town can help mass produce.

Taking that into consideration, there would be nothing wrong with Pameres Kingdom cooperating with  Bale Town to tackle a larger order and bring a handsome profit for both Domains, Lav Kingdom would surely not say a word about it. It's faster profit for them either way.

As for the Salaries for the Tailoring Women, it will be 50 Gold Coins. Gustav feels that these salaries and the rest of the low salaries in different crafts, aren't a problem. Since they won't be this low once a new income is established. With food and warmth provided free, where will they use their gold here? No one would travel a hundred Kilometers for a sip of Ale, salaries are just a method to motivate these employees. This Tailoring business will make the difference from earning an income or spending all of this 150 thousand Gold Coins into salaries.

So the next day after being astounded of the Willson Brothers being so quick with learning the Alphabet, Gustav and Delrus made their way to talk with the main Construction Workers, requiring a building which can give proper workspace for 20 women, and a smaller Storage Room near that building which can hold a months worth of leather be it a final product or a fresh patch. The Construction Workers found it reasonable to make a 3x3 meter Storage Room, it's not too difficult to do considering that they have so many other tasks on their hands, and can hold in a lot of material if they manage the space properly.

Having their hands tied with improving all the housing plus still working on the general Storage building, the Construction Workers pointed out that this request will have to be put aside unless some extra hands are lended. Which means that those extra hands will have to work a full shift for free for a few days, until they tackle all of these requests. Because what value could this governing team prove if they depend on spring for warmth?

Tailoring for a profit is a good idea no doubt, but Gustav was struck with another amazing idea, it wasn't hard to think of considering the idea literally walked towards him. This idea can make such a large difference for this town! So what exactly happened? Well, a couple of Farmers walked by with a few buckets containing something not so valuable by Kilogram, but when sold in masses it can make 250 people wealthy! They were carrying them as if it wasn't a big deal, as if they were carrying something worth less than wood!

Coal! The Farmers were carrying cold black coal! When Gustav saw them carrying so many of it, he immediately approached those couple of Ignites and asked with a lot of curiosity as he felt the shortness on his breath caused by enthusiasm. "Where did you find this Coal?! Taking a look at the buckets, he estimated that this amount of Coal is worth around 100 Gold Coins! Here, it's like earning a month's worth of salary in a day!

Confused, not understanding the Coal's value. One of the farmers answered in aims to impress Gustav. "There is an opening on the ground at the end of the Farmfields, it looks quite dark in there but in the entrance there is a lot of Coal. We usually use this to burn them on the Fireplaces when we want to save up wood."

At first he felt shocked, his mouth started mumbling when he started thinking about the profit this will bring to the town and to him who literally joined this project with pure intends to help these people. In a way, giving ended up making him more. "What?! Take me to that Cave please!" This can be such a life changing opportunity for so many people here, there are only several Coal mines throughout Ignis, past ones usually depleted quickly, coal distribution is so scarce in this Continent. But the farmer claimed that there are a lot near the entrance and it is quite clear that this isn't the first time they picked up coal there. Defining how rich this future mine is with coal.

So one Farmer simply took the coal home, while the other led Gustav Iron towards this little possible future mine. Hearing out the history of this town before he even got here, this situation got him even more puzzled. "How can the ill.u.s.tratian Alliance be stupid enough to not start a Coal mine here? These people have been using Coal as a sub resource of warmth for a reasonably noticeable amount of time! 1 Kilogram of this precious flammable rock costs 5 Gold Coins!"