Chapter 499: Hello, Worker

“Pay me back with what?” Henry had no intention of believing a good-for-nothing scoundrel, but this time, the guy didn’t immediately swing his fists at him, which took Henry by surprise.

“With a job, of course!”

“That man over there is from East Gorge, a subordinate to some great noble,” Nikus said, pointing ahead. “He’s here recruiting workers, and they’ll pay a lot. The little bit of money I owe you will be easy to pay back.”

“A lot of money?” Henry didn’t understand why Nikus would want to leave the village for East Gorge. As people born and raised in Southern Giant’s Foot, they had a deep love for their homeland. ‘Or maybe it wasn’t just love.’ The reality was, most of them would never stray far from their village their entire lives.

Here, you could at least scrape by. Leave, and you might just starve to death.

“Five copper stars a day, room and board included,” Nikus said.

“That doesn’t sound like very much.”

Henry was puzzled. He knew his father earned more than that just from his smithing.

“Of course, that’s not all! They say you can learn a trade there. If you have a skill, your daily pay could be ten copper stars, twenty copper stars, or even more!” Nikus waved his hands excitedly, his burlap hat, reeking of hair grease, whipping back and forth in front of Henry.

It stank!

Henry recoiled.

He’d swear to the Thunder Titan that the damn guy had never once washed that hat.

Nikus continued, “That great noble is on very good terms with our Prince. He’s allowing us to work in his domain, and they’ll provide food and wages! I only found out about this from my cousin.”

‘Cousin?’

Henry wondered. ‘The bastard who stole the stinky dried fish?’

“They feed you every day? Even if you don’t work?” Henry was incredulous. ‘Even if it’s just black bread, no lord would be that generous.’

But Nikus nodded. “He’s been working there for two or three months already, and he saves three Silver Moons every month! He also said he only has to work eight hours a day and gets three days off a month—days where he does nothing and still gets paid!”

“You’re joking, and it’s not funny.” Henry was now certain Nikus was just spouting a pack of lies. ‘He’s trying to get out of paying his debt!’

Nikus went on, “And he said he’s about to be promoted to foreman! From the sounds of it, once you’re a foreman, you don’t have to work at all and you make even more money. He’ll look out for me when I get there. The only hard part is the initial selection. I heard they’re really strict when they come to pick people, and there’s a fixed quota to stop anyone from buying their way in.”

“Ah…” Nikus sighed. “But I bet if you spend enough money, you can still buy your way in.”

‘But rich people wouldn’t spend money just to go work for someone else!’ Henry’s disbelief deepened.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve found such a great way out.” Henry patted Nikus’s shoulder. “I hope you get chosen. Then you’ll have the money to pay me back.”

“You know, you could go too, friend.”

Nikus said, “You’re a blacksmith’s son. You have a trade. You’d definitely be able to land a good job there. You could probably earn a dozen Silver Moons a month.”

Henry gave a hollow laugh. He knew the guy was joking. With his level of skill, he couldn’t even forge a hoe fit for tilling soil. Still, it didn’t stop Nikus from becoming slightly less detestable in his eyes.

‘It’s definitely not because he was praised!’

“Is that… Teresa?”

Henry hadn’t expected to see the girl he liked. She was skipping along, looking overjoyed.

Beside him, Nikus spoke, his eyes full of envy. “She must have been accepted! I hear girls get special treatment over there. They earn more, and the work is easier. If she marries a local man, she can even stay… You probably don’t know this, but we men can only work there for a short time. When our contract is up, we have to come back, and we can never go again.”

Hearing this, Henry grew frantic. “Nikus, I… I want to sign up, too!”

As Nikus explained, Henry began to understand. This place called Iron Valley sounded wonderful. Many of the girls who went there and earned money didn’t want to return, because life was so much easier.

The men, however, received no such special treatment. They weren’t allowed to marry the local women.

There were still benefits, of course. A man like Nikus could learn a trade, and with the money he saved, he could come back and start a small business.

Henry absolutely refused to give up on the girl he adored!

“Get right behind me, friend!” Nikus said enthusiastically, pulling Henry in line behind him.

The young villagers he’d just cut in front of didn’t dare say a word. Everyone was still pretty afraid of the troublemaker, Nikus.

Soon, it was Henry’s turn. He had just watched Nikus successfully land the job, but his own heart was pounding with anxiety.

Nearly every man and woman in the village between the ages of thirteen and forty had shown up, yet in the end, only three people qualified.

Two of them were Nikus and Teresa. The third was the old carpenter’s apprentice. Rumor had it he’d already finished his training and could build cabinets and even small cabins on his own, yet even he had chosen to go and try his luck.

“A bit frail,” the man sitting behind the desk said, observing Henry and shaking his head.

His thick East Gorge accent made it hard for Henry to understand.

“What skills do you have?”

Henry tore his eyes away from Teresa and Nikus, who were now deep in an excited conversation. He grew anxious. “I… I’m a blacksmith’s apprentice, sir!”