Chapter 278: Initial Difficulties

The Department of Labor opened on the first of September, exactly the day when, according to the old custom, the city residents had to line up at the branch to submit harvest-praying offerings.

There were no harvest-praying offerings this year.

Instead, people set up six long tables covered with coarse cloth in the courtyard in front of the branch. Two people sat at each table, one holding a pen, one holding a ledger. A wooden board with large words was hung behind their backs:

[Lyra City Department of Labor: job registration, free of charge.]

People arrived to register when the sky was not yet fully bright. Their initial purpose was to test whether finding a job was truly free of charge or not. "Free of charge" were three words that carried a terrifying weight in a city where, previously, wanting to apply for a porter job at the docks also required bribing the foremen two silver coins.

Some people finished verifying, the rumor quickly spread across all the streets. The line of people had stretched all the way to the head of the street by mid-morning, curling past two streets by noon.

The Department of Labor staff had to take turns eating to avoid delaying the registration work.

Brian had to order an additional row of tables set up by the afternoon, pulling more clerical staff from the City Hall over.

The sun gradually slanted its shadows, the golden-orange afternoon light blanketing the extremely long line of people. Brian finally had to apply the method of distributing queue numbers, scheduling people to bring their numbers at the appointed time.

This method was indeed much more effective compared to letting everyone line up in a long queue.

However, finishing distributing numbers did not mean complete peace of mind. Some guys were accustomed to being unruly, relying on strength to bully the weak. This was the moment the Department of Public Security stepped in.

In a single evening after issuing the queue numbers, eighteen Public Security squads under Harbet and Paul arrested nearly three hundred people intending to block the road to rob the queue numbers and job slots of the registering people.

This group was immediately thrown into the prison to sit counting mice.

The administrative staff stopped registering from five in the afternoon, distributing queue numbers until seven in the evening. They then continued working overtime to organize the files until ten at night to finish.

As the City Lord concurrently holding the position of Lyra City Mayor, Elric naturally also had to work overtime with them. He was so tired that he fell back onto the bed upon arriving home, not even bothering to bathe. His mate had to help Elric change into comfortable sleepwear.

"The registering people alone today have surpassed the number of three thousand, the people receiving queue numbers for tomorrow are three thousand six hundred. The day after tomorrow is also this number." Elric massaged his forehead, letting out a sigh: "It turns out the jobs needing to hire hired workers are actually this numerous. Yet previously I even worried about finding ways to compensate for the tax money."

The female Elf smiled gently, lifting Elric’s head onto her lap, helping Elric massage his head. She spoke softly: "Although busy, life is gradually getting better, right? Kevin started his first day of school today, the boy excitedly told me stories at school throughout the meal upon returning. He was very happy."

Elric smiled peacefully, his tightly knitted eyebrows gradually relaxing. He held his mate’s hand, kissing the woman’s snow-white hand:

"What about you, Cynthia? Were you happy today?"

"Very happy." Cynthia smiled brightly: "Lord Kaelen taught me how to awaken the Nature bloodline, taught me about the operational laws of magic. He even praised me as being smart."

Elric’s heart softened seeing his mate so joyful. He had bet correctly this time.

...

The first day was quite smooth except for the guys arrested for intercepting and robbing the queue numbers and job slots of others. However, trouble started from the second day onward.

A family had four people, the father and the mother both already had jobs in the family’s fields. Their eldest daughter was thirteen years old, having worked in a private textile workshop for five years, now the law banning child labor under fifteen years old was proposed, the girl was fired.

They were supposed to send the girl and her younger brother to school according strictly to regulations, yet they cheated by having the mother go register at the Lyra public textile workshop, then the daughter took this job slot to accept the job.

The people doing this were not only this person’s family but also many other families. These children who should be sitting in school right now went to the workshop to accept jobs instead, such a large quantity made the workshop foreman recognize them immediately upon taking a single glance.

The workshop admission papers were confiscated, the children were chased home. Their family members immediately ran to the front door of the City Hall, rolling on the ground crying and throwing tantrums.

A woman pointed at Ivy, shouting loudly at the Department of Public Security member stepping out to quell the chaos:

"That girl looks even younger than my child. Why is she allowed to work while my daughter is not? You people are unreasonable!"

Ivy was singled out. She smoothed her uniform clothes neatly then stepped forward, holding out the jade badge on her chest. The girl spoke clearly:

"Madam, that is because I have been officially staffed. May I ask you, has your daughter taken the civil service exam yet? Did she pass?"

The woman choked. She naturally knew what the civil service exam was. The people working as clerks at the old City Hall just recently also had to take the civil service exam, out of more than a dozen people only one passed. The remaining group was chased home to study again, taking the exam again three months later.

People who knew how to read still failed the exam, her daughter completely not knowing a single letter then how could the girl take the exam. Her face turned blue then white, she unwillingly swept her eyes around, pointing at another person:

"Then what about him, there is no badge on his chest either, why is he allowed to work?"

The singled-out person rubbed his nose: "Madam, I am thirty-five years old already. I am just short."

Ivy suppressed a laugh, saying to the woman: "He is from the Dwarf clan, Madam."

The woman’s face gradually turned bright red. She opened her mouth several times but could not utter a single sentence.

A boy around twelve years old ran forward, pleading:

"Please have mercy and let me into the workshop to work. My family only has me and my younger sister left. I spent a silver coin just to buy the job acceptance paper. I and my younger sister will starve to death if I cannot work to earn money."

"That is right. My family only has me and my mother left, my mother is severely ill, unable to work. She will die if I do not go work to earn money to buy medicine for her."

"Little sister, I will not go to school. You let me go work, otherwise, my father will sell me to be a maid for the fabric merchant at the head of the East street upon returning tonight!"

More and more people pleaded earnestly, Ivy’s expression flashing a bit of confusion. The girl lacked experience in handling matters like this, completely not knowing how to resolve it.

An administrative staff member of the City Hall stepped forward immediately, whispering into Ivy’s ear:

"If this matter is not resolved promptly, even more people will come to cause trouble behind this. Or should I go ask for instructions from the Lord Mayor?"

Ivy remembered Elric’s rough working method of "catching", "locking up", feeling it was even more inappropriate. She said:

"You clear out a place for them to sit and wait, I will go ask Lord Kaelen."

The staff nodded, hurriedly telling people to arrange a few more rows of chairs in a cool spot in the courtyard for these citizens to sit down waiting. Ivy turned around to run looking for Kaelen.

Kaelen did not answer immediately upon finishing hearing the whole story, instead pushing the problem back to the children:

"According to you all, what should be done?"

The kids scratched their heads, tearing their hair. Steven spoke up first, and as usual, he chose the most direct method:

"I think we just keep the law as it is, banned is banned, if it is banned yet we make an exception for one kid, then ten kids will come crying tomorrow, a hundred kids the day after tomorrow, by that time Father’s law will become scrap paper, anyone wanting to tear it anytime can tear it. As for the families cheating the job slots, I think we should drag a few families out to punish them so the whole city watches and fears, otherwise the Department of Labor will be chaotic after opening for one month."

"But brother." Ivy spun around, her voice already snapping: "That sister earlier said her father is about to sell her to be a maid, where will she go in the future if you punish her family, people did not fabricate it, why would you punish them?"

"I did not say to punish that family, I said to punish the families fabricating stories."

"Then can you distinguish which family fabricates and which family does not?"

Steven choked. Brian stood beside the boy, his two hands still tightly hugging the ledger, only now slowly speaking up:

"I can distinguish them, but it takes time. I have recorded all the names these past few days, how many members in which family, who does what occupation, how many acres of fields, which street they live on, are all in the ledger, I only need to send people to ask the neighbors of each family once and it will all come out. But three hundred families will take half a month, yet now they are lying in the courtyard crying, even if we speak they will not listen."

Paul chimed in: "Or we just let the kids into the workshop to work, but mandate them to go to school in the morning, half day studying, half day working?"

"That will not work, brother." Brian shook his head immediately: "The textile workshop pays by product rather than by hour, the time runs out when he finishes half, ultimately what to do with that unfinished fabric piece? That loom also stops operating during the time he rests, the loss is not small at all."

The whole group was silent, while Kaelen sat on the chair looking at each kid one by one, waiting forever without seeing anyone utter another sentence before continuing to ask:

"I have heard everything just now, yet I see every one of you is struggling to figure out whether to let the kids go to work or not let them go to work, no one has asked me a single question yet."

"What question?" Ivy was bewildered.

"Why do their families need the wages of a thirteen-year-old kid to survive?"

The six kids looked at each other, bewilderedly shaking their heads.

"That first family, the parents both have fields, both are working, yet they still had to push their daughter into the textile workshop since she was eight years old, meaning two healthy adults working themselves to the bone all year in this city still cannot feed four mouths." Kaelen said: "That is the broken spot, while the matter of the thirteen-year-old kid having to work is just the ulcer growing from that broken spot. If you apply medicine to the ulcer, it will just grow back in another place, growing endlessly, growing until it is bored."

He tilted his head looking at Brian:

"Brian, you tell me, what is the daily wage at the private textile workshops in the city?"

"Yes, adults twenty-five coins a day, children eight coins."

"And how much does our public textile workshop pay?"

"Thirty coins, according exactly to the minimum level the Department of Labor just set."

"See, one child is eight coins, three children combined is twenty-four coins, still cheaper than hiring one adult." Kaelen crossed his arms: "Therefore the private workshops in the city prefer hiring children. We do not accept children to work today, they will find ways to work illegally again. And working illegally, who guarantees their rights? When encountering a fatal labor accident, the family members will also not dare to report to the police, but they will harbor hatred. Just like that, a stain that can never be wiped clean will form and attach to our Department of Labor."

Harbet scratched his head: "Then what must we do?"

Kaelen waved his hand once, Brian immediately opened the ledger, pulling the pen tucked behind his ear down.

"First, record exactly today, children going to public schools do not pay a single coin for tuition, getting to eat one meal at school every day, and every month any family having a child going to school will receive ten pounds of flour, one pound of salt, five yards of fabric."

Brian snapped his head up: "Father, that will be very costly!"

"I know, you just continue recording." Kaelen was nonchalant: "And you note this for me, distribute flour, distribute salt and fabric rather than distributing money, I do not want to see a single silver coin fall into the hands of the children and their family members."

"Why is that?" Ivy was bewildered.

"Because if I pay them to go to school, in their heads, going to school will become an occupation." Kaelen answered: "And being an occupation, they only do it with wages, cutting wages means quitting. Ten years later, if the City Hall runs out of money for just one month, the schools will be completely empty, while the children growing up will only remember exactly one thing, that sitting in class gets them paid. Then what is the point of opening schools? What we teach them is going to school is to use knowledge to earn money, rather than going to school to get money."

"Second." Kaelen raised a second finger: "Any family having a child going to school will be prioritized to receive discount shopping tickets at the City Hall’s shops. Rice, salt, oil, fabric, medicine, everything is cheaper than the market. The tickets are distributed monthly; whichever month the child misses school for more than five sessions, that month they are not issued."

Paul cheered: "Then parents wanting to buy cheap goods must send their children to school!"

"Yes, and that ticket has another benefit that you have not seen yet." Kaelen said: "From now on, our goods are cheaper than the market’s goods, yet only sold to families having children going to school. Three hundred families buying at our place means those three hundred families stop buying from those merchants out there. They lose customers so they have to lower prices, and lowering prices benefits this entire city, including families without children going to school."

"Third." Kaelen paused a beat, and his voice deepened significantly at this moment: "Whichever child has their name recorded in the public school ledger will lie under the protection of the Department of Public Security from that moment on. Its parents, its relatives, its family’s creditors, no one is allowed to sell it, use it to pay debts, make it a maid, make it a wife, under any title. Whoever sells, the Department of Public Security arrests that person; whoever buys, we arrest the buyer too, no need to ask for papers, no need to look at contracts, just arrest first then judge later."

All six kids were dead silent.

"Father." Steven was the one speaking up first: "Arrest even their parents?"

"Arrest them all." Kaelen answered succinctly: "I know what you are thinking, you think people sell their children because of hunger rather than being evil, and I just gave them flour with shopping tickets. Therefore from next month, anyone still selling their children is no longer because of hunger, but because twenty-five silver coins are easier to earn than going to work. That person I arrest, arresting without needing to think."

Ivy clasped her two hands tightly: "Then what about that sister earlier? Her father said if she cannot get into the public workshop to work today, she will be sold upon returning home..."

"You record that girl’s name into the school ledger right today. After recording, tell Paul to dispatch a Public Security squad straight to the house, read this law clause aloud for the whole neighborhood to hear together, then paste a copy right in front of her door." Kaelen said: "As for that fabric merchant, you hand his name over to Lord Elric, telling him to record it into the list that I requested the other day."

"Yes!"

"Fourth." Kaelen turned back towards Brian: "This matter besides the children, you record separately onto a page. The City Hall establishes a charity house, taking in orphans, elderly people without a place to rely on, sick people and disabled people who have lost their labor capacity. The City Hall will take care of all food, lodging, and medicine, taking from the public tax of all occupations to cover it."

Brian stopped his pen, looking up, his face a bit bewildered:

"Father, those people... they cannot produce anything."

That question was asked very honestly, without a single bit of malice, and the whole room suddenly fell silent.

Kaelen rubbed the boy’s head:

"You are right, they cannot produce anything. But you try thinking about it, that Goblin uncle you told me about the other day, the one who insisted on calling you Sir, he was in the mines for thirty years. How much ore did he dig out for people during those thirty years? Now his back is hunched, his lungs are ruined, he cannot dig anymore, then he must starve to death?"

Brian lowered his face.

"A city that only feeds people who can still produce things is not a city, it is a workshop." Kaelen continued: "And working in a workshop, everyone knows one thing for sure, that the day they break they will be thrown out. If everyone knows that for sure, then everyone will only worry about hoarding for themselves, no one will bother building anything long-term. Therefore that charity house is not to feed the elderly, my child, it is to let the three thousand people working out there know that in the future when they break, they still have a place to lie down."

He patted the boy’s shoulder.

"You just record it. Then you calculate for me to see how much it costs every month, I will find a way to manage."

Brian nodded, engrossed in writing, but having written a few lines the boy looked up adding a sentence:

"Father, I think the charity house should be built next to the school."

"Why?"

"Because the orphans have to go to school anyway, while the elderly are free." Brian answered: "The elderly can watch the children, while the children can help the elderly. That way we do not have to hire extra people to watch both sides."

Kaelen froze for a few seconds, then burst into laughter:

"That is good. You record it in right away."