Chapter 41

Although it was initially said that only ten people would be recruited, in the end, thirteen were hired. Tang En felt it was just a minor issue, but Fiona didn't see it that way.

"Lord, you mustn't do this again."

Fiona was exasperated. "As a noble, even the words you speak cannot be changed casually. If other nobles find out, they will mock you. If you say it's ten people, it must be ten people. Life is that cruel."

"Tch, who cares about that? The first thing nobles need to learn is to have no shame."

Tang En smirked. "Besides, don't you think their smiles are beautiful?"

Fiona looked at the thirteen people. They were clearly very thin, and it seemed they had used all their strength just to stand up. Their clothes were tattered, but their tearful smiles were truly touching.

Those were smiles of hope in the midst of despair.

She nodded involuntarily.

"Yes, that's why I couldn't bear to cut three more people."

Tang En sighed, looking at Fiona with a face that said, "I'm so kind and benevolent, come on, praise me."

Fiona pretended not to see, huffed, and asked suspiciously, "Aren't you keeping them all because they are girls?"

Tang En remained calm. "Of course not."

Fiona gave Tang En a suspicious look, then waved her hand and said, "Do as you please. Move aside when you're done, I need to distribute the gold coins to the guards."

Tang En looked up and saw that Elsa had already brought the guards.

These guys were all excited, their faces flushed with anticipation, eager to receive the gold coins Tang En had promised.

However...

"Dan, can you put the bag aside first?"

"No! After getting the gold coins, I still need to go pick mint leaves!"

Dan said, looking around nervously. "My mother took all the silver coins from me yesterday. If she takes the gold coins from me today, I'll really cry."

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Alright, stop laughing!"

Elsa's sharp command silenced the guards immediately. She continued, "Line up one by one. When Miss Fiona calls your name, come forward to collect your gold coins."

Gold coins... about to be spent...

Fiona sighed, looked at her notebook, and called out, "Uncle Dep."

"Here!"

Uncle Dep's face was full of joy.

"Uncle Dep, you killed three bandits during the raid. Your monthly salary, plus the bonus, totals thirteen gold coins."

When Fiona handed the thirteen shiny gold coins to Uncle Dep, he and the other guards were stunned.

Looking at the gold coins in Uncle Dep's hand, they all swallowed hard, their eyes wide.

By the gods! They had never seen such a large sum of money!

At first, when Tang En casually mentioned the gold coins, they didn't take it seriously, thinking he was just trying to boost their morale—treacherous nobles in bards' tales had done this before.

But they never expected Tang En to actually fulfill his promise!

"Long live the Lord!"

Uncle Dep's hands trembled with excitement as he put away the gold coins and bowed solemnly. "I, Dep, swear to the gods that I will shed every drop of my blood to defend Ellington and the Lord!"

"Nonsense!"

Tang En glared at Uncle Dep, clearly displeased. "Did the Lady of Calamity bless your mouth? Do you wish for war in Ellington?"

Uncle Dep's face froze, and he laughed awkwardly. "Well... I was just too excited..."

Indeed, in reality, no one wanted war. They would rather never have to pick up their weapons in their lifetime.

But who could predict the future?

As one by one received their gold coins, the guards' respect for Tang En grew, and they were willing to follow him wholeheartedly.

Following such a generous and trustworthy lord was worth it in this life!

Half an hour later, after everyone had received their bonuses, it was Elsa's turn.

"Elsa, five bandits, plus your salary and bonus, total twenty gold coins."

"Huh?"

Elsa was very surprised. "Isn't it fifteen?"

Fiona glanced at Tang En and said, "Because you are the captain of the guard, your salary is five gold coins higher than the others."

"Wow!"

Dan looked at Elsa enviously. "Being a captain is great!"

"Envy what," someone joked, "if you can defeat Elsa, you can be the captain too."

"Defeat Elsa?"

Dan shuddered,缩了缩头，讪笑道：“还是算了吧……”

Elsa能一只手玩死他啊！

"Alright!"

Elsa glared at them. As the captain, she needed to maintain her authority. She cleared her throat and said sternly, "You've all received your salaries, now prepare for more training!"

"Wait a moment."

Tang En smiled. "Today is a holiday. From now on, every month, the day we distribute salaries will also be a day off. You can buy whatever you want, drink if you like, and relax. We'll resume training tomorrow, of course, unless it's a special period, in which case there will be no holiday."

"Yay! Long live the Lord!"

The group cheered loudly.

"Lord, you'll spoil them this way."

Elsa frowned, believing that a warrior should never slack off and should exercise every day.

"Relaxing appropriately now will benefit them..."

Tang En said with a sly smile. "Later, tell me about your training methods, I'll take a look."

"Alright."

After Elsa and the others left, the thirteen girls had finished their breakfast. With full stomachs, their complexion improved, but they stood there nervously, making Tang En want to scratch his head.

Actually, their thoughts were simple. They had eaten breakfast provided by the Lord before even working for him. If they couldn't satisfy the Lord later, how would they face him?

"You don't need to be nervous. The task you will do is very simple."

Tang En said kindly. "Follow me."

Tang En led them to a cleared warehouse. It was now empty except for a dozen tables, each with a distillation apparatus that Tang En had already set up, and a large bucket under each table.

"I'll demonstrate the entire process from start to finish and explain it to you. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask."

Tang En began, adding water, mint leaves, activating the magic array, and completing the distillation, explaining each step in detail.

"Since we are using alchemical products, the temperature can be controlled by the magic array. The switch is here, and even without magic, it's very simple to use."

After demonstrating, Tang En asked, "Is there anyone who still doesn't understand?"

No one raised their hand.

"Don't be shy, ask if you don't understand. I won't say anything... really, everyone understands?"

Everyone nodded.

In fact, the process was very simple, and anyone with normal learning ability could grasp it. Tang En had underestimated the learning ability of the people in Plandar.

"Very good, since that's the case, let's continue."

Tang En placed the collected semi-finished product on the table. "The top layer is mint hydrosol, and the bottom layer is mint essential oil. You need to separate them into two containers, which is very simple."

"Add coarse sugar and water to this pot to dissolve it, then filter it a few times, pour the solution into this mixer, and add the mint essential oil. After mixing evenly, pour the solution into this mold to cool, then collect the sugar balls and put them in this box."

Tang En had worked overtime the previous night, not just to make the distillation apparatus. To ensure that ordinary people could complete the entire process, he integrated several magic-assisted steps into instruments. For example, the simple mixer used a wind magic array, and the mold and the box for the sugar balls used an ice magic array to control the temperature.

With the help of magic, these machines were not only convenient and quick but also pollution-free, and their efficiency was even higher than similar machines on Earth. This was the point Tang En was most satisfied with in Plandar.

"Since you all understand, let's try it once. Five people will extract the mint, five will boil and filter the sugar water, and the other three will assist, aiming to maximize efficiency. Let's start."

Tang En clapped his hands, and the first simple assembly line in Plandar began.

At first, the girls were a bit nervous and their movements were stiff, but after a short while, they got used to it and worked very efficiently, adding water and mint leaves smoothly.

After observing for a while, Tang En adjusted the personnel configuration. Since the extraction speed was much faster than expected, and the consumption of mint essential oil was slower, the boiling and stirring of the sugar water was relatively slow, and the final shaping was very easy, the final configuration became three people extracting mint essential oil, seven people boiling and stirring, and three people making sugar balls.

3:7:3, this was the most efficient configuration. Tang En rubbed his chin, thinking that future personnel ratios could follow this pattern.

At noon, to the girls' excitement, Tang En provided them with lunch.

As a result, they worked even more diligently in the afternoon. They had already mastered the techniques in the morning, and their efficiency was even higher. By evening, they had easily produced over ten thousand mint candies.

Each sugar ball was worth ten copper coins, so the daily output of this rudimentary workshop was already ten gold coins.

Don't think it's little. Consider how much value these thirteen girls could create in a day before— if they knew they had produced goods worth at least ten gold coins in a day, they would be amazed.