Chapter 91
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Industrial Revolution (15)
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Should I call it a union?
I sat down with a few of their representatives.
On either side of me sat the factory owner and Katiranya.
Unfortunately, Biena couldn't join us here.
So she's waiting outside right now.
Looking ahead, I saw a man with a pretty fierce face.
Even though he wasn't trying to look scary, it still made me a little tense.
Still, since he'd sat down here like a gentleman, there wouldn't be any shouting.
Probably.
I cleared my throat for a moment and first asked about their demands.
The representative let out a deep sigh.
"Our demand is just one thing. Guarantee our jobs. Make sure we don't have to live in fear of being fired."
"Why would you think that? We've never said anything about firing anyone separately."
I'd never discussed changing contracts or anything like that with this factory's owner.
Personnel authority was in the factory owner's hands, but I'd told him not to interfere with production unless absolutely necessary.
So I was puzzled.
How on earth had that weird rumor spread?
The representative looked at my face and spoke as if forcing down his anger.
"Lately, we've heard that you're developing all sorts of new technologies. And we've confirmed they're related to the factories."
"Yes? How did you know about that?"
"We had a reliable source."
He had no intention of telling me who it was.
Anyway, the weird rumor had spread because someone had brought them information.
The problem was that the information was true.
Even if they'd overinterpreted it, the info itself wasn't false.
So the only thing I could give them was trust.
To offer that firm trust, I smiled.
"Don't worry. There's absolutely no reason we'd fire you."
"I can't believe that."
No, why was he so adamant?
I repeated that there was no such thing, but he wouldn't budge.
Instead, he slammed the desk and started yelling!
"You have no idea what's going on at the site! What, just guaranteeing it with words. Who could believe that! Everyone's anxious because of that lathe you announced recently!"
The others all nodded along with him.
What was I supposed to do?
After thinking for a bit, I suddenly noticed something strange.
When had they heard about the manual lathe?
It hadn't even been a few days since the announcement.
Unless they'd gone to the capital themselves, it should've taken longer for word to reach them.
In other words, someone with serious information networks was backing them.
Opposing nobles, maybe?
It was possible, but first I needed to calm things down.
I stood from my seat and bowed politely.
"Please, just believe me this once."
"What."
A flustered voice came from above my head.
The factory owner next to me looked shocked too, though annoyingly, Katiranya didn't.
Well, Katiranya wasn't the priority right now.
Still bowed, I continued.
"I know full well the hard work you've put in. Every product on sale in Edn Rerangbur right now has passed through your hands."
"Oh dear, please stand up."
The factory owner fussed, trying to pull me up, but I ignored him.
After all, what we needed most right now was trust.
"I have no intention of firing any of you, and I won't in the future either."
A quiet silence fell.
Katiranya just watched from the side, while the factory owner fidgeted anxiously.
After a moment, a sigh came, and the representative asked me to stand.
When I raised my head, this time the representative bowed to me.
"I'm sorry. Truth is, a noble came directly, and we wanted to see if you were sincere."
"That means...?"
"We'll believe you. And we'll get right back to work."
Phew, what a relief.
I smiled in relief and extended my hand, asking them to keep working hard.
He hesitated for a second before shaking it.
With that, the weird rumor at the factory seemed settled for now.
As I left the room, listening to the factory owner's flattery, I headed outside.
Katiranya and Biena followed beside me, and Katiranya looked at me.
"One thing I want to ask."
"Yes, what is it?"
"No further negotiations? Just guaranteeing jobs doesn't seem sufficient."
Ah, I hadn't mentioned it.
Seeing Biena staring the same way, I remembered I hadn't told either of them.
Well, I'd only talked about it alone with the professor.
I explained to them the contracts we made when hiring at the factories.
Everything from salaries to all sorts of benefits.
Biena jumped in surprise and grabbed my arm.
"Young master?! That's a guaranteed loss!"
"W-wait, Biena. It's not a loss, stop shaking."
"Ah, sorry."
The hand that had been rattling my arm let go.
I straightened my clothes a bit and spoke.
"It's not a loss. It was at first, but we're turning profitable now. Sales have been good lately."
Of course, we were still in the red on pure profit due to loans and investments, but I didn't mention that.
But if we nailed mass production, we'd finally break even.
We had a ton of backlog orders, after all.
Biena nodded at my explanation, impressed.
"As expected, you had it all planned out."
"Of course—."
"Edn. Still, I have questions. You did offer quite generous contracts, but that doesn't excuse them going on strike."
She was right.
Normally, you'd at least cut salaries or something.
But I just didn't want to.
Call it human sentiment?
That, and most importantly, we were still growing fast—if I did that, it'd hurt me more than anyone.
Even with manual lathes brought in, you needed people to run them, right?
I could've focused on other factories, but that wouldn't work.
I still hadn't found the leak, so I had to play it careful.
"I decided to forgive them. There was a little hiccup midway, but we resolved it like gentlemen."
"And that's enough?"
"Yes, it's fine. More importantly, let's find who leaked the info."
I instructed Biena to send people out on the way back.
"Understood."
Fortunately, Katiranya didn't press further.
Now it was time for the next plan.
As I climbed into the carriage, I thought about the next machine tool.
About two months passed.
In that time, using the experience from building the lathe, I made other machines too.
Milling machines, presses, extruders, and so on.
The initial investment was high, but I successfully upgraded about half of them.
And today was the day the results came in.
I'd asked the professor to bring the financial statements.
I could look at the internal data too, but it was too much hassle.
"Let's see."
"Let me see too."
Whoa! Katiranya?
When did she get here?
I jumped at her suddenly standing next to me.
She shrugged at my surprise.
"Why so startled?—"
"No, I mean. Sigh, alright. Have a seat next to me."
This was Katiranya—always, well, sometimes appearing out of nowhere like this.
It was faster to just give up, so I patted the seat beside me.
She sat down lightly and leaned toward me as she looked at the statements.
"Come on, open it up."
"Yes, yes."
As soon as I unfolded the paper, a bunch of numbers appeared.
Here, what I needed to check was everything.
Damn, even organized like this, there was so much to look at.
I grumbled inwardly, but Katiranya was different.
Unlike me, she skipped most of it and went straight to net profit.
"Oh, you turned a profit?"
"Yes? Ah, yeah."
Oh, that was good news.
Though it might be temporary, so I had to be careful.
"Haha, finally!"
"Congratulations, Edn."
Now I could celebrate!
Excited, I started checking the other parts.
As I slowly read down the table, Katiranya seemed to lose interest.
She'd followed along for a bit, then stood up.
"I'll be going now."
"Ah, sure."
She came out of nowhere and left just as suddenly.
She was like the wind, so I didn't bother holding her back.
But she didn't like my reaction, apparently.
She tilted her head at an angle and stared.
"What's with that response?"
"Ahem, nothing. Have a peaceful day, Katiranya."
"Well, fine."
I'd hastily smoothed things over, so she forgave me.
She left the room with a better expression than before.
Phew, now I could look in peace.
As I went over the financials, new ideas popped up.
Expand the factories, make more machine tools.
Sales and procurement.
"Hm, agriculture?"
Come to think of it, I'd vaguely heard that people were flocking to the city because of the factories.
When people gather, there are inevitable pros and cons.
Cheap labor, but quality could drop.
And if they cluster in certain industries, others would suffer labor shortages.
In this world full of farmers, if they all headed to factories?
Screw up, and food production could tank.
People might even starve.
"Not that it's purely for the greater good."
That was part of it, but the biggest thing was that I could get involved.
For example, agricultural machines?
Like tractors.
"We made trucks, so nothing stopping us there."
Hm, next up: tractor.
I pulled a blank blueprint from the bookshelf.
Sat at the desk, picked up the fountain pen, and started sketching the design.
"Ah, but I promised Katiranya something, right?"
What was it?
I pondered for a second, then decided to draw the blueprint first.
It'd come back to me later.