Roland closed the book and heaved a sigh of relief.
The arrival of a large number of Sleeping Island witches would undoubtedly inject immeasurable vitality into the industrial manufacturing industry of Neverwinter, but... there were currently several thorny problems in front of him.
The biggest one was the problem of remuneration.
They belonged to Sleeping Spell and were, in principle, under the leadership of Tilly. Whether they were willing to accept employment or not depended on their own will. Although Tilly's attitude towards him had changed greatly, Roland felt that it was really hard for him to take back his previous promise and use his relationship with Tilly to order the witches around.
In other words, the job planning in the book was only his own plan. How much of it could really be realized depended on how many witches in Sleeping Spell were willing to devote themselves to the tide of production.
Nagging them with slogans such as "labor is the most glorious" and "labor changes fate" would certainly have little effect, and saying things like "for home" was even less meaningful. For them, the only place that could be called home was probably Sleeping Island.
Roland believed that as long as one lived here for a few years, anyone would fall in love with this city and regard it as their own. But now was not the time — for newcomers, it was normal to subconsciously be vigilant and worried about a strange place. He could not wait for a few years to develop the industry, so in the end, it was still based on the remuneration.
In short, there must be a desire to drive them to work.
He had previously inquired from Tilly that the witches on Sleeping Island provided bounty services to merchants or explorers in the Fjords. The price was quite expensive, and most of the bounty services ranged from dozens to hundreds of Golden Dragon. Although the money was used by Tilly to purchase basic living necessities, the witches still used the original fixed distribution system and lived in poverty, but it did not mean that they had never seen money.
Moreover, now that 30% of the Golden Dragon earned from the Chaos Drinks trade was at Tilly's disposal, it was foreseeable that she would take out a small part to improve the living standards of her witches. In other words, even if the witches did not work, they would not starve to death, and would even live a much better life than on the island.
Therefore, relying on a few Golden Dragon might not be enough.
Moreover, Roland was not afraid of low pay, but he was afraid of competition. Most of the Witch Union's salaries were between one to three Golden Dragon Stones. Why should outsiders pay more? Even if the latter's salary was raised, it would easily attract criticism. "The salary hasn't changed much in almost two years, but the Sleeping Island witches have raised it as soon as they came. Does the treatment of the old have to be raised by the newcomers?"
Even if the Alliance members didn't say that, Roland wasn't willing to do that.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look at Nightingale who was lying on the recliner and flipping through a comic book.
Sensing his gaze, Nightingale turned around slightly. "What's wrong?"
A perfect curve.
No, now is not the time to think about this. Roland cleared his throat. "How long have you been here?"
"More than two years, eleven months, and twenty-six days." Nightingale sat up straight. "Why do you ask?"
So precise?
"I remember that you were paid two Golden Dragon Stones a month at the beginning, right?"
"Ah, at that time." She revealed an ambiguous smile. "Yes, twice as much as Anna, and I refused. Later, you begged me repeatedly, and I reluctantly agreed to be your personal guard. "
"What begging? It's obvious that you saw Anna pass her Day of Adulthood safely. You went back to dissuade Cara, and then fell out with her, so you decided to stay!" Roland secretly rolled his eyes. "During these years, have you ever felt that your efforts weren't proportional to your gains? Have you ever considered leaving?"
"What are you trying to say?" The smile on Nightingale's face suddenly froze and was replaced by a trace of panic. "I … Why should I leave?"
"No, it's just an analogy." Roland immediately realized that this sentence could easily cause ambiguity, so he quickly corrected himself. "The point is the first half of the sentence. Will there be witches who think that the salary is too low?"
After confirming that he was serious, Nightingale seemed to be relieved and appeared in front of his table. "How is that possible? One Golden Dragon is already half a year's income for ordinary people. We don't work harder than those workers, so naturally, it's not proportional. Besides, even if we get a sum of money, we don't know where to spend it. After all, we don't have to worry about food and clothing. This kind of life is already unimaginable in the past. "
"Perhaps not all witches think so …"
"That's strange! If you don't believe me, you can ask Vendy. "Nightingale said confidently." She knows more about the sisters than I do. "
"Okay." Roland shrugged. "I also need her opinion on this matter."
"What matter?" She asked curiously.
"It's a secret, but you'll know soon." Roland smiled.
…
"Your Majesty, I've never thought so!" Unexpectedly, Vendy's reaction was even more intense after she came. "Even if you don't give me a salary, I still want to build this place well. I once said that Neverwinter is the new Holy Mountain for witches, and the other sisters also have the same expectation to serve you! If City hall is short of money, I'm willing to give you all the Golden Dragon I've saved. "
"Uh … well, I'm just collecting opinions." Roland suddenly felt a little touched. He touched his nose and turned his head away. "Is there anything in particular that you want?"
"Well …" Vendy was stunned for a moment, while Nightingale quickly blinked at her. "If I have to say, I think … well … maybe … if I could have one more bottle of Chaos Drink every month … that would be great."
"You too?" Roland looked at Nightingale.
"Are you playing a wishing game?" Nightingale chuckled. "Since you're just saying, I think two bottles would be better."
As expected, he had a general framework for the reform of witches' remuneration in his mind.
If there was anything more precious than money, it would be the things that money could not buy. Although there were many witches patronizing Evelyn's Hundred Flavors Wine House, the high prices made most of them flinch, and they would instead choose the cheaper fruit wine – it wasn't that they couldn't afford it, but their consumption philosophy would prevent them from investing large amounts of gold royals in such luxury goods.
Moreover, the Chaos Drinks sold in the wine house were all old varieties, and the low sales made it difficult to replace the stock. In terms of freshness, it was not as good as the new products released every month.
What if the Chaos Drinks, which were originally a welfare benefit, became a special purchase item?
It could be called a points system or a dual currency system. Witches could get exclusive rewards through work, and then use this reward to exchange for something that Golden Dragon could not buy. Wouldn't the work itself be attractive? At the same time, it could avoid the feeling of disparity caused by raising the salary.
In addition, Chaos Drinks weren't the only special items he could purchase. He had countless ideas in his head that could ensure that they wouldn't be imitated by others as long as they were attractive enough. There was no one else he could find that could do it.
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