“Clang!”
“Swoosh!”
The iron pickaxe fell heavily.
Hands that had held a pickaxe for years had long since developed thick calluses.
Before his wounds could fully heal, new tears would rip open again. This endless cycle ultimately left a series of unsightly scars on his hands.
Those were the hands of a laborer.
The early morning air carried a chill. When the wind blew against the sweat on his forehead, it felt somewhat refreshing.
But Li An knew very well that by afternoon, the blazing sun overhead would turn into a furnace, baking his entire body until it was burning hot.
Even so, he kept swinging his iron pickaxe without stopping.
As long as he kept working, he could temporarily forget the hardships of reality.
At least he wouldn't starve.
Yet whenever he stopped, a single question would uncontrollably float to the surface of his mind.
“How much longer... must I live like this?”
Conrad had been a laborer for the Blue Flame Guild for over three years.
He was efficient, highly experienced, and relatively well-liked within the guild.
But at the end of the day, he was still just a worker.
Wherever he went, no one truly took him seriously.
“Where should I carry this stone?”
“Mhm, move it to the clearing over there.”
“The pickaxe keeps slipping from my hands. Am I holding it wrong?”
“Oh, you'll get used to it after a while.”
A newcomer had joined the construction site.
His name was Karl.
Usually, people who came to do this kind of hard labor either had crying, hungry children at home or were buried under a mountain of debt.
Thus, a lingering, gloomy atmosphere always pervaded the construction site.
But this newcomer was different.
Even though he was brand new, he rushed to do any task and never slacked off.
Whenever there was something he didn't understand, he would take the initiative to ask.
Conrad didn't quite like this kind of person.
Because looking at Karl was like looking at his younger self.
Back then, he had been just as driven.
And the result?
No matter how hard he worked, he eventually became the grumbling old man he was today.
“Do you like this job?”
“I wouldn't say I like it. But there is a sense of achievement. Having a gulp of ice-cold water after a hard day's work feels pretty good, too.”
“Yeah... I used to think that way too.”
“You don't like this job, Senior?”
“I...”
“Ding, ding, ding—!”
“Everyone, gather up! It's lunchtime!”
Conrad swallowed the rest of his words.
“Hehehe, my mouth is already watering just from hearing the bell.”
“We eat every single day. What is there to be so happy about?”
“That's totally different. It tastes amazing every time, and every meal feels brand new.”
The two of them received their lunch.
Karl dunked his portion of bread into the stew.
The bread was terrifyingly hard. If one tried to bite straight into it, they would probably chip a tooth.
Therefore, the workers usually soaked it in the steaming stew, waiting for it to soften before eating.
“Mhm, today is mutton stew.”
Karl ate with great relish.
Looking at his satisfied expression, Conrad suddenly felt a bit annoyed.
He decided to play a little trick on him.
“Hey, Karl.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“We might all lose our jobs in the future.”
“What?”
Karl had a look of confusion.
Conrad gave a meaningful smile.
“Because what we are building right now can't compare to the Gold Hammer Guild's work at all. Do you think they rose above all the other construction guilds in the Empire just by luck?”
“But don't these kinds of things have their own strengths and weaknesses?”
“You really don't know anything, do you?”
Conrad shook his head helplessly.
“If it were anyone else, it might be fine, but do you know who is in charge of the evaluation this time?”
“Who?”
“Li An Adolf.”
Conrad spoke the name one syllable at a time.
“The Light of the Empire.”
As expected.
Even a country bumpkin who had just entered the city would react upon hearing this name.
Karl immediately froze.
“Other officials might turn a blind eye, but Li An Adolf is different. He's famously accurate in his judgments. He would never change his assessment for anyone's status or benefit.”
“Perhaps. Maybe that guy named Li An is just lucky, and actually a useless nobody who doesn't know anything...”
“Shut up!”
Conrad slammed his hand on the table.
“Even if he might be a corrupt official, I believe Lord Li An is a good official who truly works for the common people! You absolutely must not speak such slander!”
“...”
Karl fell silent at once.
Only then did Conrad nod in satisfaction.
“Well? Do you realize how ridiculously wrong you were now?”
After a short while, several workers approached them.
Leading them was a plump man with cheeks so chubby they puffed out.
He greeted them with a beaming smile.
“Yo, Conrad, and the rookie. Full yet? Want to play a few rounds of dice to pass the time?”
“Play by yourselves.”
“Really? What a pity.”
The fat man looked at Karl.
“Rookie, your name is Karl, right? How about it? Want to play a round?”
“Hmm... sounds interesting.”
“Karl!”
Conrad's expression shifted.
He hurriedly leaned in close to Karl's ear and lowered his voice.
“These guys are scammers. If you play with them, you'll lose every bit of today's wages. Don't go.”
The fat man obviously overheard and immediately grumbled in dissatisfaction.
“Hey, Conrad! Just because you lost money before, you can't go around slandering us like that, can you? That was just bad luck on your part.”
Saying so, he beamed at Karl once again.
“Come on, rookie. We saved a spot just for you.”
“Sure, let's give it a try.”
“Karl!”
Conrad was so anxious he nearly leaped up.
But Karl had already been led away to the gambling table, the fat man's arm slung companionably around his shoulders.
Conrad sighed helplessly and could only follow them.
As his senior, he couldn't just stand by and watch a newcomer get blatantly swindled out of his hard-earned money.
“One, one, one!”
“How is this possible?!”
The fat man suddenly bolted upright.
“Three triples in a row? You're definitely cheating! Give me those dice, I want to inspect them!”
“Is there a problem?”
The fat man's face turned pale.
“Wait... H-How is this happening?”
“You scammers!”
Soon, the outcome was decided.
All by himself, Karl cleaned out the scammers' entire pockets.
And once the surrounding workers noticed there was indeed something off with the dice, those scammers immediately became targets of public outrage, backed into a corner.
Meanwhile, Conrad stared blankly at the silver coins in Karl's hand.
“Are... are you a professional gambler?”
“No.”
Karl scratched his head.
“I was just playing around and happened to win.”
Looking at those shiny silver coins, Conrad felt incredibly envious.
With that money, he could eat well for an entire month...
Just as Conrad was wallowing in envy, Karl walked over.
He was carrying a large bag of goods in his hands.
Inside was dried venison, soft bread sprinkled with spices, and fresh fruit drizzled with honey.
“Senior, let's eat together.”
“Karl... are you a god?”
Conrad was so moved he nearly wept.
A moment ago, he had thought the kid was a fool, but now he felt like he had committed a mortal sin for judging him.
He picked up a piece of dried venison and took a bite.
Even though it was meat that had been dried for a long time, it was remarkably tender, and the rich, savory flavor of the meat instantly exploded in his mouth.
“It's delicious...”
Conrad's eyes welled with tears.
“It's really delicious... Dammit, I'm usually not the crying type...”
“It really is quite good!”
Karl also picked up a piece of fruit.
“If you dip this in honey, it literally melts in your mouth.”
“?”
Beside them, a dwarf with a snow-white beard had appeared at some point.
He was casually munching on their snacks as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
“You two looked pretty hungry, so I came over to grab a bite.”
“You...”
Conrad opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed his complaint.
What was with this newcomer?
He was naive and warmhearted, yet incredibly generous.
He was like a little duckling left by the riverbank.
One simply couldn't help but worry about him.
Conrad clenched his fists.
'I have to look after this kid.'
At the very least, he had to make sure he could survive in this harsh world with his own skills.
If the project failed this time and the Blue Flame Guild really disbanded, leaving workers like them unemployed...
Then he would take this newcomer along with him to look for work.
As his senior, he couldn't just abandon him on the side of the road.
“The day has finally come, Lovenhaf.”
“Heh, aren't your legs shaking, Sevent?”
“Stop talking nonsense. Aren't your own shoulders shaking?”
“That's because of the cold! The weather is freezing!”
The scheduled day of the evaluation had finally arrived.
The presidents of both the Gold Hammer Guild and the Blue Flame Guild arrived at the scene early in the morning.
The two short dwarves glared fiercely at one another.
This was a petty rivalry that had persisted for decades.
Neither was willing to yield.
“Yo, Sevent, is this granary the thing you finished building?”
Lovenhaf pointed at the structure before them, his face filled with mockery.
“You expect to win the rights to build the cathedral with a tiny toy like this?”
“What do you know? This is the latest design.”
Sevent snorted coldly.
“Buildings aren't necessarily better just because they are larger. Did everything you learned under our master go to waste?”
“Ha! Have you seen the new public hall we built?”
Lovenhaf puffed his chest out proudly.
“It's entirely made of marble. Marble!”
“That's called throwing away money.”
The two had been apprenticed to the same master since childhood.
Ever since their days as apprentices, they had constantly competed with each other.
Now that each had established their own guild, the feuding still hadn't ceased.
They were truly notorious archrivals.
However, both of them suddenly fell silent at the same time mid-argument.
Because they sensed it.
That man...
...was about to arrive.
“Li An Adolf should be arriving soon.”
“You mean that Li An Adolf who is known as the 'Light of the Empire' and can make flawless judgments on anything?”
“To be honest, I'm a bit nervous.”
The two reached a rare agreement.
Nothing was more agonizing than waiting for the person who could decide one's fate.
“I can finally see Li An Adolf.”
Conrad looked around in the crowd.
“Where is he? Karl? He didn't run off to use the restroom, did he?”
But even after searching for a long time, he couldn't find that familiar figure.
They had been working together until this very morning.
'Did some sudden emergency come up?'
Conrad felt a bit of regret in his heart.
This was a rare opportunity to lay eyes on the Minister of the Imperial Evaluation Department.
Just then—
...the sound of rolling carriage wheels echoed from a distance.
A carriage slowly rolled into view.
Conrad recognized the carriage at a single glance.
'That's an imperial carriage...'
The luxurious cabin stood out brilliantly under the sunlight.
Immediately afterward, the door opened.
A figure stepped out.
A commotion instantly swept through the crowd.
Squeezing through the crowd with great effort, Conrad finally got a clear look at the man's face.
“……Karl?”
He froze dead in his tracks.
The person standing there was none other than—
—Li An Adolf.
The Minister of the Imperial Evaluation Department.
The rumored "Light of the Empire" whose keen eye was flawless.
At this very moment.
He was the exact same man who had spent the entire morning swinging a pickaxe right alongside Conrad on the construction site.
Rate on N.U.
