Volume 5 Chapter 34: Powerful Frestech Chamber of Commerce
The Sandy River flowed east of the Falling Rain Forest, going through the Mirando Duchy where it was named the Mirando River. It passed through the Mirando Duchy's territory which wasn't very wide before entering another country, the Norton Duchy.
Since this river only flowed fifty kilometers into the Norton Duchy before entering a broad clear lake, the people of the Norton Duchy didn't call it the Norton River and kept the name of the Mirando River.
Only after it flowed to the lake that the locals called Clear Mirror Lake, it spread out again. It flowed into a river that was almost two times as wide and completely changed appearances, becoming the biggest river in the Norton Duchy, the Anfield River.
Legends said that three thousand years ago, the most renowned female warrior of the humans Anfield had taken a bath in the Clear Mirror Lake. However, she met an expert of the elves and the two fought a fierce battle on Clear Mirror Lake. Finally, they created a large gap in the Clear Mirror Lake which formed a river.
So the people of the later generations called this Anfield River.
At the place where the Anfield River flowed out of Clear River Lake, there was a small town not far away from the side of the lake called Noxus Town.
Since it was close to Clear Mirror Lake, it wasn't that far from the border of the Mirando Duchy and the Rudson Kingdom. Since it also wasn't far from Anfield River and Clear Mirror Lake, as well as having one of the main roads of the Norton Duchy cut through it, Noxus Town was much larger than the other towns of the Norton Duchy. It wasn't even that much smaller than some of the cities.
Moreover, whether it was from the Mirando Duchy or the Rudson Kingdom, if one wanted to reach the Candra Empire, they had to pass through here. So Noxus Town was always lively year round.
With the travelers passing by, the people of the town had much better lives than other places in the Norton Duchy. When they faced people from other parts of the duchy, or even people who came from the Mirando Duchy or the Rudson Kingdom, they would feel a bit of superiority.
In the past two months, the feeling of superiority the people of Noxus Town felt was completely gone.
The reason was very simple, there were a bunch of people who clearly lived better lives that appeared in front of them.
If these people were nobles or merchants, it would be fine, but these people were all clearly normal people. Their statuses weren't higher than theirs at all.
Among these people was old man Mawor who owned one of the best taverns at the entrance of Noxus Town.
Seeing the three young men who were completely covered in dust to the point where they couldn't be recognized anymore, old man Mawor didn't chase out these fellows who clearly looked like beggars. Rather he revealed a friendly smile as he greeted the three of them.
"Hey, you're all getting off work?"
The three men looked around the tavern and chose an empty table to sit at. One of the men slapped the table and shouted, "Old man Mawor, bring the same as usual, get us two pounds of liquor first."
"Alright, it'll be out soon."
Old man Mawor replied. He brought two pounds of the tavern's best wine and two plates of beef out with a smile.
After putting down the wine and food, old man Mawor asked, "How is it? You don't need to go back to work in the afternoon? You're already drinking at noon?"
The three men all laughed as the man who spoke first waved his hand, "It's said that the motorcade of someone important is coming by today, so the manager said that we would be stopping the construction of the roads to let that person pass. When that person passes, we'll start working again tomorrow."
"It's like this......" Old man Mawor nodded, but he still felt a bit curious, "I wonder who that important person is. Just him passing by is enough to let your Amrit Chamber of Commerce stop working, he really has quite a bit of face."
"I heard that it was someone from the Candra Empire. They went to the Rudson Kingdom and now are heading back to the Candra Empire. I don't know specifically who it is."
"From the Candra Empire? It really is an important person, no wonder......"
Old man Mawor muttered before turning back to the counter.
After tidying up a bit, there were several black figures that came from the door as more dirty men came in.
Seeing these men who wore the same clothes as the three men from before walk in, old man Mawor immediately greeted them with a smile.
These workers from the Amrit Chamber of Commerce were generous and didn't cause trouble while drinking, so it could be said that they were the most welcome guests in all the restaurants of the town.
Even if they were a bit dusty from building the roads, as long as they took out real gold coins, it didn't stop old man Mawor from greeting them with a sincere smile.
But in his free time, old man Mawor did secretly mutter in his heart.
?
Where did this Amrit Chamber of Commerce come from? How could they treat the workers under them so well?
Old man Mawor had found some time to see the road they were building and found that most of the work of these workers were simple heavy work. Other than some things that he didn't understand, where they operated a strange machine that he didn't know what was used for, it didn't seem that difficult.
Moreover, these workers worked very fixed times. They would work from eight to noon each morning and two to six every afternoon, as well as having a day to rest each week.
This work seemed quite relaxing to old man Mawor.
But the Amrit Chamber of Commerce gave these workers a shocking wage.
From the numbers that a drunken worker had revealed, at the Amrit Chamber of Commerce's construction site, the lowest income for the most simplest job was fifteen gold coins a month.
If one was a bit higher, such as the workers that needed to operate that large magic machines, they would even receive twenty gold coins or thirty gold coins a month.
It had to be known, old man Mawor had been operating this tavern in Noxus Town for many years. He worked from dawn to night, almost never resting and he would earn no more than three hundred to four hundred gold coins a year.
These workers were doing such relaxed jobs and they were earning around the same wage as him.
Compared to the normal citizens of Noxus Town, they earned several times more.
So in the month that the Amrit Chamber of Commerce had been building the road in Noxus Town, there were many young people who also wanted to work for the Amrit Chamber of Commerce.
It was a pity that the Amrit Chamber of Commerce came from the Lampuri Kingdom that was over a thousand kilometers away. According to the rules, they couldn't recruit workers from the Norton Duchy, so they had rejected everyone's applications.
But it was said that their mayor was currently submitting an application to the upper strata of the duchy, asking them to authorize the Amrit Chamber of Commerce hiring workers from the Norton Duchy.
Moreover, it was said that the road that the Amrit Chamber of Commerce was building would pass through the entire duchy, finally reaching the Candra Empire. This project would take a year and a half, which meant they would be in the Norton Duchy for a year and a half. It was very likely the duchy would reach an agreement with the Amrit Chamber of Commerce to let them recruit local workers.
Thinking of this, old man Mawor had an idea. He came to the table of the three men from before and sat down in an empty seat as he said with a smile, "That.....There's something I wanted to ask you about."
The three were frequent guests of this tavern and they were close with old man Mawor, so they nodded when they heard this.
"What is it?"
Old man Mawor thought for a bit, considering his words before asking, "The work that you do.....what requirement is there?"
"Requirement?" The three looked at each other before giving shrugs, "There's no requirement, it's fine as long as you have the strength. Of course, there are different kinds of work. Like for the three of us, I'm in charge of stirring the concrete, using the right proportion of materials and operating the Magic Cement Mixer. These two are in charge of paving the road, so they need to operate the Magic Paver and flatten the surface of the road, so they need a bit of experience."
"Oh.....Then if a new person enters the company, what could they do?" Old man Mawor asked.
That person looked at old man Mawor and said with a smile, "What is it? Old man Mawor, do you have some relative that wants to work at our place?"
Old man Mawor asked, "One of my nephews from afar is interested, do you think it would work?"
The three shook their heads, "We can't determine anything, you have to ask the manager. But I've heard the manager say that the company hasn't reached an agreement with your Norton Duchy yet, so it'll take some time before we can recruit local workers."
"It's like this......"
Old man Mawor lowered his head to think. Then he went to the counter to get a new plate of beef that he put on the table of the three before saying with a smile, "If there is some news, please tell me about it as soon as possible and I'll tell my nephew."
The three looked at the plate of beef that was much larger than before and laughed.
"Relax, we'll definitely tell you as soon as we hear anything."
The middle person paused before suddenly thinking of something, "Old man Mawor, you can tell your nephew that he doesn't need to be in a rush and he doesn't have to work for our Amrit Chamber of Commerce. Although we earn quite a bit from our work, it's very dirty and tiring, it isn't anything good and he won't be used to it."
"It's better than being at home all day or working on the farm." Old man Mawor said with a smile, "Young people aren't afraid of getting dirty or being tired."
"That is right, but before I left the Lampuri Kingdom, I heard people say that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is about to invest in your Norton Duchy. With the location of your Noxus Town, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce won't let you off. When the Frestech Chamber of Commerce comes, you won't need to worry about this."
"Frestech Chamber of Commerce?" Old man Mawor knit his brows to think, "I've heard quite a few people mention this company's name before. What about it? Is the Frestech Chamber of Commerce very powerful? Why wouldn't our people need to worry about work if they invest here?"
"Powerful? Ha, ha, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce is more than just powerful!" That person had a proud look like he was boasting about himself, "Let me tell you, as long as the Frestech Chamber of Commerce invests in a factory or two in your town, I can guarantee that your town will completely change. Do you know about Ampriston Town in the Mirando Duchy that is closest to our Lampuri Kingdom? Because the Frestech Chamber of Commerce invested there, that small town is about to become Ampriston City!"
"Really?" Old man Mawor didn't fully believe.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce was only a single company, how could they be this powerful?