Chapter 68

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on February 6, 2025

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Chapter 68

#68. Northern Region Arts (1)

Today is the only one day off in a whole week for the entire company.

In Korea, a six-day workweek gets labeled as a black company, but over here in this world, it’s praised as a white company.

It feels weird transitioning from a world where talk of four-day workweeks was common to one where six days earns you praise.

“Whether it’s six or four days, meaningless to me as a workaholic though.”

But holidays are for the employees.

As the boss, even on my days off I still come into the office to do R&D or catch up on neglected paperwork – same whether I’m running Jin Industries back on Earth or Arad Company here.

When you’re self-employed, you realize that even when you’re “resting” at home, it doesn’t feel like rest. You can never fully enjoy vacations either.

That said, I can’t and shouldn’t force my feelings onto my employees.

“That’s the difference between doing your own work and getting paid to do someone else’s.”

Telling employees to take ownership of their jobs is such nonsense.

“Mary, take another day off tomorrow.”

So I told Mary to take an extra day off.

“Out of the blue?”

She frowned riding beside me toward the inner castle on our special-grade horses.

Incidentally, these horses were gifted by Carpe who had “acquired” them from the empire to cover his subordinates’ medical bills.

“I figure with today’s work, you won’t get much of a break anyway.”

Though technically initiated out of concern for her, it was also partially because she’d been dragged into one of my hobbies.

“Ah, so that’s how it is. Understood. I’ll gladly take the day off then.”

Mary nodded readily, seeming to understand.

“…”

Definitely something I suggested and hoped she’d accept, yet seeing her swallow it so easily felt strange.

“You’ve changed.”

Her current demeanor contrasts sharply with how she was when she first started – the enthusiastic employee who wanted to handle both secretary duties and academy work.

“Well, it’s a natural progression.”

I gave a wry nod and asked:

“What do you plan to do on your day off?”

“Just relax at home.”

“Got it.”

Judging by this exchange, Mary’s MBTI probably starts with an I.

We arrived at the palace’s glorious hall after exchanging such flavorless conversation.

Then I used the high-pass entrance to enter Princess Ariana Rune Renslett’s office in the northern region.

“Bright and warm.”

“The witches’ skills have improved quite a bit.”

The duchess’ office, like much of the palace, was bright and warm thanks to the heating magical devices crafted by the witches in their spare time.

“Lord Jin, does this room layout look good?”

“Yep, perfect. Let’s go with this.”

Thanks to prior discussions, the interior design and decorations were all perfectly set up.

“Then we’ll inform Her Highness.”

“Please do.”

After nodding, sometime later…

Ariana appeared with her attendants.

“Greetings, Lady Ariana Rune Renslett, Duchess of the North. Lenslet Rune Renslett.”

“It’s been a while, Sir Arad.”

“I’ll do my best to paint Your Highness properly.”

“I expect great things.”

We exchanged formalities before sitting down.

“Both of you will be painted in two themes. For the first theme, Your Highness needs to wear armor and hold a sword. Lady Mary, please wear adventurer gear and stand over there.”

This wasn’t an everyday opportunity, so I quickly sketched out the scene.

Thanks to my max-level artisan stat and painting skill, sketching and composition took less than 15 minutes.

Particularly, I meticulously drew their faces to the point they just needed color.

I noted what colors to use throughout the sketches, including shading and brightness, completing the first theme.

“This is done. Now I’ll sketch the second theme. Please change into the outfits we discussed beforehand.”

As soon as I finished speaking, they left to change clothes, which took longer than the sketching.

“By the way, what’s Isabel, that old lady, doing in the corner?”

Taking a break, I looked around and spotted Spring Grand Witch Isabel.

Something seemed off about her; unlike usual, she was muttering intensely with a serious expression.

Curious about what she was doing, I moved to approach her…

“Is the painting going well? Lord Jin.”

“Sir Arad, are you planning to paint the colors separately?”

It was Valkyrie and Sun blocking my path.

“Even with just the sketches, it’s impressive. Could I ask for a portrait later?”

“Hmph! If it’s not too much trouble, could I request one too?”

“Of course. Once this project is complete, please visit the company whenever you have time.”

Since Ariana is the Duchess of the North, I visited her directly, but that’s not necessary for them.

Even appearing like this, I’m the inheritor of a baron title and leader of Arad Company.

“Thank you. After finishing Her Highness’ portrait, I’ll visit then. By the way, is there anything you need?”

“I’ll visit too. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you for asking, but I don’t need anything right now.”

“Alright? Let me know if you think of anything.”

“Indeed. If you need rare minerals or monster byproducts, I can procure them.”

“Thank you.”

Expressing gratitude, I looked at Valkyrie and Sun.

With this topic brought up, I considered what kind of paintings I could create featuring these two.

“Wait…!”

An inspiration struck me!

“Using a snowy battlefield as the background, painting the two of them – Valkyrie swinging a frost-covered sword and Sun firmly holding a shield against enemy attacks…”

Their relationship seems pretty solid, so maybe I should paint them together like Ariana and Mary.

“Hold on… Why not include knights like Eopte, Roji, and Karot too? Paint them in Neoclassical style and display one in the High City Knights Training Ground and another in the company.”

Feeling thrilled by the expansion of ideas, I made arrangements with them.

“I’ll set the date as soon as possible. In return, could you come dressed as if actively participating in battle? It would be ideal if you could bring monster corpses in their original forms.”

“Hahaha! We’ll cooperate with anything.”

“This already sounds incredibly promising.”

Valkyrie and Sun grinned widely upon hearing my confirmation.

“Then, I must leave due to training.”

“I also have patrol duties.”

And just like that, they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“?!”

I glanced around, feeling like a storm had just passed.

“Did Isabel leave already?”

Trying to go to Isabel after dismissing them, but she had vanished somewhere.

“We’re ready.”

“…Me too.”

Instead, Ariana and Mary returned after changing clothes.

“!!”

Even though it was mid-winter, it felt like spring had arrived.

“Wow… Both of you look absolutely stunning. Truly beautiful.”

They each wore dresses suitable for young noblewomen.

Ariana wore a silk-made blue dress, while Mary wore a red dress tailored from high-quality fabric.

“Could we really look this beautiful…?”

“…”

My compliments caused both Ariana and Mary’s faces to turn red simultaneously.

“Ooooh!”

Their expressions were incredibly charming, prompting me to immediately start moving my pen.

* * *

Since it was just sketching, I was able to leave the palace before evening.

Mary said she would head straight home, so we parted ways, while I arrived at my house accompanied by servants provided by the High City.

For reference, my house is a three-story main building located inside the High City.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the main office.”

The Arad Company building situated between the outer area and inner area of the High City hasn’t been used much lately.

Since most of the work happens at the workshop, I’ve basically been living and working there.

“Bring it here.”

“Yes sir.”

Upon arriving at the main office after some time, I immediately went up to the third floor.

The servants from the High City followed behind me carrying the canvases.

“Place them both here.”

On the third floor, there was a bed and desk I use, and I instructed the servants to place the two sketched canvases in the center of the room.

“Good job. Here, take this.”

“Thank you!”

I tipped each servant a set amount of copper coins.

They deeply bowed and then lightly stepped away.

After carelessly throwing my coat on the desk, I went back downstairs.

“It’s been a while, boss.”

A young employee responsible for managing the main office waited on the first floor.

He normally handled cleaning the building and maintaining the stables.

In short, he acted as security.

Originally sent from the High City to serve me, I ended up hiring him permanently because I liked his name and work ethic.

“Jarvis, has anything happened while I was gone?”

“No, everything has been peaceful, boss.”

Upon hearing Jarvis’s words, I decided to disturb his peace.

“I want to bathe. Can you fill the second floor with water?”

“Well… There isn’t enough water in the building right now. We’d have to go to the well…”

As expected, cracks appeared in our previously peaceful employee’s expression.

Of course, in this fantasy world, being a building manager didn’t just mean handling security. He also had to manage miscellaneous tasks.

Even if it wasn’t a major cleaning, dusting was definitely required. When it snowed, he had to clear the area around the building.

Additionally, when I was present, he had to fetch water for cooking and bathing.

Other responsibilities included emptying chamber pots and preparing goose feathers for wiping.

“If I let you handle this alone, it would be tough, wouldn’t it? Take this.”

Hearing just the explanation might make it seem like Jarvis is being punished for some wrongdoing.

It would be exhausting for anyone to handle all those tasks alone, even in the late medieval era.

“With this money, you can hire neighborhood kids to help. You can keep what’s left.”

“!”

When I handed over a pouch containing coins, peace returned to Jarvis’s face.

“I’ll be right back.”

This is what flexible employment looks like.

There’s only one permanent employee, Jarvis, but he’s a native of the High City.

Just stepping outside the building a few steps reveals plenty of acquaintances.

If you offer 2 copper coins as payment for fetching water, you can easily gather five helpers in no time.

“Whether on Earth or in this fantasy world, having money makes life convenient.”

The inconvenience of the medieval period only exists because people lack money.

If you don’t have appliances and smartphones, just hire several people to perform those functions.

If public safety is poor, buy mercenaries with money.

If you need power, manufacture mysterious items in bulk to win the king’s favor.

Power comes from the wallet.

“All hail the max-level useless character.”

Even though I could create Earth-style plumbing, bathrooms, etc., anytime I want, thanks to human smartphones like Jarvis, those projects keep getting pushed back in priority.

After Jarvis fetched enough water to the second-floor bathroom/kitchen and heated it with magic stones…

It would take at least 3-4 hours to heat the water carried up.

During that time, I decided to return to the third floor and finish painting.

“First, let’s complete the Romantic version.”

There were two canvases sketched at the High City.

Both were about half the size of a school blackboard, making them fairly large.

“The rosy cheeks of the two ladies I saw then. I need to capture their colors before the atmosphere fades.”

I prepared the pigments created using alchemy skills from the previous day and picked up the brush.

“…”

Since this was a rather lengthy project, I entered deep concentration mode for once.

How much time had passed?

When about half of the blank canvas was filled with color…