Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 339

Kenji’s mornings start early. He wakes up while it’s still dark outside and opens the workshop door. At this time, the wife and child of the artisan who starts early come into the workshop to do light cleaning, prepare tools and materials, and check the inventory. Once that’s done, everyone who has arrived—artisans and their families—sit down to a meal together.

Using the kitchen of a nearby workshop and the heat source of a workshop that has just started operating, everyone starts the day by eating their fill of hot soup and barley porridge. It’s a busy and lively time.

Once the company’s workshop is up and running, Kenji retreats to his office and starts making a list of what needs to be done in the future and what he will do for the day. Actions that are just for him are kept as notes on hand, and things that need to be shared with the craftsmen in the workshop are written as tasks on a board and left in a place where the craftsmen can see them. This allows the craftsmen to understand the situation the company is currently in.

Kenji thinks that, even if not everyone is fully on board, it’s good enough if the motivated ones step up.

Socially, Kenji is considered a successful person in this town. Starting out as a wandering adventurer, within two years he establishes a cooperative relationship with the city’s leading clan, the Sword Fangs Legion, eliminates the interference of the nobles, and achieves the great feat of delivering shoes to the cardinal for the first time in 80 years.

Thanks to this, the demand for not only shoes for adventurers but also high-end Pioneer Shoes continues to grow, and the production sites are constantly thriving. Kenji also has a good reputation locally as a businessman. He pays young craftsmen high wages and provides jobs and meals for their families. He also orders parts from workshops on Leather Street, and the area is booming with demand, so no one has a bad word to say about him.

And yet the man himself sits alone in the dimly lit company office, pen in hand, head in hands, deeply troubled.

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“Hmm…”

As I mischievously scratch the tip of my nose with the soft part of my quill, Sara calls out to me while making tea.

“What happened?”

It’s no surprise that Sara is concerned since Kenji has been groaning for several minutes now. It’s as if he’s silently asking her to worry about him and listen to him.

“Not enough.”

“Oh, you don’t have enough money?”

“No, manpower and time. And sleep.”

Recently, there has been a lot of work, and it’s been busy. There are so many tasks that I make a list and look at it again.

First, their main business is manufacturing shoes for adventurers. For now, they are making high-priced products for top adventurers. The Pioneer’s shoe manufacturing business produces extremely expensive items for the nobility and clergy. For now, they are only making a small number of shoes, so the burden on the production line is not that great.

This is in addition to the report writing duties for the Adventurer’s Guild. This is a job that cannot be entrusted to anyone else, so it’s something Kenji takes on personally. However, it involves collecting and understanding data about the current state of adventurers and the points that need improvement. Additionally, it’s a channel through which he can report to the higher-ups, so, even though it’s a heavy burden, it’s something he can’t let go of.

In addition to that, recently, there’s a sense that a printing business might be added. However, since there doesn’t seem to be a large reading demographic among the citizens, it’s intended to be a joint venture with the church, focused on streamlining requests for adventurers and providing an estimate guidebook for monsters.

As for manufacturing management, it’s not difficult, as they have made progress in creating manuals, and the business is simple and carried out within a visible range. He checks the daily numbers and stock, talks with the site managers, and verifies things with his own eyes. Maintaining friendly relations with the craftsmen is all that’s needed.

The problem is the sales aspect, dealing with people who outrank him. Especially when it comes to the unreasonable demands from the church, with whom Kenji seeks cooperation to expand the business. Those have often given him stomach pains.

Kenji also receives a summons from someone he cannot resist. It’s a summons from Father Nicolo.