Herald of Steel

Mean’s little ignorance reminded Alexander of the importance of identity and specifically identity cards.

And so he decided to make each of the slaves and servants and even the palace guards wear name tags.

Thus he informed to Mean, “I have decided to add something to the uniforms.”

And added, “Each of the uniforms must have an extra piece of cloth attached to them, On that cloth, sewn will be the wearer’s name and the name of his or her immediate superior.”

And further added, “And from next Sunday, there must be a roll call for all the staff at the start of every shift in the morning and another one at the end of the shift in the evening. And anyone late or absent must show appropriate cause or receive the appropriate punishments like pay docks, reduced meals, more work hours or in the most severe case imprisonment and even death.”

Alexander gave a large number of instructions that Mean had a hard time keeping up with.

So, Alexander asked for a piece of papyrus and wrote everything down marked using bullet points, while giving Mean another additional task, “I also want you to make a primary list of common mistakes a staff makes, and the kind of punishments each of the infractions should have. Submit it to me for review on the first of December.”

“I…I will see it done,” Mean said with a slow, heavy nod, the amount of work and responsibility on her slowly beginning to dawn.

“Haha, Mean thought she could just boss around the servants all day and have it easy. Hahaha,” Cambyses who knew the petite girl very well laughed at her ‘misfortune’, which made Mean let out a shy smile after having her secret exposed.

Alexander too let out a small smile as he turned to Mean and patted her shoulder. “We are entrusting the managing of this house to you. It will not be easy and you will have your job cut out for you. But I believe in you.”

Alexander looked Mean straight in the eye as he said this, causing the petite girl to flush and turn her head away in shyness.

“Awww, look what you did Alex. You made little Mean blush, hehe,” Cambyses teasing caused Mean to blush even more furiously.

“Congratulations, sister. We will be depending on you!” Ophenia was the first to applaud Mean on her new responsibility.

Followed by Gelene, “Haha, with sister Mean’s diligence, we can all eat our meals in safety.”

“Hehe, Mean don’t let some servant kill me under your watch,” Cambyses giggled, she being the only one who would talk to Mean like that.

But one word said by Cambyses made Alexander remember something.

So clearing his throat with an, “Ahem”, he drew attention toward himself, “Please note that the House of Alexander will not call the people it employs slaves or servants. I detest those words.”

Alexander had a stern tone to his voice and it didn’t take a genius why he felt that way.

“You want us to call them staff?” Cambyses cleverly made the connection.

“Yes.” Alexander nodded, saying, “As part of my house, it is my wish that you will address all that work for us as staff. The slaves will be called bound staff and the regular people just staff.”

“Haha, master already treats us slaves better than those princesses staying in the manor. Anyone able to work under him as the luck of ten lifetimes,” Gelene flattered.

“Yes, only someone as kind as him is fit to call himself blessed by the gods. What Ptolomy or Amenheraft?” Alexander for the first time saw what a haughty and disdainful Ophenia looked like.

“We have no problem with it,” Cambyses, as the leader gave her consent, representing all others.

“Good,” Alexander nodded with a smile.

Then formally declared, “From today onward, Mean will have the title of ‘Chief of Staff’, This post will earn her a yearly salary of ten thousand ropals (10,000) ropals.”

“For this, her responsibilities will include managing the staff employed in the house and ensuring the hospitality of its inhabitants, from food, to clean clothes, to proper bedding and all other house-related activities.”

Given the average peasant made only two thousand ropals a year for his entire family, the salary offered by Alexander was very large, especially when considering Mean would have basically no living expenses, as not just her food and shelter, but even her clothing, medicine and transportation would be born by Alexander.

The ten thousand ropal was just an ‘extra.’

Hearing the large monetary reward, instead of jumping for joy, Mean stammered a little, “Th…that. I can do all the work without the money.”

Then as if she had finished convincing herself, Mean vigorously nodded her head as she repeated, “Yes, that’s right. Everything I could ever ask for is given to me even before I open my mouth. I know that money is tight for us now, so…really I don’t need it.”

Although Mean made some good arguments, Alexander would not rescind it.

“We don’t make anyone work without pay. That’s not how we do things,” Alexander unequivocally stated.

Then added, “Don’t underestimate us too much. Although coin is somewhat short right now, but this small amount of money is not enough to make or break us,” He brushed off Mean’s economic concerns.

Then reasoned, “And it’s always nice to have some spending money with oneself. You will have hundreds of staff under you. And there will be occasions where you will want to reward some of them for a job well done. Then you might feel inconvenienced to ask me or Cambyses for money. So it’s better that you have some of it.”

Alexander made some very solid points, but even after hearing them, Mean was reluctant, feeling the money was too large for her to accept.

Until Cambyses stepped in.

“Mean, just accept it. Think of it as Alexander’s dowry to you,” She joked causing the short girl to flush a bit.

‘Mistress bullies me too,’ Mean shyly complained in her heart, while also thinking, ‘And it’s a girl who pays the dowry.’

But she did not have the guts to correct her mistress nor did she want to resist Cambyse’s suggestion.

So, with a lowered head, she cutely nodded, “Okay.”

“*Clap*, *clap*, *clap*.”

Seeing Mean assent to her new post and pay, first Ophenia and then all others again congratulated Mean on her new post.

“Thank you, I will do my best.” Receiving their adoration, Mean promised them.

While in her heart the tsundere considered, ‘Hmm, Alex isn’t too bad a man. Maybe being with him wouldn’t be too bad.’

This was because what Alexander had given her was not such empty promises or honeyed words, but money and power.

The money was actually secondary.

Because the ten thousand ropals (10,000) though large in number was not even worth mentioning in front of Mean’s real prize, actual tangible power.

Alexander had given her dominion over the house, letting her rule the thirty thousand (30,000) square feet, more than a thousand-room palace, with hundreds of men and women at her beck and call.

From today she would be their master, their judge, jury, and executioner, and the feeling of having such power at one’s fingertips, such control over another’s life and ability to employ such power till the day she died, made Mean’s heart throb to high heavens.

And this was not even her greatest gain.

Because by making her oversee his food security, more importantly, Alexander had displayed just how much he trusted Mean.

And by extension, by giving her such a critical job, he had made Mean someone he couldn’t piss off in fear of retaliation.

Such trust and reliance by the master of the house, no, the master of the city was something priceless.

Who needs coin if they were friends with the guys who literally has the power to mint coin?

After Alexander said finished his congratulations, he was about to move on, when Cambyses suddenly in a teasing tone reminded, “Alex, aren’t you forgetting something?”

‘Forget? I don’t think so,’ Alexander said to himself.

“What?” He asked curiously.

“You once asked about that mama’s name, remember?” Cambyses showed off her good memory.

“Ohhh, right! I had completely forgotten about that!” Alexander exclaimed at his forgetfulness.

Then he quickly turned to Mean and said, “Remember to get me that woman’s name by tomorrow. She’s very diligent in her work and has sharp eyes.” .

“I will ask Junicus about her. He is bound to know her,” Mean said with a nod.

“Umm,” Alexander hummed a reply of approval.

And then said, “Also, make sure to employ her in the small kitchen once it’s built.”

“Okay, I’ll employ her as a guard then. She’s got sharp eyes, and the courage she displayed when she was willing to confront an unknown intruder even bare-handed is very admirable.” Mean took her own initiative.

“Um…I will write a letter of excellence about her and you will read it aloud to all the servants. This will help motivate others to work harder.” Alexander finished by saying this.