Chapter 40: Doubles
“True,” Tara said calmly with her eyes closed. “Blackstone has the location and the equipment needed to mine the salt.”
Then she opened her eyes.
“But no,” she continued firmly. “Blackstone has no intention of monopolizing the salt mine.”
The other chiefs immediately frowned in confusion. Naturally. If it were their village controlling the salt mine, they would have monopolized it without even discussing it first.
“Instead,” Tara leaned forward slightly, “I’m thinking of placing the mining and distribution under the collective watch of all of us.”
The chiefs began glancing at one another.
“…Explain,” Cynthia said while folding her arms.
“Sigh…” Tara rubbed her forehead. “It’s time to put an end to all this bitching about who owns what, why one village gets priority, why another village works harder, why this and that.”
She grabbed her drink, took a long gulp, then stared directly at the gathered chiefs.
“Blackstone will give up sole ownership of the salt mine and place it under the authority of the chiefs council,”
She declared confidently.
“This will become the first cornerstone of turning us into a single government instead of nine villages constantly pulling in different directions.”
The entire tent immediately erupted into loud murmurs.
Several chiefs looked genuinely stunned. Others narrowed their eyes suspiciously, clearly trying to figure out where the trap was.
“So?!” Tara suddenly slammed the table hard enough to shake the mugs. “Does anyone object?”
The murmurs died instantly as the chiefs fell silent for several long seconds.
“…I have none,” Drak answered first.
“…Same here,” Cynthia followed.
One by one, the remaining chiefs gave their approval.
“Good,” Tara nodded. “Then let’s start discussing how we’ll manage the salt mine and how this salt currency will actually work.”
And with that, the Grassland Alliance officially began building its currency system.
A system that would make people willingly work. Not for the alliance, not for their village, but for themselves.
A salary structure that would slowly force everyone into following the system and protecting it. And naturally, each chief would make sure their own people obeyed the rules properly. Especially since the chiefs themselves received the largest salary.
In the end, Theo solved the assimilation and cultural shock problem by introducing the very same thing that had kept his old world running for centuries.
Capitalism.
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Stone Ravine – Twenty Days Later
After everyone agreed to use salt as currency, the council immediately began discussing the salt currency biggest question. How much salt was a job actually worth?
The discussion was a complete disaster.
The chiefs spent the entire first day arguing over their own salaries as village chiefs.
And on the second day, they began discussing an even bigger problem: everyone else’s salary.
At first, the council thought they had found a simple solution. One day of work would equal one ladle of salt. It sounded fair after all.
Well, no, it absolutely wasn’t.
When the plan was announced, the woodworkers complained why the tanners received the same amount despite working harder. The hunters complained why the soldiers earned the same pay even when the soldiers spent the entire day standing around without killing anything.
And then the craftsmen started arguing with the laborers, then the laborers started arguing with the builders, then the builders started arguing with the hunters. And so on.
So the council revised the system. Harder work would receive more salt than easier work. That should solve the problem, right?
Wrong again.
Many people then began to think about avoiding the harder work. After all, a salary paid in salt was still a new concept to them, and it wasn’t that alluring.
The moment the council solved one complaint, three new complaints immediately appeared to replace it.
Even Theo turned out to be almost useless here.
His modern brain knew how much a cup of coffee cost in dollars. But when someone asked him how many ladles of salt should fairly compensate six hours of scraping animal hides?
His brain completely froze. He can only wonder of how the hell did humans even invent economies in the first place?
Theo had created the concept of salt currency, sure. But the actual execution? He didn’t know shit.
Modern education back on Earth taught economic theories, inflation charts, and market systems. It didn’t even teach students how to actually make money properly, which was why Theo ended up figuring that part out himself by building a scam business.
And it definitely didn’t teach him how to build an economy from absolute zero using salt, exhausted workers, and village chiefs constantly trying to out-negotiate each other.
And yet, despite the enormous economic disaster slowly forming inside the Grassland Alliance before an economy even properly started…
Theo was currently in an unusually good mood.
He sat on a rock near the edge of the ravine overlooking the now-operational salt mine, quietly humming to himself with Bianca sprawled lazily beside him.
Workers below can be seen moved everywhere across the site. Some stood along the wooden troughs with rakes, skimming away the brine water. Others walked carefully between the glittering evaporation pools, dragging long wooden squeegees through the thick saltwater to keep the crystals forming evenly.
And in the middle of all that organized labor, Archie could be seen stomping back and forth near the Archimedes screw while aggressively lecturing the workers operating it. The massive screw kept turning steadily, pulling muddy brine upward before pouring it into an open trough in a continuous stream.
Theo could barely hear the words from this distance, but judging from Archie’s arm gestures, at least three workers were probably being called idiots right now.
But none of that was why Theo looked so happy as his attention stayed locked on the invisible status window floating before him.
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[ GENERAL INFORMATION ]
Name : Theo Poliznev
Title : Blackstone Vice-chief, Grassland Alliance Advisor
Class : Necromancer
Level : 2
EXP : 1998 / 2000
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[ CORE STATS ]
HP : 110 / 110
MP : 85 / 85
Stamina : 54 / 60
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“Humm hmm hmm~” Theo kept humming to himself happily.
“Well now, what’s got you this cheerful, boss?” David’s voice suddenly came from behind him.
Theo turned and saw David approaching together with Erika and Roper.
The moment Bianca saw Roper, her tail immediately started wagging wildly. Roper reacted the same way and instantly charged toward her. The two canines immediately began roughhousing together despite the size difference being completely ridiculous.
Roper looked like an excited puppy, Bianca looked like the thing that ate puppies.
“Ah, I’m waiting for a level up,” Theo replied cheerfully. “1998 outta 2000. Just a little more.”
“Well I’ll be damned, more good news already,” David muttered with a grin. “I just got back yesterday and somehow this whole place changed again.”
He looked down toward the salt mine.
“That Archimedes screw sure is somethin else,” he continued. “Back in my day, movin that much water meant pure muscle. Dozens o’ men. Sometimes hundreds.”
“Yeah,” Theo nodded. “Even back on Earth in my time, versions of those things were still being used. Gotta admit, Archie really is something else.”
“But why does he always look offended whenever we call it Archimedes screw?” Erika asked.
“Dunno,” Theo shrugged. “Maybe because somebody after his death named it that way instead of whatever he named it.”
He then looked back toward David.
“So, how was the new pack of hounds?” Theo asked.
“All eleven are already separated inside the enclosure,” David replied while hooking a thumb toward the opposite side of the ravine where the demon hound enclosure was.
“Tomorrow we’ll start pattern trainin with ‘em,” he continued.
“Great,” Theo muttered with satisfaction. “Those things are gonna be a massive addition for us.”
Then—
TING
“Oh?” Theo’s eyes widened instantly. “Finally!”
He immediately reopened his status window excitedly.
“One of our people must have doing something good, hahaha!”
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[ GENERAL INFORMATION ]
Name : Theo Poliznev
Title : Blackstone Vice-chief, Grassland Alliance Advisor
Class : Necromancer
Level : 3
EXP : 0001 / 4000
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[ CORE STATS ]
HP : 120 / 120
MP : 95 / 95
Stamina : 54 / 62
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“HELL YEAH!” Theo shouted. “0001 outta 4000!”
“I wonder what kind of weirdo you’ll summon this time,” Erika muttered.
“Let’s see what my system unlocked now,” Theo grinned while rapidly pressing through the floating menus. “Oh? Governance branch?”
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[ BRANCH : 🏛️ GOVERNANCE ]
"Rule with those who once shaped nations."
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[ ERA : AGE OF ORIGINS ]
[ AVAILABLE ASSETS ]
→ Solon
Role : Lawmaker
Specialty : Stability increase, reform systems
Information : He who reshaped a broken city by convincing the powerful
Requirement : Lv. 3
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→ (???)
Role : (???)
Specialty : Social harmony, loyalty structuring
Information : He who taught order not through law, but through roles.
Requirement : Lv. 7
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→ (???)
Role : (???)
Specialty : Centralization, rapid unification
Information: He who unified not by persuation, but by making resistance impossible
Requirement : Lv. 17
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Theo rubbed his chin slowly.
“Solon...” he muttered.
“Who’s that?” Erika asked curiously. “What did he make?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Theo admitted. “Either I forgot him, or I straight-up never heard about him before.”
But Theo quickly became cheerful again.
“But honestly, it doesn’t matter,” he said confidently. “This system of mine clearly only prepares great summons no matter how insane they are. Now I just need to find a fresh body.”
“I hope this one is even crazier than Archie,” Erika laughed. “I actually enjoyed watching you become Archie’s prisoner back then, hahaha.”
Theo immediately shot her an annoyed glare.
“Uh... y’all do realize I’m also one of the summons, right?” David muttered.
“Sorryyy~” Theo and Erika replied together.
David could only sigh.
“Anyway, there’s somethin I’ve been wonderin,” David continued. “Back when you were level two, you said the EXP cap was 2000. Now at level three, it became 4000?”
“Oh! Oh! I understand the math now!” Erika suddenly chimed in excitedly. “That means every time Theo levels up, the EXP requirement doubles!”
“Well I’ll be, Miss Erika,” David replied with a grin. “Looks like you actually can improve at math after all.”
“I’ve always been a smart girl, you know,” Erika replied proudly.
Then her expression slowly stiffened.
“…Hey.” She narrowed her eyes at David. “What do you mean ‘actually can’?”
David immediately looked away.
“David...” Erika’s voice dropped dangerously. “Are you trying to say I’m stupid now too?!”
“N-now hold on there, ma’am, I didn’t say—”
“YOU’RE BECOMING A JERK LIKE THEO TOO!”
Erika immediately started smacking David’s halfling’s body while David laughed and tried to block her attacks.
Roper instantly got excited and began jumping around them barking wildly. Bianca joined in a second later, happily circling the group despite being large enough to accidentally kill someone just by playing too hard.
The atmosphere on top of the hill quickly turned noisy and cheerful. Everyone looked relaxed and happy.
Everyone, except Theo.
Theo remained completely still on top of the rock, staring blankly at his status window as his mind kept replaying what David and Erika had just said. The EXP cap doubles every level.
Doubles... Doesn’t that mean the requirement would become completely monstrous later on?
Theo froze, dumbfounded.