The next morning, the atmosphere in Great Peace Village had changed.
“Everyone, assemble!”
Manseok’s booming shout rang through the courtyard.
Of the original thirty workers, ten sturdy men known for their strength had been selected and lined up in a row.
They looked bewildered, but their eyes also shone with anticipation.
The fact that Lord Choi San had summoned them separately meant there would be a special task—and special compensation.
With my hands clasped behind my back, I slowly paced before them.
“From today onward, you will no longer dig with shovels.”
“Pardon?”
The workers stirred.
What was a farmer supposed to do if he did not dig? Were they being dismissed?
“Instead, you will carry clubs.”
I signaled to Chilbok.
Chilbok dumped a pile of newly finished clubs from the smithy onto the ground.
They were specially made batons, carved from sturdy birch wood, oiled and fire-hardened to improve their durability.
They were three cheok long—about ninety centimeters. The perfect size to swing.
“W-What are these?”
Chunsik, the workers’ foreman, asked as he picked one up. Its satisfying weight settled into his hand.
“You saw it yesterday, did you not? Those rats climbing over the wall to target our rice storehouse.”
The workers’ faces hardened.
To them, the rice of Great Peace Village was life itself. They could not forgive anyone who touched their food bowl.
“More will come from now on. Hungry men, greedy men, perhaps even men carrying swords. That is why I need a fence to protect my food bowl.”
I gave Manseok’s shoulder a light pat.
“As of today, I am establishing the Iron Wall Unit. Manseok will be its captain. You ten will be its members.”
“The Iron Wall Unit? Does that mean we are becoming warriors?”
“Warriors, my ass. You are guards.”
I grinned.
“Your duties are simple. Work in two shifts and patrol the outskirts of the estate day and night. If you spot anyone suspicious, blow the whistle first. If they refuse to listen...”
I raised the hand holding a club.
“Give them a treatment. Just do not break their legs.”
The workers’ gazes changed.
They were no longer simple day laborers. They had become guards responsible for protecting the estate.
Moreover, the clubs bestowed by Lord Choi San were a form of authority.
“What about the pay?”
Everyone swallowed.
“One and a half times your current daily wage. And three meals a day with meat guaranteed.”
“Waaaaah!”
Cheers erupted.
The work was easier than digging, they would be paid more, and they would even receive meat.
Their loyalty could only burn hotter.
“Captain! We will serve you faithfully!”
Chunsik gave Manseok a salute.
Manseok rubbed his nose in embarrassment, but his shoulders had already risen proudly.
“Good. Distribute the equipment at once.”
This time, Chilbok handed out shields.
They were not grand iron shields. They were simple shields made from sturdy oak planks, reinforced and fitted with handles.
Still, they could easily block sickles and pitchforks.
“Old Man Yeonam at the smithy made them overnight. Do not carry them around just to look impressive. Use them to protect yourselves. If you get hurt, I lose money.”
I spoke coldly.
Yet the workers understood the concern hidden in those words and looked moved.
“Captain Manseok, take the men and train them. You need to move in sync with those clubs if you do not want to hurt each other.”
“Yes, Big Brother! No, my lord! Leave it to me!”
Manseok excitedly led the members toward the empty lot.
“One, two! One, two! Thrust! Block!”
Their vigorous shouts rang out.
The ragtag farmers were gradually beginning to resemble a disciplined force.
I sat on the wooden porch and watched them, then asked Chilbok, “What do you think?”
“They do look dependable, but... is this not costing too much? One and a half times their daily wage...”
Chilbok clutched the ledger to his chest with a troubled expression.
“Do not worry. Compared to the value of the rice those men will keep thieves from stealing, it is cheap.”
More importantly, this was a rehearsal.
It was the first step in raising a private force in preparation for the real enemies who would one day come.
***
That night.
Just as expected, visitors arrived.
Rumors had spread that thieves were caught yesterday, but men blinded by hunger could not hear such warnings.
No, an absurd rumor that “the thieves were caught and fed” had become distorted and attracted even more flies.
“There. They say it is a land of rice once we get over that wall.”
In the bamboo grove behind the estate, five or six shadows approached under cover of darkness.
This group looked worse than the last. Instead of sickles, they carried rusty swords and axes. They seemed to be low-ranking bandits from a nearby mountain stronghold, or ruffians driven out of a village.
“There are not even any dogs barking. Their security is lax.”
The man who appeared to be their leader grinned wickedly and propped a ladder against the wall.
They did not know that it was not because there were no dogs.
Something more frightening than dogs was waiting for them.
“Climb.”
One lackey climbed the ladder and raised his head over the wall.
PHEEEEEEET—!
The shrill sound of a whistle tore through the night air.
“W-What is that?!”
The lackey panicked.
THUD!
Something heavy flew from the darkness and slammed into his shoulder.
“Agh!”
The lackey screamed and fell from the ladder.
“An enemy raid! Catch them!”
With Manseok’s roar, the ambushing members of the Iron Wall Unit rushed out.
They carried torches.
In an instant, the bamboo grove became as bright as day.
“W-What is this?!”
The thieves froze.
Before them stood ten burly men.
A shield in one hand, a club in the other. They wore matching black quilted clothes.
They resembled a legion of grim reapers rising from hell.
“Surround them!”
At Manseok’s command, the unit formed a semicircle around the thieves.
They moved exactly as they had trained. Rather than charging in recklessly, they advanced with shields raised, cutting off every escape route.
“M-Move aside! I have a sword!”
The leader swung his rusty sword through the air.
But Manseok merely snorted.
“A sword? That is a sword? A taffy seller’s scissors would be sharper than that.”
Manseok strode forward.
Terrified, the leader thrust his sword at him.
CLANG!
Manseok easily blocked it with his shield.
Then he immediately swung his club.
WHOOSH—!
The sound of it cutting through the air rang out.
CRACK!
It struck the leader squarely on the wrist.
“Aaaagh!”
The sword fell weakly to the ground.
The leader rolled around, clutching his wrist.
The fight ended anticlimactically.
Once Manseok subdued the leader, the other lackeys lost their will to fight and threw down their weapons.
“Arrest them all! Tie them up like strings of dried fish!”
Chunsik and the unit members rushed forward and bound the thieves with rope.
They moved so quickly and skillfully that they looked like guards who had trained together for years.
The situation was over.
It had not even taken five minutes.
I arrived at the scene carrying a lantern.
Six thieves knelt on the ground.
The members of the Iron Wall Unit looked down at them proudly.
“Good work. Is anyone hurt?”
“Not a hair on us, Big Brother!”
Manseok gave me a thumbs-up.
I nodded in satisfaction.
This was the power of the system.
“Now then, what should we do with these men...?”
I looked down at the thieves.
Their leader groaned with a broken wrist, while the rest trembled.
“Please spare us! We have committed crimes deserving death!”
“We will never come again!”
Their voices were utterly pathetic.
But I knew that if I simply let them go, they would return.
Or they would go steal from another village.
“Chilbok.”
“Yes.”
“Are we not short on hands for the stone ice storehouse construction?”
“We are. Hauling ice is not ordinary work. People keep running away, saying it is too difficult.”
“Excellent. There are six healthy men right here.”
At my words, the thieves’ eyes widened.
They expected to be dragged to the magistrate’s office or killed. They had not expected to be called laborers.
“I will give you a choice.”
I crouched and met the leader’s gaze.
“Would you rather go to the magistrate’s office, receive a hundred strokes, and rot in prison? Or work here?”
“I-I will work! I will definitely work!”
The leader immediately bowed low.
“It will not be free. You must pay for the crime you tried to commit.”
I held up three fingers.
“Three years.”
“Pardon?”
“Live and work here for three years. If you run away, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth. But...”
I paused.
“You will be fed. White rice and meat soup. And if you complete three years, I will give you enough money to start anew.”
The thieves looked at each other.
Was this punishment? Or a reward?
The outside world was hell. Skipping meals had become as routine as eating them.
Yet this place was supposedly a prison that provided white rice and meat soup.
They would even receive money after three years.
“M-My lord... Is that true? You will really give us meat soup?”
One of the lackeys asked as he swallowed.
“I do not lie. Look over there.”
I pointed to a member of the Iron Wall Unit.
“That man was beaten and captured by me at first, too. Now he works well, does he not?”
He was one of the thieves caught the day before, now being trained under Manseok.
The thieves’ eyes wavered.
Not with fear, but hope.
“We will serve you faithfully! Just give us orders! We will even carry dung buckets!”
The leader pressed his forehead to the ground.
The others followed suit.
The situation had taken a strange turn.
I caught thieves but gained loyal slaves(?).
This was the Great Peace Village method of rehabilitation.
Food treatment was even more powerful than financial treatment.
“Good. Chilbok, take them away, wash them, and give them food. Put them to work at the ice storehouse starting tomorrow.”
“Yes, Big Brother. Ah, where should they sleep?”
“There is a shed beside the storehouse. Repair it and let them use it. Lock the door from the outside so they cannot run away.”
“Understood.”
The thieves were dragged away under the Iron Wall Unit’s watch.
Yet strangely, their retreating backs seemed filled with relief.
“Big Brother, at this rate, will we not gather every thief in the country?”
Manseok asked with a grin as he collected his club.
“Not a bad thing. Strong, gutsy men are the easiest to put to work as long as you feed them.”
I looked up at the night sky.
The stars shone especially brightly.
This incident brought great changes to Great Peace Village.
First, it established the Iron Wall Unit’s status. The workers now came to see themselves as the owners protecting the estate.
Second, as word spread that “Great Peace Village makes even criminals repay their sins with food,” more people came asking for work instead of blindly trying to steal.
***
Several days passed.
The stone ice storehouse construction site had become a human ant hell.
Hundreds of laborers carried ice like swarms of ants.
The former-thief group worked harder than anyone else.
“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!”
The leader whose wrist had been broken pushed a cart with one hand.
His face was drenched in sweat, but his eyes were alive.
One bowl of gukbap served at lunchtime.
After tasting it, every thought of running away vanished.
“Hey, Mister Kim! Pull the rope harder!”
A thief captured several days earlier was even acting as a foreman, directing them.
They were thoroughly disciplined.
Watching from the hill, I asked Siyeol, “How much ice have we stored?”
“Eighty percent. At this pace, we will finish within three days.”
Siyeol reported as he turned the pages of the ledger.
“What about labor costs?”
“They are somewhat higher than projected because the number of workers increased. But work efficiency improved, so the total construction cost has fallen.”
“Good. Do not skimp on food.”
I smiled.
This place was a gigantic furnace.
Thieves, beggars, ruffians, fallen nobles...
Once they entered this furnace, they were all reborn as workers of Great Peace Village.
Its fuel was rice and hope.
“But, Master...”
Siyeol asked cautiously.
“What is it?”
“The atmosphere in the town is troubling.”
“The town?”
“Yes. Bad rumors are spreading among the local ruffians. They say we are taking all the labor from their territory and even absorbing thieves. There is talk that they will soon come here in force.”
The last group had been little better than petty thieves, but this time, perhaps it was a genuinely organized group.
Could it be the Black Bear Gang, the men colluding with the Kimju magistrate’s office clerk and taking bribes?
“Let them come.”
I snorted.
“I was just thinking I would need people to carry dung buckets once we finish filling the ice storehouse.”
“Pardon?”
“We need to expand the compost yard. It stinks and is hard work, so nobody wants to do it. Those bastards would be perfect for it.”
Siyeol clicked his tongue.
When enemies came, this man did not fear them. He first thought about where to put them to work.
“Tell Manseok to intensify the Iron Wall Unit’s training. And...”
I looked toward the smithy.
“Tell Old Man Yeonam, too. It is time to bring that out.”
“That would be...?”
“Our secret weapon.”
Simple clubs might not be enough.
If the enemy outnumbered us, we needed to instill fear in them.
A secret weapon that had been secretly made deep within the smithy.
It was time for a field test.
The wind was cold, but I did not feel cold at all.
Instead, my blood seemed to boil.
Winter in Great Peace Village continued to burn hot without pause.