Cliff was not the kind of man to do others favors at his own expense.
Ernest knew that recommending Trimount’s tech giants came with its own calculations.
Perhaps Cliff wanted to curry favor with someone influential, or secure early access to cutting-edge weapons, or simply take a larger cut of the profits.
Whatever his motives, Ernest had to seriously consider the suggestion.
It was undeniably tempting.
In the future, this could very well become one of Kjerag’s paths to development.
But for now, Ernest had a more urgent problem: recruiting a competent batch of administrative staff to fill out his long-empty government.
Local hiring would continue, of course, but Ernest had little hope of finding suitable talent within Kjerag.
The issue was the same as always.
Kjerag lacked the systems to train such people, and therefore lacked the people themselves.
Clerical work wasn’t like sports or mathematics, where talent alone could carry you far.
Government work was about endlessly repeating tedious tasks while skillfully applying three core abilities: deflecting blame, soothing tensions, and exploiting loopholes to navigate oversight and inspections from all directions.
As for actually getting things done, that was often outsourced.
Especially under a parliamentary system, this was the norm.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
In reality, it was anything but.
Those repetitive, monotonous tasks were the very foundation keeping society running.
The so-called three skills were merely tools for handling emergencies.
After all, a government isn’t a single entity.
It’s a web of competing interests and demands.
What might start as something trivial, like A hitting B’s dog, could be resolved with a simple apology in a household.
But within a larger system, it becomes far more complicated.
Was A acting on someone’s orders?
Who was behind A?
Who exactly was B?
What kind of dog was it?
Was there someone backing B?
Could a third party exploit the situation for gain?
And so on.
By the time a government finally sorts through all those tangled interests, allocates benefits, and gets ready to actually do something… well, surprise.
Elections.
Only then do you realize that, during the entire term, nothing much was accomplished.
Most of the time was spent smoothing things over.
One failed election later, the whole government is reshuffled, and the process starts all over again.
Of course, Ernest’s administration didn’t have to worry about any of that.
Because, quite simply, it had no one in it.
Even a civil engineering graduate had ended up working as a secretary of sorts, and her daily duties mostly consisted of hanging up Ernest’s coat and occasionally running errands for him. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
Not exactly a demanding job for the salary.
In short, anyone they could recruit would be usable.
But in Kjerag, even finding people capable of basic clerical work was a challenge.
“We’ll have to look outside,” Ernest said seriously, turning to Lara.
“Raise the salary and benefits.
Spend a bit on foreign newspapers to promote it.
Say the Kjerag government is recruiting interns.
Welcome fresh graduates to apply.
Competitive pay, and a full-time position after one year, that kind of thing.”
Lara nodded at first, but halfway through she began to look confused.
When Ernest finished, she blinked and asked,
“I understand using high salaries to attract talent, but Young Master Ernest, why interns?
And why specifically fresh graduates?”
Ernest hesitated, unsure whether to say it out loud.
After all, Lara herself had only graduated less than a year ago.
But after a moment’s thought, he decided honesty was fine among his own people.
“Because college graduates are easier to… persuade.”
“Kjerag, to be blunt, might not even compare to the countryside of Victoria or Columbia.
This so-called government office doesn’t even have a proper Originium heater.
It’s frankly a bit shabby.
Ordinary people might come for the high pay, but truly capable individuals won’t.
No matter how much I offer.”
He paused, looking at Lara with an almost disarmingly earnest expression.
“But college graduates are different.
There are plenty of undiscovered talents among them, and they lack experience.
On top of that, job markets everywhere are competitive these days.
If we sell it well and add a high salary, they might come over thinking, ‘endure hardship now to succeed later.'”
Lara looked at Ernest, then subconsciously glanced down at herself, as if something had just clicked.
She froze, her expression blank, like she had just received a profound shock.
After a long silence, she asked with mixed emotions,
“But won’t they realize something’s wrong after working for a while?
You want them to stay a year and then become full-time, but what if they just leave after that?”
This time, Ernest turned his head slightly, looking out the window, and muttered, Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“College graduates are… a renewable resource.”
Like crops.
Harvest one batch, then bring in the next.
As long as the global environment stayed the same, there would always be more.
After he said that, Lara didn’t respond for a long time.
An awkward silence filled the office.
Eventually, Ernest couldn’t take it anymore and broke the silence.
“It’s okay, Lara.
You’re different.
You’re Kjerag’s first student to study abroad.
My brother only has a business degree.
You’re the real deal, top-tier talent.
You’ve got a bright future ahead of you.”
Lara pressed her lips together and looked at him steadily.
“You don’t see me as one of those graduates, do you, Young Master Ernest?”
Ernest immediately denied it.
“Of course not.
How could I treat my own people like that?”
Lara said nothing.
She stepped forward and opened her arms.
Ernest hesitated, then gritted his teeth and stepped in, giving her a firm hug.
She held on tightly.
So tightly that Ernest felt like he was undergoing CPR.
This counts as workplace harassment, right?
Harassment of a superior, no less.
For Kjerag… I’ve sacrificed too much.
Ernest closed his eyes and quietly felt the warmth surrounding him.
After a while, Lara finally relaxed and let go.
A smile returned to her face as she gave a small bow.
“I’ll get right on it.”
Ernest nodded with a smile, watching her leave.
The moment she disappeared from view, he shivered.
Funny.
Without someone to huddle with, it suddenly felt cold again.
Six hundred million in funding… maybe the first purchase should be a heater.