"--Yeah. Think you can do that for me?"

Today we start our short, uneventful story with not an introduction, but a long-distance call made by our local Sinese. As Hargeon and Marigold seemed to be not that far apart from one another, he'd assumed it'd be easy for a couple of guys to make the trip if he asked them to. That is, assuming they were willing to do that.

"Great! Then I'll see you in a few hours then. Thank you." beep. With a high-pitched sound, the lacrima turned off. "Now then, all that's left is to check on them..."

...And man, did they need checking.

In his way to Marigold's streets, Jan has already noticed a couple of unifnished projects; construction, mostly, as he found the town's workers all displayed lazily on a bunch of wood and brick work. Simply chatting, sitting and drinking coffee. At least they were all in their worker uniforms, though showed absolutely no signs of motivation. One had to wonder what caused a loyal worker to be reduced to such a state; though from his experience, if the Water Mage had to come up with an idea, it'd be plain abuse of the conditions. These guys were paid by the hour, no matter how much work they got done.

So... How do you motivate a bunch of bums to get in gear? "--Hello." He started, straightening his figure and putting both hands behind his back; raising his head proudly and looking to the sprawled gang. Naturally, he was met with dismissal; an utter lack of care. Though thanks to a certain werewolf, he'd learned to deal with that for now.

"How's your work day going?" Despite his seemingly concerned question, the answers were anticipated beforehand. Told that all was good and that he should go tell the lord that everything was okay. Though that was not what Jan's requestee had told him to do. Now he could probably threaten them to work if push comes to shove, or suggest a strategic firing session to Lord Syllas. But that... Well, wasn't in his style much. He had devised a different plan for action.

Sitting down upon a singular wood beam, Jan took to join their company. "Mind if I sit with you?" He certainly caught them off-guard with his proposal, though not for a moment did the Sinese win their trust with his initial appearance; as expected.

For a long few hours, Jan wasted his time with the bunch. Simply getting to know them; their workdays, their quirks, their personal lives. The acting supervisor happily shared his own life experiences, sipping on some local black coffee as a way to show his trust. When offered service, allow it. A basic Sinese principle, to display respect towards another's hospitality. Though he was getting nowhere for now, stalling for time was his game plan for the while.

"Well... Guys." As several hours went by and Jan had assumed he had scored solid friendship with the workers, the Blue Pegasus wizard finally took to action; believing it has been enough time past since he took to no action. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't. But if he could get these guys moving even a little, then all is well.

"I get that working here is sort of annoying," sort of; "tedious if anything. But the town's looking bad as it is. This is your home, guys. In the end of the day, you are getting off the hook, but it's us supervisors who get chewed out later. If we could all sit down and do nothing all day, that would be perfect. But... We have to work now to rest later." As expected, once the Sinese brought up the subject, the workers' expressions turned once more, foul and dismissive. Not going to take it seriously if they had the option. "You're great, each of you. I really enjoyed our company here. And if you need any help... You can rest assured, we will gladly give it to you. But it has to be you who finish the work. That's the contract."

As he spoke, Jan could hear sounds of incoming footsteps. An unfamiliar gang stepping into the area, all dressed loosely as a bunch of punks; bearing the mark of Blue Pegasus. An assortment of newbies from Blue Pegasus, surprisingly at the ready and greeting the Sinese gladly. Seems like he was their commanding figure. "What do you guys say? Let's all work together and get through this day."

Though weak at first, seeing the outsiders work at least served to raise the construction workers' morale. By the end of the day, more has been done to finish the project than all week. And in light of this little event, the Lord had paid Jan Ren generously. At least for his efforts.

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WC: 806/500