Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 105 needs extra money!

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"...Article Seven: Human society lacks a spirit of contract, employers are always cunning and stingy, and over time, human workers also become slippery."

"They will seize every opportunity to demand higher wages and better treatment, otherwise they will make excuses and deliberately miss work."

"When you encounter this situation, you must remember to divide them and prevent the workers from forming a united front. If a leader emerges, try to win him over if possible, and if not, get rid of him as soon as possible. You must never tolerate the existence of troublemakers."

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Thanks to the workers' efforts, the scaffolding has been erected, and several carpenters are building the skeleton of the fake golem under the guidance of blueprints and Gebu.

They set up a carpentry platform, shaped the hardwood into suitable forms, inserted them into the prefabricated components that make up the joints, and then used gears and lifting devices to erect the frame in the scaffolding, securing it with ropes and building it up little by little.

"Splash—"

Birds flew through the woods, scattering leaves.

The old carpenter, standing on the scaffolding, was so dizzy from the sun that he was startled, his foot slipped, his body tilted, and he was about to fall!

"Ouch!" The young laborer next to him reacted quickly and grabbed the old carpenter's belt. Gebu, who was supervising below, reacted quickly and used a wizard's hand to help the young laborer pull the old carpenter up.

The old carpenter broke out in a cold sweat, his face turning pale and then red. Dozens of eyes were staring at him. Feeling embarrassed, he put the hammer down on the scaffold and tumbled off.

"What's wrong? Thirsty again?" Gebu saw that the old carpenter had stopped working again, so he quickly caught up with him.

"I can't do it anymore!"

"What's wrong?"

The old man hesitated for a long time, then his eyes darted around, and he deliberately shouted loudly:

"There's...there's a monster, a manticore! Yes, I saw a manticore!"

Upon hearing the words "mantis lion," more than a dozen workers simultaneously put down what they were doing.

"The manticore is here?!"

"Obak, I shouldn't have come here to earn this money!"

"You really saw a manticore?!"

Seeing that something was wrong, Gebu quickly shouted:

"Stop making a scene! Where did this manticore come from!"

Seeing that someone was chiming in, the old man added fuel to the fire, saying, "I'm standing on higher ground, I saw it! It's over there in the woods, waiting to eat people!"

"I saw it too! It's huge! It's flying this way!"

"Oppa's Buck!"

"You can't work anymore, let's go!"

"I'll go fetch the donkey!"

Several workers jumped down from the scaffolding and ran towards the donkey cart. The remaining people looked around in panic, trembling with fear even as a gust of wind blew by.

"That old man! He's infuriating!" Gebu glared fiercely at the old carpenter. The man, with a smug old face, stood with his hands on his hips, watching Gebu's reaction.

"Don't wander off! I'm telling you, what you're building is a statue of the god Obak—something blessed by the gods! Didn't you hear what Father Usa said? The gods only punish those who are disrespectful. If you finish building this statue, nothing will happen, but if you run away halfway through, the gods will be angry… Think about the consequences!"

This shout temporarily calmed the workers. But the old carpenter wasn't about to give up easily; he deliberately shouted:

"When we took this job, we didn't mention being exposed to the manticore's eyes. I thought it was on the edge of town, but you dragged us to this desolate wilderness, risking our lives—no way, we need more money!"

"Hey! Trying to raise prices on the spot, huh!" Gebu was furious, though he didn't show it on his face.

Upon hearing that they could get extra money, the workers started arguing again, all talking at once.

"That's right, two silver coins aren't enough for us to risk our lives."

"At least five silver coins."

"Five silver coins? I wouldn't even consider five gold coins enough," the old carpenter said, looking at Gebu provocatively.

For a moment, Gebu felt that all the workers were on the old carpenter's side.

What should we do? We can't just kick this old man out... He's our only worker, and we're counting on him to do the work.

Adding a little money isn't out of the question; Gebu is prepared for that. But he can't negotiate with a dozen people at once... one after another, and the price will skyrocket.

"Well then, it's lunchtime now. You can discuss it and then send someone to tell me... Remember, you are serving the gods. He sees everything you do, so you can't go too far."

"Obak above. We work with our own hands and earn our money through hard work. How can you say that's excessive?" The old carpenter said to Geb with a smug smirk as he saw that his scheme had worked.

The halfling ignored him. The workers packed up their tools and went to eat their dry rations, chattering amongst themselves. Gebu secretly watched them with his large eyes, overhearing the workers' scheme.

The workers demanded several times more money. But to be honest, considering the overall project cost, it wasn't much—money wasn't the main issue; it was their frustration.

This morning, Gebu was threatened by the woman with a knife. Although he turned around and recruited her into his group, he still harbored resentment and was now going to vent it on the workers.

His eyes lit up, and a little plan popped into his head...

Half an hour later, the workers had finished their discussion, and the old carpenter came over to negotiate on their behalf. The two walked a few steps away and went behind a tree.

"Ten laborers, their wages increased from 2 silver coins to 1 gold coin; five unskilled carpenters, their wages increased from 1 gold coin to 4 gold coins; and the master carpenter, that is, me, increased from 5 gold coins to 10 gold coins. In total..."

"50 gold coins," Gebu said quickly. "That's several times more! You're not keeping your word!"

"How can you talk like that, halfling?" the old man said, somewhat displeased. "You can just talk your way out of here, but if the manticore really comes, it won't even see you. We people standing on the scaffolding have nowhere to run, and if they catch us, they'll catch us! I'm telling you, if you don't pay me, I'll go back and spread the word, and no one will come to work for you anymore."

"Stop talking about manticores... You didn't even see a manticore, and that thing wouldn't be this close to town."

"Are you saying I'm lying?" the old man said angrily.

Geb looked around and lowered his voice.

"To be honest, old man, 50 gold coins is too much. If you're going to ask for that price, I might as well not build this statue."

Geb continued:

"Here's what I'll give you: 30 gold coins. Give each of the laborers a raise of 3 silver coins, so that's 5 gold coins for 10 people. Give each of the carpenters and apprentices a raise of 6 silver coins, so that's 8 gold coins for 5 people. You can keep the rest for yourself."

The old man was stunned, then quickly calculated. He could take 17 gold coins, more than the asking price.

"this……"

"The laborers have received 1.5 times their original wages, and the carpenters and apprentices have received double that... What's there to complain about? How you persuade them with your words is your own business."

Gebu spoke slowly, a smug look on his face. Seeing the old man's hesitant expression, Gebu knew he'd fallen for his trap. He quickly added:

"But there's one thing: you have to finish building this statue as soon as possible. One carpenter hasn't arrived yet, and I can't afford to delay the progress, understand?"

"I……"

"Hurry up, do you want it or not?" Gebu took out thirty gold coins from his pocket, showed them to the old carpenter, then put them in a money bag and held them in his palm.

The old carpenter looked very conflicted, his eyes shifting between the money bag and his companion...

Gebu pulled his hand in slightly, and the old carpenter reacted instantly, reaching out to grab the money bag and pulling it into his arms!

"make a deal!"

Then turn around and leave!