11: Chapter 11 Magician, Please Sign for Your First KPI

All of this far exceeded his decades of experience serving nobles, leaving him with a profound sense of unfamiliarity and dread from the depths of his soul.

He looked at Levi's young yet terrifyingly calm profile, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty, and finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been lingering in his heart for a long time: "Young Master... what, what exactly do you want to do?"

Levi turned his head, his gaze falling on the old butler's face, a mix of awe, confusion, and terror.

He didn't answer directly, because any explanation would seem hollow at this moment.

Action, only action was the most powerful declaration.

He simply said indifferently: "Klaus, clear out my study; it will be the temporary conference room from now on. Also, have Evelyn notify Sophia and Morey. In ten minutes, in the castle hall, we will hold Blackstone Territory's first 'Project Kick-off Meeting'."

"Project... Kick-off Meeting?" Klaus was once again stunned by this unfamiliar term, but he had learned not to question further. He bowed in assent and quickly departed.

Ten minutes later, in the castle's dusty, echoing hall, a long wooden table dragged from the storeroom was wiped clean and placed in the center.

On the table, several pine-scented torches crackled in iron holders on the walls, casting four extremely long shadows on the mottled stone walls.

Levi sat at the head of the table. Before him, Klaus, Sophia, Morey, and Evelyn stood stiffly, their expressions varied.

Klaus still wore an expression of respect mixed with scrutiny; Sophia, due to her recent appointment, seemed a bit excited, her taut body filled with drive; Evelyn was as quiet as ever, but her violet eyes flickered in the torchlight, as if observing and recording everything.

Only Morey, the middle-aged mage who had just been appointed "Provisional Director of the Magic Laboratory," had a face full of resistance and incomprehension.

He was a down-and-out mage, pursued by enemies and with nowhere else to go, who had drifted to Blackstone Territory. He originally just wanted to find a place to eke out an existence. He still felt that Levi's use of chemical weapon-like powder to defeat Barak was a double blasphemy against both magic and a warrior's honor.

The entrance to the hall, moreover, was crowded with a dense mass of people.

Whether they were newly identified refugees or the disarmed, dejected bandit captives, everyone craned their necks, stood on tiptoes, and held their breath, peering inside.

They didn't understand what a "Project Kick-off Meeting" was, but their simple intuition told them that this mysterious meeting, held in the torchlight, would determine each of their fates—whether they would eat meat stew or gnaw on rocks.

Levi's gaze swept over the faces of the four "department heads" one by one. Finally, he unfurled a large sketch of the territory, drawn with charcoal on animal hide, onto the table with a rustle.

Simple lines outlined the mountains, forests, rivers, and the long-abandoned quarry surrounding Blackstone Ridge.

His finger pointed to the center of the map, at the lonely castle.

"Gentlemen," his voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly in the silent hall, "welcome to the 'Blackstone Territory Revival Plan Phase One' kick-off meeting."

He ignored the blank expressions on everyone's faces and immediately began assigning tasks, his tone identical to how he used to assign work to his subordinates in a conference room in his previous life: calm, decisive, and allowing no room for argument.

"Klaus," he looked at the old butler, "from now on, you are the 'Chief of Logistics and Finance.' Your tasks are threefold: first, inventory all spoils of war and castle stock, and establish a material ledger; second, calculate the human resources, food, and tool costs required for all engineering projects; third, ensure all material disbursements are recorded and traceable. I want to see a detailed report by sunset tomorrow."

Klaus was stunned for a moment, then bowed deeply: "As you command, Young Master." Although these tasks were tedious, they were still within his scope of understanding.

Next, Levi's gaze turned to Sophia.

The girl immediately straightened her back, like a javelin ready to be unsheathed at any moment.

"Sophia, you are appointed 'Director of the Production and Construction Corps.' Your authority is extensive; all daily management of captives, labor discipline, and task assignments are your responsibility. Your KPI is also clear: ensure daily output from the quarry and logging camp meets standards, and ensure the progress of all infrastructure projects. Your subordinates are wolves, not sheep; how to manage them well is the first problem you need to solve."

"Yes, sir!" Sophia responded without hesitation, her eyes burning with the fire of being entrusted with a great responsibility.

Managing a group of unruly bandits, this challenge gave her immense pressure, but also ignited the stubborn determination in her bones.

"Evelyn." Levi looked at the half-succubus. "Your position is 'Minister of Human Resources and Supervision.' It sounds complex, but the work content is simple. First, based on the framework I set, refine the work-point reward and punishment regulations for all positions and publicize them; second, your people must be like shadows, spread throughout all work areas, supervise the implementation of the regulations, record everyone's performance, and report directly to me. Remember, I need absolute fairness and absolute efficiency."

Evelyn bowed slightly, a faint curve on her lips, and softly replied: "As you wish, my master." This task, for her, was perfectly suited to her expertise.

Finally, everyone's gaze focused on Morey.

Levi looked at him, his tone becoming unprecedentedly serious: "Morey, your task is the core of this plan. I need you to lead a few apprentices and, within three days, mass-produce fifty wooden shields enchanted with 'Fortification Technique' for the newly established guard team."

He paused, then added the most crucial sentence: "And, in this process, formulate a standardized enchanting procedure that can be learned and replicated by ordinary people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Morey's face instantly flushed, as if he had heard the world's biggest joke, or received the most severe insult.

"Lord!" He finally couldn't help but speak, his voice somewhat sharp with excitement, "Are you joking? Enchanting is a sacred and precise art! It relies on the caster's years of meditation, exquisite control over magic, and unique talent! Every rune carving, every magic channeling, is full of variables! How can it be 'standardized'? Let alone allowing ordinary people to 'mass-produce'! This... this is blasphemy against magic!"

His strong reaction was within Levi's expectations.

He did not argue with Morey about any profound magical theories; that was not his strong suit.

He simply stood up calmly and gestured to Morey: "Theoretical arguments are meaningless. Director Morey, come with me, we'll let facts speak for themselves."

Levi led the skeptical Morey through the crowd to a newly cleared, empty warehouse on the side of the castle.

The warehouse was empty except for some wood and tools.

Levi casually picked up a piece of charcoal and drew three adjacent but independent square areas on the dusty ground.

"Morey, tell me, how many steps does it take to complete a 'Fortification Technique' enchantment?"

"This... it depends on personal casting habits." Morey frowned in response, "But generally, it can be roughly divided into drawing basic magic runes, then guiding magic to permeate the entire shield material with mental power, and finally chanting a spell to solidify it and activate the effect."

"Very good." Levi nodded, writing "Rune," "Permeate," and "Activate" in the three boxes with charcoal.

"Now, let's do a thought experiment. What if I find three apprentices with a faint sensitivity to magic? Let the first person, in this area, not think about anything else, and just repeat one thing all day long—drawing basic runes on the shield. Let the second person stand here, specifically responsible for guiding magic to permeate the shields with the drawn runes. And let the third person, in this last area, only be responsible for chanting the activation spell. What do you think will happen?"

Morey's eyes widened. He looked at the three boxes on the ground, his brain momentarily crashing.

Levi's description was like a crude hammer, shattering the noble, elegant, and mysterious image of enchantment in his mind.

"No... this is impossible!" He instinctively retorted, "The magic flow between each step must be continuous! If different people operate it, the magic will produce rejection and conflict, and the frequency of mental power will not be synchronized. The final result will only be enchantment failure, or even magical backlash!"

"Then solve it." Levi's tone was unequivocal, "Shorten the handover time, simplify the runes to reduce magical conflict, or adjust their positions. You are a magic expert; there are always more solutions than problems. Now, go pick three refugees you think have the most potential, and we'll verify it on the spot."

Half an hour later, three young people, chosen because they could sense the free-floating elements in the air and were thus considered to have magical talent, stood nervously in the warehouse.

They looked at the boxes on the ground and the gloomy-faced Morey, feeling helpless.

Under Levi's almost forceful urging, Morey, with the mindset of "I'll show you how stupid this is," began his guidance.

He first personally taught the first young man how to draw the most basic "Fortification Technique" rune on a blank wooden shield using special magic ink.

Then, he had the young man quickly hand the finished shield to the person in the second box.

"Concentrate! Feel the magic in the ink, guide it with your mental power, let it seep into every fiber of the wood like water!" Morey roared at the second apprentice.

The apprentice was sweating profusely, his mental power highly concentrated, and the rune on the shield began to emit a faint glow.

But just as he was about to hand it to the third person, the light extinguished with a "puff," like a popped soap bubble.

It failed.

"See! I told you, the magic connection was interrupted!" Morey, as if he had found proof, immediately looked at Levi.

Levi, however, showed no surprise. He merely pointed to the ground: "The connection time is too long. After the first person finishes drawing, place the shield directly on the boundary line between the two boxes, and the second person immediately takes over, seamless connection. Also, the rune is too complex; simplify it, remove those decorative patterns, and keep only the core energy nodes."

Although Morey was unwilling, seeing Levi's determined eyes, he could only grit his teeth and make adjustments according to his "layman's instructions."

The second attempt began.

This time, the process was noticeably smoother.

The first apprentice mechanically drew the simplified rune and pushed it to the boundary.

The second apprentice immediately stepped forward, placing his hands on the shield and closing his eyes to guide the magic.

The rune on the shield lit up again, this time with a much more stable glow than before.

"Quick! Hand it over!" Morey shouted nervously.

The shield was quickly passed to the third area.

The third apprentice, who had been ready for a long time, immediately began chanting the short but awkward activation spell in a clumsy tone.

"Buzz—"

A faint magical resonance sounded.

The crude rune on the shield suddenly lit up with an earthy yellow halo. Although faint, it stably adhered to the shield's surface and did not dissipate for a long time.

It succeeded.

A crude, ugly, enchanted shield, whose enchantment effect might only be half of a normal finished product, but was indeed effective, was produced in less than a fifth of the time of traditional methods.

Morey stood frozen, staring intently at the still glowing shield, as if he had seen a monster that overturned his worldview.

His established magical knowledge system, inherited for thousands of years, was at this moment shaken to its core by this crude, money-grubbing "assembly line" before his eyes.

Just as Morey trembled and reached out, holding the shield like a sacred relic, his eyes wildly intertwining with fanaticism, bewilderment, and fear, the warehouse door burst open with a "bang."

Sophia rushed in, covered in dust. Her young face was filled with anxiety and anger, and even a hint of shame at being unable to control the situation.

She gasped for breath, reporting urgently: "Lord, this is bad! Something happened at the quarry!"

Levi's brows furrowed instantly, and an ominous premonition surged in his heart.

"Gam, the one you appointed as the temporary foreman... he was the second-in-command of the Bloodwolf Bandit Group before. He... he incited all the former bandit members to go on a collective strike!" Sophia's voice was distorted by urgency. "They smashed their tools, blocked the road to the quarry, and demanded that you immediately give them gold coins and women, and they also said... they also said they would tear down this broken castle otherwise!"

As her words fell, the air in the warehouse instantly solidified.

The first armed rebellion since the establishment of the new regime had erupted without warning.