AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Year 5, Fall, Second Month, First Week

“Ernest, I have to talk to you…”

The project manager danced around the kitchen, picking up breakfast, gently kissing his wife, and tickling his one-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, he was pressed with time and could barely spare a few minutes for his family. Since last week, when he was assigned to the project responsible for improving transportation between the Capital and the Tunnel, he didn’t have time to sit through a proper meal.

Though he would prefer to lead a less critical project and spend more time with his newborn child, the job was a one-time opportunity, with a bonus big enough to pay for the rest of his house installments in one go. Additionally, his performance would be carefully observed by Minister Reiner. It wouldn’t be impossible to get a promotion if he did a good job.

“Can it wait until tonight?”

Instead of answering, Moira showed an angry expression. Ernest knew better than to ignore this sign.

“I… I can take ten minutes.”

The man sat by the table and switched from hurriedly swallowing the food to normal eating. Moira also sat down but continued feeding her hungry daughter.

“You know that it has been a year since I started working in the Ministry of Education… As we agreed, I’m only doing a half shift so that I can spend more time with our little princess, but…”

“We talk about this, Moira. I want to spend more time with her too, but we can’t lose this opportunity… I promise to ask for some time off after the project is finished. Then, I can watch over her, and you can focus on your job too.”

Although he had interrupted her more because of his short time, she couldn’t help but feel irritated. In her perspective, Ernest thought that his job was more important. Of course, he was looking at it from a rational perspective, but he couldn’t say that the pride of the Alchemists wasn’t influencing him.

“Ernest, they offered me the Minister position.”

If it weren’t for the severity of the matter, Moira would probably savor this moment to gloat over him. After all, he always talked about his job and career, but she was the one advancing first. However, the shock and disbelief in his eyes didn’t bring any satisfaction, only a painful feeling of being underestimated. Wasn’t she capable of great things too?

On Ernest's defense, advancing to the highest position with only one year of experience was too fast, regardless of her competence.

“How?”

Unfortunately, he chose one of the worst possible reactions.

“How? Because I’m good! I learn how to read and write in less than a year. Do you know how difficult this is? Although it has only been a year, they recognize my ability to teach, and I often help with the Ministry’s problems. Katlyn has been asking me to handle difficult situations for months… Only now I realize that she was preparing me for the job.”

Moira ended up being a hidden gem, and Katlyn wouldn’t miss the opportunity to be freed from the Ministry. Actually, AK was currently facing a significant shortage of people in all areas. They had too many projects and not enough people to carry them. Of course, any outsider would be shocked at how much they did with only a little over 2000 citizens. Alchemy was a wonderful craft, but there was only so much it could do.

So, though Moira undoubtedly had the ability, the unrealistically quick promotion happened because of the lack of experienced people. Previously, AK’s projects were lagging because of the scarcity of magic materials. But after outsourcing the materials from AP and the Sandines through the bull tribe, the problem has been solved. Now, they faced another problem. The lack of human resources was limiting most projects.

Even though they predicted that giving freedom to their citizens would result in organizational problems, the Council didn’t expect it to be this serious. Actually, even if they had total control over the job distribution, the shortage would only be delayed. After all, what Kingdom could be built with only 2000 citizens?

Now, Moira and Ernest encountered their own workforce challenge. They both had been successfully advancing in their careers, but their newborn also demanded attention. They could, of course, turn to Ernest’s parents for help, but if they did, the price might be higher than they could afford. Since they finally escape the control of the opportunistic and exploiter seniors, the young couple promised never to return.

After recovering from the initial shock, Ernest understood why she was concerned about the promotion and not booming with happiness. So, he did the only thing he could. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling, Ernest put on his best smile and said:

“That’s incredible, honey. Now our daughter’s future is guaranteed. Don’t worry about time. I can quit my job…”

Moira felt an instant surge of satisfaction for finally having her ability recognized, followed by a deep feeling of sorrow. She didn’t want her success to bury her husband’s dream. Seeing her depressed mood, Ernest tried to cheer her up, saying that he could pick up the pace once their baby has grown and that it wouldn’t be too difficult, at least not compared to reaching the Minister's position. Still, the achievement left a bitter taste on her mouth.

Ernest stood up and kissed his girls. After reassuring Moira that everything would work out just fine, he turned around to leave for his last day of work. However, he suddenly stopped by the door.

“Moira, I remember something…”

Seeing the spark of hope in his eyes, Moire dared to hope too.

“What is it?”

“I heard one assistant talking about a children’s care center… Apparently, Minister Said organized an association to employ some Elders that don’t have a family and can’t work in other areas… They started by taking care of a dozen orphans, but soon a few parents who need to work all day and don’t have elders in their families also paid them to watch their kids. The price is a little rich, two crystals a day for what I heard, but it would be nothing compared to your Minister’s wage… I didn’t consider this before because I not sure if they would take such a young baby, but…”

“That’s amazing! Quickly, go to work and let me check this before I talk to Katlyn. Don’t say anything about quitting for now. Let’s see what happens first… If they accept our daughter, I wouldn’t mind paying extra.”