I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 140

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 140

“Very… admirable. Honestly, it’s not easy to be that sincere about it.”

“That’s all because they’re sitting comfortably in the back like nobles. They don’t know the hardships of those suffering on the front lines, so they think about taking bribes.”

Living this military life, I can’t help but understand the Emperor’s noblesse oblige policy.

Clatter.

“Sir, we’ve arrived.”

Just as my emotions were getting a bit heated, the coachman opened the carriage door.

“Thank you for your hard work. Oh, and would you mind waiting here until we finish our business?”

“Pardon? That’s a bit…”

“I’ll pay you 2 gold.”

“I’ll be waiting here. Take your time with your business!”

The coachman’s previously hesitant expression brightened completely at the overwhelming payment, and he bowed his head.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes…! Plan Director.”

Leaving the coachman on standby, I headed to our first destination, the Cambodia Factory, with Captain Bern.

“But why is a factory located in such a mountain valley?”

“Probably because the land is cheap?”

“Even so, isn’t this place too remote?”

“That’s true.”

I didn’t leave the coachman on standby for nothing.

‘At this level, even employee commuting would be difficult.’

Of course, the factory could provide dormitories, but that’s not an easy task.

【Cambodia Factory】

A sign hanging somewhat crookedly.

Woof! Woof! Woof!

As we approached the iron gate entrance, a fierce-looking dog saw us and barked aggressively.

‘There’s a dog? Definitely a small-to-medium enterprise.’

Isn’t that one of the typical characteristics of small-to-medium enterprises?

“Who are you?”

Hearing the dog bark, a man came out from what appeared to be a security office.

“I’m the Plan Director from the Western Support Unit. I contacted you in advance.”

“Ah, please wait a moment.”

From his expression, it seems he did receive the message.

‘But what small-to-medium enterprise has a security guard?’

I’m not disparaging small-to-medium enterprises, but honestly, there’s no reason to have a security guard.

It’s just labor costs going out.

“Where on earth did he go?”

The security guard who left us standing outside the iron gate and disappeared.

This is quite bewildering.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s calling the owner?”

“Couldn’t we meet him after going inside?”

“That’s true.”

I thought we might be abandoned like this, but fortunately, the security guard returned without taking too long.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Clang! Clang!

As the man unlocked the mechanism and pushed the gate, the bell hanging above rang noisily.

‘How elaborate.’

Anyone would think this was a military facility.

“I’ll guide you to where the factory owner is.”

“Yes, please do.”

Following the security guard, we walked along the factory path.

‘It’s quiet.’

Usually a factory should have vitality, but this place had no signs of human presence.

‘Is today a holiday or something?’

It was a weekday, but there’s no law saying you must rest on weekends, so I thought nothing of it and moved on.

Walking a bit further, a building came into view, and a large man was waiting for us in front of the door.

“Haha! Welcome to Cambodia Factory! I’m Morphing, the factory owner!”

“Plan Director Lieutenant Paran Oclo. Thank you for welcoming us.”

After each revealed their names, we exchanged handshakes.

‘He seems like the fattest person I’ve ever seen.’

It’s not easy to become this severely obese in a place without instant food, so he must have put in quite some effort.

“Was your journey here alright? The carriages don’t want to come out much.”

“That’s why I spent some money.”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry about that. If you tell me the carriage fare, I’ll separately…”

“It’s fine. Since it’s all supported by the military anyway, you don’t need to worry about it.”

To be honest, they don’t give it.

‘Who would pay for carriage fare.’

The military only lends horses.

But try coming here on horseback – you have to drive it yourself so you can’t do anything else.

Just thinking about it is terrible, isn’t it.

‘I’m buying time with money.’

It’s like, you know, instead of driving yourself, think of it as taking a taxi.

“Then that’s fortunate.”

“Yes, but I was surprised when I saw the bid you sent. You wrote the delivery price very low – that’s definitely possible, right?”

Actually, there’s one core reason I came here.

To confirm whether he really meant that price seriously.

And fortunately, Morphing was serious.

“Of course. Would I lie to a military person? Haha! I’m someone who knows life is precious.”

The man nodded his head while laughing heartily.

He has a proper factory too, so it really seems possible.

‘Really, how on earth can he do it at that price?’

Even if not seriously, I roughly tapped the calculator.

There’s really almost no profit left.

“It might have been an uncomfortable question, but thank you for answering so pleasantly.”

“Not at all. It’s understandable that you’d have doubts. However, I’m actually in a regretful situation right now.”

“What do you mean by regretful?”

“Recently, due to making another contract, I don’t have much leeway. If you had told me just a week earlier, 10,000 pairs would have been possible.”

“Ah… Your production volume is quite substantial.”

If this place ran at full capacity, I couldn’t imagine how many gloves would pour out.

‘At this level, the labor costs must be no joke.’

From what I can see, the number of employees would easily exceed at least a hundred.

“Could I take a look at the space where gloves are made?”

“You mean inside the factory…?”

Was it an unexpected request?

Morphing made a flustered expression and asked back.

“Yes, I’d like to see what kind of place the gloves are made in. An inspection is also necessary from a contract perspective.”

Actually, there’s no such process, but I just made it up on the spot.

‘Let me check exactly how they make them to get such a unit price.’

Honestly speaking, I’m insanely curious.

“Uh… then could you wait just a moment? I need to tidy up.”

“There’s no need to go to such trouble.”

“No, it’ll be finished quickly, so please wait just a moment.”

“Understood.”

Since I wasn’t here for a site audit, I couldn’t stop him from saying he wanted to tidy up a bit.

“Let’s go upstairs, and I’ll serve you some tea that’s not precious but still tastes good.”

Following him to the office to drink tea, after hearing that preparations were finished, we moved to the factory.

“Phew! This place is tough every time I come here.”

Morphing wiped the sweat flowing from his forehead with a handkerchief.

‘Damn, he’s sweating like that in this cold weather? Just how much fat does he have to burn.’

It looks like he doesn’t need to worry about winter heating bills.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes… but this place is definitely.”

Morphing turned his head and sent a look to the employee named Neck who had followed.

And the employee was quite perceptive.

“This is the building where we manufacture leather vests that are currently under contract.”

“That’s right. There’s quite a lot of demand for vests in winter.”

Morphing added with the feeling of taking about a spoonful.

‘This gentleman doesn’t seem to know much.’

Well, when you’re at the level of a boss, you’re often not interested because you’re busy spending money, so it’s not unusual.

“Will the winter gloves also be made here?”

I asked while looking at the employee standing behind Morphing.

“The winter gloves are scheduled to be manufactured in a different building, not here. Since we haven’t signed the contract yet, we haven’t brought in the facilities, so even if you went there, it would just be empty space.”

“I see.”

It seems there’s another factory building.

‘More importantly, they’re saying the vests are made here? Hmm.’

Looking around roughly, I could see that the leather cutting area and sewing area were all divided by sections.

‘Nothing particularly special seems to be here.’

Something special that drastically lowers the unit cost.

If there was anything, they definitely cleaned it up during that organizing just now.

“I’ve had a good look around.”

Deciding there was nothing to gain, I pretended to browse around before leaving the factory.

“So how will the contract proceed?”

“Please send us one prototype, and if there are no problems with it, we’ll draw up the contract right away.”

“Understood. I’ll send it within this week.”

“Please do. We’ll be waiting.”

“I’ll be counting on you, Manager.”

“I’m the one who should be counting on you.”

After exchanging one more handshake at the end, I turned around to take the path we came from…

‘Huh…?’

As I walked along the path, I felt an extremely sinister gaze from somewhere.

When I turned my head following my instinctive sense, someone presumed to be a young child was looking at me from a window of a distant building.

‘What the hell.’

Empty eyes.

Just making eye contact with them felt extremely unpleasant.

“Manager, what’s wrong?”

Captain Bern spoke to me as he watched me continuously staring somewhere.

“Over there…”

The moment I tried to point with my finger toward where the child was.

Led by someone’s hand, the child disappeared from the window.

All while looking at me with those empty eyes until the very end.

“Manager…?”

“It’s nothing.”

Something… something was wrong.

* * *

“Did they leave?”

“Yes, they just crossed the iron gate and left by carriage.”

“Phew, I was flustered when they suddenly said they wanted to see the factory.”

Morphing picked up one of the chocolates placed in front of him and put it in his mouth.

“There was no sign they noticed anything, right?”

“They left completely satisfied until the end. Didn’t you see earlier?”

“Right, who would dislike it when we’re offering to do it cheap. Looking at it, we seemed to be overwhelmingly superior, so maybe I should have raised the price?”

“Why don’t we make a good impression this time, and raise it a little when they bring other things?”

Morphing nodded at the words of Neck, the employee who had accompanied them.

“Good idea. When we get paid this time, let’s expand the factory a bit more with that money.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare for it.”

“And how’s the supply of kids? It seems like the numbers coming in have decreased lately.”

At Morphing’s question, Neck’s expression slightly twisted.

“That’s a bit difficult right now.”

“Difficult?”

“Yes, as if they caught wind of something, crackdowns have increased recently.”

“Just do what we’ve always done – slip some money under the table to the security guards on the outskirts.”

“The security guards are fine, but there’s the ecosystem within the district. It seems like the citizens are sensing something.”

The secret behind Cambodia Factory’s ability to produce goods cheaply.

It was none other than making labor costs converge to zero through kidnapping.

“Damn it, we bring those worthless brats and let them act like human beings, why are they being so troublesome.”

“So I think we should consider bringing them from other cities now.”

“Whatever it takes, just bring them. We’ll need a lot of kids when the winter gloves order comes in.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare so there’s no disruption to the work.”

Since this wasn’t their first or second time doing this, Neck answered with a confident voice.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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