Chapter 36: Looking to Increase Life Quality
May 15th, 1510.
Three months since the Helmarte Soap Works began selling soap in the capital city of the Kingdom of Belfast.
Ernest was in his house and was looking at the ledger in front of him. Currently, the Helmarte Soap Works is a partnership. 65 percent shares for Hollen, who is the financier and 35 percent shares for him.
The current monthly profit from the last three months was 1,560,000 riels, minus the fixed and variable expenses. They were within his projected monthly profit.
And given that he has 35 percent of the shares as the Chief Operating Officer, who handles the daily operation of the manufacturing soap plant, he has a salary.
And that salary amounts to three hundred thousand riels per month. Now that’s a lot considering the fact that he earns a salary of 18,000 riels as an assistant to Hollen in his forge.
And there will be bonuses as well, but that would be quarterly where Hollen would review the data on how the plant operates and how profitable it became under his management.
He’ll know next month how much it is. But now he has nine hundred thousand riels in his bank account.
Oh that’s right, in this medieval world, banking already exists where merchants can safely deposit their money and earn a tiny bit of interest, just like how modern banking works.
Looking around his house, he thought to himself.
"Maybe it’s time that I buy my parents a house."
That’s right, ever since he was working and Victor was working as one of the supervisors in the Helmarte Soap Works, their quality of life drastically increased. But they still live in the same house.
This won’t do. He already has the money in the bank, he can buy his parents a house in an upper district.
What is an upper district? Well there are two districts, the lower and the upper.
The lower districts are where most of the poor people live where the infrastructure is quite lacking and far from the city center. The upper district is where the wealthy people live. Though this is also where the nobility and high-ranking of the upper society is located, and as well as, business districts.
He wanted to move to the upper district. The reason? Well the environment. It stank in the lower district due to the poor sanitation such as horse dung, mud, rat-infested sewers. How could he design a steam engine or other modern technology in this place?
Not to mention, for someone who holds high office in a private company in the company now, his current living conditions no longer matched his actual status.
Ernest already started noticing the difference during the past month.
At night, the smell became even worse once waste water mixed with stagnant mud beneath the warmer spring temperatures.
And now that Ernest regularly spent time in the upper districts due to meetings with merchants, guild officials, and suppliers.
The contrast became painfully obvious.
The upper district had cleaner roads.
Better drainage systems.
Stone sidewalks.
Public lanterns.
Private bathhouses.
Even the air itself smelled different.
So that’s it, that is how he based his decision of moving to the upper district. Though there’s still a market in the lower district, if sanitation is the issue, he could start a waste management company similar to how garbage trucks operate in the modern world.
Now that’s an idea for another day.
Today, he’ll go out and visit the upper district as he has an appointment with a realty agent.
Actually, real estate itself already existed as organized business inside Helmarte.
Not modern agencies obviously.
But wealthy merchants and nobles constantly bought, sold, leased, and inherited properties throughout the capital.
Which naturally created brokers.
Property managers.
Land assessors.
And middlemen specializing in connecting buyers with sellers.
Ernest stood afterward before carefully placing the financial ledgers back inside a locked wooden drawer.
Honestly, even that small action still felt strange sometimes.
A year ago, his family barely possessed enough money for proper meals consistently.
Now?
He maintained financial records and banking deposits approaching one million riels.
Life changed absurdly fast.
Then suddenly, Anna entered the room carrying folded laundry.
The moment she noticed Ernest wearing cleaner upper-district clothing instead of ordinary work attire, she blinked slightly.
"...Going somewhere?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Ernest grabbed his coat calmly afterward.
"The upper district."
That immediately caught her attention.
Anna herself rarely visited the upper district unless necessary.
Most lower district citizens avoided the area entirely because the social gap felt intimidating.
"We have another business meeting?" she asked curiously.
"Something like that."
Ernest paused briefly before adding.
"I’m looking at houses."
Silence.
Anna stopped folding the cloth entirely.
"...Houses?"
"Yes."
He nodded calmly.
"A proper one."
Hearing those words visibly affected her.
Because for years, Anna probably accepted this tiny home as permanent reality.
Small kitchen.
Thin walls.
Cold winters.
Mud outside every rainy season.
That was simply life for ordinary people.
But now?
Her son casually talked about purchasing upper district property.
Then slowly, Anna sat down nearby while staring toward him strangely.
"...You really became successful."
Honestly, Ernest did not immediately know how to answer that.
Because internally, he still viewed himself as an engineer adapting knowledge from another world.
Meanwhile to everyone else?
He looked like some absurd child genius transforming industries.
Then Anna suddenly smiled softly afterward.
"...Your father still doesn’t know how to react properly."
That almost made Ernest laugh.
Victor spent the last several months permanently caught between pride and disbelief regarding everything happening around Ernest.
One moment supervising factory workers.
Next moment hearing discussions about million-riel profits and regional trade expansion.
The man probably still felt mentally unprepared for this new reality.
Then the front door suddenly opened again.
Victor entered wearing supervisor clothing from the factory while carrying rolled parchment reports beneath one arm.
Even his posture changed recently.
Straighter.
More confident.
Less exhausted.
Factory supervision suited him far better than forge labor ever did.
The moment he noticed Ernest preparing to leave, he frowned slightly.
"Where are you going?"
"The upper district."
Victor nodded once initially.
Probably assuming another business meeting.
Then Ernest added calmly.
"To look at houses."
The man stopped walking immediately.
"...What?"
"A realty agent scheduled property viewings for today."
Victor genuinely looked stunned now.
Ernest continued casually afterward.
"I think it’s time we move."
Victor slowly looked around the tiny house afterward.
The cracked walls.
The worn wooden furniture.
The cramped space.
Actually, for the first time in years...
The man himself probably finally noticed how small the house truly was.
Then Victor quietly sat down near the table while letting out a slow breath.
"Upper district houses cost a fortune."
"Yes, and I can afford one now."
