Chapter 12

Honestly, my stomach felt heavy when I was summoned to that meeting. The attendees included the heads of the relevant departments, site supervisors, and those who had submitted petitions. I could tell just by looking at the lineup. This would not be a place for solutions, but a place for pushing responsibility onto others—I had braced myself for that. A tense atmosphere drifted through the conference room from the very beginning. His Highness the Third Prince made no unnecessary preambles. As soon as he took his seat, he announced quietly. “Let us confirm the premises.” He tapped the map spread out on the desk with his finger. “The budget will not increase. The labor force is also limited.” I did not miss the fact that several expressions clouded over clearly. “With that in mind—” His Highness swept his gaze around the conference room. “How do we proceed with construction quickly, efficiently, and without unfairness? Today, we will discuss only that point.” …At that moment, I realized. This person has no intention of listening to excuses. His Highness matter-of-factly presented the plan he had prepared. Prioritized resumption of safe sectors. Freezing dangerous zones until reinforcement is complete. Subdividing processes to reduce waiting time. Personnel are not fixed but rotated by process. Progress is to be published on a weekly basis, and reasons for delays must be documented. As the explanation proceeded, several officials and contractors shifted slightly in their chairs. Those pursing their lips. Those crossing their arms and averting their eyes from the map. Even I could tell that counterarguments and dissatisfaction were being swallowed just before they became words. Everyone must have had things they wanted to say. “The worksite doesn’t move according to logic.” “Only the responsibility increases.” “If it’s published in writing, we will be standing in the line of fire.” —However, those thoughts did not become voices. His Highness the Third Prince raised his eyes from the map on the desk and quietly looked over everyone. His gaze was sharp, but there was no color of blame. What sealed the counterarguments was not coercion. He was silently telling them, “Speak with resolve.” “Please give your frank opinions on this.” Silence fell for a moment. The first to open his mouth was a site supervisor. “…If the safety standards are clear, there are sectors where we can resume.” Next, a department head followed. “If we are dividing the processes, material arrangement can be adjusted.” And then, one of the merchants who had submitted a petition spoke fearfully. “If the progress is visible… we can also split the delivery dates.” It wasn’t that opposing opinions had disappeared. However, in this place, an atmosphere was certainly born where people spoke of “forms in which it can be done” rather than “reasons why it cannot be done.” It was at that moment. The air in the conference room certainly changed. His Highness the Third Prince merely nodded and did not interject. He did not give them the answer. He made them think. The discussion was heated for a long time. “Then, please summarize today’s content in a document.” Finally, he announced. “Not with emotions, but with numbers and conditions. Attach everyone’s signatures.” With that, the meeting was adjourned. When I checked the time, it was His Highness’s quitting time.

A few days later. When I checked the submitted documents, I gasped involuntarily. Clarification of priority construction zones. Concretization of safety standards. Fair rotation of personnel allocation. Locus of responsibility during delays. Transparency through progress publication. —The necessary items were all there, without excess or deficiency. His Highness the Third Prince looked through the documents and quietly issued instructions. “Please resume construction based on the plan.” No objections were raised. However*—that was not the end.*

While organizing materials until the documents were ready, His Highness took note of another point. Multiple construction projects proceeding simultaneously in the Castle Town. Street expansion. Waterway repair. Reinforcement of the castle walls. Construction of new warehouses. The departments, budgets, and contractors were all different. However, when layered on the map, the waste was all too obvious. The castle wall reinforcement and street maintenance used the same stone. Despite that, ordering, transport, and storage were all separate. If delivery dates were aligned and ordered in bulk, the number of transport trips would be halved. Carriages, manpower, and warehouse usage would decrease. Thus, transportation and storage costs were greatly reduced. Manpower was the same. Masons were kept waiting at the waterway construction, while woodworkers were idle at the warehouse construction. By taking a bird’s-eye view of the process and rearranging the timing, “waiting time” disappeared.

“The most wasteful thing is wages paid when people are not working”—His Highness said.

As a result, the overall budget was reduced. Yet, the quality of construction did not drop. Unreasonable front-loading disappeared, accidents decreased, and the worksite stabilized. Looking only at the numbers, it would appear like a miracle. But what His Highness did was a truly simple thing. Stop individual optimization and look at the whole. That’s all. After reading the report, His Highness spoke like this. “It does not mean one should rush. The worksite that has reduced unnecessary movements travels the shortest distance.” …To be honest—respect is not born by demanding it. I thought that the results of work are what cause it.

His Highness left his seat on time again today. And the construction had quietly begun to move.

On the other hand, those whose opinions were sealed in that place did not retract their dissatisfaction. They simply gave up on speaking in public and decided to change it into a different form in a different place.