My Domain Runs on KPIs

Chapter 009

Luke didn’t leave after the young man snapped at him.

Instead, he simply sat down cross-legged beside him.

Years of HR experience had taught Luke one thing.

When someone who normally looked numb, detached, and completely lifeless suddenly showed a strong emotional reaction...

it usually meant you were getting close to what they really cared about.

“How long have you been here?”

Luke asked casually.

The young man didn’t answer.

“Garrick said you’ve been here for more than half a year.”

Still nothing.

Luke looked out over the swamp.

“Don’t you get bored staring at this place every day?”

“That’s none of your business.”

The young man finally responded, clearly irritated.

Luke nodded thoughtfully.

“When they expelled you, were they the ones who broke your staff too?”

The young man instinctively ran his fingers across the crack in the staff.

“That’s none of your business either!”

Luke remained perfectly calm.

“Then do you still want to be a Necromancer?”

This time-

the young man fell silent.

For a very long time.

Sky slowly peeked out from behind him.

The skeleton’s empty eye sockets shifted from its master to Luke.

Then it quietly leaned against the young man’s side.

Finally, the young man spoke.

“So what if I do?”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

“So what if I don’t?”

“I can’t even summon a second skeleton.”

His head lowered.

“I’m useless.”

“Who says?”

Luke looked directly at him.

“Everyone.”

“My teacher.”

“My classmates.”

“Everyone in the Mage Tower.”

Luke’s expression didn’t change.

“What did they say?”

The young man’s fingers tightened around the broken staff.

“They said I wasn’t fit to be a Necromancer.”

“That my talent was worse than an apprentice’s.”

“That I’d never be able to summon more than one skeleton.”

“That I should spend the rest of my life with this one pathetic skeleton.”

The words finally began pouring out.

Luke had managed to get him talking.

But for once, Luke wasn’t particularly pleased about his own interviewing skills.

The young man’s voice remained strangely calm.

Yet his pale fingers were clenched white around the staff.

His eyes had turned red.

Those details said far more than his tone ever could.

Luke remained silent for a moment.

Then he asked,

“Do you know what I used to do?”

The young man looked at him.

“A lord?”

“No.”

Luke smiled.

“What, then?”

“I worked in HR.”

Luke pointed toward himself.

“Human Resources.”

The young man stared blankly.

Obviously, that explanation meant absolutely nothing to him.

Luke thought for a second.

“Fine. Put it another way.”

“My job was figuring out what people were good at, what they were bad at, and where they could perform best.”

Then Luke pointed toward Sky.

“You say you can only summon one skeleton.”

“And because you can only summon one, you think that makes you useless.”

“But have you ever considered...”

Luke leaned slightly closer.

“Maybe summoning an undead army was never what you were best at?”

The young man froze.

“What?”

It was clearly an idea that had never once crossed his mind.

Luke continued.

“Maybe your talent isn’t raising ten thousand undead.”

“Maybe your talent is taking one skeleton...”

“And pushing it to the absolute limit.”

The young man stared at him.

Sky also seemed to freeze.

Assuming a skeleton could freeze.

Luke pointed at him.

“An undead army is powerful. Sure.”

“But what if your one skeleton could defeat ten ordinary ones?”

“And someday...”

“What if it could defeat a hundred?”

The young man said nothing.

Luke stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

“I’m not telling you to abandon your dream.”

“What I’m saying is...”

He looked directly into the young man’s eyes.

“Maybe your path is simply different from everyone else’s.”

Something shifted in the young man’s expression.

Luke held out a hand.

“Come work for me for one month.”

“If, after one month, you still believe you’re useless, I won’t stop you.”

“You can come right back here.”

“Sit beside the swamp.”

“And keep thinking about your life.”

“For that month, I’ll provide your food and lodging.”

“You work for me in return.”

The young man finally asked,

“What would I do?”

Luke smiled.

“I’ll put you in the position that suits you best.”

He gave the young man a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Trust me.”

Silence returned.

It lasted so long that even Sky shuffled closer to his master and gently tapped his arm with a bony hand.

The young man looked at Sky.

Then, after another long hesitation-

“My name is Power.”

Luke smiled.

“Power.”

“Good name.”

He extended his hand again.

Power stared at it.

For a long time.

Then finally-

he raised his own hand and shook Luke’s.

His hand was ice-cold.

So thin that Luke could practically feel every bone beneath the skin.

But the grip itself was surprisingly firm.

【Current Cohesion: 15/100】

Only then did Luke notice the notification.

He usually couldn’t be bothered to check the system panel.

No one wanted to wake up in a perfectly good mood only to see a page full of zeros followed by the system insulting them.

But-

Cohesion: 15.

Luke’s eyes narrowed.

If each person represented five points...

then Garrick, Beanpole, and Power had all developed a basic level of trust in him.

The next step-

was getting them to trust one another.

A strange gleam appeared in Luke’s eyes.

“My Lord!”

Garrick hurried over.

Beanpole followed behind him, already out of breath.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine!”

Luke smiled.

Then he gestured toward the young Necromancer.

“This is Power.”

“And this is Sky.”

He introduced everyone in turn.

Garrick and Beanpole barely reacted to Power.

They had seen him plenty of times before, even if they had hardly ever spoken.

But the moment they noticed Sky-

Garrick nearly drew his sword and charged.

Beanpole looked about half a second away from climbing the nearest tree.

Luke had to calm them down one by one.

By the time he finally got everyone back to the miserable little house in the center of Ashenvale-

Luke nearly felt like crying.

Getting this tiny team together had been far harder than it had any right to be.

Outside the mud-brick house, Luke stood in front of the three men and one skeleton.

“All right.”

“Our Domain finally has its full staff.”

Everyone looked at him.

Luke straightened his back.

“Now for the official appointments.”

He pointed at himself.

“I am Luke Crowe, Lord of Ashenvale.”

“Employee Number 001.”

Then he pointed toward Garrick.

“Garrick is Ashenvale’s Head of Military Affairs.”

“Employee Number 002.”

Garrick smiled awkwardly.

For some reason, hearing it announced like this actually felt kind of inspiring.

Luke turned toward Beanpole.

“Beanpole is Ashenvale’s Head of Engineering.”

“Employee Number 003.”

Beanpole timidly nodded to everyone.

Then Luke looked toward Power.

“Power is Ashenvale’s Head of Technical Operations.”

“Employee Number 004.”

Power gave a calm nod.

Finally-

Luke pointed toward Sky.

“And Sky is Ashenvale’s Head of Logistics.”

“Employee Number 005.”

Everyone turned toward Sky.

Silence.

The same question appeared on all their faces.

A skeleton can be a department head too?

No one objected, though.

After all, Luke was the one paying the salaries.

It wasn’t coming out of their pockets.

Luke, meanwhile, was quite pleased with himself.

Sure.

None of these department heads actually had any subordinates.

Unless Sky counted as a ghost, there wasn’t even a ghost under them.

But that didn’t matter.

The organizational framework was finally in place.

Once the structure existed-

he could fill it with people later.

Recruiting would be much easier from here.

Luke looked proudly at his three employees and one skeleton.

“Oh, right.”

He turned to Power.

“Here.”

“Your salary.”

Luke handed him six portions of food.

“You’re still on probation.”

“Once you become permanent staff, that goes up to ten portions a day.”

“Don’t judge me.”

Luke gave an embarrassed laugh.

“Your lord is so broke that rats could run through his pockets.”

Garrick and Beanpole were perfectly happy being paid in food.

Power, however, was a Mage.

And everyone knew Mages tended to be wealthy.

So Luke wasn’t entirely sure how Power would react.

To his surprise, Power simply accepted the food.

“Thank you, My Lord.”

Luke nodded.

Then pointed toward Sky.

“Take his share too.”

Power visibly froze.

“There’s no need.”

“Sky is a skeleton.”

“He doesn’t eat.”

What Power failed to notice-

was Sky frantically waving both hands behind him so hard they looked ready to fall off.

Luke noticed.

He smiled.

“Take it.”

Then he added matter-of-factly,

“I’m the lord.”

Sky’s jaw dropped wide open.

Literally.

Clack.

It fell off again.

Power sighed helplessly.

He bent down, picked it up, and fitted it back into place.

Luke chose that moment to open his system panel.

【Current Title: Worthless Lord】

【Current Domain: Ashenvale】

【Current Rating: Bottom Tier】

【Population: 3】

【Domain Size: 10 Standard Size】

【Treasury: Enough food to sustain 99.5 people for one month】

【Military Strength: 0】

【Development: 0/100】

【Cohesion: 15/100】

【System Recommendation: Slight improvement. Still, starting over is probably your best option.】

Luke stared at the Cohesion stat.

Fifteen.

Not much.

But at least it was moving.

Then he remembered something from his previous life.

One of the most universally praised methods for strengthening team cohesion.

Luke’s expression suddenly became serious.

“Everyone!”

“Tomorrow morning!”

“Eight o’clock sharp!”

The three men and one skeleton looked at him.

Luke raised his hand dramatically.

“We’re having a bonding exercise!”

Silence.

Three confused faces-

and one equally confused skull-

stared back at him.

“What?”