The Magistrate: Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Chapter 5

The Trouble with Competency

With Disciple Wo's help, Tobias was able to accurately determine which assignments Cloud Sect could easily fulfil and which it could not. This led to his next problem, understanding why some assignments had failed to be fulfilled in the past. Tobias wanted a flawless record, so it would be impossible for Lower Magistrate Han to criticise his work and have him removed.

Working at the sect was far more lucrative than Tobias had imagined, and he was increasingly unwilling to lose his position. His first ten days had cleared two generations of debt. Nowhere else would something like that be legal. The amount of wealth he dealt with daily also suggested it wouldn't be a one-off occurrence. Even the outer disciples of Cloud Sect were unbelievably wealthy by the standards of the outside world.

To determine why assignments weren't fulfilled, Tobias delved into the sect's records. He sifted through shelves filled with scrolls and ledgers during any spare moment, trying to find the cause. Failures came in three primary forms. Those who died during hunts. Those who died trying to acquire wild spirit herbs in the mountains. And those who failed to make pills. Each group had something in common, he eventually discovered. The failures came from those with lower divinity and talent.

Figuring out why took Tobias almost ten days and required him to draw on his skills from his previous life. On Earth, he'd been an insurance adjustor. His job involved risk assessment and a significant amount of statistical analysis. How likely an insurance policy was to be called in and the rate that would have to be charged to make it economically viable were all part of his job. He'd been very good at it, as well, eventually opening a consultancy firm in Manhattan that created a fortune that would take care of his children and grandchildren.

Looking through the sect records, Tobias was able to create a mathematical formula for how far cultivation divinity and an individual's personal talent for cultivation would take them. Tobias realised that those who failed to fulfil assignments were all disciples who had reached the end of how far their divinity and natural talents would take them. This led to desperate behaviours, causing them to take on assignments beyond their abilities, ultimately resulting in failed assignments.

The simple solution was to not give them those assignments. With his new formula, Tobias could ensure they didn't trick him with fast words and empty promises, so Tobias went back to work.

Once the time-sensitive assignments were handled, he flooded the sect with assignments they could easily perform and slightly reduced reward rates. These assignments were filled in record time, giving him the surplus budget he needed to fulfil the others.

While Tobias did this, Disciple Wo went through the sect, talking to the right people to earn discounts and favours. The number of favours escalated so quickly that Tobias had to keep track of them with a ledger.

Cloud Sect had over five thousand outer members, one thousand inner members, and a few hundred core members, along with eighty-three elders. That was too many people for Tobias to keep track of, especially when most of the people who owed him favours were not the same people who fulfilled his state assignments.

Once the easy assignments were completed, Tobias used these favours to complete the regular assignments and the surplus budget to take care of the more difficult ones. Tobias wasn't just good at his job -he was exceptional. He cleared the backlog of assignments in his first hundred days, something no sect liaison had ever done.

His success didn't go unnoticed, and one day in early Summer, Elder Po came to his office to speak with him.

It was not a friendly chat.

"You want me to close the state assignment hall," Tobias said.

Elder Po nodded, looking embarrassed.

"You can't ask me to do that, so I must have heard you wrong."

Elder Po frowned.

"On an unrelated topic, I've been considering visiting my family before the New Year Festival. Everyone travels at that time of year, and it makes that sort of thing much more expensive. What are your thoughts on this?"

Elder Po smiled, catching Tobias's meaning. "Forty days to visit your family wouldn't be unreasonable, considering how diligently you have performed your work here, Magistrate Finch. Cloud Sect could even assign your assistant for protection."

Tobias kept his frown to himself. "I wasn't thinking of being away for that long. Thirty days seems like more than enough." He was willing to repay Elder Po, but he asked too much.

"Time spent with family is never wasted."

This time, Tobias frowned.

Cloud Sect liked to let disciples struggle, which led to serious inefficiencies. Tobias had been targeting these inefficiencies to fill his assignments, which meant that fewer disciples were taking on the sect assignments. He was the reason they were falling behind and why the sect was running out of specific cultivation resources.   

Elder Po noticed his frown. "Even though time with family is never wasted, it can also be too much. Perhaps a shorter holiday is more reasonable."

Tobias heard the elder's unspoken offer. Thirty days were enough for him and his assistant to repay Elder Po for turning a blind eye to their activities. Anything more would put him in his debt.

"Perhaps you're right, Elder Po. I might look back on this holiday in the future and regret not taking the extra time to enjoy it. But a forty-day holiday will require more planning, and I couldn't possibly leave for another twenty days. There is too much for me to do."

"Surely, if you work hard, you could be finished in ten."

Tobias could, but saying so would earn no additional benefits. "I'll have to push myself, but it is possible. However, moving so quickly could interfere with my assistant's studies."

Elder Po heard the unspoken request. "I'm sure accompanying you will not interfere too much. Your assistant is surprisingly talented."

With a slightly higher compensation offered for his assistant, Tobias nodded. "You would know better than I, Elder Po, so I will defer to your wisdom."

Elder Po smiled. "Enjoy your holiday, Magistrate Finch. It is well deserved."

Elder Po left the office, leaving Tobias deep in thought. He had ten days to complete as many short assignments as possible and distribute all his long-term assignments. He was free to set his schedule, but taking a holiday so soon after becoming a magistrate wouldn't be viewed favourably, regardless of how well he performed his job.

Instead of welcoming another disciple into his office, he went to his ledger to count the number of assignments on his books. It didn't take him long to see why the elder was adamant about shutting down the assignment hall. He was running out of assignments. In five days, he would be caught up.

Tobias had been working towards this for months, but hadn't realised he was so close. Without new assignments from the state, only the recurring assignments would remain, and those had already been filled for the Summer.

Tobias chuckled to himself. If the elder had just waited another week, Tobias wouldn't have had to close the state assignment hall anyway. Feeling much happier about his situation, Tobias set out to fill the last of his assignments. His superiors couldn't be too upset with him shutting down the assignment hall if there was nothing for him to fulfil. 

***

The journey down the mountain and across the state had taken Tobias and Disciple Wo eight days on horseback, resulting in significant backside bruising and chaffing for Tobias. In the late afternoon, Disciple Wo wrinkled his nose as he saw the small village surrounded by gardens where Tobias had been raised. The collection of mud huts offered little insulation from the winter weather or personal comfort, but Tobias had called this place home for fifteen years. Each tiny hut housed a family he was related to, and almost all were filled with fond memories.

His family may have been poor, but they were mostly good people, and Tobias loved them, even if they were ignorant to an almost painful degree.

"Until now, I didn't fully believe your claim that your father was a serf," Disciple Wo said. "And I thought you said you sent them money."

Disciple Wo had his bow in one hand and a quiver of arrows on his back. In his pure white robes, he looked out of place among the fields and dirt. So did Tobias. His magistrate robes clashed just as much. Tobias was glad they had left the rest of their belongings and the horses they had borrowed at an inn in the nearby town, as they approached the village on foot.

"Money is useless to those who don't know what to do with it," Tobias said.

For his bottle of pills, he'd received 235 silver teals, which was too much money to trust his family with. He'd paid off their debt and sent more than enough to keep them fed through the Winter, but not enough for them to start a new life. He still had 134 silver teals left to do that with.

The money from his salary was more than enough for him to live on, so all of his prize was going to them.

"Are you waiting for something?" Disciple Wo asked.

"I doubt my father would leave before the end of the season, but there is always a chance that he did. If they've moved on, we'll be entering someone else's home."

"We could knock."

"They'll be out in the fields working."

"Then let's go to the fields."

"Too much mud."

Disciple Wo sensed Tobias's hesitancy and walked down the dirt path to the door, knocking on it. A few seconds passed before Tobias's youngest sister Lingling opened the door. She took one look at Disciple Wo's clothes and dropped into a kowtow, pressing her head against the dirt floor. The nine-year-old girl trembled in terror.

Lingling was the only one of his sisters that Tobias could describe as pretty. She had straight hair and big eyes, with unblemished skin and a healthy appearance, which defied their family's meagre food and living conditions. She also had a happy outlook on life and an intelligent but uneducated head on her shoulders. Before becoming a Magistrate, she was the only one who had any chance of marrying one of the wealthier boys in town and leaving their life of poverty behind.

Disciple Wo turned to Tobias. "Someone's home."

"Stop scaring my little sister," Tobias growled as he walked forward and pushed Disciple Wo out of the way.

He reached down and picked up his little sister. She trembled in his hands until he lifted her face. The moment she recognised him, the fear vanished.

"You're back," she squealed with delight before wrapping her grubby arms around his neck to squeeze the life from him.

Tobias hugged his sister back just as hard, laughing while he did. "Stop getting my robes dirty, Lingling. And what are you doing at home? You should be out in the fields working."

"My name's not Lingling," she shouted without letting go, forcing Tobias to pick her up. "Papa's upset with you. Roro stole all the money you sent to buy a sword and ran off to join the army. Mama says he's going to get himself killed."

"Why are you home alone?"

"Nineteen is sick again."

Tobias carried his sister through the door. The hut was one small room. Wild herbs hung from the ceiling, and sacks of rice were stored against the back wall. There was no fireplace, just a mound of rag blankets and furs that everyone shared at night. Tobias had spent every night for fifteen years inside this room, and the sweaty, dirty mess smelled like home.

Tobias's four-year-old brother, who still didn't have a name, lay under the blanket, shivering despite the day's heat. "Have you been boiling the water?"

"I'm not stupid," Lingling replied.

Convincing his family to boil their water in the Summer had taken him years. The local stream was clear, but when it was hot, things began to grow, and people started to get sick. He finally convinced his family to boil their water by pointing out that wealthy people drank all sorts of tea, not water, and they didn't get sick. Either every type of tea stopped you from getting sick, or boiling your water did. His mother had agreed to try one Summer just to shut him up, and no one in their family got sick from water that year, despite all his uncles, aunts, and cousins getting sick.

Tobias didn't have much knowledge from his old life that he could apply to his new one, and what little he did know was ignored because he had no evidence to support it. All he'd managed to convince them to do was boil their water, bathe once a week, and air out and wash their rag blankets once a month. There was also some basic healthcare for those who fell ill, including rest, hydration, and additional food. It wasn't much, but he and his younger sister and brother all lived to the age of six when only half of his cousins made it.

Tobias put his sister down and felt his brother's forehead. "He's got a fever. Why didn't you put a cold rag on his forehead?"

"I ran out of water. Mama said I'm too young to go to the stream alone."

Tobias patted her head. "You did the right thing by staying home."

Tobias had lost three female cousins under the age of ten to collecting water, and had fought with his parents not to let his sisters collect water alone. He had no idea who was preying on the young girls, but he was absolutely sure it wasn't anyone in his family. Everyone was accounted for when they went missing.

Disciple Wo stuck his head inside and wrinkled his nose. "I can perform Reiki on your brother if you like?"

Tobias frowned. "I don't know what that is?"

"You gather the chi saturation within you and push it into the patient. It increases the amount of chi in the patient's body, increasing the amount of chi naturally circulating through their meridian pathways, accelerating recovery."

Tobias frowned. "His meridians are blocked."

"That's what everyone says when it comes to cultivation, but for medical purposes, it's more accurate to say they're clogged. There is always some chi circulation going on. Otherwise, you'd be dead."

"Will it harm him?"

"No. Reiki is the only healing technique that everyone is taught because it can't harm anyone."

Tobias stepped out of the way. "Go ahead."

Disciple Wo stepped inside and crouched beside the bed. He pulled the blankets back to expose the boy's chest and placed his hand on top of his stomach. The shivering stopped in a few seconds.

Lingling pulled Tobias's sleeve. "Are you really a magistrate?"

Tobias looked down and nodded. "I am."

"Can I live with you?"

Tobias shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I live far away, and you'll miss Mama and Papa."

"Who is the man you're with?"

"That's Disciple Wo. He's a cultivator."

Her eyes widened. "Do you work for him?"

"I work for your brother," Disciple Wo replied.

Her mouth dropped open.

Disciple Wo chuckled.

Tobias smiled and nodded to his little brother. "How long does this usually take?"

Disciple Wo shrugged. "Reiki isn't a true healing technique. I'm not healing him. I'm increasing his body's ability to heal, so it takes as long as it takes."

His answer was enough for Tobias to understand the technique. Opening his stomach meridian and eating the spirit beast meat that Disciple Wo hunted and cooked for him had cleared Tobias's meridian pathways enough for him to notice the difference. He no longer had stomach problems caused by malnutrition as a child. His body had healed that damage.

Reiki had the same effect, but it was temporary. It was a short-term increase in chi that made the body more effective. Tobias wondered if the same results could be achieved with an item or device before putting the idea aside.

Lingling tugged his sleeve. "Can you come with me to the stream?"

Tobias glanced at Disciple Wo. "Do you need me?"

Disciple Wo shook his. "I'm going to be here for a while. Do what you need to do."

Tobias went with his sister to the nearby stream to collect water and helped her carry it back. He'd done the chore hundreds of times and did not miss it. They filled the jars outside the hut and went back inside.

Disciple Wo was still crouching in the same position. Tobias wasn't sure, but it seemed like a bit of colour had returned to his brother's cheeks. Maybe it was the poor lighting.

Tobias looked around the hut for something to do and came up empty. The things that needed repairs couldn't be repaired without tools, and his father owned none. There was no furniture to clean, and the walls were made of dirt, so dusting them was pointless.

His life here was nothing like the sect.

Lingling pulled his sleeve.

"What?" he asked.

"Can you teach me to be a magistrate?" she asked.

"Girls can't be magistrates."

Lingling kicked his shin. "Why not?"

"It's against the law."

"How do you know?" she shouted.

Disciple Wo burst out laughing.

"Don't laugh at me," she said indignantly on the verge of tears.

Tobias leaned down and picked her up in another hug. "He's not laughing at you, Lingling. Knowing the law is what makes me a magistrate. He's laughing because if anyone knows the law, it's me. It would be like you yelling at Papa, What do you know about planting rice?"

Lingling giggled before squirming in his arms.

Tobias put her down. "Now, apologise to Disciple Wo, or I'll tell Papa you yelled at a person with fancy cloths."

Lingling swallowed, turned to Disciple Wo, and gave him a deep bow. "This one apologises for raising her voice. This one will never let it happen again."

Disciple Wo made her sweat for several seconds. Although he was born higher than Tobias, he understood the need to know one's place. "I will not take offence this time, but if it happens again, you will regret it."

Tobias nodded his thanks for the threat. If she had spoken that way to a less agreeable cultivator, she would be lucky to leave with only a broken jaw. A backhand from someone like Disciple Wo could easily kill her.

Despite his concerns, Tobias wouldn't tell his father about her outburst. His presence and his change in status were confusing his sister's instincts. Her brother wasn't an important person, so anyone he was with obviously wasn't important. She saw the fancy clothes but didn't fully understand the extent of the change to his status.

Tobias patted his sister's grubby hair. "You can't be a magistrate, but you can be something else. What do you want to be?"

Lingling paused for a second, and then her face lit up. "I want to be like the meat stick lady."

The meat stick lady was a struggling merchant's widow in town who sold skewers to make ends meet. She wasn't much wealthier than his family. It broke Tobias's heart that his sister would aim so low and think she was talking about the heavens. But that was what his family was like. They couldn't dream bigger.

Tobias could still use her enthusiasm. "You'll have to get an education."

Lingling frowned. "I will?"

"Yes. You'll need to learn how to read, write, and do math."

"What's math?"

"It's counting and keeping track of numbers, so you know how much to charge people for the food you sell them."

"If I do that, will I be able to be like the meat stick lady and eat meat every day?"

"You will."

She grinned excitedly. "I'll learn math then."

Tobias smiled. "And to read and write."

"And to read and write."

Education was the first step to keeping his family out of poverty. They had no practical skills besides being able to perform manual labour. They were barely farmers in Tobias's eyes. They essentially did what the local lord's overseer instructed them to do when they were told to do it. If he bought them land to farm themselves, they would fail to raise a proper crop and starve to death in Winter.

Tobias had no intention of leaving them to their own devices, and he wouldn't buy them a farm. He would buy himself a farm and invite his family to work on it. He'd hire an overseer and teacher to ensure everything was planted correctly and everyone was educated. He'd pay for his siblings' and relatives' apprenticeships to gain new skills and help improve the family.

His family was painfully ignorant and easily taken advantage of. It would be years before they knew enough to fend for themselves, but Tobias was willing to put in the work. They may not have given him much growing up, but at the same time, they gave him everything. Any food was shared. Any burden was also shared. They were as much his family as his family in his first life, and he loved them just as dearly.

Excited by the prospect of being like the meat stick lady, Lingling began telling him everything he'd missed. He had a new niece and nephew from his older siblings, bringing the total to twenty-five. He had three siblings in their thirties, seven in their twenties, with a sister who was nineteen and married.

Roro was seventeen, and the only reason he wasn't married was because he was an impulsive idiot. Stealing the money Tobias sent his father to run off and join the army was precisely the sort of thing he would do. It was the main reason none of their cousins or anyone from the nearby villages would marry him. They all knew Roro wasn't dependable, and being dependable was what you needed to survive as a peasant.

Tobias knew it wasn't his fault. Roro had severe ADHD in a world with nothing to treat it. He also had no interest in farming to employ his hyperfocus. Tobias added finding Roro and dragging him home to his list of things to do before he left, and began to realise twenty-two days might not be enough to get everything done.

An hour before sunset, Tobias's mother showed up with the other women to begin preparing dinner. She started growling before she reached the door. "What did I tell you about closing the door, Lingling?" She walked in as she finished her complaint. Her following words froze on her lips, and then a smile transformed her weary face. "My boy." She rushed forward and hugged Tobias. "When did you get here?"

Tobias's mother was a small, stocky woman with a very round face and unattractive features. She was sturdy and strong, with large hips that had made childbirth easier on her than many of his slimmer aunties. That sort of thing was essential when there were no doctors or birth control.

"Not long ago, Mama," Tobias replied as he hugged her back. His head was only a few inches higher than hers, because he took after her more than his father.

She stepped back and squinted. "Come outside and let me look at you."

She didn't wait for an answer as she dragged him outside. She ignored the robes as she walked around him, poking his body to see if he was eating right. Only after she was certain that he was healthy did she start beating him.

Smack.

"You said you were going to find work for the Summer."

"I found work."

Smack. Smack.

"You said you would be back before Winter."

"I did come back before Winter."

Smack. Smack. Smack.

"You lied to us."

"I didn't lie. I failed to tell you everything I was doing."

Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack.

"You lied."

"Okay, I lied, but you wouldn't have let me do what I needed to if I didn't."

"True."

Tobias glanced up to see if another smack was coming. "I'm sorry I lied."

"Are you really a magistrate?"

"I am."

"How did you pay off your grandfather's debt so quickly? Did you go into debt yourself?"

Tobias shook his head as he watched his mother's hands. Her smacks had used the full force of her arm, and he could feel what would become several bruises.

"I've been assigned to work at Cloud Sect because of my unique circumstances. One of the elders promised to reward me if I could master my new job in ten days. I did. I sold the reward to pay off grandfather's debt."

Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack.

"Stop lying."

"I'm not lying."

Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack.

"Disciple Wo, come and confirm my story," Tobias yelled, knowing his mother wouldn't stop.

Disciple Wo walked out of the hut. Tobias's mother immediately dropped into a bow.

"I am Outer Disciple Wo of Cloud Sect. On my honour and the honour of Cloud Sect, I swear that what Magistrate Finch told you is the truth. Elder Po offered Magistrate Finch the reward, fully expecting him to be incapable of achieving what he did and was more than a little upset when he was successful."

Disciple Wo turned around and walked back into the house, not wanting to witness any of his seniors' well-deserved beating. Tobias's mother didn't rise until he was gone, and then she glared at him.

Tobias wiped the blood from his nose as he blinked away tears. "Disciple Wo is my assistant and bodyguard. He's performing a healing technique on nineteen to help him recover."

Tobias's mother sighed. "This Elder Po really thought you weren't smart enough to learn your job in ten days?"

"He did not."

"The reward allowed you to pay off your grandfather's debt."

"It did."

"You lied to me for years."

"I'm sorry. It was the only way."

"Why?"

"Those who stare at the dirt all day, only dream of dirt."

His mother sighed again. "I never understood you."

"But you love me anyway."

"Of course, I loved you. Your lies wouldn't hurt this much otherwise."

Tobias got down on his knees and kowtowed to his mother three times, placing his forehead in the dirt. He knew no other way to show his respect for her or how truly sorry he was that he had to lie to her for so long. He loved her with all his heart, despite the beating.

"This one is sorry that he hurt you."

"Why are you back?"

Tobias looked over his shoulder. "Disciple Wo, cover your ears and hum." Tobias waited until he heard humming. "You cannot repeat what I'm about to say."

Tobias's mother paused. "Why not?"

"Someone important would lose too much face."

His mother nodded. "Why are you back?"

"I'm too good at my job. The sect couldn't keep up with me, and it became embarrassing for them. I offered to visit home so they could save face."

"Are we safe?"

"You are. No one's lost face, and I now know where the line is."

His mother sighed. "Get off the ground. You're getting your fancy robes dirty."

Tobias stood up. "Disciple Wo, you can stop humming!"

The humming cut off.

"Why do you have a cultivator with you?"

"He is my assistant. Also, the sect doesn't want anything to happen to me, so he's acting as my bodyguard."

"Why are you so important?"

"Magistrates who pass the exam are given a pill to become cultivators. They are also tested to determine their cultivation divinity. This divinity shows how easy it is for them to cultivate."

"And you're very good at cultivating."

"No. I have no cultivation skills whatsoever, which is extremely rare. The Cloud Sect wants me because it's impossible for me to steal their cultivation secrets. The three lower magistrates who had the job before me all got caught trying to steal their secrets, and the sect executed them for it. The life price for a lower magistrate is a lot, even for a sect, which is why they wanted someone like me."

"You keep saying things I don't understand."

"I don't mean to."

"I know. Let me check on nineteen, and then you can help me make dinner."

"Let me introduce you to my assistant."

Tobias introduced his mother to Disciple Wo. An introduction couldn't undo a lifetime of training, so she remained uncomfortable until they were outside. They walked down the road to the communal cooking area and began preparing a simple peasant meal of red rice, vegetables, and a small amount of tofu.

Food was usually plentiful for his family in Summer and Autumn, but the meal, while abundant, remained plain. Tobias hadn't brought anything because he'd sent his father money. He needed to know that the money was spent before he offered more. There was being a good son, and then there was shaming his father, and he didn't want to do that.

At sunset, his father showed up with his older brothers. Another beating followed as his father made the same accusations as his mother had. Tobias accepted the beating and kowtowed to his father for his misdeeds. Unlike his mother, his father didn't hit him as hard as he could. The man might have been almost fifty, with a lifetime of hard work and starvation, but he was still incredibly strong.

Tobias was left with more bruises and a split lip, which made eating dinner difficult. When the meal was finished, his father took him aside. "You're brother Roro took the money you sent us, bought a sword, and ran off to join the army."

Where his mother was short and stout, his father was tall and slim. His features, while not traditionally attractive, were not as unsightly as his mother's. He was a very plain-looking man and a little slow, but he had a good heart and did everything he could to protect his children.

"Lingling told me. I'll see if I can track him down and drag him back before I leave."

"I didn't tell you to bring him back. I just wanted to explain what happened. The family is better off without him."

Tobias didn't disagree with the statement. "That's no reason not to bring him back."

His father sighed. "You, I beat, and you never do it again. That one keeps making the same mistakes."

"He'll get himself killed in the army."

His father sighed, accepting the truth of the statement. "Fine, bring him back if you can."

Tobias smiled. "I'm going to buy a farm while I'm here. Would you be willing to work it for me?"

His father looked over. "You have enough money to buy a farm?"

Tobias nodded.

"I'll work on your farm, but I can't do it until Spring. We promised the overseer we would see out the season."

"Do you think your brothers would be willing to work it with you?"

"If there's enough land."

"Would they accept an overseer? There will be less arguing if someone who isn't family gives out the jobs."

"An overseer would help, but we're still going to argue. We wouldn't be brothers otherwise. Now, enough talking about this. We can talk again when you've found your farm. The reason I brought you aside is more important." He placed his arm over Tobias's shoulder. "Are cultivator women really as beautiful as the stories say?"

Tobias's father was a simple man with simple curiosities.

Tobias grinned as he put his arm over his father's shoulder and pulled him close. He had more than a few stories that would intrigue his father. They were all lies, but his old man wouldn't know that, and he wouldn't care.