March 30th, the final day of the month.
"Now then, let's fix it."
Jin announced that they would re-modify the giant Magi Puppet Rubina had worked on, ensuring it would finally function correctly.
"Oh, and just so we're clear—I'm only here to assist."
"Eh?"
"Rubina, you're the lead on this project. You've made it this far, so I know you can do it."
"Urgh... Okay, I'll do my best!"
Rubina clenched her fists in determination, rising to Jin’s challenge.
"We'll help properly today, too."
"Leave it to us!"
Neige and Rouge also stepped up, offering Rubina their unconditional support.
"Thanks, everyone."
As a Magi Craft Queen, Rubina’s technical skills were already beyond reproach. Jin felt that all she lacked was experience, which was why he seized every opportunity to give her practical training.
"Ru-chan, hold that part steady! Ne-chan, hold this side! I'm going to process the joint while you have it pinned!"
Yeah, she’s definitely growing, Jin thought, watching with satisfaction as Rubina began directing Rouge and Neige.
However...
"Hey now, Rubina. Aren't you going to give me any orders? I’m just standing here with my hands in my pockets."
"But... Jin-sama, what kind of instructions am I supposed to give you?"
Jin could sympathize with her hesitation. He felt it would actually be more concerning if a ten-year-old felt no resistance at all to bossing around a superior, even if it was strictly for the sake of the task.
Jin himself had struggled when he worked for a black company; he’d been sent to a subsidiary’s factory and forced to give orders to workers twice his age. It had left a lasting impression on him, especially since the men hadn't even tried to hide their "who does this brat think he is?" attitude.
"Think of this as part of your training and just give it a try," Jin encouraged.
"Uuu..."
As Rubina continued to waver, Marikka chimed in.
"Rubina, it’s a rare thing to have Jin-sama at your beck and call. You should make the most of it."
"Er... okay. I'll try."
With both Jin and Marikka pushing her, Rubina had to steel herself.
"Jin-sama, could you... repair the warped exterior plating?"
"Understood."
One of the tricks—or rather, one of the coping mechanisms—for managing someone more skilled than yourself was to simply dump a high-volume task on them. Of course, this could backfire horribly if the person lacked the necessary skills. But when the person was too skilled...
"I'm finished. What's next?"
They would inevitably ask for their next assignment before you were ready for them.
"Geez, you're too fast, Jin-sama!" Rubina cried, flustered. "Um, okay, then could you prepare the control circuit board?"
"Understood."
Jin gave a brief acknowledgment and set to work preparing a standard Link Board.
"Here you go."
It was a component he had originally intended for use in the large-class Magi Puppet he had modified himself.
"Wait... wow, so this is Jin-sama's idea of 'standard'..."
"Next instruction, please."
"I’m thinking! I’m thinking!... Right, please check the upper body frame. If you find any warping, fix it."
"Understood."
Rubina then turned back to Neige and Rouge, issuing them their own tasks.
Jin had learned through experience that when managing multiple subordinates, the leader should focus entirely on supervision and avoid getting bogged down in manual labor. While it depended on the situation, a supervisor who spent too much time working usually lost track of the overall progress. This often resulted in the waste of having subordinates standing around idle, waiting for their next set of orders.
In the corporate world Jin had come from, such a mistake would immediately impact one's performance review. Fortunately, things were different here. Jin felt it was much better for Rubina to gain this experience in such a close-knit, family-like environment.
＊ ＊ ＊
"...Jin-sama, please handle the adjustments for the right leg. Ne-chan and Ru-chan, you two take the left."
As the hours passed, Rubina’s instructions grew more precise, exactly as Jin had hoped.
Yeah, she’s got the knack for this.
When Jin gave instructions to his Smiths, he usually laid them out in a logical sequence: finish step one, then move to two, then three. The secret was to have the entire workflow mapped out in your head beforehand—at least in broad strokes. The leader’s job was to grasp the flow of work and ensure it never stagnated. It required a perspective of looking down at the whole from a higher vantage point.
Rubina was beginning to grasp that intuitively.
She’s only ten. It’s better to let her learn by doing rather than trying to drill her with management theory, Jin thought as he watched the work proceed.
＊ ＊ ＊
"It’s finished!...But it took way longer than I thought it would."
They managed to complete the repairs and modifications just before lunch. However, Rubina was visibly discouraged; she had estimated the work would take two hours, but it had taken nearly double that—three and a half.
"Rubina, that is the inherent difficulty of managing people," Jin said gently, offering her a bit of wisdom. "When you're working alone, it's easy to estimate your time. But when you're working with a group, it becomes much harder."
"Yeah... I see that now."
"There are generally two types of collaborative work. One is parallelizing simple tasks. That's straightforward enough."
"Right."
"The hard part is when several people work together on a single, complex task. If one person slows down, the whole project drags."
"...That makes sense."
"That’s why you have to delegate the workload and the specific tasks based on each person’s individual abilities."
"Ugh, that sounds so complicated."
Rubina made a face, but Jin just gave her a warm smile.
"I’m not expecting you to master everything at once. I just wanted you to experience it today because the opportunity presented itself."
Jin reached out and patted Rubina on the head.
"For your first time directing a team, you did a great job."
"Really?"
"Really."
Under Jin’s sincere praise, the frown finally left Rubina’s face, replaced by a bright smile.
"Feeling better? Good, because we have another job to do."
"Eh? Another one?"
"That’s right. Let's build a dedicated vehicle for the Elder’s household."
Jin invited Rubina to join him on the new project.
"But before that, let's get some food."
Lunch was ready, and the smell of a fresh meal was the perfect end to a morning of hard work.