New Recruits
“Looking forward to working with you,” the four of them greeted politely.
They were graduates from St. Arthur Academy who had arrived from the royal capital two days ago — four new hires who’d joined our house.
Damian and Rosetta, administrative officers assigned to oversee the new town; and Fred and Camil, who had joined the company — three men and one woman.
It feels a bit rough that they’re already working right after coming from the capital, but apparently, that’s standard practice.
Still, it’s convenient for me since they’ll be taking over some of my work.
Raziel offered the company’s meeting room for use, so I gathered the four newcomers there to explain the exhibition overview.
I handed each of them a booklet outlining the exhibition and a memo pad made of straw paper.
“Please take notes while listening. I’ll take questions afterward,” I told them, then went on to explain what I’d already covered with the village chiefs.
When it came time for questions, Damian spoke up first.
“We understand the exhibition itself, but why do we need to know the details?”
“Haven’t you been told you’ll be in charge of it?”
“Whaaaat!?” all four of them shouted at once.
“Is that true!?”
“What good would lying do? You four are going to manage this entire exhibition. Tomorrow, you’ll meet with the guild representatives, so make sure you remember everything.”
“Wait, we joined the company — what does the exhibition have to do with us?”
“It’s very much related. You’ve heard the purpose of the exhibition, haven’t you? It’s meant to create specialties for the new town. You’ll be managing the company’s specialty goods store in the domain, which means this event is basically where you’ll find products to sell.”
“Really?”
“Nobody told us that,” two of them muttered, but all I could say was, “It’s already decided, so do your best.”
The four of them froze in shock.
“There are only two months left until the event,” I reminded them. “There’s a mountain of work to do.”
That snapped them out of it, and soon they were firing off a flood of questions.
They must’ve been trained quite rigorously at St. Arthur Academy — at this rate, I can probably hand things off to them soon enough.
Since they’d need to organize their thoughts anyway, I told them to discuss among themselves until lunch and divide up the work, then I left the meeting room.
“Senior, what’s going on here!?” the four newcomers burst into the company office, practically tumbling in.
Well, we did work together last summer, so it’s not like they’re strangers.
I had prepared dorayaki (red bean and white bean) and tea, so I led them to the sofa, and we all sat down to relax for a bit.
Chairman Raziel had instructed us to support the new recruits, so we had to take a break and do our part to guide them — even if they grumbled or protested, the decision wasn’t changing.
I did feel bad for them, but we’ve already got our hands full with our own work.
Frankly, giving such a big responsibility to newcomers is something only Westland would do — but from an outsider’s view, it’s an enviable opportunity.
“This pastry is delicious — I’ve never had anything like it before,” Rosetta said, smiling as she took another bite.
Having something sweet and new seemed to calm them down a bit.
“This is one of the sweets developed in Westland to be sold in the new town,” I explained.
“It, along with ice cream, will be the signature products. But the goal is to make the new town flourish with even more new foods and crafts.”
“You heard the overview from Young Master Reinhardt, right? The main structure is already set. All that’s left is arranging the details with each guild and the people involved, and preparing the venue. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Still, this isn’t work for brand-new recruits,” Damian said, and the other three nodded in agreement.
“You’re the only ones available to move right now, so you’ll have to do it,” I told them.
“Soon enough, you’ll be handling even bigger projects. If something like this scares you, you won’t last long here.”
“When the exhibited items start being sold in the new town, you’ll be acting as the liaisons with the villages. That means it’s better to have younger people who can move around easily.”
Realizing this wasn’t going to end with just the exhibition, the four of them went pale.
“Don’t worry — Young Master Rainhall will be giving the orders,” I said reassuringly.
That seemed to relax them a little, though I had a feeling they’d be grumbling plenty once the whirlwind really began.
Still, there’s no helping it — they’ll just have to do their best.
What do you think about this chapter?
