Please Hire Me
We returned to the mansion and began our report meeting.
“Chris, Hardt, did you not bring any of that Petit Wheat bread or dishes as souvenirs?” Mother asked.
When I answered “No,” she frowned.
“You can’t really understand just by hearing about it. You need to taste it for yourself.”
So it was decided that on our next trip back from Ranan Village, we’d stop by Tsen Town and Savai Village to buy some bread and dishes made with Petit Wheat.
“Hardt said he wanted to recommend opening a restaurant in the New Town. That just makes me want to taste it even more,” Brother Chris added with a teasing grin.
He wasn’t wrong, though.
“When you actually go around the villages, you realize how many unique specialties they have. That fire-starting kit—who would’ve thought such a useful thing was just sitting unnoticed?”
“Normally, it’s the merchants’ job to discover and sell those things,” Mother mused. “But maybe no one bothered to look seriously just because they were villages. Shame on us as merchants.”
“It’s all thanks to Hardt’s curiosity,” Brother Chris said. “Most people wouldn’t stop and ask what a particular task or process was for.”
“True. If I saw someone dealing with waste materials, I wouldn’t think to ask what they were doing either.”
“That Petit Wheat bread too,” Brother Chris went on. “I just thought it had an unusual texture and didn’t think any further. I should’ve been more curious—lesson learned.”
“Still,” he said, turning thoughtful again, “we need to make sure the new town’s foods and souvenirs won’t cause problems once they go on sale. Hardt, make sure you listen carefully to everyone’s opinions and concerns.”
“I can’t handle it all alone,” I said weakly.
“The four new hires will help with the interviews, but you’ll give the instructions,” Chris said.
“Though only for now,” Mother added. “Once construction begins in the new town, they’ll be tied up with interiors, store applicants, and contracts. You can’t push them too hard.”
Ugh… so I really would have to travel between villages myself? I’d need someone reliable to help coordinate.
Just then—
“Please hire me.”
That was the very first thing Rosa Arilan said the moment she was shown in to meet Mother, Chris, and me.
Rosa Arilan—the daughter of the great Arilan Company. Twenty years old, with reddish-brown hair loosely braided on one side, and a calm, beautiful face. Despite being a merchant’s daughter, she had no escort, wore a simple outfit, and blurted out those words right away.
I was pretty sure she’d once had feelings for Raziel. So we were all a bit dumbstruck by her sudden appearance.
“Rosa, you’re part of the Arilan Company,” Mother said coolly. “Hiring you would bring us no advantage—if anything, it would only make other merchants pressure us for the same. I’m afraid it’s impossible.”
“There’s no need to worry about that,” Rosa said, producing a magical contract.
It stated that she had severed all ties with the Arilan Company—and in return, forfeited all claim to its assets.
What on earth had happened?
Apparently, her older sister had arranged a marriage for her, but Rosa refused and directly turned the suitor down. Her sister, furious that Rosa had rejected a match beneficial to the company without consultation, lashed out. Their father took Rosa’s side, which only enraged the sister further—she accused him of hypocrisy, since he had once forced her into marriage.
The situation spiraled. And when the suitor withdrew, the company lost a major contract, worsening the rift.
“My sister and her husband are set to inherit the Arilan Company,” Rosa explained quietly. “At this rate, they might force another match on me, so I proposed the separation myself.”
Her father had opposed it at first, but eventually agreed.
“So now I have nowhere to go. Please—let me work here,” she said, bowing deeply.
Coming all the way here… she must really be chasing after Raziel. The determination of a woman in love is no small thing.
Mother told her to wait a few days for a decision.
Even if she’d given up her fortune, she must still have some personal funds—but we couldn’t just throw a young woman into an unfamiliar land alone. So she was given a room in the staff dormitory for now.
When she asked if she could help with anything, Mother assigned her to teach the orphanage children—manners, bookkeeping, and basic merchant training.
That was a clever move. It would lighten the teaching load for our staff, and the kids would benefit from a real merchant’s instruction.
After Rosa and her maid left the room, I asked, “Mother, are you really going to hire her?”
“The magic contract was genuine,” she said. “But I’ll still verify the details.”
“If you do hire her, she could be my assistant,” I suggested. “She understands product value, after all.”
“That makes sense,” Mother agreed. “We certainly can’t have her working alongside Raziel.”
“Raziel’s going to be shocked,” I muttered.
Brother Chris raised an eyebrow. “You two keep hinting at something. What’s this about?”
“Oh, right—you might not know,” I said. “Rosa was once Raziel’s prospective fiancée. Her father liked Raziel so much that he offered to fund his independence if he married Rosa. She seems to have feelings for him too.”
“So there was an offer to support his independence in exchange for marriage,” Chris said slowly.
“I don’t know all the details, but something like that.”
“And how do you know?”
“A certain information broker’s daughter told me.”
“Ah—Miss Bridget. Her information network truly is impressive.”
Later, when Raziel heard Rosa was here—and that she’d shown a real magic contract—his face twisted in dismay.
Mother said to him, “If the verification checks out, we’ll hire her. Not for the company, but as an aide to Hardt. She’s well-trained in evaluating products and handling contracts, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” Raziel admitted reluctantly. “The chairman trained her thoroughly.”
“Then she’ll do fine. And once she’s settled here,” Mother added firmly, “you need to decide what you’re going to do. Whatever happens, don’t run away from it.”
“… I’ll think about it,” he said quietly.
What do you think about this chapter?
