Jokes aside, Roro’s marriage prospects were clearly a major concern for Tia.
“No need to be that concerned. She’s still only fourteen.”
I’d assumed she was the same age as Lulu, but she’d turned out to be a year younger.
“Age isn’t the issue! I need Roro to pump out babies and fill this place up with kids! Or will you consent to a dalliance with me to get the ball rolling?”
“A tantalizing offer, but I’m a committed man.”
I was unclear how the two halves of her speech connected, but I certainly didn’t plan to father any children with Tia.
“Is my age the issue?”
“No, the girl I love is far older than me.”
Hundreds of millions of years old.
“Ugh, why don’t good men grow on trees?”
Cracking that old chestnut, she downed another supplement.
The vibes were getting weird, so I tried a deflection.
“About the boy necromancer Zanzasansa was controlling…”
“Shashi? Roro’s friend?”
Tia provided an update on that front.
They were building a fort for adventurers in the beginner’s area—just a place for them to take refuge if the need arose. He was using Ghost Magic—necromancy—to help with the fort’s interior. Veterans had to handle the riskier exterior, so this was clearly an appropriate position. I’d have to tell his mother, the proprietor of the candle shop.
“That fort will help reduce rookie death rates, so it’s important and all, but repairing the city walls is a much bigger task.”
“Should I help with that?”
“That’d be nice…but no, thanks. We’ve already handled the breaches in our defenses, and there’s meaning in giving the poorer citizens labor.”
Fair enough. As long as safety concerns were addressed, I didn’t want to steal anyone’s job.
I mentioned we might want her help with expanding the Hero’s Rest, and she readily agreed to it.
“You’re sure?”
“It’s for Roro, right? That’s no bother at all.”
I’d known she doted on the kid, but I didn’t think she’d let that sway her public stance.
It shouldn’t be that hard to secure the new core staff.
“Are you sure you’re not Roro’s mom?”
“…Her mom? Ah-ha-ha-ha, no, I’m not. Nor am I her grandma!”
Given Tia’s age, she might well be her great-grandmother, but I didn’t go there.
She didn’t deny the idea that they were related, so maybe I could assume she was some sort of great-aunt.
I left Tia’s safe house and went back to the Hero’s Rest.
“Secret conferences are guilty!”
“Mm, guilty.”
“Satou! Y-you’re philandering?!”
Mia and Arisa were doing their usual interrogation, but Roro actually believed the charges.
“Well, if it’s with Tia—”
“Nothing like that.”
“B-but—”
“Don’t worry, Roro. Master gives everyone the wrong idea.”
Lulu pulled her aside, straightening things out, but Arisa and Mia demanded a resupply of Masternium as punishment for my infidelity.
I allowed it, and they perked right up, which I took as a sign they’d known all along I’d done nothing of the sort.
I’d spent a while dealing with Roro and the Hero’s Rest and not doted on the kids enough, so I bet they just missed me.
Today, Roro and I were interviewing the applicants for Hero’s Rest staff.
Perhaps because there were a lot of female applicants, Arisa and Mia had appointed themselves “observers.”
“I’m Hou, human, fourteen! I’ll do whatever! I’ll work my butt off, so please hire me!”
“Pepe, ratfolk, fifteen, ex-adventurer, motivated.”
“Shipo, dogfolk, sixteen, the owner’s word is my command. I was an adventurer.”
Most were stating their names, races, ages, and a brief statement of intent. But…
“I’m Soshu, human, sixteen, and a good cook! My mother and grandmother both had more than five kids, so you can expect as much from me! I wasn’t meant to be an adventurer.”
“Cona. Human, fifteen. I can do all kinds of housework. My parents say they don’t need engagement money, just go on and get myself hitched!”
…some people seemed to think this was an application for marriage.
Especially among the humanfolk—I got that this was a region with few opportunities to meet new men, but I’d prefer they not make Arisa and Mia cross.
“This is a job interview, not speed dating. Leave now.”
“Oh, please! I’ll do the work, too!”
There was no formal schooling here, so most of them didn’t know how to be polite.
There were some private schools run by the churches, but since most humanfolk here were poor, only a few (like Roro) had managed to attend.
We ran each through some basic questions and sent them packing, saying we’d let them know on a later date.
“Not many passed with flying colors. Any catch your eye, Roro?”
“Um, I liked Hou, Pepe, and Shipo,” Roro said, one eye on my face.
“Don’t watch him! Make up your own mind!”
“R-right! I think we can hire Hou right away. For Pepe and Shipo—”
“You have reservations?”
“Yes. Pepe seemed a bit out of it, and Shipo easily distracted.”
She’d let Arisa handle all the questioning, so I was concerned—but Roro had been paying attention.
“So do we hire Soshu or Cona instead?”
I was worried about their motivations, but good cooks and housekeepers were handy to have.
“Nope!”
“No.”
“Never.”
Roro, Arisa, and Mia all answered as one.
“We can’t leave any more gnats buzzing around you,” Arisa elaborated.
“Mm.”
Roro and Mia were nodding.
“Well, we planned to hire two today. Hou took one slot, so what about hiring both Pepe and Shipo on a provisional basis?”
“Wait, you’re better off just hiring all three provisionally. If they prove they can handle things, you can promote them sooner; if they go three months without improvement, you can simply let the contract expire.”
“What do you think?”
Arisa’s proposal sounded good to me, but since we were trying to turn Roro into a proper store owner, I threw the question to her.
“Um…”
She was stealing looks at me again.
“Don’t worry about my opinion. You’re the owner, so how you feel matters most.”
I’d voice my thoughts, but the final choice had to be hers.
“Okay, let’s go with Arisa’s idea.”
“Cool. Then here’s the form letter for acceptance. I’ll write the notes for those who didn’t pass, so you handle these.”
There were more unsuccessful applicants, so I had Arisa simply give me the list of names and used my “Penmanship” skill to mass-produce them like a copy machine. Arisa’s rejection letters had applied that classic Japanese cliché, “Praying for your future endeavors.”
“Digging up painful memories of my own jobs searches,” she’d muttered darkly.
“The trick to wiping counters is to make each swipe go in the same direction.”
“Got it, Lulu.”
“Handle larvae with care, I request.”
“That wolf pup is so cute!”
“Squeeze the rag out properly before you wipe the floor.”
“Mm, I see.”
My party was teaching the temp hires how to handle routine chores.
Well, maybe not Nana.
“And for restocking, we check with Roro or Satou?”
“Yep. No taking ‘stock’ on Master, though.”
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you loud and clear.”
“Cute ones, where are things kept?”
“Here, tasty.”
“Here, fragrant.”
“Here, breaksies.”
The hamsters were not especially helpful.
“Magic potions are stored under the floor here. The bottles break easily, so be careful pulling them out.”
“Yeah, and each one of them costs several days’ wages.”
“Eep. I-I’ll be real careful! Super careful!”
Arisa’s threat made Shipo’s dog tail snap between her legs.
“Looks like you’ve got a handle on things, so we’re headed to the labyrinth.”
“Be careful out there!”
“““Will do!””” “Sir!”
When my companions were gone, Roro began explaining the shift rotation.
I had a little time on my hands, so I figured I’d restock.
When evening came and the flow of customers increased, I moved back to the front.
“The rush will be starting soon. One customer after another, so it might feel overwhelming, but do your best to stay calm and handle them one at a time. If you’re falling behind, Satou and I will step in to help, so just relax.”
My “Keen Hearing” skill caught Roro giving the new hires a pep talk.
“In that case, I’ll focus on backing them up.”
“Yeah, I thought this would be a good chance to get them some experience.”
Roro looked confident, but the newbies were all stiff as boards.
“Satou,” she whispered, “Arisa said, ‘If they look tense, grab some ass to help them relax!’ But is that actually a good idea?”
“Ignore her.”
That was very Arisa-like advice, but sexual harassment in the workplace was not a good idea.
As we whispered, the first customer arrived.
A wolf-folk regular.
“What, new hires? You got some cute fur, wanna go out?”
“No thanks, I’m on duty.”
“Playing hard to get? Roro, gimme the usual. Plus three pieces of Taurus jerky.”
“Sure, Kicoco. Prep number two gourmet: twenty, CoD: ten, IR: three.”
At that, the newbies and hamsters scrambled to put the order together.
With Roro giving directions, Hou rang him up, checking the quick reference chart and the slide rule. Gingerly accepting the coins and returning his change.
“Thanks. And this is a gift to the rooks,” the wolf man said, shoving a piece of Taurus jerky in each newbie’s mouth, then sailing out.
“He’s nice. Come again.”
“So good.”
“The first time a beastfolk has ever been nice to me!”
Shipo and Pepe munched away, while Hou—the one human—looked genuinely shocked.
“Almost no one who comes here is about to go calling us smooth-skins,” Roro said, clearly proud of that.