“You’d like to know about the process for adding employees to your business?” clarified the clerk.
“Yes,” answered Taichi.
“There is no concrete process for it. The number of employees you have doesn’t affect the contract you have here at the guild.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Indeed. As for how you might go about hiring someone...”
Taichi had three options open to him.
The first was to use the Commerce Guild as a go-between. He would have to pay them a fee for their services, but in exchange, they would introduce him to qualified, trustworthy workers.
The second was to have a different guild act as his go-between or to post his request on their mission board. This was often the way people went about hiring short-term bodyguards and the like. This, too, would require a fee.
The third option was to simply hire someone directly. His idea to put up a flier inside the café fell under this. He could do this without having to pay anyone in the middle, but this meant no screening process. He would need to be a good judge of character if he was going to do the hiring process himself.
The clerk was also kind enough to inform him of the average pay for part-timers. “Since you’re running a café, I think somewhere around ten thousand Chel a day would be appropriate.”
“Interesting. All right, thank you for all the information,” said Taichi.
She shook her head. “Not at all. If you require any further assistance, we are happy to help.”
From there on, he was able to fill in the blanks with his knowledge.
Taichi exited the Commerce Guild, wandering the streets as he pondered how to handle his situation. The fastest way would be to ask the Commerce Guild to find someone. That gave the biggest guarantee of trustworthiness, which Taichi appreciated, since he was still new to this world and unfamiliar with how things worked. His only remaining concern was having to ask someone to look after monsters. There was a chance whoever the guild found for him would be terrified, which might mean the monsters didn’t get the proper care they required. That made him hesitant. Maybe it would be better to put a flier up in the café for now and see where that went.
“Hm, yeah. I think that’s what I’ll do. Fluffy Café has enough people who like it and visit regularly. I’d feel safer leaving the place in one of their hands.” That settles it, then. I’ll put up a flier as soon as I get home!
“Oh, Taichi, it’s you! Hey!”
Taichi paused and glanced behind him to find Hymeria. “Oh, what a coincidence.”
“Yeah. Surprised to see you in the city.”
“I had some business at the Commerce Guild. I’m planning to hire someone short-term, so I was asking them for information.”
“You are?!” Hymeria squeaked. “You’re really looking for a part-timer? I wanna do it! I could be around the Berry Bunnies all the time!”
“Huh?” It was Taichi’s turn to squeak in surprise. It’s kind of her to offer, but I feel like she’s a bit young for it. It had nothing to do with her being immature—she wasn’t. He would be fine with her working there while he was around, but it was a big responsibility to look after the whole café and all its monsters alone.
Noticing his hesitation, Hymeria scrunched her brow. “Can’t I?” Hymeria loved all the fluffy monsters at the café, and she knew how to feed them. She came regularly enough that she was familiar with the other customers. He could hardly expect much more than that.
“It’s not that you can’t, but you’re still a kid, aren’t you?”
“Wait... That’s your issue?”
He stared at her. “Yes? Isn’t that kind of important?”
She gave him a long-suffering sigh, as if she couldn’t accept his line of thinking. There was a short silence until she jabbed her finger at a small shop nearby.
“A florist?” Taichi said, confused.
The shop only had enough room to display the flowers it had for sale and not much more. The only person inside was a girl around fifteen, seemingly running the place by herself.
“See? There are plenty of people my age running shops on their own. I’ll admit, if it was a huge store, it might be difficult for me to handle on my own. But your café? It’s not that big.”
“Hmmm...”
Hymeria had a point, and it wasn’t like there was that much work to do, either. The menu was simple, consisting of pre-packaged snacks and instant drinks. The treats for the monsters came in their own individual bags. The most difficult part would be looking after the monsters, and Hymeria was plenty capable of that.
Luke is the biggest problem child of the bunch, and he’ll be coming with me. The Cerberus was quick to warm up to anyone. He was confident the three heads could get along with Hymeria. It was a shame they couldn’t speak to her, but Hymeria was clever enough to pick up on whatever they wanted to communicate.
After a long pause and much thinking, Taichi finally said, “All right. I think I’ll take you up on your offer. I’ll explain everything the work entails at the café. Do you have time to come now?”
“Yeah! Let’s do it!”
And with that, they made their way to Fluffy Café.
“I’m back!” Taichi called out as they stepped inside.
“Welcome back!” cried the three Cerberus heads as they charged forward, meeting him at the entrance. Taichi reached down and patted each head, earning happy smiles from all three.
Luke was curled up on his favorite beanbag chair, napping as usual.
The Berry Bunnies slowly trickled out and surrounded him.
“If I become a part-timer here, will I be able to experience this kind of reception every day?!” Hymeria asked, eyes gleaming.
Taichi prepared drinks for the two of them and then launched into a basic explanation of the situation. “I’m going on a journey to tame a new fluffy monster, so I’ll be gone for a bit. I expect to be back twenty-five days from now at the latest.”
“What are you going to tame?”
“Eh heh heh...” Taichi cackled. “I’m glad you asked!” This trip was an incredibly important one, for it was his one chance to bring a Forest Cat into their mix! “Our newest addition will be...a Forest Cat!”
Hymeria gasped. “I guess that would be a good fluffy monster to add!”
Forest Cats were anywhere from half a foot to two feet tall, making them quite small and easy to cuddle and play with. Hymeria hadn’t considered them to be a possible candidate until Taichi mentioned them, but now that she thought about it, she had to agree they would fit right in.
“Oh, but...hold on,” she said.
“Hm?”
“Just to be clear, you only need me to work for twenty-five days?”
Taichi nodded. “That’s right. I padded extra days in there just to be on the safe side. I may be back sooner than that, but I doubt I will be any later.”
There was a curiously long pause before she finally said, “Okay!” Hymeria then added, “I’ve defeated Forest Cats before, but I’ve never been able to pet one. I can’t wait!”
“You’re more than welcome to pet them when I tame them and bring them back home!” Taichi’s heart ached to think that people hunted such an adorable cat. What a cruel world this was! Of course, if it were done in self-defense, he couldn’t blame them. “Anyway, once you learn the ropes, I’ll take off. Let me know when you’ll be ready to start.” Twenty-five days was a long time. He couldn’t expect her to be ready immediately. That’s why he was being conscientious and double-checking with her.
“I’m good whenever! I’m an adventurer, remember, so I don’t really have a set schedule.”
“Oh, that’s helpful.” Guess she always decides her schedule in the spur of the moment like this, huh? The downside was the lack of security such work provided, but he could appreciate the freedom it afforded. “In that case, I can leave as soon as I’m sure you can handle everything. And don’t worry, I’ll pay you properly for—oh!”
“Hm?”
Taichi held his head in his hands, realizing only now that he had completely skipped the part about her compensation. “Your pay! That’s the most important part, and I didn’t even mention it until now. I’m sorry. That should’ve been the first thing I told you.” Compensation was always the hardest thing for a potential employee to bring up themselves. He should have been more conscious about that. But while he inwardly admonished himself, he launched into an explanation, starting first with her working hours. “You’ll be opening the café at 11:00 a.m. and closing at 5:00 p.m. You’ll need to make preparations before opening and clean up after closing, which means you will need to arrive at 10:30 a.m. and then leave around 5:30 p.m.”
“Okay. I think that should be fine,” she said.
He went on to say that since there were so few customers, she could take her lunch break whenever she pleased. The Cerberus was there to keep an eye on things, so when no one else was in the shop, she was free to go to the back. She’ll know when someone comes because of the bell.
“When you work here for several hours, I’ll pay you two thousand Chel per hour. When you work for the full day, I’ll pay fifteen thousand Chel. How does that sound?” A full day would be considerably more difficult, and she would need a break in the middle, so he decided on her compensation with that in mind.
“Whoa, isn’t that way too much? Wouldn’t one thousand Chel be plenty?”
“No, no. You’re going to be looking after my precious monsters. I need to pay you properly for that. But in exchange, I expect you to fulfill your duties.”
“Of course I will! I love them all. I’ll take good care of them.”
And that settled the final details of her employment.