Chapter 92

This story is a work of fiction.

The characters, organizations, and names are all fictitious and have no relation to any real entities.

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087 - Job Change Recommendation

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I laid Laura down on the bed and, together with the two young arrivals, went to the living room.

"Alright, both of you. First, I need you to sign this magic contract. If you can't write, a handprint will do."

The content of the magic contract was the same as for the others, stating that they would not reveal my information. After hearing the explanation, Lillith signed, and Sodon used a handprint instead.

"Welcome to the Footsickle Baron's household. We welcome you both."

"Thank you, my lord."

"Thank you."

"Since that's settled, let's start with a bath. Annelise, please help Lillith with her bath. After that, it's Sodon's turn, but I'll leave that to Voss."

While waiting for the two to take their baths, I prepared for the welcome party!

Fruits from Rose!

Grilled beef from the labyrinth!

And curry!

This capital seems to be far from the sea, so fish are hard to come by. There are no pond squids either.

There is a river nearby with fish, but apparently, they are quite smelly, so they don't catch them.

Maybe I'll go fishing in the river next time. Or, I could aim for the sea. Setting up a base at a fishing port and selling in the capital could be a big profit, right?

But why don't fish circulate when there are people with item boxes? Merchants, you need to step up your game.

The curry is easy to make because we already have the spices mixed.

The grilled meat is best done over charcoal, but I'm holding back since this is a duke's residence.

Fruits from Rose are just delicious! Delicious no matter the season! Delicious wherever you are!

"It's delicious!"

Lillith's eyes widened as she exclaimed that the curry was delicious.

"Ah, I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. Eat as much as you like."

Annelise smiled gently.

"It's meat! It's delicious!"

Sodon, who was eating the grilled meat, also said it was delicious. The sauce, made with fruits from Rose, turned out really well.

Eating with a large group is especially delicious.

In my previous life, I often ate alone, so this warm, friendly atmosphere is very comfortable.

"Toi's curry rice is so good. I never get tired of it, really."

"As long as I have the ingredients, I can make various dishes. Cooking is one of my specialties."

"I can cook too, but I can't make curry from scratch like you."

Itsukushima also helped with the cooking, and she was really skilled.

Compared to that, Yamato...

"I'm just a eater."

Yamato doesn't stand in the kitchen. He said before that if he did, he would just get in the way. Now it's fine, but once he starts living in my mansion, I'll charge him for room and board.

"Make ramen next time. I love ramen!"

Don't get ahead of yourself. But ramen, huh? I want to eat it too.

"I think I can manage with ramen, so I'll give it a try next time."

"Yamato, Itsukushima is too lenient with you. Just ignore him."

"But I want to eat ramen too."

"Yay!"

I'll definitely charge Yamato.

"Oh, right. About the mansion, I've seen a few. I narrowed it down to three candidates."

"What kind of mansion?"

"The best one is the former viscount's mansion, right on the border between the noble and commoner districts. I inspected it, and it's in good condition with a bath. The building and garden are also spacious, Jojoku."

"The grounds are wide, and the building size is excellent."

I see, it's good that it's close to being decided, but I should ask about the previous owner.

"Why did the viscount's family give up the mansion?"

"A common story. The family was destroyed after a power struggle, about 10 years ago."

"Could it be... the Barland Viscount's family?"

"How do you know that?"

I seem to have picked another problematic property...

Looking at Lillith, she also had a troubled expression.

The Barland Viscount was Laura's husband, and thus Lillith's father.

After the Barland Viscount lost his title, he lived off his remaining assets, but that couldn't last long. He eventually disappeared, and no one knows where he is now.

Laura, originally the daughter of a knight, didn't live extravagantly. After the family's downfall, she worked hard to support the household but collapsed about half a year ago.

"Ah... What about the other candidates?"

You narrowed it down to three, right?

"I inspected all three, but I judged that the former Barland Viscount's mansion was the best... But since it's your mansion, Toi, I can't force you. The second choice is a mansion in the commoner district. The grounds are very spacious, almost at the count level. However, the building itself isn't that large. But for the current number of people in the Footsickle Baron's household, it's more than enough."

"I can't imagine what 'count-level' spacious means?"

"The size of noble mansions in the capital is determined by their titles. But since this is in the commoner district, we can ignore that."

I didn't know there were such rules.

Honestly, I'm not enthusiastic about the former Barland Viscount's mansion. Maybe I'll make it the second choice.

"Lord, it's good to buy a mansion, but we also need to enter the dungeon and we are short of personnel for security."

I understand what Gandalban is saying.

I'm not entirely against hiring people, but since we have many secrets, we need to have them sign a magic contract to ensure they don't reveal anything.

"How many people should we hire? More is better. We need to consider security for both the capital and the mansion in Kerniffi. And I want to include reserve personnel."

"For the mansion in Kerniffi, we need 10 people. For the capital, with a count-level property, we need 15 to 20 people. Including reserve troops, we would need about 30 people."

That's quite a number...

We can offer good conditions to explorers, but that might lead to a bidding war with other nobles.

"If we hire so many explorers, the guild might get angry."

"We don't have to hire explorers. We could buy slaves."

Hmm, slaves. I'm not really comfortable with buying people, even now.

"Even if Lord Toi doesn't buy slaves, Gandalban, Voss, and others could buy them. They earn enough to buy a few slaves each."

Annelise's suggestion is essentially the same as me buying slaves, just indirectly.

"That's a good idea. I'll buy 10, and Voss, Jojog, Rin, Solidia, and Rosalina will each buy 5. This will ensure we have the necessary personnel for security."

Gandalban is enthusiastic, but I'm not a fan of the slave system.

"Rosalina is happy to be bought by the lord. I hope the other children can be happy too."

If Rosalina is happy, I'm very pleased. If I buy slaves, will they be happy...?

"Alright, I'll buy slaves."

"Yes, thank you!"

"But I won't buy criminal slaves. Even if their job is Villager, if they are willing, that's fine. I'll also hire orphans who want to work for me. It will take time to train them as swordsmen, spearmen, or archers, but I want them to take on the jobs I intend for them."

"We also need people to manage the mansion and cooks."

You're right, Annelise. That will be quite a number.

"Let's make an offer to the Golteo Trading Company for all of these."

"That sounds good."

Gandalban nodded in satisfaction.

"Also, Gandalban, please talk to the explorers."

"Understood."

"Voss, please gather children who are willing to work for me."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, my base is in Kerniffi. After hunting 1000 monsters on the 10th floor of the capital dungeon, we'll return to Kerniffi. We'll leave a few guards and management staff in the capital, but most will go to Kerniffi. I'll only hire those who are willing to do so."

The direction for personnel supplementation is decided. Next, it's time to talk to Lillith and Sodon.

"Alright, Lillith and Sodon."

"Yes."

"Sure."

"You both have jobs you can change to."

"「Huh?」"

Both are 12 years old, so it's not surprising that they have jobs they can change to, but I don't know.

"I'll tell you the jobs you can change to. If you want to change, just say so."

"Really, can I have a job...?"

"But I don't have the money for the job change."

"You don't need money. The job change can be done immediately. Just tell me if you want to change."

Priests need to level up to learn skills and job changes, but Holy Pardons have skills and job changes from level 1. That's why I can change Lillith and Sodon to their available jobs right away.

"Lillith, you can change to a Holy Maiden."

"Really!? A Holy Maiden...?"

"The Holy Maiden job is because Lillith's life has been pure and full of compassion."

I could never live like that.

She had no place to work as a fallen noble and survived by doing day labor. Despite her poverty, she shared food with other children and devotedly cared for her sick mother, Laura. Her kind heart is the reason she can change to a Holy Maiden.

"The requirements for the Holy Maiden job are not trivial. Lillith has done a lot. You can be proud of it."

I don't think Lillith will get arrogant, but we'll keep an eye on her. Not that I'm that great myself.

"Also, I can't cure Laura completely with my healing, but if Lillith levels up as a Holy Maiden, she can cure Laura's illness."

I don't plan to level up as a Holy Pardon, so it would be better if Lillith becomes a Holy Maiden and cures Laura's illness.

"I want to change jobs!"

"Great!"

Let's do the job change right away!

Now we have a high-level priest in our group!

"Next is Sodon. Sodon, you can change to a Hermit."

"Hermit?"

"To put it simply, it's a job that's good at hiding."

"I'm good at hide-and-seek."

"If you change to a Hermit, you'll get even better at hiding."

"I want to change jobs."

Let's do the job change for Sodon too. There we go.

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