Chapter 11
A few days after Max posted the Recruitment Notice.
Perhaps due to the abrasive label of a Mercenary Office, no one applied for a job, but the work itself was booming more than expected.
“Mister Mercenary… please help me! A Ninja stole our Family treasure!”
“Calm down first. A Ninja? Treasure? What kind of treasure did they steal?”
“It’s a dagger about this big, weighing 6kg, and──.”
There were requests to find stolen items, of course.
“I left the window open a crack for ventilation, and my cat got out!”
“I’ll go right away. Do you have a picture of the cat?”
“Yes! If you look here, it has a jetpack attached to its waist, you see? And a laser shoots out of one eye, so be careful when you hold it──.”
Or requests to find a runaway cat.
“Th-th-th-there’s a cockroach in my house!”
“Calm down. Did you come all the way to a Mercenary Office just for that?”
“There’s a cockroach over a meter long on the ceiling!!!”
“…”
There were also requests to catch mutated bugs.
“My daughter said she ran into an Exhibitionist on her way home from work. This is my favorite revolver, so if you could just find the bastard and put a single bullet in his lower half──.”
There were even requests to deal mercifully with those with sexual perversions who harmed others.
On a quiet day after that strangely overwhelming rush of requests had ended.
Max finished his Meditation and stepped out of his Personal Space.
“Should I eat and get some sleep?”
When he was outside on a request, he often skipped meals for Energy Jelly and a Lollipop.
But when he was in the office, he would microwave instant rice and eat a hearty meal with side dishes.
“This tastes killer.”
The side dishes made by Enri Crimsonhowl evoked admiration every time.
The taste was amazing. The rice went down smoothly.
The moment he finished his meal, he sat in his computer chair.
Knock, knock, knock! A knocking sound rang out.
“It’s open. Come in.”
“Excuse me~”
A Girl opened the door, walked in, and looked around the office.
Max also took in the other Person’s information in an instant.
She has dark skin and short hair, and Black Horns with a Golden Engraving.
Badges and keyrings are dangling from her bag, and headphones are hanging around her neck.
“What brings you here?”
“This is the office looking for a part-timer, right?”
She was a Girl with a unique accent full of personality.
And the most important point.
‘She’s a Monster.’
The aura of a strong Person exuded implicitly.
He felt she wouldn’t fall short even when compared to Flora.
“A distinct personality is proof.”
His consciousness assembled the information.
How many people in Haze could have that level of capability with such a youthful face?
Thus, Max recalled a single name in his head.
“Could it be?”
He had no experience facing her directly, but she was a Big Shot whose heroic tales never ceased in Haze Before Regression.
A name kept reaching his ears even when he paid absolutely no attention.
“…Should I hear it directly?”
Max stopped his speculation and opened his mouth.
“It’s true that I’m looking for an Employee. But are you aware that this is a Mercenary Office?”
“Ahaha! I came knowing all that, so don’t you worry.”
The Girl giggled as if amused and plopped her butt onto the sofa.
Her eyes sparkling, she thumped the table with her hand.
“Interview! Let’s get this interview over with quickly!”
Max stood up from his seat, harboring complicated thoughts.
Following procedure, he first prepared something to drink.
“…I have Black Coffee and juice.”
“Black Coffee! Make it iced!”
Even though she asked for it iced, there was no ice in the office.
Dissolving the coffee with hot water and filling it with cold water was the best he could do.
“Here you go.”
“Mmm…”
The Girl’s lips jutted out at the ambiguously Iced Coffee.
‘She’s still drinking it, though.’
Watching her gulp it down, Max scratched his head vigorously.
If the Girl in front of him was the Person he expected, this was a predicament.
“Did you come knowing the hourly wage is 15,000 credits?”
“Of course! The pay is just right, and I came running the moment I heard there was Time Negotiation.”
At her refreshing answer, Max’s mind grew even more complicated.
“The pay is good?”
Is she not that woman from the Magic Noble Family? Is it simply my misunderstanding?
“It goes without saying, but you won’t be going on requests with me. Minor chores like Office Cleaning and Procurement of Supplies, and preparing drinks when a Customer comes will be enough.”
“Cleaning? I’ve never done it, but I’m a Genius who can do anything once I set my mind to it. Ah! Max, you don’t gotta be so stiff and formal either, you can speak comfortably.”
She suddenly dropped her honorifics and told him to drop his as well.
But in Haze, Might Makes Right.
Looking at the current situation, the Girl’s manners could be considered extremely polite.
Leader
“What are your desired Working Hours?”
“If I come after the Academy, maybe two hours a day on weekdays? Three hours at most? I don’t know about the weekends.”
“Academy? Don’t tell me you’re a Minerva Academy Student?”
“Surprised? I’ve got a pretty face, but my specs are no joke either, right?”
Max’s Breath caught at the Girl’s action of smiling while flashing a V-sign.
“…Cadet iD.”
When Max gestured for her to show something to prove her identity, the Girl rummaged through her bag.
Grumbling not to look too closely because she didn’t like the picture, she handed over her Cadet iD.
[Ellen Clements]
On the Cadet iD covered in stickers, the letters symbolizing the Magic Noble Family were plain as day.
A name that made the very act of coming to District 27 to look for a job incomprehensible.
In his bewilderment, Max muttered without realizing it.
“Clements…”
“I know what you’re thinking, Max. I came here to work in my Individual Capacity, regardless of my Family.”
As if that made any sense.
Even if she said so, there was no telling what would happen to his side if a problem arose.
“…You must have gargantuan amounts of money and plenty of places to spend your time. What’s your reason for wanting to work for 15,000 credits an hour?”
“There’s somethin' I wanna buy with my own money, not the Family’s money. Can you understand that?”
However, that attitude of insisting on Independence regardless of her Family existed.
Because Max had run away from the Steiger Family, the experience resonated with him deeply. Empathy sent a tingling sensation down his spine.
“Hah.”
Max let out a short Breath.
His head throbbed, a headache that felt like he was Forcibly squeezing out magic power.
Ellen Clements was a tremendous connection on par with Flora.
Not only were her skills certain, but every word that came out during a conversation could potentially be valuable information.
But what if a problem occurred?
‘Steiger bloodline or not, regardless of Ellen Clements’s Family Head, my head would fly off.’
The pros and cons of hiring her were stark.
“Hmm…”
To Max, who seemed more than halfway convinced but still hadn’t made a decision.
Ellen reminded him of crucial information that would end his conflict.
“Max. Do you know what the most important thing in business is?”
“Hmm?”
“It’s having a pretty Employee like me. That’s how you get the customers swooning and opening their wallets!”
“…”
No matter how he looked at it, it was a rule completely Unrelated to a Mercenary Office.
However, Ellen’s confidence alone shone brightly, to the point where she let out a chuckle of disbelief.
“I lose.”
Max grabbed the contract and the pen he had printed out in advance using Psychokinesis.
He handed them to Ellen, telling her to fill them out.
“As written on the sign, my name is Max. It’s too shabby of an office for me to be called Boss, so call me whatever you’re comfortable with.”
As always, Max continued his introduction, leaving out the surname Steiger.
“Ellen Clements. You can call me the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Max ignored her request and spoke her name.
“Ellen, when do you plan to start working?”
* * *
“Stop! That’s enough!”
“The winner is Ellen Clements!”
One of the biggest issues at Minerva Academy.
The win-loss record between Flora Crimsonhowl and Ellen Clements.
“Yes!”
Today was Ellen Clements’s victory by a hair’s breadth.
The win rate, which had been maintained at exactly fifty-fifty, tilted once again.
“We will end today’s class here. Any Cadet suspecting an injury should head to the Infirmary.”
Minerva Academy ended with the conclusion of the match at the time.
Flora steeled her resolve.
Packing her bag at her seat, she chewed over her determination.
‘I can’t let her provocations shake me. Calmly, like always…’
Soon, Ellen would come running over to heartily relish her victory.
Based on past experience, she would run wild until the next match with her tension running high. She might even make her entrance doing a Somersault.
She couldn’t let herself be swayed by that.
If her concentration wavered, it would be a straight path to a losing streak.
She was aware that a bland response, acting as if she didn’t care, conversely would become an attack that broke Ellen’s flow.
However, it was unexpected.
“Huh?”
Contrary to Flora’s expectations, Ellen, who had returned to the Classroom, grabbed her bag and left immediately.
As if she had some urgent business.
The cadets also murmured in surprise at the absence of her usual behavior.
“What’s up with Ellen? I thought she’d shoot fireworks into the sky for winning.”
“I don’t know. From what I heard earlier, it sounded like she had plans.”
“If she’s running off like that, didn’t her Family call for her?”
“It’s a world we know nothing about.”
The cadets scattered.
Flora moved her paused hands and continued getting ready to head home.
“This is nice, after all, being quiet.”
It was a fortunate thing for Flora.
Probably.