Attendant Interviews

"A new guard attendant?"

Anna-ri's anxious cry.

At the mention of selecting several attendants, she worried that she might be dismissed.

I reassured her.

"Ah, don't misunderstand. It's because you alone won't be enough to handle my academy schedule."

"S-Sorry."

"......"

There was no need to apologize.

She looked strangely cowed.

Although our relationship had recovered after our previous conversation, she remained dispirited the entire time.

As though she wanted to make up for the points she'd lost, she was taking on tasks beyond her actual duties.

Cleaning, for example.

Laundry, too.

She had even tried to take over bathing me.

"Um, Ms. Anna-ri."

"Yes, Lady Raebi."

"Um...... You only need to focus on your own duties. That's enough for me."

"Ah......"

According to Kang Hana, Anna-ri apparently considered herself useless because she was D-rank.

In the first place, B-rank or higher Awakeners rarely served as guards for nobles.

Even among commoners, people treated like kings had no reason to guard someone else.

Unless their target was S-rank, perhaps.

I asked the silent Anna-ri,

"Ms. Anna-ri, what would you do if enemies attacked while I was asleep or unconscious?"

"First, I'd inform my master, then escape carrying you if possible."

"And if even that were difficult?"

"......I'd fight them, prepared to die."

That's it.

That was where a guard's role lay.

Protecting their master when they were defenseless.

I flashed Anna-ri a grin, and she seemed to understand my meaning as she crossed her arms as well.

"I'll take that to heart."

"Good. Shall we prepare for the interviews, then?"

Attendant interviews were scheduled to begin in the afternoon.

Originally, I had planned to hire only a couple of housekeeping attendants, but now I had money to spare.

Since Ahn Gihwan would be staying behind while I was away, I decided to hire an attendant to look after him as well.

'Let's see... Two housekeeping attendants, one female guard, and a cook.'

One housekeeping attendant would be responsible for cleaning the room, while the cook would handle Ahn Gihwan's meals.

Everyone else would follow me to the academy.

"Mr. Daeseok, are you sure you can manage on your own? You'll have to cook for two more people."

"Leave it to me! With ingredients, what could possibly be impossible?"

Kim Daeseok rolled up his sleeves and showed off his bulging veins.

His appearance was certainly rough, but his cooking was quite neat and tasty.

Of course, it still couldn't compare to Athena's.

I chuckled and said,

"You sound reliable. I won't have to worry about the cooking."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"What about you, Ms. Hana? Will you be all right teaching me by yourself?"

"......"

Kang Hana let out a dry laugh at my teasing question.

She usually didn't laugh at frivolous jokes, but this time she managed to look amused.

She answered calmly, "That will be enough."

"Hmm... Good. Then, to spare Hana and Jihye the suffering of laundry and bathing, let's hire housekeeping attendants first!"

And so we began the housekeeping-attendant interviews.

Han Jihye and Kang Hana had said they were prepared for the moment they began serving an 'adopted noble,' but with money to spare, there was no reason to burden them with extra work.

When the appointed time came, I began to hear low voices outside, and several women appeared behind Han Jihye as she opened the door.

"Welcome."

The interviews were conducted one-on-one, by default.

This wasn't some conglomerate. I didn't want to line them up and put them through stress interviews.

Still, they must have received some prior training, because the moment they faced me, they all crossed their arms.

"I'm Pyeon Dayoung. It is an honor to meet a noble of Douglas Kim."

"I'm Raebi Na. Nice to meet you. Please sit over there."

Pyeon Dayoung slowly sat down in the chair I indicated. I began carefully examining her résumé.

I'd received it the day before, but hadn't had time to look it over closely.

'Professional massage therapist certification... 98 in Noble Etiquette. Neat appearance, and young at twenty-one.'

There was no need to look at anything else.

I only needed to focus on whether they had experience related to cleanliness, whether they possessed the education and manners appropriate for working here, and whether they were diligent.

"Ms. Dayoung, you're younger than the other applicants. You're at an age when you should be enjoying yourself, so why did you apply for this position?"

Pyeon Dayoung looked at me with a tense expression.

She swallowed hard, then answered.

"Because I want to work for a noble family!"

Huh?

Normally, wouldn't they ramble on about the glory of Douglas Kim and so on?

When I laughed at the absurdity of it, she continued,

"I don't have any particular talents, and I'm not clever! But I want to work at a good job!"

"......Haha, you're refreshingly straightforward."

She certainly was forthright.

What should I do?

Her qualifications were sufficient, and she didn't seem like a bad person... But was that really an acceptable motivation?

I gave Han Jihye, who was standing beside me, a sidelong glance.

I figured it would be faster to ask someone who would be working with her.

Han Jihye lowered herself and whispered to me,

'As I mentioned, you can notify her of the decision later. Finish the remaining interviews first, then discuss it with the attendants.'

......So that's what I should do. It's not as though I've ever done this sort of thing before.

Following Han Jihye's advice, I asked a few standard questions and ended the interview.

Perhaps because Han Jihye had carefully shortlisted the applicants herself, there was nothing in particular to find fault with.

After all the housekeeping-attendant applicants had left, I gathered everyone in the meeting room and asked,

"What do you think?"

"Daeseok oppa's face turned red."

"No, I told you, it wasn't like that! Lady Raebi, you're mistaken, really..."

Kim Daeseok was flustered by Anna-ri's blunt remark.

But I'd also seen him staring fixedly at Pyeon Dayoung earlier, so a sheepish laugh escaped me.

"Then we've decided on one attendant. But if this is how things go, we'll soon have another person in the household. Should we skip hiring the rest?"

"Lady Raebi!!"

Kim Daeseok looked miserable, making everyone snicker.

Even Han Jihye covered her mouth with the back of her hand and looked away.

Kim Daeseok glared at Anna-ri, but she was D-rank.

Even a female assassin-type was stronger than an adult man, so there was nothing Kim Daeseok could do.

"All right, then. Dayoung is set as one... How about Kim Sooyoung for the other?"

Everyone tilted their heads and looked at me.

"......We don't particularly object, but is there a reason?"

"Heh."

At Kang Hana's question, I slapped the résumés down on the table and said,

"Honestly, everyone's qualifications are so impressive that I can't decide. So we'll go with Pyeon Dayoung and Kim Sooyoung—their names both have 'young' in them!"

"Haha, Lady Raebi..."

Han Jihye muttered under her breath.

Of course, from her normally serious perspective, this probably wasn't a decision she liked much.

But they were all decent people anyway.

It would be foolish to waste energy on such a minor decision, so I pushed ahead with my choice.

And so, after the housekeeping-attendant selection ended more easily than expected,

Han Jihye brought in the applicants for guard attendants again.

Most were low-ranking E- or D-rank Hunters.

Apparently, there were particularly many applicants because most women preferred this sort of guard work to entering dungeons.

But then...

"B-rank? Ms. Lee Hye-in, you're high-ranked. Why did you apply here?"

"That's correct."

"......Is there a reason?"

"I want to become the head attendant."

...!

A head attendant... was effectively a noble's representative.

It was a position where the noble formally recognized your authority and showered you with all sorts of privileges.

It was said to be one of the few routes for a commoner without connections to rise dramatically in status.

'Of course, given her rank, I suppose it makes sense....'

This was a position for hiring a guard. Did she even realize that?

"The head attendant position has already been promised to someone. Are you not interested in simple guard duty?"

"Of course, there would have to be a probationary period. And I don't mind even if someone has already been selected. I hear you have a D-rank guard, so I'm sure you'll find me reassuring once you try me."

"......."

***

Bang!

"Lady Raebi...? Is something wrong?"

After the interviews ended,

Feeling a little annoyed, I slammed the door as I came out, and Anna-ri asked,

I let out a small sigh, then asked her,

"Ms. Anna-ri, would you be all right guarding me alone for the time being?"

Her face immediately brightened. She nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Y-Yes! I'll work hard!"

"Pfft... Aren't you a little too happy about having more work? I'm warning you, you'll be incredibly busy."

"I heard about it! And that's fine! I'll get it done even if it kills me!"

As expected, Anna-ri was delighted.

She'd turned ashen at the news that there was a B-rank applicant, so she hopped in place with an expression of relief at having survived.

Han Jihye frowned, and Kang Hana beside her pressed down on her shoulder and whispered something.

A shadow fell across Anna-ri's face again.

"I'm sorry, Lady Raebi. I just..."

"As long as you work hard, that's enough. Seeing how happy you are, Ms. Anna-ri, makes me think this was the right decision."

Then Ahn Gihwan's voice came from beside us.

"Um, then what you're saying now, Lady Raebi, is......"

"Yes. I'm not going to hire a guard attendant. Please reject them all."

"......."

Ahn Gihwan kept looking at me.

It seemed unusual for a B-rank applicant to show up, and even more unusual to turn one down, so he seemed curious about my reason.

"Her gaze wasn't like yours."

I answered calmly and cast a glance at Han Jihye. She gave a bitter smile.

Since she'd watched the applicants' mindsets during the interviews as well, her reaction was understandable.

At Han Jihye's reaction, everyone let it go, assuming there must be some reason.

After that, the cook-attendant interviews were a happy time.

Since cooking was easy to judge by experience and qualifications, one woman and one man had been prescreened, and we spent the evening tasting and evaluating their food.

"What do you think, Mr. Daeseok?"

In practice, Kim Daeseok was the interviewer for this round, not me.

When he began his analysis with a sharp gaze, both applicants held their breath.

He picked up and chewed a piece of each prepared dish, then said,

"......The seasoning is good for both of you. But..."

Kim Daeseok's gaze turned toward the woman.

"Ms. Im Bora, you're a little clumsy at controlling the heat. Some of the vegetables are cooked, while others are still raw."

"Ah..."

"N-No, I don't mean it's that bad, of course. You don't have to look so upset...!"

'Heh heh, what an idiot.'

It was only natural for her to panic when the head chef himself was singling her out for criticism.

I thought I understood Kim Daeseok's personality fairly well by now.

There was no need to say much.

He couldn't be tough on women.

Though his professional instincts made him criticize her without thinking, he probably wanted to pass Im Bora deep down.

I propped my chin on the table and said,

"Mr. Han Cheol, Ms. Im Bora. You both pass."

""What?""

"You pass. Both of you."

The two looked at me in surprise.

Their mouths slowly fell open, showing that this was completely unexpected.

In particular, the tears that had been welling in Im Bora's eyes vanished.

With 'Impossible to understand' hovering over their faces, I elaborated,

"The other positions fell through today. Since we also just had a delicious dinner, it shouldn't hurt to indulge a little. Let's work well together from now on."

"Uh... Th-thank you! I'll work hard, Lady Raebi!"

"Hey, hey! You don't need to kneel to me!"

I shouted in a panic.

The attendants hurriedly helped Han Cheol and Im Bora to their feet.

These must have been the questions from the common-sense test they took when applying, but everyone seemed to have forgotten them in their happiness.

After all sorts of twists and turns, they agreed to start work the next day, signed their contracts, and left with Han Jihye.

'Oath Magic.'

They said everything seen and heard here was forbidden to mention.

I was curious to see what it was like... but I had work to do.

"I'm going to lie down for a bit."

"Understood. Rest comfortably, Lady Raebi."

Click-

As soon as I closed my room door, I brought up the message window.

Ding-

[Entering the dungeon 'The Sea People's Path.']

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Gold and experience available

Enterable area : Lighthouse on the Beach

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Accept(Y) Decline(N)

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'I swore I wouldn't go in again, but...'

It still bothered me.

The identity of this body, and the unfamiliar Gate.

And...

The necklace in the shop that cost 20 million gold.

[Piranian's Ancient Pendant.]

For some reason, I wanted it so badly it was driving me crazy.

At present, I had distributed all my stats evenly and had already entered the dungeon a few times as an experiment.

I could leave the dungeon whenever I wanted, and the monsters I'd killed remained dead.

I had nearly cleared the first stage, 'Lighthouse on the Beach.'

Only a boss with magic power equivalent to the very top of A-rank remained there.

I quietly pressed the button on the message window.

'Accept.'

Fwoooosh-!

.

.

.

Thunk!

"I'm coming for you, A-rank essence."