Chapter 162 : Chapter 162
Chapter 162. The Dice Shop’s Recruitment Interview (1)
Radel Silvert Cretian was dangerous.
The 2nd Prince, Arteo Kudent Cretian, ground his teeth.
Ever since returning from Raviedel, Arteo’s mood had remained foul.
Shartea’s disregard for him was part of it, but the greatest reason was that he had been forced to acknowledge the existence of the 8th Prince once again.
‘Disgustingly vile, and shameless to boot.’
He should have disposed of him when he had the chance.
Now even Shartea had begun to take that bastard’s side and protect him.
That ominous feeling he had sensed the moment he heard the news that the 8th Prince had become a Grade Representative alongside Shartea.
It was the moment Arteo’s unease became reality.
He had heard that the 8th Prince could handle a sword fairly well, and of all things, that happened to be the area Shartea cared about the most.
She always complained that there was no one among the imperial family who was truly serious about swordsmanship.
If he had approached her knowing that, then he was truly a cunning bastard. All the more reason to eliminate him as soon as possible.
Arteo asked his subordinate,
“What happened to the requests sent to the assassin’s guilds?”
The moment he had returned from Raviedel, he had ordered requests sent to every assassin’s guild rumored to have skill.
Yet there had still been no report that any request had been accepted.
At Arteo’s question, the subordinate bowed his head.
“I apologize, Your Highness. None of them have accepted the request yet.”
“Did you tell them the compensation would be more than sufficient?”
“Yes. However… it seems a problem has arisen.”
Arteo’s eyebrow twitched.
“What problem?”
The memory of Black Fang vanishing overnight suddenly surfaced.
Those bastards who had dared to take imperial money and flee!
He had trusted their promise that they would succeed no matter what, sparing no expense on astronomical fees and full support.
What Arteo had received in return was a failed request and a pitifully small penalty fee.
As the memory resurfaced, Arteo’s mood plummeted.
The subordinate, reading Arteo’s expression, began to sweat profusely.
“Strange things have been happening lately. Assassin’s guilds have been collapsing one after another.”
Guilds collapsing?
As if they were some back-alley shops, assassin’s guilds collapsing?
Arteo was left momentarily speechless by the report.
“Do you honestly think that makes sense?”
“I understand it is hard to believe, but it is the truth. I would not dare lie about such a matter.”
The subordinate answered with a deep bow.
He was someone who had served Arteo for a long time, not the type to speak idle falsehoods.
Then it was true?
Arteo’s expression hardened.
“That is why it has become difficult to find a guild capable of taking assassination requests. We have also lost contact with informants from guilds reputed to be skilled. The same is true elsewhere.”
Black Fang had vanished overnight, and now even other assassin’s guilds were disappearing.
Unless someone was deliberately targeting assassin’s guilds, how could this be happening?
Arteo felt like clutching the back of his neck.
“The 8th Prince… he’s disgustingly lucky.”
As Arteo muttered in a drained voice, the subordinate tried to change the subject to lift his mood.
“Still, won’t that person be returning to the Academy soon? The 8th Prince probably won’t be able to do much.”
“Ah, true enough.”
Arteo’s face eased slightly at those words.
The 2nd Prince’s greatest nemesis and obstacle.
A being they had tried countless times to kill but never succeeded.
He had forgotten that this person was still enrolled at the Academy.
“If that bastard runs into the 8th Prince at the Academy…”
There was no need to imagine further.
He was someone who sought to eliminate every member of the imperial family except himself.
Perhaps the 8th Prince could be dealt with without Arteo lifting a finger.
If the two were to clash, it would be the best possible outcome for Arteo.
“I can get rid of two headaches at once.”
Dreaming of a future that would resolve itself without him doing anything, Arteo twisted his lips into a smile.
He began to look forward to the start of the Academy’s second semester.
***
“This is bad.”
Tunia said to Radel with a grave expression.
“Did we run out of those dolls that make cute sounds when you press them?”
Wearing the Dice Shop’s apron and carrying boxes, Radel asked. They were the best-selling items these days, so running out of stock would indeed be a problem.
“Ten more boxes are scheduled to arrive this afternoon, so don’t worry.”
At Radel’s words, Sam, who had been arranging griffin-shaped piggy banks nearby, quickly chimed in.
“Boss, we should also order more dancing rabbits. I checked the warehouse this morning, and they were gone.”
“Really? I guess business at the House of the Undead is doing well, since things are selling much faster. So that’s what you meant by bad news.”
During the Academy vacation, it was only natural, but other schools were on break as well.
When on vacation, students usually thought of having fun first.
On top of that, it was a scorching summer break.
Radel had not done any advertising, yet people were flocking to the House of the Undead on their own to enjoy a refreshing chill.
With apprentice priests and Holy Knights present, people said they felt reassured.
They claimed that even if real undead appeared, it would be fine since there were experts in exorcising evil spirits, so even those who disliked scary things were visiting in droves.
Still, Tunia’s expression remained deadly serious.
“That’s not the problem. More of them are meeting the condition I set.”
At Tunia’s earnest tone, Radel realized she was talking about the applicants. He set the box down and lowered his voice.
“The condition you mentioned before?”
“That’s right. We’ve received information that assassin’s guilds have been disappearing without a trace lately.”
Tunia whispered, almost like a sigh.
“Honestly, I didn’t think they’d actually do it. I didn’t think they were that determined.”
Saying you wanted to wash your hands clean and work here was easy, but actually acting on it was another matter.
After all, they were bound to their guild leaders by curses or contracts, making escape extremely difficult.
If Tunia had not cooperated with Radel, she would never have even dreamed of leaving an assassin’s guild.
“Once you live as an assassin, there’s no peaceful way out of a guild.”
Even if you fled, assassin’s guilds would chase traitors to the ends of the Empire.
Yet Radel spoke lightly.
“Hey, we don’t know for sure yet. The information might not be reliable. Let’s look into it again later.”
Radel had the employees investigate in detail.
However, the results matched Tunia’s words exactly.
“Boss, the rumors are confirmed. Several assassin’s guilds have already been taken down.”
“Taken down? By whom?”
“No one knows that for certain. In cases like this, as with us, it’s highly likely something happened internally.”
Back in the days of Black Fang as well, assassin’s guilds rarely exposed their locations.
From the outside, it was impossible to know how many members they had or who the guild leader was. They accepted requests in extreme secrecy, and they did not take every request that came in.
As a result, when something went wrong within an assassin’s guild, uncovering the full story was difficult.
“It’s similar to what happened to us. We heard that contact with the guild’s informants suddenly ceased and all requests were canceled. They also announced they would no longer accept any contracts.”
“It really is exactly like Black Fang.”
After hearing the information the employees had gathered, Radel grasped the situation.
The fact that only assassin’s guilds were disappearing at the same time was undeniably suspicious.
‘It really does seem like they’re faithfully fulfilling Tunia’s condition.’
If this was not a misunderstanding, then they were truly changing their lives with tremendous resolve and execution.
“Given the circumstances, let’s conduct interviews.”
Radel wanted to give them a chance.
If they wanted to wash their hands clean to that extent, then giving them an opportunity felt right.
***
Cronin, the branch manager of the Spear Guild’s Marcellent branch, was the official successor of the Spear Guild.
Normally, he would have been busy working at the Spear Guild, but now he was at the Dice Shop. The 8th Prince had personally asked him to help with the interviews.
“What kind of grand interview requires calling me in…?”
Perhaps it was the result of his father, Baron Grandal Spear, drilling into him until his ears ached that he must serve the 8th Prince well.
Even in the midst of his busy schedule, Cronin had made time to assist with the Dice Shop’s interviews.
“You’re here, Cronin. Thank you for helping with the interviews today.”
“It’s nothing. But will I really be of that much help?”
“Of course you will. I think having a third party evaluate them will be more objective than us handling it alone.”
With the 8th Prince saying that much, Cronin had nothing more to say.
He greeted Tunia, who would be interviewing alongside him, and took his seat.
Tunia was a capable talent he himself had personally trained as a staff member.
Things had gone well for her, and she was now working as the Dice Shop’s acting president.
‘Well, I did handle all the staff training here. I suppose that qualifies me as an interviewer.’
Convincing himself, Cronin looked over the list of applicants.
“There are quite a lot of applicants. When did you post the recruitment notice?”
“We never posted one. They just came on their own saying they wanted to work here.”
At Radel’s words, Tunia nodded beside him.
Had the Dice Shop already reached that level…?
Enough that people lined up wanting to work here?
Applicants coming of their own accord without any posting was something even Cronin, who still ran the Spear Guild’s Marcellent branch, had never experienced.
Though he found it puzzling, the interviews began nonetheless.
And yet, every single applicant was strange.
“So… what did you say your specialty was?”
“Yes, my specialty is holding my breath.”
That was a new one.
Cronin asked again.
“And where would that specialty be useful?”
“If I can hold my breath for a long time, it’s advantageous when hiding underwater.”
What reason would there be to hide underwater at a shop, holding one’s breath?
Cronin frowned.
‘Is this some kind of disguised employment?’
There were people like that sometimes.
Those who took fake jobs to hide their real profession.
They worked in the dangerous underworld while deliberately taking on respectable jobs to conceal their identities.
Such despicable behavior could never be permitted.
Yet the owner of the Dice Shop, Radel, looked completely unfazed.
“That’s an interesting specialty. I like it. While you’re at it, could you make a three-line acrostic poem using ‘holding your breath’?”
A three-line acrostic?
Radel was the only one present who knew what that was.
After he gave a brief explanation, the applicant swallowed nervously and spoke.
“Please give me the opening syllable.”
Quite adaptable.
Satisfied, Radel provided the prompt.
“Hold.”
“In this harsh society where we live holding our breath.”
“Your.”
“Your true talent will emerge, to make the boss!”
“Breath.”
“Breath with joy. Please hire me, a prepared talent!”
Radel grinned broadly and shouted,
“Accepted!”
Hiring people like this?
Cronin could only gape in disbelief.