Chapter 163 : Chapter 163
Chapter 163. The Dice Shop’s Recruitment Interview (2)
At last, the end of the bizarre interviews was in sight.
Cronin no longer even had the energy to be surprised.
Even if someone listed “making dog barking sounds” as a special skill, he found himself accepting it.
Still, when an applicant claimed that dog barking was their specialty, the 8th Prince asking them to sing a song using dog barks felt even more unhinged.
Strange applicants, a strange owner.
And in the midst of that, Cronin heard the 8th Prince speaking to Tunia.
“Didn’t that dog barking just now sound real? I think an incredible talent showed up.”
Cronin was dumbfounded. In this world, the only person who would call such an ability incredible was probably the 8th Prince.
Yet Tunia nodded with a serious expression.
“It’s definitely a very useful ability. We almost would have missed out.”
Cronin quietly added strange staff to the list alongside strange applicants and a strange owner.
“Boss, this is the last applicant.”
A Dice Shop employee announced from outside the door.
Soon, the final applicant appeared before the interviewers. He looked quite young.
“Ah, h-hello. I look forward to working with you.”
He greeted Radel, Cronin, and Tunia awkwardly, then sat down and straightened his posture.
Tunia glanced at him and whispered softly to Radel.
“He’s the one who wiped out the largest guild in this area in a single day.”
At Tunia’s words, Radel examined him again.
Aside from looking young, the applicant seemed ordinary. He did not look like an overwhelming powerhouse.
Still, Tunia’s information that he had dismantled the largest assassin’s guild in the area in one day could not be wrong.
Wasn’t it just like Pirenzo in his youth?
Pirenzo had been skilled enough to infiltrate as an agent of the Ability Management Bureau and even pose as an Academy professor.
If things went well, this young man could become the future of the Dice Shop.
However, Cronin did not particularly like this applicant.
At a glance, he looked too naive, and his physical condition did not seem impressive.
On top of that, his attitude was passive.
The earlier applicants had been proactive enough to improvise three-line acrostic poems and sing songs using dog barks, yet this applicant made no effort to stand out.
‘He lacks the drive to promote himself.’
Without realizing it, Cronin had grown accustomed to Radel’s interview style, where you had to stand out to survive.
“What are you good at?”
When Cronin asked, the applicant stammered as he answered.
“I-I’m good at erasing my presence.”
“Your presence? How exactly do you do that?”
“……If I blend in among people, no one can pick me out.”
At those words, Radel looked at the applicant with admiration.
“Is that true? If so, that’s an incredible talent.”
Cronin was bewildered.
Wasn’t having no presence closer to poor social skills?
And bringing that up as a specialty for a job that dealt with people. If customers came into the shop and the staff were unnoticeable, that would be a problem.
To Cronin, it felt like a useless ability.
He asked coldly.
“Then why did you apply here? It may be unusual, but this shop doesn’t need that kind of skill.”
The moment Cronin finished speaking, the applicant’s expression turned resolute.
It was the look of someone who had steeled himself.
“I applied because I want to live a new life. I will live as if reborn. Please give me the last chance of my life!”
The last chance of his life?
Cronin wondered why he was being so dramatic.
But Radel seemed to think differently. As if moved by the applicant’s words, he closed his eyes in contemplation.
Then he slowly spoke.
“I understand your resolve. However, not just anyone can work at our shop. If you start working here, what kind of aspiration will you have?”
The applicant hesitated, then replied.
“I plan to work with a sense of ownership. Thinking of this shop as my own…”
“That’s enough.”
Before the applicant could finish, Radel cut him off in a cold tone.
“A sense of ownership? I am the owner of the Dice Shop.”
The applicant’s face was dyed with confusion.
Radel added firmly.
“As an employee, just have an employee’s mindset. Come to work when it’s time to work, leave when it’s time to leave, and get paid for any additional work. Don’t work extra for no reason. Understood?”
A sense of ownership, indeed.
If someone developed a sense of ownership and started acting like the owner, that would be a problem.
Yet the applicant’s eyes, accustomed to exploitation without pay, were now glistening with emotion.
Like most assassin’s guilds, he had entered at a young age and had been exploited as unpaid labor.
Moved by Radel’s words, he clenched his fist and made a vow. No matter what, he would join the Dice Shop and become a diligent worker.
And the other applicants felt the same.
***
The day after the Dice Shop’s recruitment interviews ended.
Before returning to the Academy, Radel stopped by the Dice Shop.
“Welcome, Boss!”
Employees wearing Dice Shop aprons greeted Radel.
There were veteran employees who had worked there before, and there were new hires.
In effect, most of the applicants who had come for interviews had been accepted.
From the start, Radel had planned to hire nearly everyone if possible.
For Tunia, for Pirenzo, and for anyone willing to risk their life to leave the guild they belonged to, their yearning for a normal life could not be shallow.
With that level of resolve, they were bound to work hard.
And to think that people capable of working for an information guild were seeking him out on their own.
Radel felt quietly pleased.
“So, how is it? Is everyone working well?”
“They’re adapting quickly since it’s familiar work. But sometimes old habits come out when they see customers, so we’re continuing training.”
When Radel asked, Tunia replied calmly.
They were scheduled to undergo an adaptation period, learning from senior staff for three months.
“What kind of old habits?”
“Nothing too serious. Some habitually keep erasing their presence, and others end up following customers without them noticing.”
As Radel and Tunia talked about the new hires, Hailey, the leader of the employees, cut in.
“There’s one following you even now, Boss.”
“Following me?”
Radel was slightly surprised, since he had not sensed anyone at all.
Even after walking around the shop just now, he had no idea someone had been tailing him.
“I-I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable. I just wanted to be helpful, Boss.”
The employee Hailey grabbed by the back of the neck was one of the applicants from the interview.
At the explanation that he had been following Radel to bring him anything he might need, Tunia sighed.
“I told you not to get in the way of customers’ paths. Why are you doing things you weren’t told to do….”
But Radel understood his feelings.
At a new job, anyone would naturally be overly tense. Wanting to do better, his enthusiasm had probably overflowed.
Radel patted his shoulder and spoke to ease his nerves.
“Even just doing what you’ve been taught is impressive right now. Don’t try too hard. It’s your first time, so mistakes can happen. You’ll improve quickly.”
“Thank you, Boss.”
Encouraged, the employee bowed deeply and returned to the other new hires.
And then he said,
“…I failed.”
“The seniors are just too skilled. If I’d had a little more time, I could’ve figured out the Boss’s preferences!”
The new hires wanted to score points with the Boss during their probation period. To be officially hired after three months, they needed to leave a good impression.
So they had tried to secretly follow the Boss, gathering information and figuring out his tastes.
But it was not easy to avoid the eyes of the senior staff from Black Fang.
“This won’t do. Let’s gather tonight without the seniors knowing.”
They decided to secretly gather and train infiltration skills to hone their abilities.
Something Radel never intended was happening without his knowledge.
***
After leaving the Dice Shop, Radel stopped by the Supreme Deity Order’s temple in Marcellent.
“Prince Radel has arrived!”
“Really? Swear it on the Supreme Deity! You’re not lying, are you?”
The apprentice Holy Knights recognized Radel and rushed over.
“Your Highness, have you been well?”
“We’ve missed you!”
They said they had returned from Raviedel not long ago as well.
Seeing the apprentice Holy Knights he had grown familiar with in the territory, Radel was glad too.
“You’ve all been doing well?”
“We haven’t been doing well. It’s too boring here. Training on sandy ground is the best.”
“That’s right! The Marcellent mountain range is nice, but the Tsar Mountain Range has its own feel. Training feels monotonous here, so we’re a bit dissatisfied.”
Monotonous training…?
Radel was taken aback by their overflowing passion.
The Marcellent mountain range was no easy place, with plenty of monsters.
In places where magicians were not as common as here, it would be difficult to deal with the monsters living in those mountains.
“In Marcellent, magicians casually go into the mountains to gather materials and hunt monsters, so we often come back empty-handed.”
“Raviedel is great because there’s so much to hunt!”
They were utterly serious about training.
Radel understood why Gusto was strong.
Just then, Gusto noticed Radel and approached.
“Your Highness, there’s no need to respond to each of them individually. Their brains are full of muscles. Conversation probably won’t work.”
“You bastard, Gusto! Our minds are devoted solely to the Supreme Deity!”
“That’s right! Muscles are merely a means to guide us to the Supreme Deity!”
Gusto cleanly ignored their protests and led Radel away.
“The Bishop is away today due to a meeting.”
“I see. Is it because of the heretics?”
One reason Radel had come to the temple was because of the heretics that had appeared in his territory.
He had hoped to get information from the Marcellent Bishop about the heretics who had killed the Lizardman chieftain and vanished.
“No. It’s for something more important.”
Gusto glanced around, then lowered his voice and whispered.
“The Archbishop wishes to officially support Your Highness.”
“Me?”
“Yes. That is also why Bishop Lambrado went to the meeting today. He needs the consent of the other Bishops.”
Radel looked completely taken by surprise.
Yet choosing Radel’s territory as the training ground for the Supreme Deity Order’s apprentice Holy Knights, building a temple there, and dispatching priests was practically an open declaration that the Supreme Deity Order supported the 8th Prince.
Gusto had known this day would come.
The crises Radel had overcome.
Events that could not be explained without calling them miracles.
And through this training, seeing him face a Great Spirit, Radel had gained popularity among the apprentice Holy Knights without even realizing it.
The Supreme Deity Order’s internal favor toward Radel was soaring.
It seemed that Radel was the only one unaware of it.
‘As expected of His Highness.’
Once again, Gusto felt that even that humility only made the Prince shine brighter.