Chapter 15 : Chapter 15
Chapter 15
"The Young Duke? Is that person that Young Duke……?"
"Should we greet him now?"
"If you don't want to die, get on the ground, quick!"
The people gathered in the building, startled by the sudden appearance of the young duke, began to prostrate themselves on the floor one by one.
At the sight, Ian's brow furrowed, and Rylae threw the pen she was holding at Rick.
"Rick!"
"Boss!"
"Go and die!"
Just as the pen Rylae threw was about to hit Rick's forehead, Ian hesitated for a moment and then caught it.
"Hic!"
After watching Rick, who was startled by the pen that had stopped in front of his eyes, collapse as if crumbling, Ian started walking towards the second floor and said to Rylae.
"Hoo… for now, send everyone back and let's meet upstairs for a moment."
While Ian and Reina were climbing the stairs, the sound of Rylae hitting Rick's back with all her might echoed loudly from downstairs.
"I! told! you! to! shut! up! when! the Young Duke! comes! How many! times! do I have to! tell you!"
* * *
"I'm sorry. I've shown you a disgraceful side of myself again."
Rylae, with a faint blush, perhaps because she had been taking out her anger on Rick until just a moment ago, caught her breath and bowed her head to Ian.
"It's been a while, Duke. And this is……?"
"This is my personal maid, Reina."
"It's an honor to meet you, Lady Reina."
As Rylae bowed politely to Reina as well, a flustered Reina waved her hands and answered.
"Ah, I-I'm not a noble, so you don't have to greet me like this."
"I didn't greet you because I thought you were a noble. There are plenty of special people who are not nobles."
She looked at Ian and continued.
"Besides, she is also a very shining person."
At those words, Ian flinched and looked at Rylae.
"You could see martial talent too?"
"You should probably assume I can't. I've only seen two people in my entire life."
Rylae's eyes turned to Ian and Reina in succession.
"Isn't it strange? I'm sure the Duke didn't have any talent for martial arts when I saw him last time… By the way, are you going to leave such a shining jewel unattended?"
Ian ignored Rylae's curiosity and looked at Reina with the Eye of the Gold Fiend.
A red light was burning in her chest.
It was a light much brighter than Lina's, who had the talent of a king.
"If you hold a sword, you are bound to die by the sword."
However, even after discovering a trait with such a bright light, he didn't teach Reina anything.
Because it was enough just to have her by his side.
To be honest, he was afraid of creating a situation where she had no choice but to fight by teaching her the sword and magic, and he was also afraid that she, who would have become so brilliant, would leave him.
One might curse him for being foolish in a situation where even a single trait was precious, but unlike the game on the screen, this world he was breathing and living in was not a place one could live alone.
"Just because you cage a bird doesn't mean it can't fly."
Rylae, who had glanced at Ian with cold eyes, approached Reina, offered her a gracefully extended hand, and smiled refreshingly.
"I am Rylae, the owner of this guild. If the Duke ever troubles you, please come and see me. I will help you."
"Ah, yes, hello. I-I'm Reina! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Only then did Reina, who had been listening blankly without understanding their conversation, bow her head while holding her hand and greet her.
"That's enough with the greetings. We don't have much time, so let's get down to business. It seems there are quite a few applicants. How many have gathered?"
"So far, a little over a thousand have applied. I don't think we can get more than that unless it's in Lier, the most developed city in the domain."
Ian's plan was simple.
Spread recruitment notices in the city and hire only those with traits.
And after some simple training, conduct one-on-one customized education to acquire their traits.
It was a kind of trait farming planned in search of the most efficient way to achieve maximum efficiency in a short amount of time.
It was a win-win strategy, as Ian would be happy to get the traits, and the hired individuals would be happy to get both the traits they hadn't been able to awaken until now and a job at the same time.
However, when he was planning this, he had never imagined that so many people would apply, due to the notoriety of the name 'Young Duke.'
"A thousand? That's far more than I thought… for now, I'll hire everyone who shows signs of martial talent, as planned. We still have quite a bit of funds left, so it should be fine."
"All of them?"
"Yes. I thought not many people would gather because of my notoriety, but this isn't bad. And I think there will only be around 10 of them anyway."
In the end, these were talents gathered to acquire traits.
The more there were, the higher the probability of acquiring traits, so there would be no problem in investing a little more money.
"There will be a lord's council around next month. I'll be going to Lier soon after that, so get ready."
"Yes. Shall I send people there first to distribute the recruitment notices?"
"It's a big city, so won't there be any applicants? Give it a try for now. As I said, the more applicants, the better."
Ian was planning to select those who wanted to stay even after he had acquired their traits and form a special unit.
It was a period of less than a month, but since only individuals with traits were gathered, he would be able to train them into an elite force in just a month.
Ian tapped the table with his fingers and said.
"It'll be difficult, but the interviews have to be finished within the next week."
"Then I will make it so you can start the interviews this afternoon. Is there anything else you need?"
"Send a messenger to the castle and bring a maid named Lina. We're picking colleagues to work with that friend."
"I understand."
Leaving behind Rylae who was leaving the room, I raised my head and looked at the old ceiling.
"Is this just the beginning……."
Thinking that this was a much better start compared to the game, I enjoyed a brief rest on the old sofa before the interviews began.
* * *
The interview was simple.
Look at the interviewee who came in with the Eye of the Gold Fiend, and if they had talent, they passed; if they didn't, they failed.
It was a task that would take less than 3 seconds if he were to use it on everyone at once, but the mana consumption was too severe in a place with many people, so he had no choice but to conduct the interviews one by one.
"Next."
"Th-thank you!"
Watching the girl who was rushing out, I looked at Rylae with a pathetic expression.
"Really? That kid just now didn't even look 10?"
"You said age, gender, and occupation didn't matter."
"Still, what are her parents doing? No matter how desperate they are for money, how can they send a child to a place like this?"
"They probably didn't think the young duke himself would be conducting the interviews. If it were another interviewer, they would be able to get the participation fee instead of being rejected. Well, in other words, they are cunning parents."
Cunning parents.
They were probably desperate parents.
If the situation in the domain were a little better, what parent would send their child away for just a few coins?
I wiped my face in frustration.
In the meantime, the next participant came in, and Ian, like a machine, searched for a hidden light with the Eye of the Gold Fi-end.
"Next."
"Th-thank you!"
Watching the woman who bowed deeply and scurried backwards out of the room, Rylae, who was standing next to me, said.
"It seems the people who are rejected are more excited."
"I need to investigate the rumors spreading in the market. Does it make sense that there are people who faint just by looking at my face?"
It was a good thing if they just tried not to look at his face, like that person just now.
More than five people had already fainted as soon as they entered the interview room.
"That's because you smiled, Duke."
"What? Am I not even supposed to smile?"
At Ian's irritated question, Lina, who was guarding his side, whispered in a small voice.
"Duke, you're a little scary when you smile."
"Lina……?"
In disbelief, he turned his head to look at Lina, and she continued with a straight face.
"These are the friends who will be working with me, so you should at least make a good impression. Please try not to smile as much as possible."
"Phht, phahaha!"
At her serious demeanor, Ian's face crumpled slightly, and Rylae slapped her knee and burst out laughing.
"Next! Rick! Next!"
Feeling unjustly wronged, he urgently called for Rick, and Rick, who had let in the next person, stuck his head out from between the door and said.
"That's right, Duke! It's a hassle to calm them down outside, so please don't smile!"
"But that's!"
He quickly tried to pick up the pen he was holding and throw it, but Rick, who had sensed the threat, had already fled to the first floor to find Reina.
"Hoo. Are we at number 150 now? Next… huh?"
Ian, who was habitually calling for the next person, saw a trait shining with a gray light.
"Oh! You pass!"
"What? What?! That can't be……."
At the trait he had finally found, Ian's face brightened as he shouted, and the startled participant looked at Ian in disbelief.
"That's right! You pass!"
The moment she looked at Ian with a devastated expression as if she had lost the world, the woman collapsed, and Rylae quickly approached, helped her up, and guided her outside.
"Participant number 153, Marsi?"
"Yes, yes."
"Don't worry. Come this way and let's talk for a moment."
Watching the two women leave the room, Lina said in a small voice.
"I told you not to smile."
"I don't think the smile was the problem… no, more importantly, didn't everyone gather here because they wanted to pass?"
No matter how many people had gathered for the participation fee, he had expected some of them to want to pass, but it seemed that no one truly wanted to work under a scoundrel.
"Of course not. When I went out for a moment, I saw them sharing know-how on how to get rejected."
At Lina's voice, which held no trace of guilt, Ian glared at her and asked.
"And you just let that happen?"
"Yes. They might be the friends who will work with me, so if I take the Duke's side already, I'll have to be alone in the future. I want to be friends with everyone."
After saying so, Lina went out the door in place of the busy Rick and Rylae to guide the next participant and continued.
"So, don't smile."
"Ah. R-right……."
At her request, which was completely devoid of any humor, a dejected Ian answered in a small voice.
* * *
A week had already passed.
He conducted interviews until evening every day and then tried to find suitable skills for the newly hired employees, so time felt ridiculously short.
"It's finally over."
On the second floor of the Golden Goblin Merchant Guild, Rylae said to Ian, who was waiting for the last interviewee.
"A total of 19 people?"
"What a shame. I wanted to fill up 20."
Among the more than a thousand people, only 19 had shining traits.
"It's alright. I found quite a few jewels."
Rather, it was Rylae who had gained more from this interview.
Perhaps because most of the interviewees were women, there were more people with a talent for commerce.
"Tsk, it seems I only did Rylae a favor with my own money."
"I am only grateful for the Duke's grace."
Not liking her sly smile, he glared at the door for a long time while waiting for the next participant.
"What? Did they give up again?"
There had been several precedents of people who were scared of Ian running away, so Ian shrugged and was just about to get up from his seat when a noisy sound came from outside the door.
"So I'm going to have an interview too!"
"Where do you think you're going! Didn't you hear me, mister?!"
"What are you, mister! It clearly says in the notice that age, gender, and occupation don't matter!"
"You little brat, you still can't! Do you even know who's in there, you punk?"
At the familiar voice of Rick, he quietly opened the door and peeked outside, and saw Rick arguing with a young-looking girl.
"I'll just give you the participation fee, so go back!"
"No! I'm definitely going to get a job! If you don't let me in soon, I'm going to poop right here!"
"You really are!"
Rick, with a tearful face, stomped his feet, not knowing what to do with the child's outlandish threat.
‘Tattered clothes… she must be poor.’
The Forest of Demonic Beasts was a land overflowing with monster carcasses.
Food might always be scarce, but fur and leather were plentiful, so it was rare to see someone who was not properly dressed.
If a child like that was wearing tattered clothes, it must have been because their situation was that bad.
‘So she needs a job? And she can’t do anything because of her age?’
A few days ago, he had told Rick and Reina to give the very young-looking children some money and send them back if possible.
Young children wouldn't understand even if he taught them the verses of a secret art.
The story would be different if Ian could teach them by personally showing them the skills he knew, but since he could only pass on most of the skills through verses, accepting young children was close to a waste of time.
Thinking that it couldn't be helped, he was about to go back to the room when his eyes met with the child who was desperately trying to get into the interview room.
"Hey! You, scary mister! Please let me in!"
After letting out a small sigh at the sight of the child calling him while waving her hands, he sent his mana to his eyes and activated the Eye of the Gold Fiend, and saw a trait shining clearly in the child's chest.
A white trait, shining brighter than any other trait he had seen so far.
Ian, with a grin that reached his ears, pointed at the child who was waving her hand and shouted cheerfully.
"You pass!"