Chapter 146. An Assassin’s and Friend’s First Interview for a Job (6/8)

Know your limits, I didn’t know them in the past so I went to university thinking things would work out better that way even with my social ineptitude. I was wrong though. Working hard academically wasn’t all there was to university. The biggest and most important part had never had anything to do with your academics. It was who you knew, your ability to form connections there that mattered.

It was a place to open up a door where you would meet people who were already successful that you normally would never have had the chance to interact with. People who’d already climbed the ladder and could pull you up too if you got in their good books.

That was the true purpose of university. Academics were in fact secondary there. Even if you were an idiot, as long as you were a likable idiot, you could still grab hold of a future there. I’d seen it happen firsthand with my own eyes. People who didn’t do very well from an academic standpoint would still manage to get jobs in their field simply because they met the right people at the right time. They were social and likable.

Unlike me.

If I’d understood that reality sooner, I definitely would have thrown away the foolish idea of going to university. I didn’t belong or fit in there. People were mistaken when they thought university was where smart people gathered and prospered. It was actually where the socially adept ones prospered the most. They thrived in university. The ones who could manipulate others to act in a manner favorable to themselves -- they were the ones who found the greatest success in that environment.

“Well… it’s a surprise to hear your plans, but… it still doesn’t change the fact I’m going to make you take an interview when you turn sixteen. Anyway, we’ve kept the last interviewee waiting for long enough.”

“Oh, right. I should take my leave now.” I stood up prepared to return to work but was stopped.

“Did I say you could leave? You’re staying for this one too.”

“What for?”

“Because I don’t intend to hire the girl Yuna recommended.”

“Why not? You haven’t even talked to her yet.”

“Well, she seems too nervous.”

“You haven’t even seen her yet.”

“I can smell fear.”

“Are you some kind of monster?”

“Not at all. But I don’t plan to go easy on this girl if she’s a complete pushover without a backbone. Your girlfriend is quite good. She’s got spunk and a lot of qualities I appreciate. I don’t know much about this girl, but I at least remember she’s the one who dragged along some useless punk into my store which resulted in you having to step in and get punched.”

“She couldn’t even handle that situation on her own. If she can’t do something simple like speak up and shoo away a nuisance like him, she’s as good as useless in my eyes. I don’t care how good a girl she is or how friendly she is, she needs to be more than just a good girl. Hmph! What use is someone who can’t say no to someone?”

“What purpose does having me here serve? I don’t get it. It’s not like it changes anything if I’m here. You’ve already formulated an impression of her in your mind.”

“Perhaps, but… the outburst I heard outside my office earlier was strange. I didn’t see it, but you stepped in to stop it for some reason. Why would you of all people do that? It doesn’t make any sense to me. From my understanding of you, you’re not the type to do something like that at all. Why wouldn’t you take your girlfriend’s side and instead step in to take that girl's side? Even if she’s your girlfriend’s friend it’s something the you I know would never do.”

“You haven’t seen me in a long time. Isn’t it just possible that I’ve changed a bit?”

“I suppose that’s one possibility. However… Ran… it couldn’t be that you’re really… two-timing, are you?”

“I’m not two-timing.” It’s not a lie… I’m three-timing.

“I’m naturally not going to just blindly take your word for it. But anyway, if it did turn out that you’re two-timing, it’s even more of a reason for me to not hire her. I love gossip and juicy material, but this is a business I’m running at the end of the day. If something happened, it could become a situation where both of them or even all three of you do not show up to work. I’d have to scramble to cover for three people at once which would be a nightmare. In terms of risk, it wouldn’t be wise for me to hire this girl.”

“It wasn’t wise for you to hire Rosa either. If you ask me, there’s plenty of risks there too. If we get into a fight, what then?”

“Well, I can take on a certain degree of risk. Besides~ it’d be quite amusing to watch the security footage of you and your girlfriend working together~ I’m sure of that~ She also seems like she can keep work and your relationship separate with the nonchalant way she joked about it.” The serious tone she had suddenly turned playful again.

It was always hard for me to converse with this troublesome woman because of how randomly she’d switch between being serious and playful.

“Anyway. Let’s get this over with.”

“Can the next interviewee please enter now?”

A minute later, Alicia slowly opened the door. When she entered the room, she looked anxious. It was her first interview. She was a completely normal high school girl compared to Rosa who’d been raised with an assassin’s mindset to remain calm and composed when under pressure.

“H-Hello, I’m Alicia Sorayuki. It’s-”

“Sit.” The Owner rudely interrupted Alicia’s greeting and didn’t even bother to introduce herself to Alicia the way she had with Rosa. The difference in treatment was like night and day.

“Yes.”

Alicia had been so tense when she entered that she hadn’t even noticed that I was still in the room.

Things were already off to a very bad start. The Owner wasn’t kidding when she said she wouldn’t go easy on her. This was honestly unexpected. You’d think Alicia, a social butterfly, would be much better at handling this sort of situation, but at the end of the day, she lacked real-world experience.

Unless something changed, this interview was over. Alicia would not be hired. She wouldn’t be able to help support her mother.

“Alicia, what’s your availability like?”

“Well… I’m in high school, so it’d be after 4:00 PM. Preferably until 9:00 PM.”

“Are you able to work weekends?”

“I’d like to at least have Sunday off. Saturday during the same time would be ideal.”

“I see. Well, I do have one more position available for that time slot that I’m still undecided about. So you’re in a bit of luck I suppose.”

“Alicia, can you tell me a bit about yourself?”

“Uhm… I’m in my second year of high school right now and I plan to go to university in the future.”

“Oh? What do you want to do in university?”

“I’m… currently undecided on what specifically. I figured I’d take the general university 1 courses that everyone has to take and figure out what I enjoy the most after that.”

Haaaaah. This was bad. So she was lost like many other students in high school that didn’t know what they wanted to do with their life.

“That’s quite vague. To not even have a general idea of your career path by now isn’t a good sign. You’re almost in your third year and you should be thinking about such matters more seriously.”

“I… know.”

“If you know, why haven’t you done so?”

“It’s not that I haven’t thought about it. I just don’t know what I like that I’d want to dedicate the rest of my life to.”

“Well, forget it. This is an interview, I’m not a guidance counselor.”

I kept silent.

“So, why do you want to work here, Alicia?”

“Why? That is…”

“You don’t even have a reason?”

“No. I have a reason.”

“Then out with it. I’m a busy woman.”