Chapter 25-The Interview
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“Position?” I asked in surprise. “Do you mean to give us a job interview?”

“That’s correct,” Minerva said in response. “The Bureau here is in a situation where we need standby mercenaries. The job of these mercenaries is to resolve dangerous requests, keep other sellswords in line, and perform tasks at the discretion of the Bureau.”

“Let’s say I take the job, can I refuse an order?” I inquired. “In the case that I get saddled with a job such as embezzling funds at the Bureau’s behest.”

“I guess,” Minerva answered while scratching her head in thought. “Well you would be directly under my command and I don’t intend to use you for anything corrupt. If I really rub you the wrong way, you could always just quit.”

“Seems alright,” I replied. “But I have a condition that we be paid weekly, so our paycheck can’t be easily used to strongarm us.”

“That’s an easy deal,” Minerva said with a shrug. “We can negotiate terms and payments once you get qualified for the position. Now I’d like to review your Bureau records, so hand me your identification cards. After that I’ll conduct a one on one interview followed by a practical test.”

“I’m curious, but have you offered anyone else this opportunity?” I questioned as we walked upstairs to get our records. 

“Yes, but I haven’t been able to hire anyone,” Minerva informed me. “Some fail to qualify and some decline for reasons such as pay. Still, I’ve only offered this to a select few. Mostly sellswords who show promise after completing a certain job.”

“So I made a good impression?” I asked smugly. 

“Well you two definitely seem decent,” Minerva observed. “But I’ll have to see if your records confirm my belief.”

The three of us climbed to the fourth floor where the inactive records were kept. Normally people who work at a location fairly regularly have their records kept on the first floor. However, Sekh and I were new to Damask so our records were likely kept on the fourth floor. Though the two of us had traveling accounts, so our data was likely circulated throughout the Iasor empire and nations it had certain treaties with. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising for our data to be out of date.

“Excuse me, but what if the information on our accounts are lacking?” Sekh asked. 

“It’s fine,” Minerva answered. “I’m just checking your accounts to see if any of you have anything notable like a violation or award. That’s why I have to do an interview and skill check afterwards.”

“Makes sense,” Sekh agreed. 

Once Minerva got to the bookshelf that housed records for mercenaries, she began to peruse the documents with our identification cards in hand. Sekh and I just stood there like children waiting for their mother to finish buying groceries. 

“Wow Iblis, you really have quite the record,” Minerva remarked in astonishment as she was scanning some papers. “It says that you’ve participated in a successful troll hunt and played a leading role in a major drug bust. Were you some high ranking military personnel before?”

“Yeah, got this medal here for my service during the war,” I boasted as I took out the medal I use to boss around soldiers. 

“I don’t know why someone like you is pursuing mercenary work,” Minerva commented. “Of course, I still have to interview you and test your skills in case. As for Sekh, your resume is less impressive, but still seems quite good. It seems that you two participated in the same drug bust, right?”

“Yup,” Sekh answered. 

Though I’m quite surprised that our records are so well updated. Most likely Zeno had streamlined the process as a form of payment for our work. Considering how nice my records look, I’m surprisingly confident that my reputation has improved among Iasor officials.

“Well that sums it up for the identification review,” Minerva stated as she began to put the documents back on the shelf. “I’ll be interviewing the two of you now. Would you like to do it privately or both at the same time?.”

“We’ll do it at the same time,” Sekh asserted. “But can we help each other during the interview, such as reminding one another?”

“That’s fine,” Minerva said after some consideration. “However, I will be able to tell if you’re trying to butter each other up.”

“Can you butter me up anyways?” Sekh asked me cutely. “I feel like you don’t give me enough complements.”

“Sekh please, we’re in a professional setting,” I sighed. “I’ll make sure to complement you later.”

Minerva just looked at our exchange in curiosity. She didn’t seem upset. In fact, she seemed a bit mesmerized by Sekh’s cuteness.  

“We can proceed over there,” Minerva said as she gestured towards a table with a set of chairs. 

“First off, tell me about your background. Do not include anything that isn't relevant to the job.” Minerva requested.

“I was a soldier in the first Hom’s scout company and a member of my village's militia,” Sekh listed. 

“As for me, I served as an officer in a Marcher heavy cavalry detachment,” I followed up. “I received that medal from the Iasor military for my actions on the battlefield. Before the war in Stygia, I served as an Aswaran for a powerful lord in the Marches.In addition, I’ve received a noble’s education.”

“Next question, what skills do you possess that are useful to this trade?” Minerva inquired. “No need to mention skill at arms, I’ll check that later.”

“I have night vision, enhanced smell and hearing,” Sekh stated. "I also have knowledge in tracking and scouting."

“I know how to take care of horses, perform arithmetic's, lead military units, and train soldiers,” I informed her.

“Interesting, you have a mathematics education?” Minerva asked. “So do you know what integrals are?”

I furrowed brows in confusion. "The fuck is that? I’ve only gone as far as algebra and geometry,” 

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know what integrals are either,” Minerva said with a laugh. “I just remembered some wind mage writing a thesis about it. Well we can move onto the combat assessment.”

“That was a really short interview,” I remarked as I got up from my chair.

“Well my main concerns are that you’re competent and not criminals,” Minerva replied. “With mercenaries, finding people with nice personalities is almost a luxury. Though I feel that your companion might be one of those outliers.”

After Minerva grabbed her sword, shield, and gambeson, the three of us descended the stairs to the first floor and exited the Bureau building. For a while, Sekh and I followed Minerva as she led us to the public sparring ground. The public sparring ground was actually very close to the Labor Bureau. It was most likely an intentional design rather than coincidence. 

The sparring ground was a large fenced field with a variety of basic equipment and facilities. Most notable were a few archery butts and wooden poles for swordsmanship training. On the field were a few people that could be seen training or standing around. Half looked to be professionals or semi professionals while the other half were citizens either training or watching.

“So are we going to be using live steel?” I asked when we reached the field.

“Yeah, so I’d rather do things safely,” Minerva answered. “Since you two only have your sidearms, you can just go grab your equipment from wherever you stored it.”

“You’re confident that we won’t just ditch you here?” I jokingly questioned.

“Unless you don’t want to get hired then I’m sure you’d make haste,” Minerva replied. 

“Then we’re off,” I stated as Sekh and I began walking back to the inn. 

Although the two of us didn't run to the inn, we did decide to politely speed walk. 

“Are you actually interested in this job?” Sekh asked as we were walking back to the inn.

“I think it fits well with what I want,” I informed her. “This job should provide us with plenty of opportunity to improve the circumstances of the local region.”

“Makes sense,” Sekh said in response. "And I guess it should be less binding than serving a lord directly."

Once we arrived back at the inn, the two of us retrieved our weapons and armor. I decided to just put on all my armor, since there’s no point in hiding my panoply from Minerva. It might even give me an advantage when I negotiate terms. 

The two of us came back to the sparring field in full equipment. Sekh had her javelins, shield, and shortspear, while I had my bow, sword, and glaive. 

“You two definitely were soldiers,” Minerva remarked when she saw us. 

“So how do you want to evaluate us?” I asked. 

“Since you two have projectile weapons, I’ll have you do some target practice first,” Minerva informed us. “Then I’d like to spar with each of you individually. Obviously if you injure me your evaluation will drop.”

“Then I’ll go first,” Sekh announced. “I don’t want to get compared to Iblis if he goes before me.”

Once Sekh and I got warmed up, she began to take aim at one of the archery butts. With the aid of a running start, Sekh hurled her javelin which planted itself on one of the butt’s inner rings. Sekh repeated the action with her other javelin before going to retrieve the spears.

“Those were good throws,” Minerva observed. “I’d like to spar with you before I evaluate your partner.”

“That sounds fine,” Sekh replied as she readied her shortspear and shield. 

In response, Minerva took up a stance with her sword and shield. The sword that Minerva wielded was a double-edged spatha which was accompanied by a round wooden shield with a leather cover. The two of them began to circle one another, Sekh making jabs with her superior reach. But the moment that Sekh slightly lost balance, Minerva quickly advanced with a series of dexterous footsteps. Minerva followed up with a flurry of blows that increasingly drove Sekh back. Evidently Minerva had the upper hand in the match. Still, Sekh managed to hold off Minerva for a while before she was defeated when Minerva’s blade hovered by her neck. 

“I’m impressed,” Minerva stated once the match ended. “You certainly did a lot better than my expectations.”

“I thought you were Bureau manager, not a blademaster,” Sekh complained.

“I’m not,” Minerva said with a smile. “Though I did get taught by one.”

“I haven’t been able to win a match since meeting Iblis,” Sekh sighed. “Kind of makes me feel useless.”

“Don’t worry, you’re anything but useless,” Minerva told her. “I actually want to apologize for believing that you were just an add on for your companion. You’re definitely capable as far as mercenaries go.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her,” I complained to Minerva. “Well I guess it’s my turn now.”

I promptly walked towards the archery butts and began to take aim at a distance of around one hundred meters away. Instead of loosing my arrows in quick succession, I shot three arrows at a steady pace. All three shots planted themselves into the bullseye. Though I could have tried splitting an arrow with another arrow, I’d have to purchase a replacement. 

“Well then,” Minerva said with wide eyes. “I guess we’ll move onto a spar. If your spear skills are the same as your archery, then please don’t kill me.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’re in safe hands,” I said with a smile. 

The two of us readied our weapons and began to approach one another. Although I was fully armored, I decided that it would be a better show of skill to fight as though I didn’t have protection. Once Minerva came into range, I began to probe at her with a series of feints and actually strikes. Partly because I was limiting the strength of my blows, Minerva was able to dodge or deflect all my attacks. However, she was simply unable to gain any ground against me. As Minerva was being driven into a corner, I had plentiful time to evaluate her skill. True to her words, Minerva was evidently quite skilled with the sword. I could certainly say that she was more skilled than me. 

However, her sword simply couldn’t compete with a polearm in an open environment. In an attempt to turn things around, Minerva took a risky maneuver to close the distance. In response, I just tapped her shoulder with the blade of my glaive. 

“Well it was worth a shot,” Minerva sighed as she shrugged. “Though I’m glad that you really do live up to your resume.”

“So we’re hired?” Sekh asked with a cute head tilt.

“Let’s discuss terms back at the Bureau office,” Minerva told us as she began walking back. 

Thus the three of us strolled back to the Bureau building. Once we went up to the fourth floor away from prying eyes, we started our discussion.

“First of all, the weekly pay won’t be much,” Minerva began. “However, this is because you will still receive money from contracts. Iblis, your pay will be 6 denarii a week. Sekh, your pay will be 30 nummi per week.”

“You ok with that?” I asked Sekh.

“Seems good to me,” Sekh replied. 

“As for benefits, you will be given a certain level of authority befitting your rank,” Minerva advertised. “This won’t be an increase for you, Iblis, but it should be helpful for Sekh. Oh, and do you two have a place to stay?"

“Yeah, we’re staying at the River Lord’s Abode right now,” I told her. “Pretty expensive place to be honest.”

“You can stay here at the Bureau then,” Minerva replied. “The fifth floor actually consists of a few rooms for staff to live. Apart from me, there’s no one else living here.”

“So you’re lonely?” I said wryly. 

“That’s not what it is,” Minerva answered stoically. “I just believe that housing would be a suitable amenity for normally nomadic mercenaries.”

“So what are your thoughts Sekh?” I asked. 

“Do the rooms offer good privacy?” Sekh inquired.

“Are you two staying in the same room?” Minerva asked almost tiredly.

“What do you think?” Sekh retorted.

“Yeah,” Minerva answered with half closed eyes. “I’ll just have you stay in the room farthest from mine. I need to preserve what little sleep I get after all.”

“Do we get any other benefits?” I questioned. “Like health insurance?”

“Unless you don’t want to get paid, no,” Minerva informed me. “Speaking of health, please sign these contracts here. In case you can’t read the really small text, it says that we are not responsible for any injury or deaths that result from this job.”

“Didn’t we already sign something like that?” Sekh inquired.

“Sorry, it’s just part of the process,” Minerva apologized. “Once you finish signing these papers, you’ll officially be hired.”

“Don’t worry, I know how to write now,” Sekh assured me. “Well, sort of.”

Minerva handed each of us a small stack of papers. While I scanned the documents, Sekh simply doodled her name on the big lines. After I was sure that there were no dubious binding agreements, I finally got to signing the papers. 

“Well you’re all set now,” Minerva announced happily. “I would do a celebratory toast, but I have to get back to work.”

“It’s fine, we can celebrate later,” I answered. “Can you show us our room first, so we can bring our belongings over.” 

“Sure,” Minerva responded.

Our designated room was located on the fifth floor. It was a fairly large room with two separate beds. Although the room was undecorated, it did possess two work tables and a glass window. Once Sekh and I had dumped off our gear, we went back to the inn to retrieve our gear.

Though I had to do some arguing with the clerk to get our money back, we were able to make our way back to the Bureau without much trouble. Before long, Sekh and I had finally settled into our new room.

“I guess our housing crisis has been solved,” Sekh said as she bounced on her bed. 

“Yeah, but I have a feeling that this isn’t the end of our troubles,” I replied. 

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