"Good afternoon, you two. Why don't you take a seat first?"
"Afternoon."
"I have read the contract, I have a few questions."
"Settle down first. We'll talk as we eat."
Right on time. They actually arrived here before me and hops came.
We are merchants now. If I want to build our reliability, I have to make sure things stay on schedule.
"How about ordering something first? A few drinks perhaps?"
"President, are you trying to get us drunk before we sign the contracts?"
"You could order something non-alcoholic. Also, even if you sign it now, we still have to submit the copy at the city hall office. They would serve as the third party witness to the contract and confirm if all of us agree in it and are aware of what is in it."
"That is true. Then a platter of roasted boar meat and a pitcher of ale for me."
"Juice, meat."
"I'll have my usual, turtle boss.
*Glare*
Ah? You should be the one ordering the food. We have to discuss the contract specifics now.
You have always been impatient about your food. Also, what are you going to talk about with the new recruits while I am away? Are you going to start drilling them about battle formations and such?
We haven't even finalised the wages yet. I have already given my desired amount but they might want to negotiate it first.
"Ah, I mean, I'll go and tell them our order."
Good, Now then, time to go into the battlefield.
The assassin won't be much of a problem. I imagine she is the type who would leave decisively if she doesn't like something. She is here in the restaurant after reading that contract, so I guess she doesn't have a problem with it.
The biggest, and only, problem should be this tigerkin brawler. She even pulled out a pair of glasses along with the contract the moment she sat down. I hope her questions won't be too much.
"Ms. Ambush, it seems that you have some questions."
Surnames in this world are weird. I heard that the surnames in the human continent originally came from their jobs. The surnames in the dwarf continent are names of their parents with a few amendments. The elf continent surnames are from which village they came from, and finally there are no surnames in the beast and demon continents. However, surnames eventually catch on thanks to the hero, so they tried to add their specialty as their surname.
I guess having my surname be 'stein' is the weird one here in this continent.
"You may call me Trina, boss. It's weird for a boss to be considerate of their subordinate that much."
"That may be true but we have not formally hired the two of you yet. Please think of it as a formality and bear with it until we submit the contracts tomorrow."
"Is that so? I'll be enjoying this brief moment of equality then."
I can't help but hear a different meaning altogether when she talks.
"I will start then. I have a few questions about the wages, vacation, and various duties for different settings."
I'm not really a coffee drinker but now might be the time to start drinking.
"Do you both agree to the terms and conditions written inside these contracts?"
"Yes."
"I agree with them perfectly."
"...yes."
"Oh? Mr. Frank Stein, is there something bothering you? You seem to be under stress. If both parties don't agree to the contract willingly by themselves then I cannot approve of it. I will ask again, "Do you both agree to the terms and conditions written inside these contracts?"
Yes, I'm under stress. I just went through an intense haggling session about the wages and duties last night. My stomach is starting to hurt again. It may be because I didn't get to eat that much last night.
"Yes, everything has already been discussed. I agree to the terms."
"Alright then. We have already gone through the details of the contract before. Everyone has confirmed that they understand what is written. Everyone has agreed that they agree with what is written. Everyone is in no way controlled, threatened and or forced to any of the previous statements. As a witness, this contract is now binding and a copy will be made to be passed through every city records office. The original, or the main contract, will be saved at the national record office at the capital. Congratulations, you two are not employees and you are now the employer of these two. This is your receipt, please pay at the desk at the front."
Now, we officially have two subordinates.
"Alright! Welcome aboard you two. Now that the paperworks is done, let's start with a sparring session. I need to see what the two of you can do. Leave the rest of the boring stuff to turtle boss. You're fine with that right, turtle boss?"
"Go on ahead then. We'll leave in a week. Get them ready by then."
"Roger!"
I'll head straight to a workshop after this and start completing the weapons and armour. I have already plotted our route. The goods have already been reserved and we can pick them up in a couple of days.
For the rabbit's armour, something flexible would be good. I would need to reinforce the leg armour. She moves around a lot and also does good kicking attacks. I wonder if it would benefit her if I put some kind of suspension on the heels? A shock absorber of some kind that makes it easier for her to jump about.
Her weapons are mainly daggers but she has been interested in sabres lately. Personally, I want her to focus on the daggers. It's easy to use those during her high speed manoeuvres during combat but I do understand that sabres are still on the fast attacking side in terms of weapons. It also helps with her reach.
I already have the materials ready, the armour for her is light and mostly leather. The weapons are made from the precious ore I bought at the molekin territory.
I am slow, according to hops, so my armour will be fine even if it's heavy. As long as they are thick, it would be fine. I'm strong, so it won't be an inconvenience. I'll make it with a turtle design just to go with my theme.
For my weapon, I will still stick with my initial goal of using a spear. I'll go with a hard spear about my height. It doesn't need to have any extra tricks in the design. As long as the shaft is hard enough to block weapons and the point is sharp, then it will do the job.
The two new employees brought their own weapons and armour, so I don't need to make some for them. However, if they are sticking with us for the long haul, then I should at least start planning some things for them.
"Turtle boss! Welcome back!"
"Hey, I see you're bruised up. How were the newbies?"
"They were ok, it was taught fighting two on one but I came out victorious!"
"I was asking if they were a good recruit? Are they good at battle? Do they work well in groups?"
"Hmm? Yeah, their skills are there. Risa is great at support. Trina has a lot of control during battle as a brawler and risa is a great support. She appears when you least expect it and during times where you won't be able to defend. Risa is a versatile combatant. Trina is a solid vanguard. They listen to instructions well and adapt to unexpected situations. That was only during our sparring, so I won't have the full grasp of their skills but I think they are a good pick."
"Great! Don't worry about their field test. We will soon continue on our money making trip."
"ReallY? Great, How long do we have?"
"A few days at best. Get the supplies ready. I'll be gone for a few days to take care of something. This is a list of items that I want you to buy. They will be our merchandise during our travels."
"Gone? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, I have to do some personal business. Here, this is some spending money. This should be enough to cover everything. There should be some extra there."
"Ok, I'll have everything ready by the time you come back."
“Oh, by the way, where are the two?”
“Ah, Things got a bit serious during the sparring, so I knocked them about a bit. Hehe”
Don’t ‘hehe’ me, what did you do to our new recruits?
Well, at least this didn’t happen before they signed the contract. If we include that as a test during the next recruitment, we can cut down the amount of applicants to choose from.
I’ll try to earn more before we need new recruits again. If I wanted to do that kind of recruitment test, I would need to hire an arena.
I better finish up making the equipment. We will head out after I return.
We will need to travel to as many towns to make money. We will see how those two act on the field and since it's a long trip, it will be a good time to get to know their personalities more. They were the best two among the people that applied, if it doesn't work out, we can only take it as a loss.
