“What, what are you doing!”
Suspended in mid-air by Rue’s tentacle, Jerico looked at me with a bewildered face and began to protest.
I didn’t say a word, just circled around Jerico, observing the body of this audacious latecomer.
For a drunk, he’s pretty muscular. He shows some signs of training. But for someone who enjoys drinking… Well, if it’s detoxed by sacred power, is that a mind thing?
“P-please put me down!”
“Did you drink because you couldn’t stand being late?”
“W-what does that have to do with anything?”
Did he wash his clothes in alcohol? I pinched my nose at the strong smell of liquor emanating from him. At this point, he looked like someone who had escaped from a barrel of booze.
Is this a theology student?
“I announced today was the interview, you know.”
“S-so I came like this?”
“Look at the time. You came in ten minutes late! Is there anything a person should say at a time like this? If you weren’t a theology student, I would’ve tossed you into the dungeon and made you roll around until you got here on time.
I could really throw you, you know. Want to try?”
I glared at him menacingly, rubbing my fingers along the edge of my mithril shovel with a creak.
“U-uh… s-sorry!”
Looks like my intimidation worked. The noisy guy began to quietly gauge my reaction. That didn’t seem to sit well with him.
“It seems you understood well. Then let’s start the interview now.”
Does this guy have the right to be cocky, or not?
Or should I just bury him headfirst in the ground?
“Name.”
“Jerico R-Rangler!”
“Say it again. What did you say?”
“R-Rangler! D-don’t you know the name of our family in this academy? Who wouldn’t know it…”
I don’t know. What the heck is a Rangler? I never saw that name in the original story. If it’s not in the original, I can’t remember it. Well, it’s a bit confusing…
“I don’t know.”
“…Huh. I see. No one’s going to remember a family that went bust anyway.”
His tone made it sound like he was trying to say, “I have a sad story.” I adjusted the angle of the shovel to make the shine catch the light even more and asked.
“So, you’re going to an academy despite your family’s fall?”
“I, I paid all the tuition upfront until graduation. Now it’s pointless, but still…”
Jerico’s face showed undeniable pain. Seeing that expression sparked a little curiosity about his circumstances. Since it’s an interview, I might as well ask.
But first, I should keep pushing him down a bit.
I held the shovel a little more threateningly, assessing the distance between Jerico and me.
“Don’t worry too much. I probably won’t split your head open with this shovel.”
“…Just go ahead and split it.”
“What?”
“I think ending this sh*tty life would be fine too. Oh, but please don’t let it hurt.”
Is he a drunk with bipolar disorder? My head started to hurt from the rapidly shifting emotions.
This guy looks more like he needs hospitalization than a job.
But does this world even treat mental illness as an illness?
Fantasy usually doesn’t care about those things.
“…You’re really good at annoying people.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“So, do you want to defend the fallen Rangler household or something?”
“J-just think what you like…”
Jerico’s reluctant gaze was fixated entirely on the beautiful shimmer of my mithril shovel. Is it that attention-grabbing? I put the shovel down and leaned back against the chair, pressing him further.
“Tell me. What happened in the past?”
“Y-you really don’t know?”
“I don’t.”
“It’s not something easily forgotten… At one point, it even made the front page of the Empire’s newspaper.”
“I don’t know, so hurry up and tell me.”
“Must I really… say it? I might regret it if I do…”
“Shut up and just say it.”
“…My family got involved with a cult and the house fell apart. My father passed away from shock, the title was stripped, the assets were confiscated… My mother, who was involved, disappeared, leaving my sibling to struggle alone… There was no way to get out. Who would write a blessed priest for a cut-off family?”
Ah, is that so? I gazed at him with an indifferent expression. A bitter smile hung on his lips. He was smiling, but not really smiling. It was a story that warranted that sort of reaction.
But in the end, it’s someone else’s problem. I had no reason to pity him.
I have my own overflowing pile of issues.
How about living for ten years on a deserted island topped with a snake, a bear, and a zombie?
“So, you became a drunk, then?”
“Y-yeah.”
“You managed to stay at the academy.”
“I have no choice. I’ve nowhere else to go now. The tuition’s paid all the way until graduation, so I’m hanging on.”
It’s a good excuse for a collar. I looked at Jerico’s heavy face and concluded that a skill test was necessary. I knew he had a sob story worthy of a melodrama, but that’s that and this is this, right?
“Where’s your family now?”
“I don’t know. They say my sibling’s working as an employee at a merchant house. They’ll manage fine, I guess.”
“Are you planning to continue living as a freeloader?”
His mindset is completely messed up.
“Isn’t that why I came for the interview? Not of my own will, though…”
“…Did someone force you to come?”
“…Professor Duran pretty much shoved me in. ‘At least try to live like a person!’ he said. What difference does it make?”
Whoever it is, it seems like there’s someone genuinely worried about this fallen noble troublemaker.
“…Forget it. Talking to you is just tiring. Now that you’re here, tell me what you can do.”
“Are you saying I should promote myself? You’re not going to hire me anyway, right?”
“If your ability is decent, you might get a job.”
“Sucks… I did receive some successor training since I’m a family heir. Up until enrollment, I worked on paperwork in place of my father for about a year….”
So he’s the only interviewee so far who has some practical experience.
That’s a strong point that can’t be ignored. But looking at his current tragic state, he seems like he won’t utilize it unless he receives some motivation or at least some brainwashing.
“And?”
“My grades… well, you probably already know. But in my first year, I was in the top three! Although I slacked off in my second year.”
He’s exhausted beyond comprehension.
“What do you think of your faith? Do you think it’s deep?”
“After my family fell apart, what faith can I have?”
Impressive that he managed to hold out through to his senior year. By the way he speaks, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was kicked out at any moment.
“If you were chosen, would you put in the effort?”
“Why would you want to use some pathetic individual like me?”
“I’m assessing if you can be recycled.”
“Just pick someone else. There are plenty who can do better than me.”
“Know anyone worth recommending?”
I took out a notepad as a test, wrote down the names of the candidates I had interviewed until now, and handed it to him. This was almost the last question.
I was curious about what kind of people he would pick.
Jerico was lowered down to the point where his feet touched the ground now, glanced over the note, and began to speak.
“Ken? He’s not good. He gets mad too easily and has no caution. He’ll end up chewing the paperwork.”
Gets mad, huh? I didn’t know that. Whenever they come to me, everyone’s so well-behaved. Should I dig a little deeper? I leaned in to listen to his evaluation of others.
“Avril is diligent but lacks the knack for work. Still, she’s thorough, so if trained she’ll pick it up real fast.
Renny? Ugh… Avril and she don’t get along. Their skills are similar, but hiring them both isn’t advisable. Personally, I think Avril is kinder, so she’s probably the better option. Though Renny’s a bit too zealous in her faith…
Ted… His parents work in a merchant house, so he’s good at numbers. Despite that, he has a naïve personality; still, he’s dependable and doesn’t have a troublesome character. His faith is relatively less fanatic as well.”
“I see.”
“Isn’t the plan to pick people whose faith isn’t excessive like first-year students?”
Just look at that sparkling awareness. It seems Jerico has figured out who’s behind the partition. The other ones didn’t catch on to the pressure, but this guy’s actually pretty sharp. That’s somewhat promising.
“Right.”
He’s grasped the core issue well. Most of the others hadn’t noticed until now.
Jerico’s evaluations largely matched the behavior I observed during the interviews, but there were significant aspects I didn’t know.
“Among the names on this list, Avril, Ted, and Alma have comparatively less faith than the others. The rest… they’re better than chicks but won’t make a huge difference. I recommend those three. Can I leave now? I have a drinking appointment to make.”
That aligns exactly with the line of pass candidates I had in mind.
They wouldn’t make bad meat shields in an emergency, but since talents like that usually aren’t the brightest, I can’t just pick randomly.
Then, how about asking one more question? Ignoring the incessant grumbling from him, I opened my mouth.
“Then, one last question. Compared to the three you chose, where do you fit in?”
“It’s obvious I’m pathetic.”
[That’s a lie.]
“Be honest. I hate lies the most.”
I locked eyes with him. Half-unfocused gaze. Despite being a hopeless case, he might actually be useful if his mind is rebooted. I lightly tapped Rue’s body.
Receiving my signal, Rue’s eyes sparkled.
“…But those who’ve tried know better, so I’ll do better.”
“Got it. You can go now.”
I released him from the tentacles and issued the dismissal spell.
“R-really, I’m going?”
“Yeah, go. Before I change my mind.”
He quickly opened the door and dashed out of the room like a person being chased. The sound of his frantic footsteps reached my ears through the door. I turned my body to look at Karina and Renny, who were behind the partition.
“How do you see that?”
“If he can be fixed up, he might be useful, but isn’t it better to just skip him?”
“Hm… Isn’t being too carefree an issue?”
“What if we fix his mindset?”
“I think we need to see him work first…”
Is it a hold on the evaluation?
Aside from his bad attitude, there’s just a vague sense of uncertainty.
Is this how it ends?
I fell into thought for a moment.
Who should I choose?
I had previously mentioned selecting about three or four of them, so I’d have to pick from among them. After some deliberation, I came up with a single strategy.
This is when benchmarking comes in handy.
“I have a good idea.”
———–
“Nice to meet you, successful candidates. From today onward, you’ll help as interns for a week. If any problematic behavior occurs… you don’t need me to explain, right?”
At my words, the four interns nodded vigorously.
“Yup!”
I smiled slyly at the four newcomers, rolling their eyes in my direction.
Shall we see how they compare?
“Now, let me give you the safety precautions. First…”
And just like that, I gained four temporary subordinates I could openly mess with.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.