Chapter 968: Side Story – The Unfilled Empty Seat (3)

“Can you tell me roughly what the current state of the Geumhyang Group is?”

Actually, seeing Eunbyul appear after such a long time, I had somewhat expected what had happened. For starters, the fact that she dyed her hair black again like this and returned to me must mean she won’t be returning to Geumhyang Group for a while, and it must mean she finished that troublesome business she mentioned without any burden.

“To get straight to the conclusion, for now, we succeeded in securing 51% of the shares in Geumhyang Chemical, the de facto representative company of Geumhyang. In that process, through public opinion formation via Geum Dallae, attracting investment funds, and legal revisions through political lobbying….”

“…….”

Of course, I don’t know much about politics or economics, so even if I listened, it was just content difficult for me to understand, so I just roughly nodded my head, but to summarize what Eunbyul was saying, it was roughly like this. That Geumhyang was now completely in Eunbyul’s hands, and that this wouldn’t change. That she had entrusted the actual management to Geum Dallae, appointed as a figurehead chairman, so she herself had escaped from troublesome positions like the chairman role. Therefore, she could now faithfully attend to her maid duties for me again, and to be honest, this was the most important news to me. Thanks to Eunbyul’s service, to which I had become completely accustomed during our cohabitation over the past few months, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of longing, to the point where I felt empty without her now.

‘I do feel a bit sorry, like I needlessly took her maid from Sihee, but.’

In the first place, Eunbyul working as Sihee’s maid was just an act of temporarily hiding to avoid Geumhyang’s pursuit; their original relationship was closer to friendship than master-servant. On the other hand, Eunbyul and I met in a master-servant-like manner from our first encounter, so returning to our original relationship meant returning to being master and maid like this.

“By the way, Eunbyul.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Come to think of it, when we talked last time, I think I asked you to take on the role of a secretary, not a maid, didn’t I?”

“…….”

The black-haired maid avoided my gaze with an awkward expression, gauging my reaction. To be honest, I also preferred a maid slightly more than a female secretary. Maid outfits were originally like a man’s fantasy, and no matter how I thought about it, a maid suited Eunbyul much better than a female secretary in a suit.

“I’m sorry. If it’s really a problem, I’ll change into a suit right now.”

“…No, come to think of it, I think it’s fine even in the maid outfit. Since you’ve returned after a long time, the familiar option would be a bit better, wouldn’t it?”

“…Is that so?”

“You prefer the maid outfit too, Eunbyul, that’s why you insisted on coming to work dressed like that, right?”

“…That is correct.”

“Rather than that, could you make me a cup of coffee from the pantry next door? Perhaps because there was no secretary for such a long time, I’ve been making it myself every time, but I feel like drinking coffee made by Eunbyul after a long time.”

“Yes!”

Eunbyul, as soon as she returned to her long-vacant position, began faithfully attending to her duties as a maid. Even though she reappeared wearing the title of de facto chairman of Geumhyang Group while I wasn’t looking, she was still my obedient, precious maid.

‘Since Eunbyul is back, I guess I should do my work too.’

The position of Guild Master means becoming the final approval authority for all sorts of documents that arise within the guild. Not only that, but there were also quite a few documents that could only be written with the Guild Master’s authority, so the work to be done was piled up like a mountain.

‘Budget proposal for the purchase of a Cheonhwa AI learning module for the Hunter training room?’

…Come to think of it, the company training room had something similar. In my case, I thought practical training was more important, so I hardly used it, though. As my goal was to operate a guild where no one dies, I didn’t feel any waste in spending money on places that could enhance individual hunters’ training or survival abilities. It was not a small amount of money, but for now, I’ll approve it…

“Master, here it is.”

“Ah, thanks, Eunbyul.”

“Ah, if you happen to be planning to purchase an AI learning module for the training room, Libero AI’s product has better learning ability than Cheonhwa AI’s. The price difference is almost negligible, so please take note, Master.”

“Huh?”

Seeing as how the document I was reading inadvertently caught her eye while she was bringing the coffee. Hearing Eunbyul’s words, while I was spacing out for a moment, she picked up one of the documents on my desk and started reading it carefully.

“Just a moment, Master. Did you perhaps recruit an S-class Hunter into the guild recently?”

“Ah, yes. A good opportunity just happened to arise.”

“When recruiting an S-class Hunter, you should not use the documents intended for regular Hunters.”

“……Huh?”

“Due to the special amendment of the Hunter Special Act, guilds are no longer allowed to own Hunters of S-class or higher, excluding the Guild Master. Therefore, when you recruit an S-class Hunter, you must file it as a ‘Priority Activity Document’, not a ‘Recruitment Document’….”

“…….”

“Ah, I-I’m sorry…! I-I dared to speak out of turn to Master….”

Eunbyul, as soon as she returned, identified the problems in the documents I was writing and pointed out where and how to fix them. Belatedly realizing she was my maid, she quickly shut her mouth, but her help was truly essential to me.

“No, please continue.”

“…Yes?”

“Could you perhaps review the other documents too, to see if there are any points needing improvement? Please, Eunbyul.”

“…Understood, Master.”

For me, who had just started operating a guild for the first time, there was no other advice as important as her words.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Although it was regrettable for Eunbyul, I had no choice but to ask for her assistance with my work as soon as she returned. Not simply entrusting her with trivial tasks like managing my schedule, but to seek advice on the core aspects of operating the guild.

“Ah, it seems you also need to rewrite the document for hiring Hunter Yang Miyeon, Master.”

“Really?”

“Yes. According to the anti-monopoly law, the number of Healer-type Hunters a guild can hire is fixed based on its size. Considering your guild’s current size, you can hire one Healer-type Hunter. So, if you don’t intend to hire any other Healer-type Hunters, you should first write the exclusive employment contract for Healer-type Hunters targeting Hunter Yang Miyeon, and then submit the Healer-type Hunter employment certificate to the Korean Hunter Association.”

“Wait, but if it’s a Healer-type Hunter, aren’t I included too? It’s before hiring Teacher Miyeon… no, Hunter Yang Miyeon, but does it mean we can only have one Healer-type Hunter in our guild right now, implying we can’t recruit Hunter Yang Miyeon?”

“It’s okay. Master, you can use more than just Healer-type Hunter abilities, so if you register as melee or magic class, there won’t be any procedural issues.”

“…Actually, I registered separately for four types, including Healer and Ranged. I thought the fact that the Guild Master is a multi-awakened person could be utilized better for external promotion.”

“…That is also fine. It might take some time, but canceling the registration isn’t that difficult. I will handle the cancellation of Master’s Healer-type Hunter registration procedurally. What is Hunter Yang Miyeon’s planned recruitment time?”

“It’s December this year, so there’s about half a year left.”

“That’s more than enough time.”

“…Sorry for the trouble, Eunbyul.”

“No, this is also work I must do as Master’s secretary.”

Eunbyul was truly an incredibly trustworthy secretary and maid. Besides that, she taught me ‘Guild Management Methods’ by providing legal knowledge in areas I was unaware of, distinguishing between parts where tax could be exempted and those that couldn’t, etc. Seeing how all the work I handled over the past half-year was changed or rewritten by her hand, I realized that if I had done it wrong, I might have faced hardship with all sorts of documents being rejected and needing rewriting around the end of this year.

Since Eunbyul was suspiciously knowledgeable about guild management, I tentatively brought up her past.

“Have you perhaps ever managed a guild before, Eunbyul?”

“I haven’t, but I have had the thought that I should. A hunter guild is one of the highest value businesses that can be established solely with hunter connections, without initial capital. Besides that, regarding tax exemptions, it’s basic common sense in company management, so it’s knowledge I’ve learned since childhood.”

“…….”

“Ah, I-I’m not saying you’re operating it incorrectly, Master! When I mention basic common sense, I’m strictly referring to people raised in environments like mine!”

“…Yeah, I know.”

Still, it was unavoidable that I felt anew how amazing it was. And that opening and operating a hunter guild solely on momentum wasn’t an easy task either.