episode_0044

I fought off the debt collector who was begging for money until the very end, and it was only around sunset that the interview finally ended.

Of course, it was just the first day of interviews.

There’s an interview at the pub tomorrow, so it’s too early to be completely relieved.

It would have been better if there were a few more interviewers, but I felt like I was going to die from all the energy being sucked out of me since I was in charge of everything by myself.

“Ugh…”

I sipped the iced tea with a lot of sugar, leaned back in my chair, and looked at the ceiling.

I hope someone normal comes tomorrow, but even the nobles who try to save face are crazy, so the commoners probably aren’t normal either.

Ah.

Should I have done it in reverse order?

No, then I would have seen the nobles and commoners mixing at the pub.

The commoners didn’t even dare to approach the coffee house because of the exorbitant prices, but for the nobles, going to a shabby pub is a light, commoner experience.

A noble elegantly drinking beer in a bustling pub…

Hmm… That’s surprisingly good?

“Young master, it’s all done.”

“Okay, good work.”

As I was having useless thoughts and waking up my drowsy mind by putting the cold cup to my cheek, Emily, who had gone to find out the addresses of the people I had been eyeing, came into the room.

“Nothing strange, right?”

“Well… A woman named Elizabeth made a slightly strange request.”

“Strange?”

“Yes, she said that the address isn’t necessary, and that I should just put the name and this stamp on the envelope and send it.”

“A stamp…?”

I shifted my gaze to the stamp that Emily had put down on the table.

A stamp with a picture of the imperial crest surrounded by vines.

“Huh…”

I let out a hollow laugh and flipped the stamp over.

This is a stamp used by high-ranking officials.

I don’t know who it is, but it seems like they don’t want to hide it at all.

With this much information, anyone could easily find out who it is with a little bit of searching, so why would they bother doing something so annoying?

Could it be that they want me to find out? Or, is their appearance also disguised?

“Ugh…”

I pressed on my temples and took a sip of iced tea.

My head was throbbing because of Duchess Elizabeth, who was bothering me until the very end.

_

My head was filled with the incomprehensible movements of Duchess Elizabeth, and I had a restless night, so I greeted Tuesday in a sleep-deprived state.

It was truly an unpleasant and unrefreshing day.

If the pub weren’t a bar that opened in the afternoon, around sunset, I would have gone to the interview in a half-asleep state.

I took a nap and tried to shake off my fatigue by drinking a lot of black tea, and I finished getting ready around sunset and set off for the pub.

The place where the pub was located had narrow streets that carriages couldn’t enter, so I got off a little ways away and was walking slowly when I saw Sir Rachel wandering around the pub I was trying to go to.

“Sir Rachel?”

“Sir William.”

Sir Rachel, who was still wearing his old combat uniform, perhaps because it hadn’t been long since his uniform had changed, turned his head as soon as he heard my voice and approached me with a faint smile, as if he was glad to see me.

“It’s been a while, have you been well?”

“Yes, I’ve been doing well, but what brings you here? It seems like you’re still on duty, did something happen?”

“I received a report that demi-humans were gathering on this street, so I was doing a preventative patrol.”

“Demi-humans?”

As befitting a fantasy world, not only magic and divine power, but also demi-humans lived there.

Elves, furries, insect humans, and draconians.

They’ve been beaten down by humans for too long, so they have a closed-off atmosphere, so you don’t see them often, except for a very small number.

They don’t show themselves so much that many commoners living in the countryside believe that demi-humans are a lie or a fairy tale.

But those demi-humans are gathering?

If this weren’t the imperial capital, people would have flocked to see it.

It’s as amazing as snow falling in the middle of summer.

“Why are people who don’t usually come out of the autonomous regions suddenly gathering?”

“It’s because of you, Sir William.”

“Huh? Me?”

I opened my eyes wide and pointed at myself with my finger.

“I asked a few people why they were gathering, and they said that they were gathered around the pub because of your newspaper advertisement.”

“Oh dear…”

The thing that stirred up the demi-humans was me.

Why on earth did the demi-humans get involved in this?

No, they’re demi-humans, so that’s why they got involved…

Strange variables keep popping up, making my head complicated.

“Haa…”

I sighed and swept my hair back.

“I’ll resolve it as quickly as possible.”

“Please.”

I spoke to Sir Rachel in a dejected voice and hurried into the pub.

_

The first impression I got when I ran into the pub was that I felt like I was looking at an animal encyclopedia.

There was one of each species, such as mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, elves, and orcs.

Fortunately, the atmosphere was better than I thought.

They were appropriately dividing the space so as not to cause disputes, and were gathering together and talking loudly.

Now that I think about it, if it had been noisy, Sir Rachel would have been suppressing people instead of doing a preventative patrol.

“Haha…”

I laughed in vain and swept my hair back, then informed the people of simple greetings and precautions like yesterday, and set up a table in the corner of the pub as an interview location.

“Let’s start the interviews, please come in order.”

And without any spare time, I started the interviews as soon as I was ready.

It’s evening now, and there are more people than at the coffee house, so if I don’t proceed quickly, I’m definitely going to be up all night.

But the interviews proceeded quickly because of an unexpected factor.

“I am Franz of the Ursine race, I came because you said you were creating jobs.”

“Mr. Franz, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“Can you sew with those hands?”

“I can’t.”

“Um… I’m sorry, I don’t think you’ll be able to work with me.”

“That’s a shame.”

There was a very serious problem in that animal hands can’t do delicate work, so it allowed me to quickly filter out many interviewees.

It’s not that I’m a demi-human discriminator, but it’s impossible to make someone with bear paws the size of a human head do delicate work.

Even though the commoners are being hired as laborers, it’s hard to hire someone who has trouble threading a needle.

Of course, not all demi-humans returned as readily as Franz, the bear beastman.

“I, I can do it!”

“Then try threading a needle.”

“Yes!”

Most of them were blocked by the needle threading and returned.

Some demi-humans failed from the start of grabbing the thread, and some demi-humans had the thread tangled in their fur or claws…

It was usually a mess.

“I’m Mari from the Feline autonomous region! Ah, my imperial name is Mari Cactus! I’m seventeen years old!”

“Um… Mari, can you sew with those hands?”

“I can’t…”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’ll be able to work with me, Mari.”

“I! Even if I can’t sew, there’s one thing I’m good at!”

Sometimes there were demi-humans who appealed with unique talents.

“What is it?”

“Our family has been good at massage since our ancestors! My kneading skills are no joke!”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Yes!”

There were surprisingly pleasing talents.

Like a cat girl who is a massage master, or a model elf girl who can maintain the same appearance for about 100 years.

While doing the interviews, one surprising thing was that everyone was drinking a glass of beer while doing the interview, but they were less crazy than the nobles.

There were also very few people who could be called special.

If I had to pick one…

“Nice to meet you, I’m the spider demi-human Adelheid Aranie, I’m twenty-two years old, and I’m a commoner.”

“Um… Nice to meet you.”

“Hehe~ A little creepy, right?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

There was a spider demi-human with a spider lower body among the interviewees.

“Adelheid, can you sew?”

“Of course, it’s a humble skill compared to other spider demi-humans… I can even do this.”

“Huh?”

She pulled thread from her rear end in front of me to make cloth, and even showed me how to embroider.

The sight of a spider sitting on its spider butt and using two human arms and six spider legs to complete a handkerchief with a rose drawn on it in 5 minutes was astonishing.

“Hoo… Haa… How is it? Isn’t it amazing?”

“You’re hired, so you can tell me the address to send the letter to and then go back.”

“Oh my.”

So I just hired Adelheid right away, regardless of the first round or anything else.

Judging from the way she was panting, it seemed like it was physically demanding, but even if she could only do half of that, or even 5%, she was faster than humans.

And another person was different from the others.

“Hello, I’m Hans Lepus, the eldest son of Chief Lepus of the Leporidae tribe.”

“Nice to meet you, Prince Hans.”

The rabbit beastman youth, who was the only nobleman’s son in this pub, had animal hands and animal ears.

“Do you happen to have a company that supplies fabric?”

“No, it hasn’t been decided yet.”

“I’m not interested in sewing or stitching, but if you ever need to order fabric in the future, please find me, I’m trying to expand my business outside of the autonomous region.”

He said what he needed to say and put down his business card.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Prince Hans.”

“Thank you.”

He coolly stepped back at my words that I would keep it in mind.

I was mesmerized by his refreshing actions and took the business card that Prince Hans had handed me.

The price and conditions will have to be considered later, but someone like him seemed pretty good.