"Do you happen to know someone who could help me fix a shop? I'm willing to pay good money to have it properly remodeled."
I smiled at Tesh for a moment, before suddenly turning wide-eyed.
"Ah, sorry girls," I nodded my head to the two other young women in the room, "but I will be going with your friend here," I nodded my head once again, in an apology over not choosing them.
If I was here to screw, they would stand one hell of a chance. But I was here to get a worthy secretary.
And judging by the massive angel investment I just received, I did the right thing!
Which now allowed me to look towards my second mission, even though its reward appeared to be slightly lacking.
Still, a mission is a mission.
And I just so happened to have all the money in the world to just drown people with enough gold to make them work for me.
Meaning, it was the time to get seriously hiring!
Because I've only need to make the company as big as possible, so it didn't matter if I could hardly afford to pay for everything before a fresh batch of soap could be made.
In fact, I had plans to solve my next mission before my next batch of soap would cure!
Still, right now, I had to focus on the present.
"Hello? Shen?" I called out when the girl just continued to stare at me, gold still in her hand, her face showing the sudden doubts she started to have about this whole thing.
"Ah, someone to deal with fixing a house," she repeated. Her eyes dropped down and to the right before jumping right back to my face as she raised her right hand and hid her mouth behind her gently curled fingers.
'Back in the role, huh?'
I didn't even bother rolling my eyes.
"Great," I clapped my hands again. "Shall we get going? Or do you maybe have simpler, more comfortable clothes you would like to change, first?" I then asked, leaning my head off to the side. "We will be doing quite a bit of walking, you know?"
The girls looked at Shena, a mix of pity and jealousy on their faces.
Such a lucrative deal?
Not only would she be earning much more than normally, even with the house taking its cut… she would only have to deal with one man!
And judging from his words, he was thinking about every way to put her in work… besides the most expected one!
"If young master would allow, then, I would like to change."
Shen bowed down before nodding at the girls and then hurriedly escaping back behind the doors while leaving me to just sit down and wait on the bench.
Roughly half an hour later, Shen returned.
This time, alone.
"Young master, I'm all ready!" she called out, dressed in a simple yet elegant set of long dress and thick sweater.
Right now, she looked more like a young lady of some lesser known noble clan than an escort from an expensive brothel.
Or maybe that's exactly why she worked here, instead of any other, cheaper brothels, that she could make herself appear so raw and pure?
"Yeah, since you know the people, I will have to ask you to lead the way."
My memories of this world were quite limited to just what the most average person would know.
Looking back, my life here before my reincarnation was perfectly empty, mundane, as if this body was merely gestating, only starting its proper use once I descended into it.
Whatever was the case, when it came to knowledge more detailed than the absolute common sense, I had none. Which was one of the reasons why I wanted to get an employee that knew people.
And who better than a popular, high-class escort to know all there was to know about men?
"It's that building, over there," Shen pointed out pretty much as soon as we left the park where her old job was hidden. "While they tend to price themselves rather… generously, they are worth every copper they charge."
What I expected to be a long-winded sequence of searching the city for the suitable people turned out into a few minutes long walk in the park.
'Damn, already showing off her value? I can't really afford to give you a raise just yet!'
So, wasting no time, I slammed my hand at the doors a few times.
'Now, I need that shop renovated sooner or later, but I should also think in terms of the actual company and its job…'
While I had no plans to rush the production of the soap, it was something that I would eventually get to. And while it was never my plan to rely on soap sales to make a living, it was still something I had to work towards.
Which is why, a group of people perfectly capable of renovating my shop would also prove quite handy in other manual jobs. And with the reputation of their company on the line…
"Yeah, I'm coming! Just shut it, already!"
A loud, pained shout came from behind the doors a moment before they opened up, revealing a hung-over, middle-aged man.
He had the sleeper, lean build. Yet, from just the one hand he leaned on as he stared down at the two of us, I could see his supple muscles hiding below the thin layer of fat. That, and his unkempt hair and overgrown beard made up the perfect image of an overworked worker.
"Yeah?" he moaned again, swinging his eyes… only to lock them on Shen's face. "Wait, you…?"
"I'm sorry to bother, but I would like to hire you and your guys for some time," I spoke before the discussion could devolve in direction I didn't meant for it to deviate to. "It was by lady Shen recomendation that I came to knock at your door."
To the side, Shen gave a gentle smile and nodded her head, causing the man to recoil while blushing.
The corner of my mouth twitched.
Shelia was proving her worth left and right, right from the moment I hired her!
"I'm going to need you to remodel my shop into a workshop according to my specifications. I might also need your help even after that. The question is," I leaned my head over to the side. "How much would I need to pay you for a week worth of labor of you and your men?"
Faced with such a concise and to-the-point question, the man gave me a long, confused stare.
He then glanced at Shen once again, before dropping his downs as he silently did some math in his head.
"Five gold coins," he finally replied, raising an open hand with outstretched fingers. "And that's not including the materials that you will have to pay for too," he added with a shake of his head, the look on it making it clear he had no hopes of the deal going through.
When a job came, they would only be hired for the time it took to complete it.
Hiring them out for weeks at a time?
While not unheard-off, it was a domain of operations reserved to high nobles and the real powerholders of the town's market!
"Fine, deal."
I didn't hesitate even for a second, opting to fish out five coins out of my pouch and then pass them over. "I want you to start as soon as possible. Before long, I will provide you with the list of changes I want to the shop and…" I fished out another ten golden coins from my pouch. "Here, in case you need to buy materials."
I fully expected to only reach halway point through my next mission.
I fulfilled the role of a salesman with Shen, my new assistant. Then, the role of a crafter with this guy and his men. All that was left, was a scribe and a guard.
And yet?
My vision coiled for a second…
Only for my system to re-appear, now with its first two missions and first two rewards dimmed out.
Just like that, with just two hires… I somehow fulfilled all four core roles necessary for me to assemble my staff?!