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It was at that time the guild staff heard about me.

According to the rumors, I taught novices and young adventurers how to read and write and how to calculate for free. I also gave them free meals.

When they checked whether such a strange person existed, they found out that the rumor was true. Because of the exaggerated rumors, people started calling me a saint. I want them to give me a break. Just who is a saint?

However, from the guild’s point of view, I was exactly what they needed. But that didn’t mean they could just force me. So, the guild master told the staff to collect information on me and strictly ordered them to refrain from doing anything rash since he would handle this matter alone.

I wanted to tell them that I didn’t care about any of their explanations. It’s all their own problem anyway.

By the way, the source of the rumors was Gim’s friend.

They got excited at a bar and started talking about me. However, unlike the widespread rumors, it seemed like they only said that, “She teaches literacy and calculation for a small fee so cheap that you can even say that it’s free,” “the food she cooks is incredibly delicious”. But before they noticed it, the story got exaggerated to a crazy amount. And for some reason, people started treating me as a saint who did stuff for free.

Regarding Gim’s friends, you could say that they repaid my kindness with ingratitude, but hmm… I’ll tolerate them this time. It’s bad that they were speaking nonsense at the bar, but this cancels my debt to Gim just now.

“I see, I understand the situation. But I refuse.”
“So it’s still a no… Is it because of the way Ricardo acted?”
“There’s that too, but I feel like if I accept this, it will prove that I’m a saint. I hate that.”
“…It’s certainly possible, but with our current circumstances, we can’t afford to back out now. How about this? We’ll raise your adventurer rank with a special rule and provide you a reward from the guild?”
“I’ll pass. If I receive such special treatment, other adventurers may reject or bully me.”
“That’s… I suppose you’re right. Most people will feel jealous…”
“In the first place, if you don’t have anyone to teach the adventurers, how about increasing your staff? You can’t ask for a public contribution?”
“It’s not that easy… It’s not like we can side with the country and the aristocrats. The Adventurer’s Guild is a neutral international guild. If we ask for a public contribution, the commoners will also apply. If it was the child of a merchant, it’d be fine, but if it were a commoner, we have to teach them literacy and calculation or they won’t be much of a use.”
“What about that person earlier? Can he read, write, and calculate?”
“He’s… I guess he can, but not very good at it. I’ll just say it here, but he’s the third son of a noble family who can’t become the heir or marry into another family. In the end, his parents asked us to hire him so we did, albeit unwillingly.”

As I thought, that self-proclaimed guild staff person was the stupid son of the noble family who took care of Gilmouth when he was young. The parents told him that he didn’t have to give him special treatment and that they didn’t care if he was punished for causing problems. Apparently he’s done something like this before so this time he’ll be given a severe punishment.

“The son of a noble family received education for literacy, calculation, and administrative skills. That alone would make them an immediate asset to the team. Not to mention that the men learn martial arts such as swordsmanship. I might be able to rely on them if there was a fight, but…”
“What’s the problem?”
“Even if their family has lost their rank, the family still has some influence on the children. Meaning, they are mostly cocky. When hiring staff, any guild will bind the personnel with contract magic, but that won’t prevent them from leaking information. Also, it’s normal for family members to request their children to enter the guild forcefully. Rather, it happens a lot. That’s why most of the guild staff are idiots.”

Still, it didn’t mean that all of them were idiots, right… When I asked him about that, he told me that the good children below the second son would usually find a job and leave the house. Half of them became adventures and even though they may have mastered swordsmanship, they had no experience in actual battle, so they often died. And the leftovers that couldn’t find a job would get pushed to become guild staff by their parents… how can I say this… hmm.

“By the way, is it okay for you to tell a child like me about the internal conditions of the guild?”
“No, I usually can’t. But I’m asking a request to you, so I can’t persuade you if I don’t show my sincerity, right? I even plan on persuading you with tears if needed.”

He’s planning on crying!? Well, I indeed hesitated a bit after hearing the whole story… No, I won’t accept it. But, hmmm…

“Why don’t you make a public appeal to a noble family?”
“But what if they have a trashy personality?”
“Please give up on it a little. With how things currently are, it’d be better for you to hire those who have garbage attitudes than idiots.”
“What do you mean?”
“Determine your recruitment criteria. After taking in the applications, make the applicants take an exam.”

Since the guild wanted someone with literacy and calculation ability, they had to screen the candidates first. The test consisted of calculation and essay questions.

Calculation questions would be changed with new ones regularly. If it was the same each time, past exam questions might leak from successful applicants and rejected applicants.

For the essay questions, give examples of customer complaints and quarrels that happened in the past and ask the applicants to answer how they would respond to them. In a sense, there was no correct answer.

After the written exam, they would have an interview. Even if the score of the writing just barely made it, they could be accepted in some cases. If they had a good personality, a little training would make them useful. And the influence of their family would be somewhat suppressed. Maybe.

Also, the top employees of each department and the executives would participate as the examiner. The skills and personalities required for each department often differed.

“I see. An interview, huh… But if they have a noble education, don’t you think they can keep up appearances?”
“Yes, everyone with a noble education should be able to do it to a certain extent. But the Guild Master, the top staff of each department, and the executives should be able to see through them.”
“Even if you said that… You’re right, we have to do that much. But what if there’s someone who managed to fool all of us?”
“If they can fool you and everyone else there or do something close to that, that’s also a type of talent. I’d think they’d be suitable to be negotiators or clerks.”
“I haven’t thought that far. But what should we do if we were tricked?”
“To judge that, you can give a trial period to the candidates. The minimum is around three months. It’s also good to send them to various departments during their probation. After that period has passed, you should have gotten an idea of whether to officially hire them or not, and then place them in their respective departments. If you find any problems during the probation, just don’t hire them.”
“…I see. There are still some problems, but that’s where I have to do my best. Even so… you’ve given me a good idea, Miss.”

That’s probably thanks to my experience and knowledge from my previous life. Well, I just gave him an idea irresponsibly so there should be many holes here and there, but please fix that by yourself. To be honest, this had nothing to do with me anyway.

“In that way, you can increase the staff. And if you can afford it, you can hold a workshop on your own. If one of the staff has mastered regular martial arts, they can teach it. The initial investment is necessary, so don’t be stingy. Once the adventurers grow, the guild will be able to recover. After that, it will only be advantageous for you.”
“…Amazing! Can I use your idea!?”
“Sure, I’m just suggesting something to you, so feel free to use it. But I believe that there are various holes, so feel free to make changes where you think necessary.”
“Yeah, I know! We can’t immediately teach the adventurers, but this gives me a lot of insight! …Right, I will add this as Miss’ contribution. When you reach the appropriate age, you can immediately rank up.”

That’s… hmm, I guess it won’t hurt to accept that. I’ll take it for now.

After talking for a while, the Guild Master went home with a big smile. The self-proclaimed guild staff person was taken by the escorts who restrained him. In the middle of our discussion, he tried cutting in, so the guards beat him up. He deserved it!

His face became something dreadful when we parted ways, but he reaps what he sows. By the way, they would come to tell me what his punishment was after it was officially decided. I guess they could punish him for as long as they wanted assuming it didn’t affect me.

Anyway, all of the students were watching me talking with the Guild Master. Probably because I gave suggestions to the Guild Master without reservation, they were looking at me like they saw something strange.

Hmm, I feel like I screwed up a bit…?