Published: January 17, 2026
Quietly, my X (Twitter) was revived (⁰▿⁰)
From now on, I want to post anime information!
Although right now, it’s mostly just cats and fishing...
I thought I understood how tough recruitment was. I have experience applying through job postings and working hard to get hired. I figured those preparing were probably having a tough time too.
But reality brought struggles far beyond that.
“...So, that’s the job description. Any questions?”
After briefly explaining the work details, I asked the applicants if they had any questions. Then, the elderly man sitting at the far end of the table nodded deeply.
“It’s alright. I used to be a merchant long ago, so I think I can manage...”
“Oh! That’s reassuring!”
“Well, I was just an apprentice for a few years. Ha ha ha.”
“I-I see.”
“Oh, that reminds me, Lord Van, could you listen for a moment?”
“Yes, yes. What is it?”
Before I knew it, the conversation had turned into small talk, and for about fifteen minutes, we ended up discussing the old man’s problem of having not spoken to his son since they quarreled yesterday. I also dealt with other applicants who said they couldn’t do calculations but applied hoping to talk with Lord Van. Well, it’s not the fault of my fans. Being popular is tough.
“Lord Van, you must be tired. Shall I call the next person?”
“J-Just a five-minute break, please...”
“Alright, I’ll let everyone know.”
Til answered with a wry smile and left the reception room. Beyond the door, I could hear Til’s voice saying, “Lord Van is taking a break! I’ll make some tea, so please wait a moment!” along with several people laughing, but I was too exhausted to care.
From early morning, I had interviewed forty people, and before I knew it, it was already noon. I had planned to breeze through and finish by morning, but at this rate, it might take until evening.
“Good work.”
Espada brought a drink with a relaxed expression. Carrying a silver tray with a teacup and teapot, Espada walked in gracefully. Holding the silver tray with one hand, Espada looked like a seasoned waiter. That refined demeanor would surely make Espada popular working at a butler cafe.
“Thank you... From next time, I’ll prepare a simple test beforehand. Have them read a short passage and write impressions, then solve some addition and subtraction problems. Only those who pass can proceed to interviews. That should cut down the workload considerably.”
“Hmm, that’s a good idea. Usually, that’s how it’s done, but I heard that this time, Lord Van wanted to hear directly from the residents.”
“Oh, right... I was too tired to think about that.”
I agreed weakly after Espada pointed out I’d forgotten our original goal. Espada exhaled shortly and looked over the documents prepared.
“Nevertheless, we gathered quite a lot of information through the casual chats. We seem to have a good outlook on securing personnel, so this can be considered a big success.”
“Really? That’s great. Indeed, there were surprisingly many who could read, write, and calculate. Even among the early residents of Seato Village.”
I was surprised that even in Seato Village, where contact with outsiders was rare, some people had literacy and arithmetic skills. Espada nodded thoughtfully.
“Settlements scattered at the edges of the territory, where only traveling merchants come, generally get no information from outside. Some villages might have periodic patrols from the knight order, but if not, conversations with traveling merchants are the main source of information. Many merchants exploit this. Some deceive villagers. To prevent that, some villagers interact with merchants—usually the village chief or their heir. In Seato Village, besides the chief and his son, several people regularly visited neighboring villages or went shopping, and those individuals had learned at least basic reading, writing, and arithmetic.”
“Wonderful! I’ll bring some reward liquor to the village chief later! By the way, what is Ronda doing these days?”