Said Jeff as he lightly knocked on the door. The door opened by itself. I felt some magic power just now… so it’s probably the work of magic.
“Looks like he’s here, let’s go in.” [Jeff]
When we entered, there was an old man, around 60 year old, with white hair, sitting on a large chair while facing a plain table. The man calmly spoke.
“You came again, Jeff. Thank you for always helping us. However, I’m not at an age where you can call me ‘grandpa’, you know?” [Grandpa]
“You’re plenty old in my opinion.” [Jeff]
“My legs and loins are still fine, so I’m not an old man. But that aside, who’s this kid? Did you bring another one you want me to watch over?” [Grandpa]
“Even if he’s like this, he’s an excellent adventurer. Enough to make his own living. He came here to discuss something with you. Something that’s also beneficial to the slum.” [Jeff]
“Oh?” [Grandpa]
At those words, the man looked at me.
“A pleasure to meet you, my name is Ryouma Takebayashi.” [Ryouma]
“You don’t need those manners here. I’m Ribble, the boss of Gimuru’s slum. Jeff introduced you, so you’re probably trustworthy, but I’ll warn you just in case. You can’t just do whatever you want here. And if we can maintain a good relationship, then we’ll also be grateful to you.”
The moment he said those words, he gave off a strong aura of intimidation. I guess it’s just what you’d expect from a boss.
“Of course. I also don’t want any unnecessary hostility.” [Ryouma]
When I said that, Ribble-san snorted and laughed while broadly grinning.
“Looks like you didn’t get scared… Good guts, kid.” [Ribble]
“Ain’t that obvious? He’s someone I acknowledge, you know?” [Jeff]
“I see. Well, what is that beneficial discussion of yours?” [Ribble]
“I’ll explain.” [Ryouma]
It’s my store, so the one who should talk is me, right? As I thought that, I explained.
“I see. You don’t want the tamer guild to butt in, so you want to hire some people from the slums. That’s certainly beneficial. Since you’re going to be providing a place of work, and moreover, salary high enough to make a living, then I don’t have any problems. As long as you pay them properly, you can take whoever you want. As for us, it’s enough for us to have another person allocating materials and food.” [Ribble]
Well, this discussion wrapped up unexpectedly fast. I thought he’d take a referral fee too, but… I guess Jeff-san’s introduction had an effect? In any case, what’s important now is to find a trustworthy slave magic user that I can hire.
After that, we left Ribble-san’s home, and went over to an acquaintance of Jeff-san who knows how to use slave magic. On the way, Jeff-san called over two kids and asked them to call someone over.
After a while, we arrived at a house. Jeff-san walked over to its door, and violently knocked.
“Hey! Old Caulkins! You’re here, right!? Come out!” [Jeff]
Right now, Jeff-san looks like a debt collector… As I thought that, the door slammed open, and a thin man middle-aged man, who looks like his withering, came out. He feels like a salary man who just went through his company’s restructuring.
“Shut up Jeff! Even if you don’t bang on door that much, I can hear you!” [Caulkins]
“There’ve been to many times when I called you, and you didn’t come out!” [Jeff]
“It’s your fault, since you had to come while I was in the middle of my research!” [Caulkins]
“Like hell it is!” [Jeff]
“What could someone like you who has never researched understand? Researching is like diving into a deep sea of thought, and just like bubbles, you have to pursue the ideas before they disappear. There’s no way I’d have the free time to deal with other things, during that!” [Caulkins]
“It’s because you don’t think about other things like that, that you ended up bankrupt because of your fruitless research!” [Jeff]
“Ugu… There’s nothing I can say to that… forget it, what’s your business?” [Caulkins”
“I came here to bring you a job offer as a slave magic user.” [Jeff]
When the man named Caulkins heard that, his eyes twinkled.
“A job? Me? A job as a slave magic user?” [Caulkins]
“Yeah, the boss is Ryouma over here.” [Jeff]
At those words, Caulkins finally noticed me.
.