I have one dozen candidates for my personal assistant position, one that would work outside of guild activities. I'll probably hire a separate secretary from this same bunch and have them work closely together.

I was now made aware - by Val - that hiring female secretaries/PA have a stigma since I'm rich and have importance. Apparently, being good-looking and young makes things worse. Woe is me.

Also, not hiring women because they are women is a no-go. I never insinuated if I would or wouldn't be discriminatory in my hiring process, but Val brought it up anyway. My foster sister has an invested interest in who the new ladies working under me will be since she has assumptions of her own.

She isn't tagging along for the hiring process. Val dumped all this information on me and told me to get who I hire to introduce herself to her later.

Hey, maybe a male candidate is more suitable. Who can say? Or at least I could've 'said' until I saw all the prospects. All of them are female, I assume.

I mean, there is no way to say that they "have noticeable secondary female sex characteristics" and not sound like a deviant or a psychopath.

I look at the six people in my interview chamber from behind a one-way mirror. Three are human, one is a Theriomorph, and the others have scales.

My PR manager explains, "There were quadruple this number, but I narrowed them down to the best of the best. The difference between skill and professionalism is negligible, and the only thing you need to take into account is your personal preference."

"What sort of personal preference am I supposed to have?"

"Race, age, looks, personality, background, their perfume, the sound of their voice, and any other aspect beyond competency."

I look at the nonhumans closer and try to identify what race they are. The Theriomorph seems to be a kind of canine, so I'll preemptively assume that will eventually be an issue.

Dogs don't like me, so I don't like them. I don't go around kicking puppies or donating to kill shelters. It's almost unexplainable why they dislike me.

The first scaled woman's race is logged in my [Lexicon]. They have hair like seafoam, so a greenish-white that doesn't look like it has individual strands like any other creature with hair. The scales cover every inch of exposed flesh with large and wide eyes.

Humans have a branching term to call them. (Similar to how all 'beast people' are Theriomorphs). They are called Merfolk, humanoids that have adapted to living in underwater conditions... but this potential PA's exact race eludes me. It's definitely a race that changes when they are in or out of the water or a half-breed.

None of the underwater races I'm aware of are simultaneously at this level of 'aquatic' and 'human.' Some look more 'humanoid,' and others look way more like fish. Some split the difference and are fish from the waist down... but some of those races go under a pseudo-metamorphosis when in or out of the water.

There are aquatic and semi-aquatic Theriomorphs, but those are different from Merfolk. Rather than a fish learning to walk, a Merfolk is more similar to a human learning to swim.

Uh, that might not be the best metaphor since most humans can normally learn to swim. A fish humanoid vs a humanoid fish.

The other scaled person has fewer scales, just around the eyes and peppered across the rest of their exposed flesh. The pink hue of their skin contrasts with the grayish-brown and dark-brown pigmentation of their scales. Unlike their Merfolk competitor, their hair seems normal. It's the same color as their scales.

I recall seeing someone like this long ago, but I believe the color of their scales was different, and the density of the scales was way less. Where did I see this before?

Oh. A person working for the auction who tended to my needs when I visited because a vampire invited me had similar scales. I don't recall her name, but I should have her card somewhere in my manor, not that that's important right now.

I don't see any relevant information in my [Lexicon], which is strange. I text Free Chains to set aside some of the money he's using for land purchases and allocate it into a book fund for me. I believe this isn't the first time telling Free Chains to do this.

"Are any of them religious?"

"Yes. It's written in the applicants' resumes if they are or not. Will that be an issue?"

"Maybe. I don't know what organizations might come after me in the future, but if a church puts a 'kill order' on me, then who are they going to listen to, their boss or their religion?"

This might be an unfounded, not entirely applicable concern, but deeply religious humans concern me. The gods of this world came from the planet that merged with Iona.

They aren't gods we humans have worshiped since time immemorial. Those gods have been stricken from history.

For all intents and purposes, they are new beings that came during a time of calamity and gave 'aid' after watching the humans deal with the immediate problems that almost caused the extinction of our race.

Almost every aspect of the Prime Territories has the mark of a deity. Our laws are created in the name of Ibere and enforced in the name of Ceartas. Our money is handled by Merita, and our food is produced by farmers that pray to Ikore.

And those gods aren't 'racially' distinctive, one of the reasons why they have any prevalence in the Prime Territories in the first place. There aren't a lot of human believers for the Orcish war god of supremacy.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

When I asked if these applicants were 'religious,' the implication was to ask if they were registered with a church. Everyone has some level of religiousness. Gods have been a confirmed constant for the better part of two centuries. And for the other races, since history started.

To be agnostic in this age is to be ignorant. To be an atheist in this age is to be a contrarian. Technically, you can believe that they aren't 'gods' but something else, but that's quite pedantic at that point. They exist, they want to be worshiped. I agree they exist, I won't worship them.

My relationship with the gods is at a net neutral. Disregarding my interactions with their followers, I'm friendly with one but at odds with another.

My PR manager hands me six stacks of papers, assumedly the resumes.

"Are these the originals?"

"No."

"Good." I consume them in my [Lexicon] and skim through them. I mentally deduct points for the Theriomorph, Merfolk, and one of the humans.

Theriomorphs have it rough with religion. Their entire clan gets put under a god by default. For example, Simianites, monkey people, are auto worshipers of the god of madness and parties until I assume they purposely stray away.

She is a wolf humanoid. The exact type doesn't matter, but she follows the goddess of the night and hunting... Since she's here for an assistant role, that translates to late hours in the office and a methodical work ethic. Maybe.

The Merfolk woman worships one of the many gods of the seas, and the human follows the god of the underrepresented. Never heard of either of their gods.

And I'm 60% sure this human lied about their religious orientation. Yeah. They are definitely out since I just checked what city they were born in. Silvervein. That's where the team from the capital's competition that tried to destroy the entirety of the Prime Territories came from. You know, the death cultists.

I'm not saying she's a cultist since I'm sure my PR manager isn't incompetent and missed such an obvious red flag during her screening process.

Death cultist or not, she's not getting the job.

None of the three I just mentioned are. I'm working my way from the bottom, not the top. I'm removing the worst candidates first instead of seeking the best ones. I'm not looking for a reason to hire them. I'm looking for reasons to not hire them.

Four out of six people aren't getting the job, so I only need to get rid of one more person. (However, if the remaining three are somehow worse, this will get complicated.) If I remove the last nonhuman, I might get called out for discriminatory hiring practices. But if I purposely hire her, isn't that also discriminatory? I don't know.

I was just being discriminatory about people's religions and birthplaces. I might as well go for their species at this point. More than I did with that wolf lady.

I look through the only nonhuman left on my chopping block. I check the applicant's resume to see her race, and instead of an answer, it's a big fat X.

"What's up with applicant six's resume? No race was put down."

"The Prime Territories has a law where people who would be prosecuted for their race can choose not to disclose it where others would be required."

"Prosecuted? Not marginalized or discriminated against, but prosecuted? Not persecuted, but prosecuted? What races are prosecuted?"

"Some races have more worth than others, monetarily. Maybe it's their hair or nails or their blood or skin. Maybe they are near extinction and are considered a 'collectible.' To my knowledge, other nations treat these 'golden geese' as or slightly above livestock. It's subjective. If the Prime Territories were ruled by vampires, humans, who they find strangely tastier than most others, would be considered a prosecuted race. Or it's a racism thing, like 'murder goblins on sight.'"

Noted if I ever travel to a 'vampire nation.' "What races are prosecuted here?"

"None. The PT doesn't treat any sapient creature as livestock, especially those from the races. We consider all prosecuted races from any nation as a prosecuted race, at least from nations that happen to be our neighbors or have some diplomatic involvement with us. If their only crime is being born, then that shouldn't be a crime at all."

"I have questions about the logistics of proving if you are one of those races or if people can just abuse this law?"

"You can ask Free Chains about that."

"Can you give me an example of a prosecuted race?"

"Besides rare subspecies from elves, dwarves, orcs, and the like, Fairies come to mind. Some Fairies are considered one of the 'races,' but most don't have that privilege, at least civilly."

Duchess, draped around my shoulders, looks at the brown-scaled woman through the one-way glass.

[Thisss one is interested in the one deemed prosecuted. They are underneath thisss one in the hierarchy. They would... be grateful to serve.]

They would be my personal assistant.

[Semantics.]

Can you tell what they are?

[Their blood is powerful... but diluted. A spawn between a human and something else...]

Cool.

Although I could use [Scientific Insight+] to glean some insights, that skill is biased. My biases, which I don't mind but would probably only tell me what I've already deduced... Unless I want to stare at them with the skill active for tens of minutes.

Isn't that what I'm doing already? Wasted time, I'll remember this for next time. Instead, I'll use a different means to find more than meets the eye.

I close my eyes and focus on the multiple energies inside of me. Instead of looking at the colors and lights within, I try to project my senses outward. I recall the sensations I felt when I first drank the potion that unlocked this stat since this is one of the things [Attunement] can do for me.

The energies around me are barely seeable and feelable. They have different colors and intensities, but I focus my perception on the room on the other side of the mirror.

Not sensing anything and not being able to sense anything is different. One of the two humans left on my chopping block has nothing, while the other has a familiar affinity. The prosecuted one has three.

When I reached level 200, I had a vague sense I could 'project,' but I haven't utilized it once since... I didn't see much use for this... ability unless I trained myself and got proficient in utilizing this strange stat.

I could always sense energies that I had some affinity to when they were close enough, but this opens new avenues.

I'll put everything to do with attunement and energies on the list of things I need to do.

There is no 'skill' for what I'm doing. The same reason there isn't a skill for 'seeing' or 'hearing.' Actually, never mind. I'm sure there are skills for those things. Rob technically has one.

A better example is my minor proficiency with basic curses. I know and can cast multiple curses, but the system doesn't deem me deserving enough to gain a skill. The curses barely do anything and require entire rituals to cast, but I digress.