[In the face of adverse circumstances, the host didn’t resign. Instead, he faced the challenge head on and adapted. With unusual means, he not only turned a moderate profit, but managed to further spread the Emporium’s name, raise its reputation, and win over many new customers. He has proven himself to be creative and capable.

To encourage similar proactive behavior in the future and to equip the host with the means to further expand the Emporium’s business, he shall be rewarded.]

Severin nodded in satisfaction. He felt gratified the System acknowledged his achievement. As well as the trouble, its unannounced disappearance had caused him.

Though he couldn’t have done any of this alone. It was in large parts thanks to Jasmine’s direct involvement and the very fair terms for their cooperation. Like the generous cut she had negotiated for him from the numerous food, drink, and merchandise booths that had set up shop for the duration of the event.

‘I guess interpersonal relationships and the right connections are just as important as business acumen.’

Severin stood on top of the stage and looked down at the packed audience. Only now, seeing them from this elevated view, did he truly understand how many people he had reached. It far exceeded anything he could have imagined. It also explained the System’s rare praise.

With sudden anticipation, Severin read on.

[You are hereby awarded the ability to hire three additional [Employees].]

His expression froze into a dimwitted grimace.

‘So stingy! How underwhelming!’ His initial reaction was not one of gratitude or joy.

But the more he contemplated...

“Are you okay? You look a bit…,” a soft voice, as to not be picked up by the omnipresent transmitter crystals, asked, bringing him back to the present.

“No. I mean yes. I just thought what a big success this turned out to be,” Severin replied, addressing Jasmine’s evident concern.

“It went well,” she agreed, misunderstanding the true meaning of his words.

Though it remained true that this was probably the most boring reward imaginable, his disappointment had long turned into genuine delight.

It solved all of his most pressing issues! And not just because of the increase of customers they would have to deal with.

Emily’s words complaining about how level-ups only ever meant even more work were still ringing in his ears. At some point soon he wanted to grant her more of the free-time a child her age deserved.

Not only that, combined with his newfound wealth-largely due to Magda’s extensive test series of his class-orb removal device-, doubling the amount of his [Employees] might even allow him to go forward with some of his other, long postponed plans.

More and more, it looked like the Emporium would soon experience some vast changes.

Secretly thinking about these things while continuing to shake hands and celebrating the winners of his unexpectedly successful event, Severin’s expression had long turned into a wide smile-though it didn’t make him look any less dimwitted than before.

[What’s going on? Did something happen?] a voice suddenly appeared in his mind, taking him by surprise.

He immediately became wary. [Mylana? What is it?].

Why would she call him in a situation like this? [Has something happened?] he echoed her question with concern.

[That’s what I want to ask you. You look like an idiot up there. Did something happen with that System of yours?]

‘How sharp!’ Severin couldn’t help but be amazed by how perceptive she was. Was he really that easy to read? But more importantly…

[What do you mean, like an idiot!?]

[So you’re not denying it! Out with it then. What is it that can make you forget your composure in front of so many people? I’m not the only one who can see you, you know?] the rough oldtimer reminded him.

‘That old hag!’ Severn was torn between annoyance and amusement, but at this moment he didn’t intend on bickering with her. The timing might have been somewhat inappropriate, but given his excitement, he couldn’t wait to share the good news. Without expanding too much on why the System had rewarded them, or what it meant to him, he directly told her about the reward itself.

When he was done, he eagerly waited for a response, hoping to share the excitement.

But considering who he was talking to, his hopes had clearly been misplaced.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

For a small eternity, he received no answer.

Only when he no longer expected any reply at all did Mylana’s voice again appear in his head. At which point he much preferred if she had remained silent.

[We’ll talk about this later.]

‘What kind of reaction is that supposed to be?’ he grumbled to himself. ‘And which one of us was the boss again?!’ Despite his displeasure at her nonchalant words, he couldn’t help but once again be amused by her attitude.

‘She’s at least right in that now isn’t a good time to discuss these matters.’

Though the event’s closing ceremony was about to be officially concluded, that didn’t mean he was free to leave. There was still much for him to do:

Winners to entertain, Runner-ups to congratulate, consolidation prizes-namely store credit- to award, helpers to thank, and a bit of politics to play; there was no chance in hell Jasmine would let him leave just like that without having him meet some of her very own VIP.

***

“When will you finally tell me where you’re taking me? And is it really necessary to go this early? I haven’t slept at all.”

“I know. You’ve made sure I do. But that’s exactly why we are going now. If we had to wait until you had your beauty sleep, then it would be too late. Wasn’t it you who said it was best to take care of these things while the store is still closed?”

“Well, yeah. But don’t you think we should have at least waited until we spoke with Sabina and Krill about our plans? What if-?”

“What if, what?” Mylana waved him off as she kept leading him through Hanvia’s sleepy streets. “They don’t want to become classbearers? Or have a raise?”

“They wouldn’t exactly become classbearers and-”

“Who are you trying to fool?” Mylana directly cut off his objections. “I’m tell you, there is no way they will reject the offer. And even if they did. It might not be ideal, but with all the fail-safes and special clauses one has to accept before the binding process, you could promote pretty much any random person off the streets without having to worry. And they would be grateful for it.

We are pursuing greatness. Stop worrying about the small stuff.”

Severin should have been annoyed by her repeated and rude interruptions, but not only did he have to admit there was some logic to her words, he also didn’t miss the excitement in her words.

‘I think she might be more into this than she lets on,’ he noted with amusement.

Besides, at this point, there was no turning back, anyway. They were so deep inside the city that without Mylana’s help, Severin would struggle to find his way back. Resigned, he instead repeated his other question.

“Where are we going then?” he asked as at this moment they turned into one of the city’s more wealthy quarters. “The palace?” he then added with apprehension; he didn’t want to yet again rely on the royal family for his business related matters.

“Fool. Why would we go there? I thought you wanted to hire more people. So that’s what we are going to do.” Mylana said, as if self-evident.

“I might not be very familiar with this city, but I’m pretty sure this is not the way to the employment agency,” Severin retorted.

“Obviously.”

Severin wanted to curse. But he knew full well that resistance was futile and that the moment he opened his mouth, he would be ruthlessly cut off again. He decided on a demonstrative frown but otherwise kept his silence.

“I said you could pick and trust any random person off the street. But that is only true for those you intend to promote-the System will keep them in check. The same is not true for your regular employees. Not for someone in your position; which you would do well to remember, by the way. You are no longer just the random owner of some small, obscure store.”

As Mylana continued to lead Severin, their surroundings became even more and more upscale.

“Anyway, my point is, you got lucky so far. But you can’t just rely on that. More importantly, if you keep hiring people-which you obviously have to if you want to expand- then soon you won’t be able to keep an eye on all of them.

But you can at least mitigate some of the inherent risk by not hiring people off the streets.

You will want to hire experienced people. Trustworthy people. Especially if you want to go ahead with that idea of yours.

Now, these kinds of people will cost you, but I think we are beyond the point of having to care about a few coin, don’t you think?”

Severin wanted to nod. He somewhat understood her rationale.

But why had they suddenly stopped in front of this grand property that almost rivaled the palace itself in its splendor?

“And this is where we will hire them?” he asked with apprehension. Maybe they weren’t beyond the point of worrying about money, after all, Severin thought while suddenly feeling like a pauper.

“Of course not,” this time the woman didn’t hide her amusement. ”This is my home, silly.”