The next few days passed by rather peacefully. In the mornings, Veronica spent a few hours cleaning the rooms that were rented out the night before. Since the locals and adventurers alike were beginning to utilize them more and more, the time spent cleaning was really beginning to add up. Soon enough, Veronica had to wonder if she wouldn't end up having to spend full-time hours cleaning the rooms on the first floor alone.
She could, of course, speed through things, cutting corners, and it was unlikely that anyone would really notice. All non-living things that had left the dungeon could be absorbed by the dungeon once this half was clear of non-dungeon entities. That made it so that it was impossible for there to be trash lying all over the rooms or for her to have to figure out what to do with missing personal belongings. She had returned a copy of Amelia's necklace to her, but that had only been after she was asked.
Cleaning was much easier now that she had the proper equipment to do so. Mopping the floors in the main living areas as well as the bathrooms only took a few short minutes. There wasn't dirt and sticky stuff to scrub off the floor, it was mostly just a matter of making the wood floor squeaky clean and the room smell of lemon and rosemary. The beds would have their bedding swapped out for fresh ones whenever she had access to the system as well as the mana to spare for it, but she hardly stressed about it. She couldn't exactly fit heavy sheets, pillowcases, and quilts for half a dozen rooms on her cart and there was nowhere else in her dungeon to store them.
Veronica finished pushing her cart into her room and left it in an empty corner. It was annoying having it in her personal space, reminding her of the work she'd be expected to do the next morning, but it was the only way she could guarantee it wouldn't be messed with. She'd definitely need to make a cleaning closet or something soon enough. Especially since her next stop was to Seraphina about the possibility of hiring some staff to help her with her inn management.
"I usually don't recommend making a system contract with someone else unless you've known them long enough to prove themselves trustworthy. Even then, it's best you avoid it as much as possible. However, employment contracts can be done without the system being involved, so that should be fine. Do you have something in mind for compensation you want to offer?"
Seraphina asked in a bored tone. Shaking her head, Veronica replied
"I'm not entirely sure what I have that could be of interest to others. I was hoping you might have some suggestions. I'm willing to supply free lodging in one of the large inn rooms as well as an allotment of food rations each week. However, that doesn't really feel like enough."
"Alright, well, what would their job duties entail exactly?"
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"I have a cleaning cart set up for myself and I'm thinking of setting up a cleaning closet soon as well with extra supplies. I just want someone to go in and clean the inn rooms that were used the night before. They'd need to change the bedding, sweep and mop the floors, dust, wipe all the surfaces down, replace consumables like firewood and toilet paper, and inform me of anything that may be missing like pots and pans from the kitchen. I'd reabsorb the used bedding once the inn is empty and refill the housekeeping cart and janitorial supplies."
Seraphina raised an eyebrow in question as she asked
"Why go through so much effort? The dungeon should ensure the rooms aren't dirty and most people don't expect clean bedding everyday. Also, it doesn't really make sense to offer amenities that can so easily be stolen. You know what? Forget I asked, it isn't my place to question your decisions."
After a moment of pause to rub her hand across her face in exhaustion, she continued
"I could offer them free lodging and an allotment of food with magic crystals for payment. Those can be sold outside of the dungeon, so it isn't much different from directly paying them. One per day should be more than enough to cover their work, but you will have to make some other allotments. You can't ask them to work on any other floor and they have to be free to leave the dungeon at times. People don't like to be trapped in a dungeon, especially without being compensated with significantly more than you can, currently, offer."
They had to spend slightly more time ironing out the final details and then Seraphina left to go into town. She was, apparently, going to get some notices put out as well as getting an official employment contract drawn up. Since the adventurers' guild's guildmaster and the local Lord would question what would happen if things were left alone, they also had to be informed of the matter. Then she had to return to the dungeon just so she could teleport to the village of Dungeon Diplomats and discuss the matter with them. As such, Veronica had been informed she would have to practice martial arts by herself today.
She didn't mind that, especially when she knew it was for her own sake. It was exhausting to do manual labor every day and she really wasn't a big fan of cleaning, so it would be nice to get some help. Besides which, this would allow her to concentrate on other goals she had in mind. It would be too difficult to run a tavern, serving alcohol and freshly cooked food, if she had to spend half the day cleaning. She wouldn't be able to have any free time for herself and working on the dungeon side of things would end up falling to the wayside, which really wasn't ideal.
Veronica was hopeful that she'd be able to unlock some new [Monsters] when she unlocked her second floor. At the rate she was currently doing things, that would likely be another month or so. It was already nearly the beginning of summer and she still hadn't completed the first floor of her dungeon. While it was nice that she had more time to focus on everything else and to learn martial arts from Seraphina, it still felt like a waste. It didn't matter that she had eternity to build the perfect dungeon, she just wanted to feel safe and it was difficult to relax with only one floor unlocked. Hopefully, that will change with time.