Chương 67: Book 2 Chapter 19 - Hiring Retainers

Kiara jumped in the carriage, and started moving towards the area where the travelling merchants congregated. It was the most likely place to find Dustin, since they hadn't coordinated on a rendezvous point previously. It was the only place in Portish they had both been to together before. A few minutes into the ride, she realized that she had been forgetting to keep [Magical Sense 3] activated as often as she wanted. She was curious what it would tell her about Victor, now that she knew he was an artificer.

Did it take something special to be an artificer? She would have to try it out tomorrow when she went to pick the sword back up. She activated the ability as they travelled, but most of the people they passed were non magic users. A few other carriages passed by with mages inside, but nothing noteworthy. The merchant district was busy, like usual. People hurried in all directions, and the noise was nearly overwhelming. She did her best to tune it out, instead trying to practice with [Magical Sense 3].

She told the carriage driver she would return, then began walking through the throng, trying to distinguish different peoples' presences. She wanted to see if she could pick Dustin out of a crowd with her eyes closed. After walking around for five minutes, she decided it was futile. Everyone's presence pretty much looked the same. She could tell where the people were in relation to herself, as well as get a general sense of their power tier if they were a mage, but not much else.

She kept the ability active to try and grow more accustomed to it, then reverted back to using her eyes to look around. When she didn't spot Dustin after another five minutes of walking, she decided to start asking around. She found her way back to a few of the places they had stopped at their first time through Portish, but none of the people she asked had any idea where Dustin was. Interestingly, a few of them had heard of Dustin, as well as House Yountal, but hadn't seen or heard from him recently.

She chose a nearby inn to stay in for the night, and began leaving instructions with each person she talked to. She left a few bronze coins with each one, getting them to agree to keep an eye out for Dustin, and pass along a message if he came by, pointing him to the inn she was staying at. She didn't hear from him that night, but the next morning while she was eating breakfast he strode through the door.

Apparently, he'd had the same idea as her, just a day later, and went around to the places they'd stopped at their first time through, asking if they'd heard from her. The previous day had been productive for him, and he had dozens of interviews lined up for hiring some more powerful house retainers. He had rented a small office space for his time in Portish, where they would meet the interviewees. A few hours later, they were at the rented office space, interviewing the candidates.

Kiara was more invested in the process this time, as all of these candidates were either tier 2 or tier 3 mages. Each of them was powerful enough to essentially run rampant through her estate if she wasn't there herself, so she wanted to make sure she was bringing good people into the mix. Captain Soren and his guards were only tier 1, and wouldn't be able to stop a tier 2 mage without sustaining heavy casualties themselves.

She had seen enough of both tiers from her fights with Lord Grivalt and his guards, as well as the bandits, to know that it would take several tier 1s working in perfect unison to stand up to a tier 2. She had never seen a tier 3 fight, but she assumed the power scaling was similar, meaning Captain Soren and his guards likely stood no chance against a tier 3 intent on destroying the estate or killing everyone inside it.

She trusted Soren and his guards, having spent enough time with them, and having even been through a fight with Soren and Estella backing her up. She wasn't sure how long it would take her to trust the new guards to the same degree. Thinking back to her fight with the bandit group the day before, she knew this was a necessary move though. She needed more powerful house retainers that could keep an eye on things while she was gone.

House Yountal was probably the only wealthy house in Easton without a single tier 2 or higher guard on retainer. They needed to hire stronger guards, especially if they were going to start expanding their business operations into a wider area, including Portish. Dustin had scheduled all of the tier 2 interviews first, then after a late lunch they would interview some tier 3s. After the first few interviews, Kiara started to get a feel for the situation.

These tier 2s were all people who had received magical training, but plateaued at tier 2, leaving them with few options for employment. They could, of course, learn any vocation available to common folk, but higher paying jobs were available to someone with magical talent: mainly guard duty, mercenaries, inter-city messengers, and the like. Things that took advantage of their increased physical capacities and fighting prowess. Stolen novel; please report.

Any house with the necessary funds tended to send their children to a magical academy to begin learning magic, but some people just didn't have the aptitude for it, and plateaued early. Some people even levelled off at tier 0, leaving them somewhat stronger and faster than a mortal, but unable to wield magic of any kind, since they hadn't formed a mana core. As it stood, these tier 2 candidates were all people with experience either as a guard or a mercenary.

Their previous jobs had either ended for one reason or another, or they were simply looking for a change of career or scenery. Given enough time, Kiara was sure she could learn to trust whoever they brought on board, so she focused mainly on their personalities and character traits. Anyone who seemed too aggressive or prone to violence she crossed off her list immediately. She didn't want a loose cannon running around her estate.

When she explained her reasoning to Dustin, he looked at her with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. He pointed out that she was overly eager to engage in violent confrontations herself, but she pointedly ignored his comment. She didn't see herself as a loose cannon, she just enjoyed testing herself against other fighters. She wasn't really sure why. Anyone who had a hard time following directions or taking orders from Dustin she also crossed off the list.

If they weren't comfortable following the orders of Captain Soren, a tier 1, they were also dismissed. They needed the organizational structure to remain unchanged at the estate so things could keep operating smoothly. If they seemed normal in those regards, they had them demonstrate their magical talent, whatever it might be. Kiara didn't care too much if their magic was battle-oriented or not, she just wanted to see what cool magic they could do.

One guy was quite adept at illusion magic, and conjured up three illusory birds, which flew around the room, landed on the table, and even emitted occasional chirps. One of them landed on Kiara's shoulder and promptly melted. One of the ladies showcased her affinity for fire magic, summoning a small firestorm around her person. She claimed it helped her during battle, but she couldn't keep it active for very long.

Dustin had to shield his face from the heat, which Kiara couldn't feel at all, since it was purely magical heat. It was a very visually impressive display. One mage was able to re-shape the table, using her magic to give the wood a new form. Another mage summoned a chestplate and gauntlets out of ice, with sharp and jagged icicles jutting out from it. It was an intimidating look. They all seemed to specialize in one element, or one area of magical expertise, with supporting skills in other areas.

They said it was supposed to help them develop their first concept, if they had ever advanced to tier 3. All in all, they found eight tier 2 guards that both Dustin and her liked. They offered them a very competitive salary, twenty percent above market rate. The hope was to instill trust and loyalty from the very beginning, giving them no reason to look for work elsewhere.

Kiara wanted to build long-term relationships with these people, avoiding any issues that could come from a disgruntled worker, or too frequent turnover. After lunch, they had their first interview with one of the tier 3s. * Zoey Trellen was sweating nervously. She wiped her palms on her shirt, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself. She was four months out of the academy, and she still hadn't been able to find a job. This was supposed to be the easy part, now that she had learned magic.

Her parents ran a tannery, started by her grandfather almost fifty years ago. They had expanded it to three separate locations here in Portish, and were able to live a comfortable life. They weren't wealthy, but they always had money for food and clothing, and even enough to help out their neighbors occasionally when needed. They had saved for over a decade to be able to afford sending Zoey to the magical academy, something most people could never afford.

This was a chance for their family to break out of mediocrity. Rising through the social and financial echelons was something that took generational effort. Her grandfather started the tannery business, then her parents expanded it, to where she could now have an opportunity to advance in the way that really mattered. Magical talent was the true road to wealth. Zoey had formed her mana core and advanced to tier 1 just nine days after entering the academy, faster than most of her peers.

While that speed of progress wasn't a guarantee for anything, her instructors had praised her, saying she would likely go far. That kind of magical affinity was above average. Her parents had been thrilled at the news. Some who went to the academy were never able to form their mana core at all.

While they did learn to feel the ambient mana, and pulling that mana into them certainly improved their body in ways that a mortal never experienced, without a core they were stuck at tier 0, and could never cast a single spell. Even being stuck at tier 0 would have made Zoey a better-than-average common worker, but would never have opened the doors that advancing to tier 1 did. As a tier 1 mage, she was stronger, faster, and more durable than a mortal. She needed less sleep and slightly less food.

She had improved endurance. These were all things that would secure her a job as a city guard, house guard, or mercenary (which was really just a travelling guard-for-hire, at the end of the day). She could earn more in a year than her grandfather ever had working the tannery. Her parents, who owned three locations, would still probably make more than her, but having the ability to provide for herself after just a week in the academy was thrilling.

She had considered how feasible it would be to try and teach her parents to sense ambient mana and form their own mana cores, but wasn't sure if it was possible. The instructors at the academy had to show Zoey how to do it, not just explain it. She had felt their magic envelop her, and guide her towards the desired outcomes. Only then was she able to do it on her own, and actually form her mana core. She wasn't trained on how to do that for her parents or anyone else, and had given up on the idea after a while.

When she had told her parents about her idea, they had consoled her worries, telling her they were fine, that she didn't need to worry about them, and that she should focus on her own advancement. They made it clear that the best way for her to repay the time and money they put into affording her education was for her to be the best mage she could be.