Chương 70: Book 2 Chapter 22 - A Highball Offer

Zoey wasn't sure if asking about the money had been the right call or not. She braced herself for the answer. Dustin and Shian shared a look, and some kind of unspoken communication seemed to happen between them. Shian leaned forward.

"One more thing, before we get to that point. I'm a little bit nervous, honestly, about having someone as powerful as you at the estate. I know that it's common for wealthy houses to hire powerful retainers, and I do believe we need to as well, but I want to make sure everyone stays safe.

"In discussing this with Dustin, he mentioned that oftentimes wealthy houses will have their retainers take soul oaths, to make sure they aren't spies, or working to damage the house or its interests in any way."

"It's not that we don't trust you," she added hastily, "but trust comes with time, I'm sure you understand. You seem like a great person, Zoey, and I want to offer you the job, but before we do, I want to make sure you'd be okay entering into an employment contract that requires a soul oath." Zoey had learned about soul oaths in the academy, and they were pretty standard for anyone tier 3 or higher.

As long as she was able to read the contract beforehand, and it didn't contain anything too shady, she was happy to take a soul oath. Although if it locked her into employment for too long, and they weren't willing to pay her well, then she might end up turning it down.

"Of course," she replied without hesitation, "that wouldn't be a problem at all." Shian's shoulders dropped slightly in relief, and she gave Dustin a nod.

"Perfect!" he said enthusiastically.

"Now to the good part. Money." Zoey perked up. With a twinkle in his eye, Dustin asked, "What kind of salary were you hoping for, Zoey?" Ah, crud. It was a common negotiating tactic, get the other person to say their number first, so you knew how much you could lowball them. An average tier 1 guard earned around four gold per month. A tier 2 guard would earn six, eight if they were the captain of the unit.

A tier 3 house retainer under normal conditions would make anywhere from twelve to twenty gold per month, depending on their skill and the job they were hired for. When she first graduated, Zoey was hoping to earn 20 gold per month, as she saw herself in a positive light talent-wise. As the months wore on, her expectations had dropped, and now she would be glad to get a job that paid 12-15 gold per month, as long as it was at a respectable house.

Joining House Yountal's guard unit, not even as the captain, Zoey figured they might be willing to pay her 8-10 gold per month? If they truly valued her as a tier 3 at least. If they offered less than eight, she would have to turn it down, unfortunately. Hoping for the best, she said, "Ten gold per month?" It was best to start high, and let them talk her down. Shian snorted out a laugh, and Dustin raised an eyebrow at her response. Her heart fell.

"Oh, come on," Dustin said with a smirk, "be honest. How much do you really want?" Zoey had never been good at negotiating.

"Nine?" She hesitated.

"I can't go any lower than eight." Now it was Dustin's turn to laugh.

"You're headed the wrong direction! I'm not asking how much you think we'll pay you. How much do you want?" Zoey blinked rapidly, trying to process what he was saying. Was he teasing her? Was this some weird tactic to talk her down further? Make her see how ridiculous her original expectations were coming out of the academy, so they could lowball her even further? She wasn't going to play those games. If they wanted someone to work for too cheap, they would have to find someone else.

A bit of indignation on her own behalf steeled her resolve. If they wanted a higher number, she would give them the highest number she had ever dreamed of earning as a tier 3 mage, then make them talk her down from there.

"Okay," she responded with a slight edge to her voice now, preparing herself for the ensuing negotiation.

"Twenty gold per month. A strong tier 3 earns twenty gold per month." Dustin smiled, more gently now.

"And you are a strong tier 3, aren't you? You think you'll advance to tier 4?" Zoey nodded defiantly.

"Yes sir."

"Good," Dustin said with a nod, his smile growing wider.

"Well, in addition to helping you reach that advancement in any way we can, we'd like to offer you a monthly salary of twenty five gold." Zoey stared at him incredulously.

"It's a bit higher than normal," he continued, ignoring her look.

"But we think you'll be worth the investment." They both stared at her expectantly.

"Are… are you serious?" she sputtered. Dustin looked to Shian, who gave a sharp nod.

"We are," shian said, "Dustin was serious when he said we're looking for long-term retainers. Someone we can trust, someone who will grow alongside our house, and help protect our interests long into the future." Zoey was speechless.

"The tier 2s we hired this morning had similar reactions," Shian said with a smile.

"So, how about it?" Dustin asked.

"Are you interested?" If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. * Kiara and Dustin ended up hiring one more tier 3, in addition to Zoey, a man named Jaden. Together, with the eight tier 2s they had hired, they made their way back to Victor's shop. Kiara was going to pick up her sword, after which they would see about finding someone to officiate in the soul contracts she wanted each of the new guards to take.

As they approached the building, Zoey and Jaden both drew to a stop, staring at the door of Victor's shop.

"Is everything okay?" Kiara asked, stopping alongside them. Jaden looked at the door to the shop warily without saying anything. Zoey was the first to speak, "As new additions to your guard, Lady Yountal, it is our job to keep you and your house safe." Kiara nodded.

"Right…?"

"Well, my lady," Jaden said, still staring at the door, "a potential danger lurks in that shop." The rest of their group stopped at the warning. Kiara glanced at Victor's shop, confused. Was Victor in some kind of trouble? She activated [Magic Sense 3], which she kept forgetting to keep activated, and scanned the shop. Inside was the unmistakable signature of a tier 5 mage. She wasn't able to spot any other humans in the shop though, which meant that was probably Victor.

She hadn't put the pieces together before, and now that she did, she was surprised at how clueless she had been. Victor was an artificer, which clearly took some level of magical talent. She hadn't realized just how strong he was, though. Why hadn't he helped during the bandit attack when they first travelled to Portish alongside him? She turned back to her guards.

"It is an artificer's shop, wouldn't that require the artificer to be fairly powerful?" Jaden nodded slowly.

"True, but it's rare for the artificer to physically be at the shop. Usually an employee runs the shop, while the artificer spends their time elsewhere. Your Ladyship should proceed with caution while inside. Whoever is in there is a tier 5 mage, which is well beyond the capabilities of any of us to protect you… far beyond even all of us combined. Someone of that tier is truly only accountable to Count Dremond himself, maybe even the duke." Zoey nodded emphatically alongside him. Kiara shrugged.

She needed her sword.

"You can all stay out here, if you'd like. The shop isn't that large anyway, I doubt we'd all fit. I'll be back out shortly." Dustin accompanied her, and after a brief moment of hesitation, so did Zoey. The others gathered in a nervous huddle a few feet from the shop's door. She stepped inside, and sure enough, it was just Victor in there, emanating the powerful tier 5 signature.

"Lady Yountal!" He said, beaming, as she entered.

"Welcome back. Mister Savage, it is great to see you again as well." He turned to Zoey.

"And someone new!" Dustin, unflappable as always, strode forward and offered his hand to Victor.

"Victor, it is good seeing you again as well. I didn't realize you had settled in Portish?" Victor nodded.

"My research brought me here, and I haven't finished as of yet." His face scrunched up slightly in thought.

"Although I should probably make a trip back to Horange sometime soon and make sure Ethel is doing okay." He turned to Zoey.

"And who is your new acquaintance here?" Zoey bowed, very, very low.

"Zoey Trellen, my lord. A new retainer for House Yountal."

"Ah, very good," Victor said, nodding. He turned to face Kiara.

"You are here for your sword, I presume?" Kiara nodded. Victor smiled, and her sword materialized in his hand. It looked like he had fixed the chipped edges of the blade. He offered it to her, and she took it. Like usual, she couldn't personally detect any part of the enchantments on it, but she assumed they had been recharged. She could, however, feel some differences in the balance of the sword. She furrowed her eyebrows as she gave the sword a few experimental swings. It definitely felt slightly different.

A sword was a sword, at the end of the day, and if she could use it to stab things, she would be fine, but… she was curious.

"It feels different," she said, looking up at Victor.

"What changed?" He looked surprised, as if he hadn't quite expected her to notice. He even blushed slightly.

"Ah, my lady has a very keen perception." Her old sword materialized in his other hand. Apart from the chips in the blade's edge, it looked identical to the one she was holding. She cocked her head to the side in confusion. Why switch it out for a different one? Maybe he wasn't able to fix the chipped edges, and was embarrassed about it? Victor cleared his throat.

"My apologies, Lady Yountal, I must have confused the two swords." He handed her the other one, and she took it. It felt familiar; the handle fit her palm the way she remembered, and the weight distribution was exactly how she remembered it. She moved to hand him the first one he'd given her, but he held his hands up in refusal.

"Please take that one as a token of my apology," he said. She studied it. It was a fine blade. Not bad in any way, just not the one she had been expecting.

"Okay," she shrugged.

"How much is it?"

"Free of charge, my lady. I only ask that you let me know at some future point how it has worked out for you. I pride myself in my work, and would love your feedback, should you visit Portish again." She raised her eyebrows. An enchanted artifact was an extravagant gift.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, giving the blade a few more test swings.

"It is my pleasure, truly," he replied. A look passed over his face that looked suspiciously like relief. She stored both swords in her soul storage and turned to leave.

"Ah," she said, turning back, "I am in the market for someone who can officiate in soul contracts for my new house retainers. Do you happen to know anyone that could help with that?" Kiara was secretly hoping that Victor himself knew how to do it, since she already knew him personally. To her delight, he did.

"I would be happy to help myself," he said. He looked at Zoey.

"For young Miss Trellen here, I presume?" Kiara nodded.

"Her, plus a few more. We actually have a total of ten that we'd like to do." Victor's face went white at the comment. Zoey even turned to her in surprise.

"Ten, my lady? That is…," Victor trailed off. His eyes lost focus for a moment as if he was looking through the wall towards where the rest of their group was standing outside the shop.

"Hmmm. Where are the others?" Kiara pulsed out with [Magical Sense 3], wondering if the other guards had gone somewhere. They were still right outside where she had left them.

"They're just outside the shop," she replied.

"Should I bring them inside?"

"That group outside?" Victor asked in surprise.

"Most of them are only tier 2."

"Is that a problem?" Kiara asked. Victor shook his head.

"No! Not technically, it's just… unusual, is all. Soul contracts are expensive, and are usually reserved for retainers that are tier 3 or higher. Also, I am limited in how many I can do in one sitting. It's very mana intensive.

"Perhaps we can retire somewhere with a bit more space, where the group can relax. Each soul contract will take five or ten minutes to perform, and I'll need some time in between to allow my mana pool to regenerate. The entire process will likely take us three or four hours in total."

"Oh!" Kiara was a bit shocked. She hadn't realized how long it would take. She didn't really know anything about it before now.

"I can get us a space," Dustin offered.

"I can even have some dinner delivered as well?"

"Perfect!" Kiara replied.