Chương 49: Chapter 25 : Modern Classes

The following morning, Aldric met Emma at the small café where they had fallen into the habit of meeting. Over the past few days, it had become their headquarters. Every new quest seemed to begin at the same table, between two cups of coffee that Aldric still found far too bitter. When he arrived, Emma already had her laptop open. The job listings they had printed the day before were spread out in front of her, alongside a notebook filled with notes.

"Good morning, Aldric."

"Good morning, Emma." Aldric took the seat across from her and placed his folder on the table. He removed the job listings they had collected at France Travail and lined them up. Every page was perfectly straight, arranged by size, with each corner precisely aligned. She picked up the first listing.

"Before we keep sending out applications, there's something important you need to understand. Not all jobs are the same." Emma turned the page so he could read the first few lines.

"Look." Her finger stopped on an abbreviation.

"It says CDD here." Then she pointed to another.

"And this one says CDI." She picked up a third listing.

"And this one is temporary agency work."

"What do they mean?"

"They're different types of employment contracts. Different ways of working for a company."

"Like different classes?"

"What do you mean?"

"In my world, a warrior, a mage, and a scout all undertake quests, but each possesses different abilities."

"If that helps, you can think of them as different classes."

"A CDD is a fixed-term contract."

"So it's temporary."

"Exactly."

"A CDI is a permanent contract."

"So that means it has no time limit?"

"That's right. As long as your employer is satisfied with your work, you can stay." The idea struck Aldric as almost unbelievable. In his world, adventurers moved from one contract to the next. Once a quest was complete, they always returned to the guild to wait for another, and no one imagined serving the same employer for years. Emma continued.

"Temporary agency work is different. A company needs someone for a short period. An agency finds you one assignment, then another, then another."

"So it's like being a mercenary." Emma burst out laughing.

"Yeah... actually, that's almost exactly what it is." Aldric immediately took out his notebook and carefully wrote down his conclusions: CDD, temporary quest; CDI, permanent quest; temporary agency work, modern mercenary.

"I don't think anyone has ever explained the job market like that before." Aldric closed his notebook. At last, everything made sense. There were different forms of employment, each with its own advantages and limitations, just like the various contracts offered by the guilds in his kingdom. He turned his attention back to the job listings before looking up at Emma.

"Which class is the most prestigious?" The question made her smile because she already knew how most French people would answer.

"Without a doubt..." She pointed to one of the listings.

"The CDI." He wrote the three letters in the center of a fresh page in his notebook and drew a circle around them.

"I understand."

"What are you writing down?"

"My primary objective. To obtain the legendary class: CDI." She laughed.

"It's not exactly a legendary class..."

"And yet everything suggests that it is more stable, more sought after, and harder to obtain than the others." △ SKILL ACQUIRED △ Employment Knowledge Lv. 1 New Concepts Learned • CDD • CDI • Temporary Work When Aldric looked up at Emma again, the job listings spread across the table no longer seemed like a collection of incomprehensible words. They had become a map, and at the very top of it, a destination he hadn't noticed before had finally appeared: the CDI.

Emma let him finish taking notes before gathering the job listings again. She set several aside until only one CDI listing and one CDD listing remained, then opened a page on her laptop displaying several definitions side by side.

"There's another important difference." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"A CDD is intended to last for a specific period. It might be a week, a month, or six months... Once the contract ends, it automatically expires."

"So it's a temporary quest. Once the mission is complete, the employer no longer requires your services."

"Exactly." In his kingdom, most contracts worked that way. Once a caravan reached its destination or a village had finally been cleared of the monsters threatening it, the adventurers were simply paid before setting out in search of another quest. Emma then pointed to the second listing.

"A CDI is different. It has no end date." Aldric immediately turned his attention back to the few printed lines, studying them with the same seriousness he would have given to a newly discovered fundamental law of this world.

"So the contract remains in effect until one of the two parties decides to end it? Either party may dissolve the alliance?"

"Exactly."

"Is there an oath? In my world, when a knight pledged loyalty to a lord, both parties swore their vows before witnesses." She shook her head with a smile.

"No."

"A ceremony?"

"No."

"A religious blessing?" Emma burst out laughing.

"Still no."

"Then how do they know their alliance is official?" She picked up a blank sheet of paper and placed it in front of him.

"They sign it."

"Just a signature?"

"Yes."

"Your kingdom places remarkable trust in the written word." Aldric wrote that observation down in his notebook. Emma continued.

"Now there's something else." She scrolled to another job listing.

"Look at this line." Her finger stopped on a few words.

"Trial period."

"What does that mean?"

"During the first few weeks or months, the company makes sure the job is a good fit for you, and you make sure the company is a good fit for you."

"So it's an observational duel." Emma burst out laughing.

"Not exactly."

"A trial."

"Yes, if you prefer."

"Both sides evaluate each other."

"Exactly."

"That seems perfectly reasonable." Emma continued.

"During that period, it's much easier to end the contract if things don't work out."

"Even if neither side has done anything wrong? Simply because both parties decide it isn't a good match?"

"Yes." Emma tapped the first document.

"That's a surprising rule. In my world, a knight who abandoned his lord only a few weeks after swearing loyalty would lose all honor."

"Here, it's almost the opposite. It's better to end a partnership quickly if it isn't working than to keep it going for years." In his former world, loyalty took precedence over almost everything else. Even a poor lord often kept his followers simply because they refused to break the word they had given him. Emma closed her laptop.

"In reality, companies are looking for someone who's the right fit for them."

"Just like the applicants."

"Exactly."

"So it's not enough to prove your worth. You must also find the right guild."

"Exactly." She then picked up a third job listing.

"And then there's temporary agency work. You work for an agency that sends you on assignments to different companies. Every assignment is different. And when one ends, they send you to another."

"After all, your kingdom is more like mine than I first believed."

"Oh?"

"The names have changed. But the principles remain the same. Adventurers become temporary workers, short-term contracts become CDDs..." His finger finally came to rest on the listing he had circled a few minutes earlier.

"... and oaths of loyalty become CDIs." △ SKILL INCREASED △ Employment Knowledge Lv. 2 New Concepts Learned • Permanent Contract • Fixed-Term Contract • Trial Period • Temporary Agency Work Bonus Effect Modern Employment Terms +10%"Thank you, Emma. You're making this kingdom much easier to understand." She gathered the job listings, folded them together, and slipped them back into Aldric's folder.

"I'm glad." Emma closed her laptop before stacking the remaining job listings into a neat pile. The café was beginning to fill up around them. Several students settled in with their laptops while a few office workers enjoyed a short break before returning to work. Aldric looked around the room without truly seeing it. His notebook lay open in front of him, and everything he had learned that morning was still running through his mind. He picked up his pen and drew several lines across a blank page.

"What are you doing?"

"Organizing my objectives."

"Do you do that often?"

"Before every campaign." At the top of the page, he wrote his first heading: Primary Objective. Directly beneath it, he carefully wrote the three letters he had circled only minutes earlier: CDI. Then he continued. Below that first objective, he added a second heading: Intermediate Objectives. He quickly reread the job listings they had collected from France Travail before writing a new list: Pass an interview, Obtain a trial period, Successfully complete the trial period. He looked up at Emma.

"Have I overlooked a step?" She skimmed the page.

"You should probably start by getting an interview." He immediately added another item to the list: Obtain an interview.

"Is there a way to improve my chances?"

"Gain experience."

"How does one gain experience without already having a job?"

"Internships. Temporary agency assignments. Or short-term contracts." Aldric immediately wrote down all three possibilities.

"So it's possible to grow stronger before obtaining a CDI." The logic reminded him of the old adventurers' guilds. New recruits were never given the most prestigious quests. They began by protecting caravans or clearing villages of minor monsters before earning the right to join major expeditions. In the end, this kingdom operated in almost the same way. Emma took another sip of her coffee before noticing that Aldric was still revising his notebook. He had just drawn several arrows connecting each step.

Temporary Agency Work ↓ CDD ↓ CDI"What is that?"

"A progression tree. Every class has its natural advancement path."

"Aldric..." He then closed his notebook. △ QUEST UPDATED △ Find Employment Primary Objective Obtain a Permanent Contract (CDI) Recommended Progression Temporary Work ↓ Fixed-Term Contract ↓ Permanent Contract △ SKILL INCREASED △ Employment Knowledge Lv. 3 New Passive Effect Understanding of Employment Systems increased. △ NEW PERSONAL GOAL REGISTERED △ Legendary Career Path Current Rank: Job Seeker Target Rank: Permanent Employee"I feel like I'm beginning to understand this kingdom." She smiled back at him.

"You're making progress."

"Slowly. But I am making progress." His eyes settled one last time on the three letters circled at the top of the page: CDI.

"I will obtain it. No matter how many trials it takes." Emma burst out laughing.

"You're talking as if you're about to go slay a dragon."

"From what I've learned... this seems even more difficult." Emma fell silent for a brief moment. Then she burst into laughter once again. Around them, the café's customers carried on with their conversations. None of them could have imagined that, for the greatest hero of his world, the true challenge was no longer defeating a Demon King, but obtaining the mysterious contract that everyone seemed to covet. The legendary class: CDI.