The Saintess Gets a Job?
"Ah—! O great Salvoreas! I send unto thee, this moment, the souls of thirty-two!!!"
"How awful…."
Grief-stricken screams rang through the village. People cried out even as their bodies gave way beneath them—please, help us; save me—but it no longer mattered who had said what. Those who begged for help and those who begged to be saved had all melted, soft and shapeless, and run together into a single mass. It was a truly horrific sight.
"It seems to be a pact with an evil god. Eila, can you tell the range?"
"…The entire village. Heavens, how could anyone do such a thing…."
"Then we finish it quickly. We have to save as many as we can. Let's go, everyone."
We charged into the village, to save even one more life.
"When you speak of a contract…."
For a moment the air seemed to grow heavy. Kang Seon-ah swallowed against a dry throat, but the surprise passed quickly, and she went on as casually as ever.
"Yeah, an employment contract. You interested in joining our company?"
"…Ah. That sort of contract…… I'm sorry."
"Huh? Forget it."
Eila was embarrassed. Of course—in the world at large, wholesome contracts between people and trading houses far outnumbered pacts with evil gods and demons. She had jumped to conclusions for nothing.
"So, what do you say?"
"…Shouldn't I hear the terms before agreeing to a contract?"
"Thorough, aren't you. Hmm… First off, I can feed you."
"That sounds good."
"Lodging, too."
"Really?"
"And obviously, you'll get paid."
"Now that is tempting."
"So, you in?"
Eila sank into thought. Since falling into this world, money had been her greatest problem, and here was someone offering money, meals, and a place to sleep besides. It was sweet. Too sweet. Like the fragrance a man-eating plant gives off.
…Well, those particular plants had been driven to extinction by an Angelica furious to the ends of her hair, who had screamed, "You shitty fucking weeds think you can toy with me!? The pyre! It's the pyre!!!" and made good on it. In any case, a story that sweet always had something rotten on the underside.
Eila spoke.
"…But why are you so determined to recruit someone you've only just met?"
It was a reasonable question. Unless the woman before her, Kang Seon-ah, was a philanthropist, Eila could not imagine why she would drag a complete stranger into her company.
At that, Kang Seon-ah smiled.
"Hmm. That's what you wanted to know?"
"Yes."
Kang Seon-ah tapped her temple with a fingertip.
"I can see the future."
"…You can see the future?"
"Yeah. Only in fragments, mind you. Not a story—still frames, at best. But the future does show itself to me."
Eila's eyes went wide. To see the future was to possess a gift for prophecy. She watched Kang Seon-ah, who had begun muttering away to herself, and caught the pale green glint of her eyes.
"And in that future, there you were, someone incredible. So it hit me, just like that! Ah, I have to bring this person in, and then together we—"
"Please ignore her. She says the exact same thing to every hunter who walks in here."
With a soft clack, something was set down in front of Eila: a cup of tea, steam curling up from it. She turned her head and found the young man with the shaggy bangs she had seen when she first arrived.
"Ah, thank you. And… your name?"
"Lee Chanwoo. Please, just call me Chanwoo."
"Thank you, Mr. Chanwoo."
"It's nothing."
Leaving Kang Seon-ah to the passionate speech she was still delivering to no one, Eila drank the tea Lee Chanwoo had brewed.
"Oh my, this is delicious."
The words escaped her in genuine delight. She had no idea what kind of tea it was, but the bitter edge under the sweetness suited her perfectly. At the praise, color rushed into Lee Chanwoo's face.
"Th-thank you. It's, um, nothing special, but I'm glad you like it."
"Have a little more confidence. Of all the tea I've had in the last three years, this is the best."
"Is it really?"
She wasn't lying. She simply hadn't drunk anything that could be called tea in the last three years. She had never been especially fond of it to begin with, and on land so barren that even weeds withered, no plant fit for brewing could possibly have survived. There was a saying, after all, that ignorance was bliss. Eila took another sip. It really was good.
"By the way, are you also an employee of this Rainbow… company?"
"Yes. Me, my little sister, and the boss—three of us in all. Eila… ah, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"
"I'm seventeen."
"Y-younger than me…?"
"Are you older than I am, Mr. Chanwoo?"
"I'm… eighteen."
"Is that so?"
Eila looked him up and down.
"You don't look it…."
That was when it happened.
"That's what I'm saying!!!"
With a bang, Kang Seon-ah slammed her palm on the table, shot to her feet, and shouted.
"Us meeting was fate, arranged by God Himself! So come on, hurry up and sign the contract—!!"
Between her hand and the table lay a sheet of paper she must have produced at some point. Given the circumstances, it was probably an employment contract. Eila thought so while nearly jumping out of her skin.
"Boss, you're scaring Eila…. Could you ease up a little?"
"Huh? The hell—when did you get here? Dishes done?"
"I finished ages ago. I was just bringing the tea I'd brewed."
"And mine."
"Sorry?"
"Where's my tea, you little shit?"
A sharp crack, and Kang Seon-ah's palm whipped across Lee Chanwoo's back.
"Ow! That hurts! You never drink it even when I bring it!"
"Whether I drink it or not is my call, not yours. Getting real bold with your boss, aren't you."
"Ah! Fine! I'll brew it! I'll brew it, all right?!"
"Three minutes."
"You think tea is cup noodles…?"
"Want another one?"
"I'll go brew it."
After a few more blows from Kang Seon-ah, Lee Chanwoo vanished off somewhere again. Was that the kitchen? Eila turned back toward her.
"So. You joining the company?"
"…How much does this company pay?"
"A normal—"
"This place is a real sweatshop! She takes every bit of money we earn and doesn't pay us a wage! Run while you still can!"
The shout came from the kitchen. Lee Chanwoo's voice. At the sound of it, Kang Seon-ah's smile rotted on the spot.
"That fucker just has to ruin the moment!!"
She charged into the kitchen. The sound of a back being slapped rang out dozens of times, and then Kang Seon-ah returned to Eila, smiling.
"Right, so where were we?"
"……We had gotten as far as this company not paying anyone."
"……."
Kang Seon-ah's face crumpled.
"…I mean, is money really that important?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm just saying, maybe there are things in this world more important than money. Comrades, friendship, hard work. That sort of thing."
It was not the sort of speech one expected from someone who, moments ago, had been preaching the glory of pay.
"Money lays waste to relationships. In that sense, a bond held together by money might not even be a real relationship at all. Bonds of affection, not cash—a relationship like family, a company like a family—that's the very motto of our—"
"Not a company like a family. A company like shit… Here, I brought the tea—ack! Why are you hitting me again?! I brought it!!!"
"You. Little. Brat. Always. Have. One. More. Word."
"Ow! Aaagh!"
The smacks rang out. Through the whole spectacle, Eila came to understand a few things about the woman called Kang Seon-ah. The moment she opened her mouth, sophistry poured out. Eila had seen plenty of people like that: heretics who stirred up crowds in the square. The feeling was much the same.
Slurp. Eila drank her tea. It was delicious.
"Ahem! Sorry you had to see that."
"Not at all. Shall we continue, then?"
"Good. Seeing how well we understand each other, I really do want you at the company…."
Kang Seon-ah glanced this way and that, then clapped her hands.
"How about this, then?"
"What is it?"
"You said earlier you were looking for someone, right?"
"Yes."
"I'll find them for you. Free of charge."
Eila's expression changed. This, too, was a sweet offer—which meant there was something else to it.
"In exchange."
Kang Seon-ah went on.
"There's a condition."
"Which is?"
"Join our company."
"……."
"The term lasts until we find the person you mentioned. I'll feed you, and you can sleep here. From the look of you, you've got nowhere else to go. So? Not bad, right?"
"……Give me a moment to think."
For Eila, there was no reason to refuse. Honestly, if she had food and a place to wash and sleep, she didn't particularly need money. She would have worked for meals and a bed alone—and on top of that, they would help her find the Hero? There was nothing to turn down.
"All right. I'll join the company on those terms."
"For real?! Thank you!"
"In return, please keep your promise."
"Don't worry! I may lie, but I keep my promises! First, sign here, and I'll need your resident registration number and something that can prove your identi—"
"I'm sorry, but… what is a resident registration number?"
Kang Seon-ah froze where she stood. A creak followed: the sound of her neck turning.
"…Fuck. We have to start from there?"
A strong girl who didn't know the first thing about how the world worked. Strange. I thought this was a jackpot. Don't tell me I just stepped on a land mine. For one brief moment, the world in front of Kang Seon-ah's eyes went dark.