The Value of Labor
After a decent amount of time had passed since we started dating, I was finally able to hear some of Nadia’s family history as well.
As I had long suspected, her family situation had never been good from the time she was a child.
The culprit was her father.
She had told me herself that he was far from a good demon.
“He abandoned his family… and even left behind debts…”
Because of the debts her runaway father had left behind, the remaining family members had to live in poverty, Nadia said.
That poverty had not yet been resolved, and even now she sent most of the living allowance she received from the Cradle back to her house.
Hearing all of this, I wanted to help Nadia, yet my own pocket was far from comfortable.
In fact, I had been footing the bill for every date, or quietly paying for groceries when I ate dinner at her place, and my own living expenses had begun to feel the strain.
‘I need to find something to do.’
If Nadia noticed that I was struggling financially, she would inevitably blame herself.
So before that happened, I had to fill my empty wallet.
I scoured the surrounding demons for decent part-time work, and my first stop was senior Olga.
“Senior, do you happen to know of any good job openings?”
“I’m looking for a cook at the restaurant I work at.”
“I can’t cook.”
Even so, that was useful information.
I could simply introduce her to Nadia for the cook position.
“What about you?”
Waitressing or cashier roles were already dominated by women, and as a guy I figured I could only handle physical labor…
In truth, I had already checked, but they had turned me down.
After all, I was a short imp.
‘Who would have thought I’d face species discrimination even in a no-gada job.’
Senior Olga clicked her tongue and said she didn’t know anything better either.
I had no choice but to visit senior Juno next.
“Looking for a job? There’s a pretty good spot right now!”
“Where is it?”
“Honestly, it’s not that easy.”
“So what kind of work is it?”
“But the pay is insane, so you’ll probably make a decent amount once you actually do it.”
“So… what exactly do you do?”
“I’ll tell you once we get there. Just go for now.”
……
Juno senior kept dodging my questions, but because he swore it was a good job, I decided to check it out anyway.
***
Following the address Juno senior gave me led me to a flashy, room-saloon-style bar.
Inside, a number of well-groomed men were waiting, though they looked more like employees than customers.
Instinctively, I realized what it was.
‘Wait… are these host guys?’
Juno senior…
Was he serious?
No, seriously? Introducing host work to his junior as a “job”?
He had completely lost his mind.
I almost turned on my heel and left right then, but since I had come for the introduction, I forced myself to speak with the manager instead.
“Dorn, right? Juno told me you’re looking for work.”
He introduced himself as Oliver. He was a handsome man in a sharp suit, radiating that dandy charm.
He looked younger than I expected for a manager.
Early thirties at most?
“You really picked a good time.”
No, I had come here by mistake, so I was about to leave, but before I could say anything, Oliver started explaining the job.
“As you can see when you walked in, this isn’t a regular bar. We specialize in female customers and help soothe their bodies and minds.”
I nodded.
It was exactly as I suspected.
There was no point in listening further.
“I’m sorry. This doesn’t seem like the right fit for me…”
I started to stand up, but Oliver grabbed my shoulder.
“Just a moment. You seem to have some misconceptions.”
“Misconceptions?”
“I get the impression you have a negative image of our place, but this is actually quite valuable work.”
His eyes were somehow wet.
“The customers who come here are women who are tired of life. Our job is to empathize with them and comfort them. Along the way we receive proper compensation, though that too is, after all, the reward for a noble form of labor…”
“Still not happening.”
Whenever I heard stories about customers getting rough with him or groping him “for comfort,” I had already decided I wasn’t doing this.
“Damn. You’re really hard to convince.”
“……?”
“Haa— I hadn’t found a decent player in a while.”
Oliver’s expression suddenly changed. He rummaged through his pocket, pulled out matches and a cigarette, and lit it.
With his legs crossed and smoke drifting lazily, the exhausted vibe of a man who had seen the world was completely different from before.
“Since you came through Juno, you must go to the Cradle too, right? I know. Anyone would feel reluctant to take a job like this from a guy like him. Honestly, this work is dirty and shitty.”
Puff—
He flicked the mask aside and exhaled smoke while staring at me with serious eyes.
“But even so, if you have talent and the right aptitude, it’s actually quite good. So, to be honest, I think you have talent.”
“Um…”
He suddenly changed the mood and now told me I had talent as a host.
I was trying to figure out how to respond when Oliver continued.
“All you need is your face. How many customers do you think search for guys who look cute and delicate like you?”
Hearing my appearance praised by another man didn’t exactly make me happy, but his next words caught my ear.
“With your looks, you’d get quite the reputation after just a little work. Then, on top of the base pay the store gives, the tips from customers would mean… roughly that much per day?”
Oliver spread his fingers to show me.
“…Is that a daily unit?”
“Think of one finger as 100 loofis.”
“……”
He meant I could actually make that much?
“Of course, you’d have to work hard to earn it. But the fact that hard work pays well isn’t unique to this job, right?”
“Well, yeah…”
“Our place is actually one of the easier ones to make money at. Since you’re looking for work because you need money, just try it. I can promise you’ll pull in a lot.”
Even though I had been ready to bolt a moment ago, the idea of making far more than I expected tugged at me.
I asked hesitantly.
“But I have a girlfriend… it’s probably not right to do something like this, is it?”
“……What?”
Oliver looked shocked at my answer, then burst into a laugh.
“You don’t know anything. Most of the guys who work here aren’t even dating.”
He jerked his chin toward the door.
“I saw the one who just passed by? He has three girlfriends.”
That was just garbage…
He was persistent.
“I’m not the type who normally says things like this, you know? But I really think you’ll do well. Think of it as a trial job. Try it once.”
What kind of trial job do you give a host?
“I’ll give you 100 loofis for just one time in the room.”
“Eh?”
I froze at the amount.
100 loofis was not a small sum.
“If you end up hating it, just tell me and I’ll send you home right away.”
“…If you say it like that, I won’t be able to refuse.”
My pocket situation was terrible, so I couldn’t resist the temptation of the money in front of me.
“Alright. Then shall we get ready right now?”
Oliver lent me clothes and shoes.
“Whoa, just changing clothes like this and I look sharp.”
I had to admit that even I thought the borrowed outfit looked decent.
“When you go into the room, sit next to the customer. Just pour a little alcohol, listen to her talk, and pretend to react enthusiastically.”
“I should probably get a name first, right?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get one automatically.”
As Oliver said, the moment I stepped into the room I was assigned a name by the female customer and sat beside her.
She was younger than I expected.
“You’re cute. What’s your name?”
“D-Dorn.”
“Why are you so tense? Are you new to this?”
“Actually, today’s my first day…”
I did exactly as Oliver had instructed.
When the customer’s glass was empty, I refilled it. I drank a little myself and listened to her words.
Time passed quickly, and before long the customer stood up.
“I had fun thanks to you. Here, take this tip!”
She handed me a golden coin of 100 loofis as a tip.
For two hours of pouring drinks and occasional conversation, the pay was more than generous.
But that wasn’t the end. Oliver added another 100 loofis, saying he had worked hard.
‘Did I really make money this easily?’
Holding 200 loofis in my hand after only two hours left me dazed.
Oliver smiled at me.
“How was it? Worth trying?”
After a moment of hesitation, I finally gave a small nod.
“…Yes.”
I had lost to the temptation of money.
***
A few days later,
I was still punching in as a host at the bar.
Except on weekends, I went to the store every day during the week.
Thanks to senior Olga introducing me for the cook position at her restaurant, Nadia had started working there as well, which meant both of us were even busier.
When working, I wore a brown wig to hide my black hair and operated under the alias “Norn.”
“Customer for room three has arrived.”
From the waiting room, I immediately went to room three after hearing Oliver’s words.
As Juno senior had said, it was not exactly easy work.
The first senior I dealt with was genuinely a well-mannered customer.
She had been fun at first, then got bored and left, or ran into a problematic customer and suffered because of it.
The former I could handle, but the latter had been truly difficult. Luckily, I found a quick solution.
I simply used my ability—Thought Encroachment.
Thanks to the education at the Cradle, my total mana and control had grown, and the output of my ability had become even stronger.
‘The targets here were ordinary demons, so casting suggestions was easy.’
Ordinary demons with no mana had extremely weak resistance to Thought Encroachment.
On top of that, the customers who came here were those with honest desires or weak self-control.
Add alcohol to the mix and it became the perfect environment to use the skill.
I occasionally felt guilty.
Was it really right to only use the ability I gained by abandoning my previous life to deal with these problematic customers?
But after suffering through it a few times, I decided maybe it was okay.
“There’s a rose inside.”
Rose was slang used among workers.
It meant a beautiful problematic customer.
“Dorn, can I leave this to you?”
“Of course.”
I nodded at Oliver’s words and opened the door to the room where the customers were.
“Hello, everyone? I’m Norn, the bouncy little guy with a nutty interior.”
---