Ron stood beside a trash can in a narrow alley, holding a sheet of paper and some glue. He spread the glue on the paper and pasted it to the wall.
At the top of the paper, four large, clear characters read "Help Wanted." The notice said:
"Our shop is hiring two employees."
"Applicants should be young, capable, and hardworking."
"Working hours: 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m."
"Duties include watching the shop, serving customers, and handling payments and change."
"Pay: 5 silver coins per week, paid weekly."
"No race restrictions. Applicants must be between 14 and 25 years old, converted according to the human calendar."
"Interested applicants should visit the shop during business hours to speak with the owner in person."
The notice was signed, "—Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop, Owner Ron Andre."
The notice was actually meant specifically for the homeless child from yesterday. But to avoid having the child refuse him to his face out of pride, Ron had come up with this idea.
Since he would need time to study at Magic Academy, he couldn't guarantee the shop's opening hours.
Hiring employees was a must.
Yesterday, that child had been willing to fight three brawny thugs just because Ron had treated her to a meal at the Barbecue Shop. She seemed like a decent person.
Since that was the case, Ron had no need to look for a stranger.
This was much better than simply giving her charity.
It was a fair exchange: one side paid, the other worked.
The homeless child could support herself through her own efforts and wouldn't have to dig through trash cans every day just to survive.
If he'd come across an ordinary homeless child, Ron would at most have given them a filling meal and felt sorry for them.
But since the child from yesterday had already proven her character, Ron didn't mind giving her a chance.
She had earned it herself.
With that thought, Ron stepped back to check the notice. Once he'd made sure everything looked fine, he headed to Lyle's Barbecue Shop.
"Hey, Ron!" Lyle came out of the kitchen and greeted him cheerfully. "The usual today?"
"That's right." Ron smiled and nodded.
Lyle immediately turned to call out an order, then grabbed the shop's accounts and sat down across from Ron, looking thrilled. "Heh, Ron, I don't even know how to thank you. Business has been getting better and better these past few days. We're almost running out of tables at night. Take a look at the accounts."
Watching Lyle's excitement, Ron chuckled and took the accounts. He looked them over while Lyle talked.
"You have no idea how popular your seasoning is!"
"Lots of customers went home and told their friends how delicious my barbecue was. Now we've had a whole crowd coming in just because they heard about us."
"Look at this. The day before yesterday, we made 30 silver coins. The day before that, 50. And yesterday, we took in a full 100!"
"The total from these three days is enough to match half a month's revenue from before!"
Ron congratulated him. "As long as business is good, I'm happy. Now I can stop worrying."
"It's all thanks to you," Lyle said, adding another compliment.
"You're the one with the good eye. You discovered my seasoning." Ron smiled and shook his head. "Our deal is fair, Lyle. Your business is doing better because of your own efforts."
"Heh." Lyle scratched his sparse hair, unusually sheepish. "Then I guess it's thanks to both of us."
Ron didn't mind either way. After all, the money he made selling a single Nether Orchid could match a month of revenue from Lyle's booming business.
Besides, Lyle's figure was revenue, while Ron's income was all profit, with no costs.
So Ron naturally wasn't concerned about the Barbecue Shop's business.
Still, seeing the shop grow more and more popular made Ron happy for Lyle.
After finishing his barbecue, Ron walked back to the Flower Shop. As he passed the alley, he glanced inside but didn't see the homeless child.
He didn't think much of it and went back to the second-floor study to read.
Late at night.
A figure walked down the street beneath the moonlight.
Nora limped into the alley between the Barbecue Shop and the Flower Shop and reached into a trash can to rummage around.
Yesterday, one of the thugs had kicked her in the knee.
It hadn't seemed too serious at the time, but when she woke up, her knee hurt so badly she could barely walk. She hadn't managed to take even a few steps until that evening.
This wasn't the first time it had happened. With her constitution, she'd be mostly recovered after a day.
It wasn't until late at night, when the pain had eased considerably and her stomach was growling with hunger, that she finally left the shabby shack where she lived to look for food on the street.
But the best time for scavenging had already passed. Other people had picked through all the places where she usually looked for food.
In the end, she could only eat the dregs of the leftovers.
As usual, she went to the alley between the Flower Shop and the Barbecue Shop and rummaged through the trash can. She didn't find much.
She'd expected as much, so she wasn't disappointed.
Five to six in the afternoon was usually her time. By late at night, because the Barbecue Shop did so well, a group of homeless people would take over the alley for the latter part of the night.
So when Nora came here at this hour, she could rarely find anything to eat. The trash cans had already been picked clean.
In the end, she found only a few tiny scraps of meat. She popped them into her mouth and sucked on them, barely getting a taste of meat.
"I wish I could eat barbecue..." Nora sucked on the scraps, thinking back to the delicious barbecue she'd eaten the night before. Her mouth watered, and her stomach growled.
Her dirty little face furrowed slightly. She looked up at the light shining from the Flower Shop's second floor, then sighed.
Then her gaze fell on a sheet of paper posted on the wall.
She was sure it hadn't been there yesterday.
She stepped closer to read by the moonlight and the shop's light, narrowing her eyes in concentration. In the end, she pouted, troubled.
She couldn't read.
She couldn't understand what it said at all.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. At least she recognized times like "eight in the morning" and "twelve noon." She also understood "5 silver coins," as well as "14" and "25."
As for the rest, aside from the words "Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop," which she'd seen on the shop's front door and vaguely remembered, she couldn't recognize a single character.
Her stomach started growling again, so Nora gave up and went elsewhere to look for food.
Under the night sky, Nora wore a worn-out long coat and a hemp hat as she dragged herself down the street, limping.
After searching for a long time and eating until she was only half full, Nora finally dragged her exhausted body back to the crude shack.
She took the dagger from inside her coat and gripped it tightly, then lay down on the bed of straw. Curling up, she slowly drifted into a light sleep.
The wind blew, flattening the grass outside.
A rustling sound came from nearby.
Nora instinctively opened her eyes. She still gripped the dagger tightly as she listened quietly for any movement, alert to possible danger.
Like a startled little rabbit.
Though she didn't have much meat on her bones, either.
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