...delicious.
Jack ate the food on his plate in small, elegant bites.
Even though his stomach was so empty it felt as if it were devouring itself, he still couldn't shake certain habits he'd picked up as a child, like table manners and his sense of taste.
The saying that "anything tastes good when you're starving" didn't apply to him.
If anything, he'd become even pickier.
Especially after drinking the potion.
He was so hungry he wanted to take a bite out of anything he saw, yet ordinary food wouldn't go down. He could only eat the finest dishes—the kind he'd only been able to afford when his family was still wealthy. And somehow, his appetite had grown too, leaving him constantly ravenous.
Of course, in that state, he couldn't think.
Then again, thinking had never meant much to Jack anyway.
What was there for him to think about?
His father's illegitimate child? His mother's lover? His family going bankrupt? His father forcing him to drink the potion? The strange horns that had sprouted from his head? The fact that even after all that, he still hadn't gained any mana? The school wanting to expel him? The way everyone else's attitude toward him had changed? The fact that every time the horns on his head began to grow, his hunger became even more unbearable?!
Thinking about any of it would do nothing but make him suffer more.
So Jack gave up thinking altogether and lived like an animal.
To him, studying, graduating, and finding work were all irrelevant. As long as he could quiet the stomach that was always howling, he didn't care what happened to anything else.
Jack didn't know where he was now or what he was supposed to do. All he could see was the food on his plate.
It really was delicious.
Even without thinking, Jack understood that this was the kind of meal you ate once, with no hope of getting another.
So he ate with even greater care.
"Oh my, this is the work of a five-star chef!" Owen exclaimed. His palate was sharp too, and he'd eaten his fair share of fine cuisine. He could even identify the chef. "This is Chef Edward's cooking from the Cloud Restaurant, isn't it? Did you bring him here?"
"I didn't bring him. The food is his," Angell replied vaguely.
He hadn't expected anyone to recognize it. In that case, he couldn't sell it out front! After all, it was a knockoff.
Angell thought with regret.
That was right. This meal was a "knockoff"; it hadn't been made by that chef himself!
That day, Angell had spent a long time studying the Alchemy Pot and decided it might work to take the pot to the "restaurants" of various famous chefs and have it "eat."
After all, it wasn't as if chefs could think things like "I'm grateful for my mother's love," "I'm furious at my enemy," or "I'll become the greatest under heaven" every time they cooked, right? This wasn't some food-themed anime like Cooking Master Boy!
So Angell had taken the pot to the Cloud Restaurant, the highest-rated restaurant in Cecilia City.
After using up three dishes that contained emotions like "Edward's absentmindedness," "Edward's irritation," and "Edward's single-minded focus," Angell had finally gotten a steak without any emotion in it.
The one they were eating now.
Angell had considered selling the steaks, but when made in the Alchemy Pot, the cost of the ingredients was low once he deducted the chef's wages. If they sold too well, they might take the chef's livelihood away from him. That would be killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.
Still, once he had more time, he could use the Teleportation Array to "hunt" for delicacies in distant cities, then sell them in places where doing so wouldn't affect the chefs' livelihoods—or simply pay those chefs a share of the proceeds.
But for now, with neither money nor time to spare, they would just provide them for the staff canteen!
Angell thought.
Assistant Will, however, knew nothing about any of this.
Hearing Angell and Owen's exchange, he smiled awkwardly. "Did you go out of your way to buy this? You really didn't have to."
He certainly didn't think Angell had served food from a five-star chef just to entertain a group of kids. But the other man couldn't have known the mayor would be visiting, so Will assumed Angell had done it for him.
Angell replied, "No need to be polite. This is just ordinary food for the staff canteen from now on."
Will smiled, taking it as a boast.
Still, it was absolutely worth giving the employees food this good.
Good food was the best way to win people over.
Even someone with Angell's poor social skills could tell that when he'd talked about the benefits, some of the kids had still looked bewildered. But after this meal, almost all of them were rosy-cheeked and bright-eyed.
The horned boy in particular ate at a leisurely pace. He polished off a full nine plates of steak and still looked hungry, so Angell had the Cat Waiter bring him two more.
The horned boy accepted the plates and kept eating without even looking up. However much he was given, he ate.
So this sheep was a carnivore after all!
Angell found it amusing. He especially liked feeding little animals that took tiny bites but ate quickly. Best of all, they just ate without showing much emotion.
...But this kid was human, wasn't he?
Angell waited until all the boys had finished eating and had rested enough before starting the interviews.
The interviews were held on the second floor of the Magic Gear Shop, where they would be working from then on.
There were still plenty of production rooms inside the Workshop behind the shop, but they didn't have many employees yet and were mainly using the ground-floor shop for business. Angell figured they could clean up and renovate the Workshop later.
The main thing was that after unlocking the employee dormitory, Angell had only enough funds left to unlock the shop's second floor.
But the second floor was more than enough.
Angell had the Cat Waiter clean it, then brought over a few tables from the production area. He sectioned them off with screens and bookshelves and added a few potted plants. It already looked much like the studio he'd had in his previous life.
Angell had also brought along a few of the small perks common at internet companies.
"You can help yourselves to the Carbonated Water from the dispenser by the door, and the snacks in this cabinet are free to take too," Angell said. "Working hours are flexible. As long as you get your day's work done, I don't mind what time you come in or leave." They'd end up working overtime anyway.
"Wow!" one of the sheltered boys exclaimed.
The boys had completely relaxed by now. They'd set aside their initial prejudices, and quite a few of them were sincerely starting to think that working at this Workshop wouldn't be so bad.
But interviews went both ways.
The applicants worried about future benefits and promotion prospects, while the employer needed capable staff.
"Next, I'll have to ask you all to take a small test."
At last, Angell brought out his interview questions.
He curled a finger, and a whiteboard covered in runes rolled over on its wheels, rattling as it came to a stop beside him.
"I want each of you to copy the runes on this whiteboard. You'll pass if you can copy them successfully and reproduce their effects," Angell said. "The Rune Pens and Rune Slates are on the table beside it. Feel free to use them."
This was familiar territory for the boys.
For some reason, many of them felt much more at ease.
If this Black Robe kept giving them things without asking for anything in return, the boys might really have started worrying that Angell planned to cook them in a pot. Now that they'd heard they had to pass a test, the benefits he'd offered seemed reasonable. Some even felt competitive, eager to show what they could do and at least prove they deserved the treatment Angell had given them.
Some of the boys looked over the whiteboard first, while others headed for the desks to choose a suitable spot. Before long, they were all seated and copying the runes.
Assistant Will watched as the boys got to work.
Once the room had fallen quiet, he took out his pocket watch and checked the time.
"Mr. Angell, shouldn't you set a time limit?" Assistant Will asked.
"I don't mind," Angell replied.
There wasn't a single Rune Master in the Workshop besides Angell. Even if someone took three days to copy a rune, that would still be a useful addition to their workforce, so Angell had no grounds to be picky about the time.
Will looked troubled. "But it's already late."
They'd taken the Train here and arrived in the afternoon. They'd toured the dormitory and eaten dinner, and now it was already eight in the evening. Without a time limit, this could drag on until the middle of the night.
Angell had no sense of what counted as late. "Is it? I think it's the middle of the day."
What kind of hours did you keep?!
Will patiently explained, "I'm worried the kids might run out of energy."
...The Carbonated Water in the dispenser had all been mixed with Energy Potion. One sip would keep them up until tomorrow.
Angell held back the Black Robe's (?) cold-hearted side.
He only grumbled, "That's why I said we don't have to finish today."
"...Sorry," Will said.
But since the assistant had put it that way, Angell felt he couldn't ignore the human touch. (Will: ...)
"Two hours, then!" Angell checked his own pocket watch.
"The test will last two hours. But since you may be tired, if you don't pass this time, you can stay at our Workshop for a week and take it again once you've recovered," Angell said. "If you still can't pass, you can go back to school and keep studying. You're welcome to apply again later."
It would be even better if they went back to school and helped promote the Workshop.
Angell considered.
His social skills might be poor, but in his previous world, there had been plenty of established practices for winning over graduates during campus recruitment.
This wasn't just a recruitment drive. It was an advertising opportunity!
Recent graduates were the easiest to win over. He didn't even have to offer them internships. He just had to give them a few chances during the interview, let them see the "comfortable" life at his factory, and tell them about the benefits of getting hired. Even if they didn't end up working for him, they'd still feel favorably toward the company for years afterward and become walking advertisements.
Will had no idea about the unsavory thoughts in Angell's mind. He could only think:
Then what was the point of this test?!
Will finally understood what Angell had meant when he told Branch President Hume, "I want them all."
He meant "all" in the literal sense!
This Black Robe wanted to scoop up every magic graduate!
He wondered what the mayor would think if he realized what the Black Robe was planning.
Will thought, uneasily glancing toward Owen, who was seated nearby.
Mayor Owen was focused on the children earnestly copying the runes. His smiling face gave no hint of what he thought.