Our Pharmaceutical Factory Needs Talent Like This

The man in the long robe was named Slarat. He was the deputy head of the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild's personnel department and had seen countless people.

In the past, he could tell a person's caliber just by looking at their résumé. But this time, when he looked at the résumés in his hands, he could not judge the strength of these two.

Damn it, was the old man at the agency trying to fool me? These two clearly looked like they had barely grown any hair.

The old man at the agency glanced at the résumés and picked at his ear.

"Look carefully. They may look young, but they're actually both nearly thirty.

I heard they used to be adventurers, but the man had too violent a temper and killed someone in a fit of rage, so they fled all the way here.

No one told them where this place was, yet they managed to find it. That means they've done this sort of thing plenty of times.

As for their strength, you don't need to worry. A couple of days ago, they got into a conflict with someone and went out to settle it with a fight. They beat the other party half to death.

Of course, that's only my side of the story. If you don't believe me, you can verify it yourself.

There. They're right behind you."

Turning around, Slarat swept his gaze over the tables, chairs, and benches in the agency. The two people from the résumés were indeed behind him.

The man was named Yang Yu. He lounged carelessly against the wall with his legs propped up, occupying an entire bench by himself. Looking every bit the hoodlum, he grabbed a handful of fennel beans, shoved them into his mouth, and chewed loudly.

The woman was named Bai Jin. She held her wine cup with trembling hands, dressed sloppily, her messy hair casually draped over her shoulders. At a glance, she was clearly the type who disliked dressing up. She possessed none of the charm a young woman should have; she was the sort of woman whom even a brothel owner would pick up with a look of disgust and throw out for free.

Sitting together, the two formed an absolute no-entry zone for strangers.

They did not feel like youths of sixteen or seventeen at all. They were more like seasoned old hands who had spent years scraping through the streets, golden and crispy, and still dripping with grease.

They were the very image of street thugs. Having come here from elsewhere, they had no family or connections in this city. In other words, if anything happened, there was no need to worry about causing trouble. At most, two pieces of trash would disappear from society. Nothing worth making a fuss over.

Slarat was very satisfied. He felt the two were an excellent fit. Their pharmaceutical factory needed talent like this.

Having prepared his spiel, Slarat approached them with a smile. "Excuse me for disturbing you. I'm the deputy head of the personnel department at a pharmaceutical company. I have some work I'd like to offer the two of you."

"Oh? How much are you paying, and is it safe?" As if he had not even seen Slarat, Yang Yu casually asked while lifting a saucer of wine and pouring it into his mouth.

"Whether it's safe depends entirely on your strength. To be honest, I want to recruit some security personnel."

With a clatter, Yang Yu slammed the saucer onto the table. He said irritably, "What the hell do you mean, security personnel? You should know exactly what kind of place this is. If you wanted security guards, why didn't you go to a legitimate employment agency?"

"Brother, don't get angry. This is a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity. Don't be so picky. As long as it isn't work that will get us killed for nothing, who cares what it is?" Bai Jin smiled strangely. "Once we have money, we can buy herbs in bulk, then, hehehe, I can make potions on a large scale and sell them through the underground black market for a huge profit. We'll never have to worry about making a living again."

"Shut up!" Yang Yu slammed his palm onto the table, stepped onto the bench, and stood up with one foot planted on the table. Pointing at Bai Jin's nose, he snapped, "You spendthrift woman! That's what you said last time! Last time, last time I listened to your nonsense and all the money I worked so hard to earn went down the drain! I even ended up buried in debt and got chased down three streets by people carrying toilet plungers! In the end, we had to flee to this city and chew these disgusting fennel beans here."

"Last time was just an accident." Gripping her staff, Bai Jin's face was filled with inexplicable confidence, without the slightest trace of remorse. "This time will definitely succeed."

"Get lost. I'll never trust you again." Yang Yu dropped heavily onto the bench, grabbed another handful of fennel beans, stuffed them into his mouth, and began chewing furiously. The crunching sounds were especially clear in the empty shop.

Lowering her eyes in disappointment, Bai Jin changed her tune and apologized. "All right, my dear brother, don't be angry anymore. I promise I won't bring up potions again. No matter what, the two of us need a job. If this keeps up, we'll really have nothing to eat. Didn't you say illegal work made money fast? Isn't that why we came here?"

"Tch—"

Clicking his tongue, Yang Yu looked disdainfully at Slarat. This was the first time he had truly looked at him. "What exactly is the job, and what are the benefits?"

Here it came.

Slarat smiled faintly and laid out the prepared pitch in full.

"This isn't an ordinary security job. Our pharmaceutical company has recently been targeted by competitors, and they occasionally send people over. If our people aren't strong enough, accidents are very likely to happen. Several people have already ended up in the hospital.

We also considered resolving it through legitimate channels, but they've long since colluded with the military. It will take us some time to work our way through that connection.

So we can only save ourselves. We need people with real ability to deal with them. You know what I mean by 'deal with,' don't you?"

A look of understanding appeared on Yang Yu's face. He narrowed his eyes. "I see. They're heartless, so you don't need to play fair either. That's why you need illegal workers. I'm not bragging, but I'm one of the strongest around for miles, and I've got plenty of guts. If I hadn't failed to stay hidden and been discovered, I wouldn't have had to keep moving around until I ended up here. Now let's talk about payment. How much are you willing to offer?"

Slarat held up three fingers. "I'll pay this much."

"Three hundred a day? Isn't that far too little? Do you take us for beggars?" Yang Yu waved his hand and immediately made an impatient shooing gesture. "There are two of us here, and from what you said, this job is dangerous too. No, no. That isn't the price for illegal work."

"I think you've misunderstood me. I meant three hundred thousand per person per month, with food and lodging included. If you deal with enemy spies or assassins, there will also be additional bonuses." Slarat smiled.

"Three hundred thousand a month, food and lodging included, plus bonuses." Yang Yu's eyes widened in disbelief. Then delight spread across his face, and his attitude took a complete one-eighty as he became exceedingly flattering. "My apologies for my earlier offense. I never expected you to be such a wealthy patron. We'll take the job. Just give the word whenever you need us."

Heh, what a bunch of money-grubbers. But that was precisely something he could use.

Slarat wore an affable expression, a false smile that did not reach his eyes hanging on his face.

"I'm very sorry, but I can't hire the two of you just yet. I said from the beginning that this is a highly dangerous job. Without a certain level of strength, you could easily be injured or killed working for us.

If you want to work for us, I need to test your abilities. If the two of you can withstand my attacks together for ten minutes or defeat me, the job is yours."

"Ha ha!" Yang Yu laughed loudly. "Fine. I only hope that when you lose, you won't get angry and refuse to give us the job."

"I won't. I keep my word. Rest assured."

Though he appeared humble on the surface, Slarat was deeply disdainful. He was, after all, considered an elite of the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild. How could he possibly lose to two down-and-out adventurers?