Carlo took the contract and flipped straight to the end without looking at it. He pulled a silver fountain pen from his trench coat pocket, uncapped it, and signed his name on both copies.
When he was done, he pushed the contracts across to Isaac, along with the pen.
Isaac took them. Naturally, he couldn't just sign them without looking, as Carlo had. He flipped back to the beginning and examined the terms.
The contract was extremely brief, even crude. A few lines set out the rights and obligations of both parties, covering roughly what Carlo had mentioned earlier: room and board, a thirty-seventy split of commission fees, reimbursement for expenses incurred during assignments, and a broadly worded clause stating that "the employee shall comply with the employer's reasonable arrangements."
The contract was far too casual. It didn't even specify a term. If Carlo took it into his head to fire him one day, it would probably take nothing more than a word. Isaac didn't know whether he could quit just as easily... He tugged at the corner of his mouth.
He turned to the end and noticed a form at the bottom of the page.
It was a strange form, divided into rows and columns. Some fields were for basic information such as a name, while others were labeled "strength" and "agility." It looked like some kind of recording system.
Isaac looked up. "What's this?"
"Oh, that." Carlo glanced at it. "It's a handy little tool we'll be using in a moment."
The corner of Isaac's mouth twitched. This man's way of speaking was far too strange. Couldn't he just explain what the handy little tool was?
But judging by Carlo's expression, he clearly had no intention of explaining further, so Isaac gave up asking. He would find out soon enough anyway.
He wrote his name in the signature field, then pushed one copy of the contract over to Carlo and kept the other.
Carlo didn't rush to take it. Instead, he pushed the form back in front of Isaac. "This too. Sign your name here. You don't need to fill in the rest."
Isaac did as instructed and signed his name in the form's name field. As soon as he finished, writing began to appear in the other fields on the page, as though seeping out of the paper and forming words.
He froze for a moment. Carlo glanced at him over the rim of his cup. "Don't worry, it's generating your character card."
Character card? Isaac was puzzled by the unfamiliar term, but his attention had already been drawn to the form.
Below the name field, "22" appeared in the age field, and "male" appeared under sex. Then came the occupation field: "investigator."
Recalling that Carlo had used the word before, Isaac guessed it was probably his general term for employees like him.
Next, the numerical fields began lighting up one by one.
Constitution: 10 Strength: 11 Agility: 12 Charisma: 14 Spirit: 15 Sanity: 20
The six numbers appeared in their respective fields, and Isaac vaguely understood that they were measurements of his various abilities.
"Your base stats aren't bad." Carlo took a look.
"What do these numbers mean?"
"They measure your abilities in different areas." Carlo pointed to the fields in turn. "Constitution determines how many punches you can take. Strength and agility affect your hand-to-hand combat ability and reaction speed. Charisma influences other people's first impressions of you. Spirit has to do with your perception of certain forces. As for sanity-"
He paused. "It determines whether you'll go straight out of your mind when you see certain strange things."
"Are these numbers... high?" Isaac wasn't quite sure how his stats measured up overall.
Carlo nodded. "Most ordinary adults' stats are within 10, though someone particularly outstanding in one area might reach 11 or 12. Your stats already put you above the vast majority of people.
"These numbers aren't just for showing off. They can be added to a check value. For example, if you want to persuade a stranger to believe you, that would be a charisma check. I could set the check value at 30, then add your charisma score of 14, giving you a final check value of 44.
"That way, a difficult task that would originally require a very low roll to succeed becomes much more likely to succeed because of your attribute bonus. That's also why I need an employee like you."
Only then did Isaac understand what the numbers meant. By that logic, his attributes could make a considerable difference in some situations, especially when dealing with things that required him to play a personal part.
"And this sanity of 20 in particular is quite good," Carlo added. "Most ordinary people have a sanity score between 8 and 12. Those who've undergone special training might reach around 15. A score of 20 means your mind is quite stable and difficult to shake by outside influences. That's important for the work ahead, because you might see some... things that would break a normal person."
Isaac thought of the vengeful spirit from last night. He had indeed been nervous at the time, but not so frightened that he lost control. He had even been calmer than Fenn, a mercenary with plenty of experience... Perhaps that was his sanity stat at work?
"Can these stats change?"
"Of course. Injuries can lower constitution, strength, and agility. Prolonged mental torment can eat away at sanity. Study and training can also improve the corresponding attributes." Carlo withdrew his hand. "But raising them is much harder than lowering them, so treasure the stats you have."
Isaac looked at the numbers on the form, then at the contract he had already signed. His feelings were a little complicated.
From yesterday to today, his life had changed completely. He had gone from an unemployed recent graduate to an extraordinary person's employee, and had even had a set of stats measured by some unknown means... He had a feeling life wasn't going to be peaceful from here on.
He closed the contract, folded it, and put it in the inside pocket of his coat. "So what do we do next?"
Carlo stood and stretched. "First... hmm, go to Amorton Manor and pack up your junk, then come with me to Vista."
"We're leaving now?" Isaac was a little surprised.
"Why not? Is there someone here you still want to say goodbye to? I've already prepared everything we need. You just need to bring yourself and that little bit of luggage." Carlo pulled a pocket watch from his pocket and glanced at it. "We'll leave this afternoon."
Isaac hadn't expected the schedule to be so tight, but on second thought, there really wasn't much keeping him in Palmer.
With his foster father dead, he had nothing to stay for. Having graduated from university, he had no need to remain. His landlord had broken their agreement, leaving him nowhere to live, and after the bank robbery, Carlo was holding on to his book... Isaac really had no reason to stay in Palmer any longer. He might as well follow Carlo and see what Vista was like.
He stood, then remembered something else. "What about Fenn... He won't cause any trouble, will he?"
"That mercenary?" Carlo was unconcerned. "He's already accepted his loss. He won't come looking for trouble. As for the big shot behind him... tsk, tsk."
Isaac: "..."
What did 'tsk, tsk' mean?