Chapter 150 - The Recruitment Loophole
The Kikyo Society is currently recruiting, and we are, in a sense, open to almost anyone. However, what we really need are people with special skills.
The biggest challenge I face is the complexity and intensity of various business transactions. Frederica and April, who manage the Secretariat Unit, are quite competent and work very hard, but they aren’t specialists. For large-scale operations, we can’t do without support from the Commerce Guild.
Receiving support is great and very helpful, but the Kikyo Society can’t monopolize the guild’s representatives. This inevitably slows us down, and a single delay can affect the entire operation, which we want to avoid.
What we need is a dedicated specialist. Ideally, at least one, and preferably several, would be ideal.
The business transactions the Kikyo Society handles are now substantial, involving major deals and complex arrangements with various guilds, merchants, and artisans. Multiple and intricate contracts are required, and given the large sums of money involved, the contract terms must be meticulously detailed and agreed upon by all parties.
Clarifying responsibilities, sharing risks, handling sensitive information, setting appropriate contract periods, and ensuring compliance with local laws and business practices—these are all complex and beyond the capabilities of amateurs. Legitimate business is truly challenging.
Our Secretariat Unit has some members with commercial experience, and Frederica and April have been learning from the Commerce Guild’s connections. With this support, we’ve managed to keep things running, but with the expansion of the Kikyo Society’s operations, we are running out of manpower and need more specialized knowledge. Continuing as we are will inevitably lead to difficulties. We need immediate experts, and ideally, multiple experts with the same level of knowledge and experience.
Typically, the Commerce Guild, as professionals, would handle such complex matters, and we shouldn’t have to deal with this level of difficulty. However, Exembra is a busy city, and the Commerce Guild’s representatives are naturally overworked. This makes it impossible for us to monopolize their services. Additionally, there are other reasons we want our own dedicated personnel.
While our relationship with the Commerce Guild is good, and we receive support, there are things to be cautious about.
We can’t fully trust the guild. Despite its social credibility, it’s ultimately run by people.
Unfortunately, large organizations are rarely monolithic. We know that the Commerce Guild has factions that don’t view the Kikyo Society favorably, and some even have their own factions.
The board member Jallens is trustworthy, but even he was once betrayed within the guild. The power struggles within the guild could affect us, making it unwise to entrust everything to them.
Various factions are normal, and it’s unusual that Jallens, who has aligned with us, is the exception.
However, this means we can’t fully rely on the guild for everything. There are also matters we don’t want to expose to the guild.
Therefore, the Kikyo Society is actively recruiting specialists in commercial transactions.
However, wishing for such people to appear isn’t enough. Such talented individuals are in high demand and are likely already in good positions. We need someone who can join us, a woman, and it’s a small pool of candidates. Additionally, people willing to join an underworld organization are rare. Given these challenges, achieving our goal through conventional means seems impossible.
Amidst this pessimistic outlook, I sit with the Secretariat Unit members, sipping tea and listening to their chatter.
While it’s mostly listening to their conversation, sometimes valuable insights emerge from such casual talks. A relaxed atmosphere can be beneficial.
"So, the only option is to find someone who wants to join the Kikyo Society."
"Or someone with experience who has been marginalized for some reason. Someone who’s been pushed aside but still has the skills we need."
Both are challenging tasks. If it were easy, we wouldn’t be struggling.
While discussing these serious matters, the young women are busy eating snacks and flipping through magazines, checking cosmetics and fashion trends. It’s a typical break time, with everyone multitasking. Is this what they call multitasking?
"We could ask the Commerce Guild if they know of anyone who fits the bill."
A slim girl, applying lipstick, suggests this.
"Would they honestly tell us? I heard the guild has been busy lately."
"Why is that?"
A petite girl, filing her nails, dismisses the idea.
"Some bigwig hit on a pretty subordinate and there was a fuss, right?"
"Was that the Commerce Guild or somewhere else?"
Some girls are fascinated by the scandalous gossip, while others shrug it off.
"No, it’s about a major fraud that was discovered in the Commerce Guild."
"Ah, I remember something like that. Such a scandal?"
"Exactly! Embezzlement or something. It’s bound to be caught eventually."
When there’s a lot of money involved, some people can’t resist the temptation. Our April is meticulous and would never overlook even the slightest error. We instill a strict sense of financial management in the Secretariat Unit from the start, so we don’t have such issues.
In Exembra, financial crimes are the most common. Prisons are filled with more fraudsters and embezzlers than violent offenders or thieves. Most violent offenders are usually already dealt with by vigilante justice before they end up in prison.
"This has been happening a lot lately. I heard a similar case in the administration."
The conversation veers off track, and it’s getting off-topic.
Frankly, this is partly to ease the burden on the Secretariat Unit, but...
"Forget the fraudsters. Maybe we should go scouting."
Frustration seeps into my voice as the conversation stagnates and reality doesn’t improve. We can offer good compensation, but the positions are high-risk and require training. People in good positions wouldn’t leave them, and we can’t afford to deceive them into joining. What can we do?
"Scouting, right? Does the President have any leads?"
"No, not really. We’ll have to take what comes. But maybe one person..."
Even as I say it, it’s a tough situation.
A brief, awkward silence falls. Everyone seems to realize the difficulty.
"...Hey, what if we..."
A carefree girl looks like she’s had a good idea.
"What?"
I’m skeptical, but I’ll hear her out.
"What about criminals? They can’t easily reintegrate into society, and we could pay their release fees to bring them in!"
"...What?"
Even in a relatively mundane Secretariat Unit, the Kikyo Society members can surprise me.
I almost dismiss the idea as ridiculous, but...
"That’s not a bad idea. Criminals would find it hard to reintegrate, and if we pay for their release, they might come to us!"
"Especially if they were involved in guilds or administrative bodies, they’d have no chance of returning to their jobs."
"And fraudsters, for example, are often very knowledgeable and could be quite useful."
The girls start to get excited about the idea, despite its outlandish nature.
No way. Paying to release criminals? It sounds crazy.
Everyone seems enthusiastic, and they’re talking it up. But it’s ridiculous.
"Wait a minute. Even if the idea is interesting, can you actually pay for someone’s release from prison?"
That’s not how things work in my experience. I understand bail to free someone from pretrial detention, but I doubt such a generous system exists in this world. It’s different from bail.
Pay to get out of prison? No way.
"It’s possible. The amount depends on the crime, remaining sentence, and the individual’s status."
Their puzzled looks, as if I’m asking an obvious question, are painful.
I guess I have to admit I don’t know. It’s embarrassing, but even as a diligent learner, I have many gaps in my knowledge. There’s no shame in admitting it.
"...Let me confirm..."
I ask straightforwardly.
It turns out it’s possible and legal. No issues at all.
It’s hard to believe, but apparently, even convicts serving time can be released if you pay enough. While there are exceptions, there’s no special consideration for ordinary prisoners.
In a world that doesn’t preach equality, the rich being favored is the norm. This seems to be the standard.
Well, if that’s the case, we might as well take advantage of it.
For the administration, it brings in money and clears out overcrowded prisons. For us, we can use our connections to find the right candidates and negotiate directly. If we reach an agreement, we can secure them with a payment.
We could also treat the payment as a loan to the individual. If they repay the costs incurred, they can regain their freedom. This seems like a fair condition for them.
Of course, they would repay the loan by working for us. We’d keep them on, if possible. This seems like a good deal.
Still, I’m surprised. The ability to pay for a prisoner’s release is a significant matter, but why didn’t I know about it? I still have a lot to learn. This is essential knowledge for our business. While I’ve been focused on specialized studies, there are bound to be gaps in my knowledge. But that’s okay.
This method increases the likelihood of securing the talent we need, compared to blind scouting or waiting for applications. Let’s proceed with it.
"Decided. We’ll bring in promising candidates from the prison population. Good job, everyone."
I give them a little pocket money and let them take a break. They chatter about desserts and leave.
Moving to the information room, I find Josephine as usual, buried in piles of documents.
She looks busy, but I have a priority.
"Tired, Josephine. Got a minute?"
"...Yukari-san, is something wrong?"
She looks quite sleepy and exhausted. I’ll leave her health management to her, but the empty recovery potion vials scattered around are concerning.
"I was talking with the Secretariat Unit members, and we decided to look for potential candidates in prison. What do you think?"
A brief pause.
"...That’s a good idea!"
Her eyes widen after a moment of thought. Her bloodshot, tired eyes are a bit scary.
"You can access prisoner records through your connections, right? We need someone knowledgeable about commercial transactions. If they’re familiar with the system, fraudsters or anyone else will do. Is it doable?"
The prison is under the jurisdiction of the Guard Corps. The head of that department, a noble installed through Josephine’s scheming, should be able to help. Since we’re willing to pay, the likelihood of refusal is low. They might even welcome it.
"There are many financial criminals, so I’m confident we can find someone suitable. It depends on the conditions, of course. While we’re at it, we might as well bring in anyone else who’s useful. This will require a significant amount of money, and we’ll need to provide some incentives to use our connections."
"Consider it an operational expense. We’ll treat the release fee as a loan to the individual. Can you discuss this with Frederica and the others to finalize the details?"
"Understood. Once we have the list of prisoners, the Intelligence Unit will do the initial screening. We’ll then bring a shortlist to the executive meeting, and we can decide who to negotiate with."
With the proper list, we’ll have access to not only the prisoners’ records but also important personal information, including magical aptitude. The risks of information leaks are significant.
Using connections to access prisoner records, negotiating with them, and paying for their release—this plan is taking shape.
However, it’s expensive, so we can only use it for essential candidates. Even though the money will eventually be recovered, we have limits on how much we can spend flexibly.
According to Josephine, the typical release fee for an average prisoner is about 10,000 gist per day of remaining sentence.
So, if you want to release someone with one year left, it would cost around 12 million gist. For five years, it would be 60 million gist, an amount impossible for ordinary people.
It seems reasonable. For nobles and major merchants, the rate varies based on titles and wealth, significantly increasing the daily cost. That makes sense too.
For the upcoming negotiations, the longer the remaining sentence, the easier it is to negotiate. The cost will be higher, but the potential for agreement is greater.
Depending on how many we find and the total cost, it will be a substantial amount.
I’ll leave the details to the Secretariat Unit and the executives. The initial screening will weed out unsuitable candidates, and even those with problematic personalities can be considered if they have the skills we need. I’m confident we can manage them.
My only requirement is results.
If they bring in capable people, I have no complaints.