866 I Heard You“re a Very Famous Chef
“Really?” Firis stared at Mag with a hint of shock and elation on her face. She had thought that she’d have to undergo many tests, but who would’ve thought that Mag would make such an announcement after only asking her to chop up a potato? This surprise came far too abruptly to her, and she was struggling to come to terms with it.
“That’s right. You can start working tomorrow. If you’d like, you can stay at the restaurant during the lunch service and familiarize yourself with the environment here. I’ll write up a contract for you, and you’ll be undertaking a three-month probation period, following which you’ll become an official employee and enjoy all of the benefits available to the other official employees,” Mag said with a smile and a nod. Not taking into account anything else, just Firis’ cutting skills alone made it a no-brainer for him to hire her.
“…” Crease was appraising Firis with a complex expression. He felt as if he’d picked up a gold nugget, and then sold it for a cabbage.
This young woman was way too stupid! She was selling herself for 1,500 copper coins per month, and she looked so happy during the process; this was downright incredible to him.
However, seeing as the two of them had already arrived at an agreement and Mag had issued the deposit, Crease certainly wasn’t going to do something out of line just to try and maximize his profits. As such, he rose to his feet, and said, “Looks like you’re very pleased with Miss Firis, Mr. Mag. In that case, I wish you good luck in all your future endeavors. I’ll be going back now.”
“Thank you, Boss Crease; you’ve found the perfect new employee for me. Please wait for a moment, I’ll issue the rest of the fee right away.” Mag made his way over to the counter before quickly returning with a small bag of coins.
Crease counted the coins to verify that there were 2,700 in the bag, and his smile also became a lot more genuine. He had earned 3,000 copper coins in less than half a day, and even though it certainly wasn’t a big deal, he did enjoy jobs with such quick turnover. As such, he put away the bag, and nodded at Mag as he said, “Thank you for your prompt payment, Boss Mag; I look forward to working with you again next time.”
“If I ever need to hire new employees in the future, I’ll be sure to come and find you,” Mag replied with a nod and a smile. 3,000 copper coins was a rather hefty amount to hire a middle-man, especially when Mag had basically done everything aside from blatantly telling Crease who was the person that he wanted. However, everything turned out to be worth it in the end, and Firis turned out to be a surprise package that was well worth the investment.
Of course, the benefit of using Crease as a middleman was that it saved him a lot of trouble. At the very least, it wasn’t that easy for others to become suspicious of him now.
After seeing off Crease, Mag returned to the restaurant and began to carefully appraise Firis.
She appeared to still be only around 14 to 15 years old, and she had a pair of beautiful eyes set on a slightly round face. Her hair had been organized into a little bun on the top of her head, giving her a pure and cute appearance. She was currently sitting behind the table, holding her glass of water with both hands with her back ramrod straight, appearing as if she were very nervous and uneasy.
In reality, she was indeed feeling quite anxious. Ever since she’d been born, she’d never been alone with an unfamiliar man in an enclosed space.
Irina’s wise words were constantly echoing through her mind, telling her that no matter what excuse a man used to try and get her alone with him, she had to refuse. If that didn’t work, she would have to resort to kicking him between the legs, and then quickly running away. This was because most men had impure intentions when approaching women.
Firis could refuse to believe anyone else, but she trusted Irina unconditionally with all her heart.
With that in mind, Firis was becoming even more nervous. She could sense that Mag was carefully appraising her, and through the distorted image that she could see in her glass of water, it appeared that he wasn’t standing very far away from her. Could it be that following Crease’s departure, Mag was going to cast aside all pretenses and show her his true colors?
Even though she wasn’t a powerful magic caster and most of the spells she knew were more geared toward assisting others, she was still a 5th-tier magic caster, so she’d be able to take care of a normal human with no issues whatsoever. After taking a quick glance at the wand hanging from her waist, Firis was feeling slightly less anxious.
Just as these thoughts were racing through Firis’ mind, Mag suddenly said, “You can feel free to have a look around the restaurant; there’s no need to be so tense. If you find this place boring, you can also go back after you sign the contract, and then just come back tomorrow morning before 7:30 am.”
Firis’ train of thought was immediately cut off by Mag’s words, and she looked up to find Mag appraising her with a pair of bright and gentle eyes. The princess had told her no one could lie with their eyes, so perhaps he wasn’t a bad person, after all.
Mag was rather amused by Firis’ timid display. In essence, she was a sheltered young woman who had only interacted with a very select group of people in her life, so there were many things that she had to learn. As such, Mag smiled, and continued, “I may be the owner of the restaurant, but I hope you can treat me as a friend. That way, we’ll both be more comfortable. There are also three other waitresses that work here, and I hope you can get along with them as well.”
Firis stared into Mag’s eyes for a while, and for some reason, her cheeks were beginning to feel a little hot again, so she quickly nodded in response before averting her gaze.
However, as Mag turned toward the counter, Firis was struck by a sense of familiarity again as she caught sight of his profile from behind. From this angle, he looked so much like the man sitting on the griffin a few days ago.
No, there’s no way that he’d become a chef, so they can’t be the same person. Firis quickly shook her head to rid herself of that ridiculous thought.
Mag pulled out a pen as well as a contract that he’d already prepared earlier, and he placed both of them before Firis as he said, “This is the contract; you can read over it to see if there are any concerns you want to raise.”
Firis picked up the contract before looking at it carefully. She was quite sheltered and timid, but she certainly wasn’t stupid.
Food and accommodation were included, but she had to do her job diligently every day; as for the monthly wage… A hint of surprise suddenly appeared on Firis’ face upon reading this section of the contract, and she looked up at Mag as she asked, “Did you put the wrong number here?”
“3,500 copper coins is your probationary monthly wage, and after you pass your three-month probation period, there’s a chance that you could receive a further pay rise. I’ve decided on this monthly wage based on your level of ability,” Mag explained with a smile. Setting aside everything else, his conscience simply wouldn’t allow him to offer a measly 1,500 copper coins a month to an employee with such exceptional cutting skills.
“Thank you,” Firis said in a grateful manner, and she was truly beginning to look forward to starting her job. After carefully reading through the contract, she signed it to seal the deal.
“I welcome you as the newest staff member of Mamy Restaurant. I’m going to prepare the ingredients that we’ll be requiring for the lunch service now; you can do as you please in the meantime,” Mag said as he picked up the contract.
Firis mustered up her courage before looking up at Mag as she said, “Can I watch you cook? I heard you’re a very famous chef.”