Those Who Live Without the Law

Chapter 7

Employment (2)

* * *

“In any situation, it would be better than the labor correctional facility.”

Drowsiness crept up on me, and I thought so. In that hell where people went mad or died in droves because they could not endure it, I had survived six years.

Even if Bennett City was another hell, there was no way I, who had once experienced and escaped a different kind of hell, would fail to overcome it. After comforting myself like that, I organized my thoughts.

“Why did His Majesty the Emperor let me go?”

The question resurfaced.

From my point of view, I could have just thought, was he simply a fool? and brushed it aside. But it was also a matter that could not be dismissed so easily.

There had to be a reason he had to release me, so he did. There was no way the Emperor of the Valorn Empire was a good man who would now release me simply because my innocence had been proven.

While I repeated the endless, unsolvable worries, I finally fell asleep, and at dawn, I awoke to the loud sound of someone vomiting outside.

“Disgusting, first thing in the morning.”

My refreshing morning began with the noise of someone spewing up all the liquor they had drunk the day before.

After washing myself in the kitchen on the first floor, I waited for Jonathan to return to the shop.

“What, you’re already up.”

“If I lazed around on the first day, wouldn’t I be hated?”

At my words, Jonathan nodded.

“To be honest, if you were still sleeping, I was planning to dump a whole bowl of water over your head. If you’re going to pull money out of other people’s pockets, you’d better work your ass off.”

“As expected of you, boss.”

When I raised my thumb and said that, Jonathan made an ambiguous expression. Saying something like that at this point might make us look like actual bandits who robbed people’s money.

“The morning work is simple.”

We had to purchase and restock the lacking ingredients. Since there was no delivery service, everything had to be carried and moved by hand.

“Don’t we do any cooking?”

At my question, Jonathan replied with an incredulous look.

“What on earth would make me trust you enough to let you cook?”

Likewise, I also did not handle checking the inventory of the pantry.

Even though I was a hired employee, Jonathan apparently did not want to entrust me with any money-related tasks in the operation of Longwave Bistro.

“Anyway, today you’ll come with me to see where we pick up ingredients and to secure a guarantee at the Rose Garden.”

As Jonathan spoke, I immediately got up from my seat.

“Did you get the proxy letter?”

“Yeah. What, want to read it?”

Jonathan readily showed me the documents he had prepared. When I checked the contents typed up with a typewriter, I clicked my tongue.

“Wow. This is basically treating me like a slave.”

According to this, I was expected to work roughly twelve hours a day.

“What kind of bullshit are you spouting? Are you really thinking of trying out actual slavery? Then we’d have to change your name first.”

Jonathan took out his chewing tobacco, bit down on it, and opened the door.

“And even though it says twelve hours, the busy time doesn’t start until around sunset, and it’s only about five or six hours.”

It wasn’t as if I really had anywhere else to go anyway. So I decided to agree to those conditions. At the very least, it guaranteed me a place to sleep and three meals a day.

“At least it says I can quit whenever I want.”

On the other hand, even if Jonathan wanted to fire me, he would have to give at least a month’s notice before doing so.

Even if I was dismissed, it meant I’d be given time to look for other work.

“Since you came here on that Tommy bastard’s recommendation, I’m letting you leave freely whenever you want, you brat.”

If it hadn’t been for the introduction from an acquaintance in the correctional facility, this contract could have easily turned into something that wouldn’t let me leave even if I wanted to.

In fact, in Bennett City, it was common to get an advance payment up front, and until you repaid all of it, you couldn’t quit. If you got fired, the amount automatically turned into a debt.

On top of that, the advance payment often carried a hefty interest, and the provided lodging and meals could also rack up separate fees.

“The factory workers in the Aylan Republic have to pay 25 drem per night for lodging in the dorms provided by the factory. That’s about half a pyint in Imperial currency. Do you know what the lodging looks like?”

“No.”

“They line up chairs in a row and hang a rope at about chest height in front of them. That’s the lodging.”

I hesitated for a long time but eventually had no choice but to ask.

“If that’s the lodging, how are you supposed to sleep?”

At my question, Jonathan leaned forward as if demonstrating and answered.

“You sit in the chair and lean your upper body over the rope to sleep.”

“Like clothes hung out to dry on a line.”

That kind of thing was actually paid lodging. Not even free you had to pay for that place to sleep.

“I sincerely thank you for your generous treatment, boss.”

I felt like taking back what I’d said earlier about being treated no different from a slave.

As I walked along with Jonathan toward the guarantor’s office, I asked.

“Is the Rose Garden’s guarantor’s office far from here?”

“No. It’s not that far.”

Just as Jonathan said, after walking a short distance, we soon arrived at the building where the Rose Garden’s guarantor’s office was located.

It wasn’t particularly large. When Jonathan explained the reason we had come, the man sitting there nodded and looked at me.

“If both parties agree, you must abide by this contract.”

“I agree.”

I agreed without protest. Right after that, the man said, “Alright,” and continued.

“You probably already know the contents of the contract, but since you must have discussed everything verbally, I’ll read the contents of this document aloud.”

“There’s no need for that. This guy can read.”

At Jonathan’s words, the guarantor made a little sound of interest and looked at me with curiosity.

“He can read and write, yet he’s working as an employee. Well, in any case, that will speed things up.”

The man looked at Jonathan and asked.

“In the event of a breach of contract, what compensation would you like to claim from the other party?”

“The right arm.”

Oh dear. I looked at Jonathan with a slightly startled expression.

“I thought you’d want to take money.”

“What money would a guy have who came here saying he’d work as an employee?”

Jonathan said that and made a gesture with his index finger as if slicing off my right arm.

“If you break the contract, there’s no chance of collecting money, so I’ll just take it as a bit of amusement.”

Taking a right arm for amusement.

“And you, sir?”

The man looked at me.

“A year’s worth of wages.”

But to me, having money I could use immediately was more important than some twisted revenge. At my words, the man nodded and continued.

“The contract between you two will be guaranteed in the name of the Rose Garden. If there is any breach of contract, the Rose Garden will collect the agreed-upon penalty in the prescribed order.”

The man quickly wrote the details into an additional document, then looked back and forth between Jonathan and me.

“As you probably know, if you are unable to pay the compensation… or if you do not wish to lose that compensation, there is exactly one alternative method.”

At that, Jonathan made a gesture of slitting his own throat with his thumb. There was only one way to replace the payment you had promised.

Suicide. You just had to die in front of the Rose Garden witnesses.

“I’m glad you’re already aware.”

“Why would you include such a clause…?”

At my question, the man answered simply.

“In a recent case, there was a married couple. If the woman was found pregnant through an affair, the contract required her to kill the child with her own hands.”

Even if both parties had agreed, that still seemed excessively cruel. While I was thinking that, the man continued.

“If the woman truly valued the child and did not want to carry out such a brutal obligation, the alternative method we offer could be of help.”

Instead of paying the penalty, you chose to die yourself. That was the only replacement the Rose Garden permitted.

“If there is something more important to you than your life, or an act you would rather die than commit, the Rose Garden will not force you beyond that. That’s the purpose of the system.”

The guarantor did not tell us which choice the woman ultimately made.

“I understand.”

Any kind of contract, once guaranteed by the Rose Garden, had to be honored.

And any form of compensation, if declared in front of the Rose Garden, would be claimed by them if the contract was breached.

If you truly did not wish to pay the compensation, you could end your own life under the Rose Garden’s supervision.

“Then, I will calculate the price of the guarantee. For this sort of ordinary labor contract, it comes to 1,500 pyint. You can pay in installments, but if you do, the enforcement of the guarantee will only begin after full payment.”

Jonathan immediately took out a stack of bills.

“I’ll pay in a lump sum.”

“I will verify this. Yes, confirmed. The Rose Garden will keep a copy of your contract.”

After finishing his words, the man stamped the contract we had both signed. The seal was shaped like a quill pen adorned with a rose.

“Then, congratulations on officially starting work.”

“Please take care of me, boss.”

With that, I had finally become an employee of Longwave Bistro.

At the very least, I had escaped being homeless.

This was only a temporary place to shelter my body. But that didn’t mean I planned to just pretend to work.

It was a promise I had agreed to under mutual consent, and of course, I had to do my best. Even without the Rose Garden’s guarantee, any promise I acknowledged as such was something I would do my utmost to keep.

* * *

After that, I worked at Longwave Bistro for about two months.

Longwave Bistro opened for business from three in the afternoon until ten at night. There were preparations that had to be done before opening and tasks that had to be completed after closing.

Excluding all those hours, I ended up with about three or four hours of free time each day.

It wasn’t an insignificant amount of time, but it was still quite insufficient for searching for traces of Veil of Plumed Mist.

On top of that, in this Bennett City, there was a fundamental, deep-seated distrust of strangers. Naturally, trying to investigate Veil of Plumed Mist’s whereabouts alone progressed at a painfully slow pace.

In any case, during the two months I worked, I discovered one rather interesting thing.

When a young boy delivered a telegram to the shop, Jonathan scratched his head the moment he read it.

“Are you going out?”

“Yeah.”

Longwave Bistro also did deliveries. Of course, most of the time, I was the one who packed up the food and carried it personally to the designated place.

That in itself wasn’t all that interesting. What was interesting was that every ten days, Jonathan would leave me in charge of getting the shop ready to open while he personally went out to deliver food somewhere.

It was strange enough that the owner would leave the shop in an employee’s hands and go deliver something himself, but the food Jonathan personally delivered was different from the regular orders.

No the ingredients themselves were different from the start. Golden-eye sea bream, beef striploin, all manner of edible wild mushrooms, honey, butter, pepper, fennel, cloves, and other assorted spices.

If I hadn’t once been a fallen noble, I might never have even seen such ingredients.

I didn’t know where he was sourcing them, but they were all things never handled by the regular suppliers I picked up the shop’s provisions from.