nymph

Nymph, have you seen that bag of Oriron I set down by the door?

Nymph! My pushcart is gone again! Please, help me find it!

Nymph, can you... help me find a new job? I promise I won't ditch work again!

Nymph—

Slow down. One at a time!

The bag of Oriron is in the lost-and-found box to your left. The cart is on the roof... Where else am I supposed to put it? The room's stuffed with your things!

No need to thank me. Just look how long this queue is!

And who's looking for wor—

Me! I-I need work!

You, Li'l Brick?

Last time, I had to beg just about everyone just to get you a furnace-watching gig, and by the second day, you'd already sold the furnace rack to a smuggler...

Okay, fine. I know I messed up a couple gigs before.

<i>'A couple?'</i>

Just one more, I promise! I really want to work and take it seriously this time!

(Shakes head)

Come on, Nymph, help me out, just this once! Nobody but you is willing to help me anymore!

You stinking brick. You broke every window on the street, and you still have the guts to show your face here? Quit wasting Nymph's time! We're all in the line here!

Who are you callin' stinking brick?!

Knock it off! No fighting!

It's lunchtime already. Let's all head home! Come back and line up again in the afternoon. I need a break, too!

The boisterous crowd disperses, and the area in front of Nymph's door is quiet once more. She rubs her exhausted face and sighs.

Nymph takes out a dry roll. Just as she is about to bite down, she finds a few people coming up to her.

Sorry, please come back in the aftern—

Huh? What are you doing here?

Is that all you're having for lunch, Nymph?

Catch—

Mitm throws Nymph a can of stewed meat with Rhodes Island's logo. Skeptically, she looks at the expiry date on the can.

It's not expired this time!

A number of Rhodes Island operators appear behind Mitm and walk up to Nymph. Having not seen her for some time, they all greet her enthusiastically.

What... What are all of you doing here?

Most Rhodes Island operators and patients have been transferred to the local offices per the Doctor and Dr. Kal'tsit's instructions. Wait... You didn't get the notice, Nymph?

But my sis—Uh, HR hasn't told me. I guess maybe for confidentiality reasons? How long have you guys been here?

We just entered the city. We took in a number of patients on the way, so we have more people with us than anticipated.

I was figuring out accommodations for the extra patients we have, and Mitm said you could lend a hand.

Most of the Infected from the outside have moved into the city. There's very few empty houses left, but let me look around a little. I might be able to find a couple still.

See? I told you she'd be able to help.

We're all Rhodes Island operators. We gotta help each other out.

But I probably won't have the time today. There will still be Infected looking for help in the afternoon. How about tomorrow? No, not tomorrow, either. I have so many people coming here every day...

You're the kindest Djall in all of Kazdel, but you are so much less sharp than before.

You say we're all Rhodes Island operators who gotta help each other out. Wouldn't you say that work the other way around, too?

Right. It's Rhodes Island's mission to help the Infected, after all.

Nymph's eyes immediately light up.

Okay... Let me help you guys find a place to stay first! We'll meet up at the office later!

Nymph tears a page out of her notebook and takes a pen out of Mitm's pocket. She quickly scribbles something on the paper and sticks it to the door.

'If you need help, turn left and proceed to the Rhodes Island office! —Nymph...' Are you sure they are able to read something this formal?

That's why I drew the map on the bottom! I'm just worried that you won't be able to handle it when too many people show up.

Heh, I'm not worried about that. Nymph, you might as well send everyone who needs help to the office. There's so many of us, we can handle all of them!

Rhodes Island, have you seen the jerky I hanged from the rafters?

Hey you, how come my wound's bleeding again? All I did was touch it ever so slightly...

Is there anywhere I can find work in Kazdel?

Please wait on a moment.

Sorry, Nymph. Help me out, will you?

Sorry, we've had a lot more people in the city since you left last time. I should've warned you...

Maybe I should ask them to leave?

No, that's not what I mean! I was just hoping you could hire a couple dependable temps to help us Rhodes Island operators help Kazdel's Infected.

We'll follow Rhodes Island's standards on wages and meal stipends... This should be like a walk in the furnace for you, huh?

You want me to recruit helpers? I mean, I know a couple people...

No, if we're going to do this, we should go by the books.

Like resumes, background checks, interviews... You used to visit HR a lot, didn't you? This should be right up your alley, right?

(But my sister never taught me how to pick resumes—)

Okay, I'll figure something out.

So heavy!

Thanks. I promise this is the last box of resumes.

These bastards were all screaming bloody murder when we tried to get them to take a couple literacy classes. Turns out they can all write resumes after you yell at them a bit?

Maybe it's because Rhodes Island's pay is just that competitive here. Let's see...

How come these resumes are all exactly the same?!

Uh, maybe instead of writing their own resumes, they all looked at the same resume and <i>drew</i> what they saw?

But I taught them all how to write their names, so I'm pretty sure they at least... Okay, they copied that, too.

If we sort everything into these categories, then out of these few big boxes, we should be down to just... four resumes. Sorry, Pohl. If I'd known, I wouldn't have asked you to haul all of them for me.

Well, the problem isn't the manual labor. It just kind of hurts to see all this paper getting wasted. Nymph, how about I give the resumes to Hoederer for his literacy classes, they can practice reading it?

Practice?

I mean, the stuff they wrote on the resume's not that bad. Like, look at this one.

Name: Brick. Yeah, his writing's not half bad. Experience: Brick brick...

Huh? Why is this entire resume just the word 'brick'? Is his name the only word he knows how to write?

Wait, Li'l Brick wrote a resume, too? Let me have a look... That's his handwriting, but given his background, I don't think Rhodes Island can hire him.

What are we gonna do...? We can't trust the resumes, but there's so many of them... I can't interview all of them either.

You know, I think we can take this opportunity and scam... I mean, encourage all these job seekers to take some literacy classes.

You could interview just the few who submitted proper resumes and hire any suitable candidates per protocol. We'll call them 'Batch 1.'

Once the others figure out that knowing how to read and write is how you get a job, you'll announce you're hiring a second batch. I guarantee they'll all write their resumes seriously.

That sounds like it'll take some time, but I guess that's fine.

And now Hoederer won't have to worry about his literacy classes' revenue, hahaha!

Ugh... Nymph, there seems to be an issue with the resumes I brought to Hoederer.

What happened?

Anyway, you should head on over to Babel's office. Hoederer said he'll escort the candidate there himself.

Wh-What?!

Babel's office looks like it was renovated not too long ago either.

But it looks kinda empty, and I don't see anyone inside.

Sorry to keep you waiting, Nymph.

Hello! U-Um, your outfit...

This uniform is the only formal attire I have. Yes, I used to be a Victorian military officer.

Wow, I couldn't tell you were a soldier just by reading your resume. I heard Hoederer arranged for this interview?

I met Hoederer when I managed to get out of Victoria. He's an interesting man.

I'm sorry. Did you say 'managed to get out'?

What about it? Oh, you think Hoederer's keeping me prisoner or something? Haha.

S-Sorry.

I lost my rank. Probably because I'd been helping Londinium's Sarkaz get out of the city. That must have pissed off a few people.

That's why I followed Amiya and left that country with the Sarkaz.

I hope you don't mind me asking, but I want to know... What happened to your family in Victoria?

They're all gone.

Because of...?