The Aidass Family mansion.
Armi, the Broken Gold Villa low-rank manger, just returned from a failed mission to be scolded by lady Clovis; bearing with humiliation, Armi took a beeline to the administration hall.
Less than one minute later, he was in Mr. Mordritch's office, on the second floor of the three-story building; all the family's estate matters and businesses, from maids and servants to guards is organized and handled in this red-roofed white building.
Every report was written by a low-rank manger or a servant/maid assigned with such tasks is pooled here, to be analyzed and filtered by the middle-rank managers on the first floor, while some mangers on the first floor may be able to act on some of the reports without any need to consult his or her superior in the second floor, the rest has to move up to the second floor; obviously, it still depends on the importance of the report/information received.
The second floor was allocated to High-Rank managers, while the third is the head butler and the sub-villas butlers' domain.
In Mr. Mordritch's office on the second floor, the High-rank manager was sitting behind a finely-crafted desk, one look and you know it's not your normal type of cheap wood, sitting across the desk facing him was Armi.
'Sigh, this is his third visit, and from experience, this should be the last, lady Clovis is making our lives tough...' lamented Mordritch in his heart yet no expression escaped his face.
"Sir, I think you are clear on the reason why I'm here" finally Armi broke the silence that reigned the office.
Mordritch just kept staring silently at Armi, for few seconds the broken silence reigned again, Armi steeled himself and stared back, not in defiance but to show his resolve.
"I know you are aware of the rules, so I need to ask you again, are you sure about your decision?" Mordritch slowly enunciated.
With clenched teeth answered Armi "Y-yes. I'm aware, I will be demoted if I leave the Broken Gold Villa; ... I'm okay with that!"
"Ok then, you can prepare the paperwork, but! I need you to keep working in the Villa for a month or two until I find someone to replace you" accepted Mordritch yet imposed a condition at the same time.
"Will it not take longer?" enquired Armi a bit uneasy, because he knows that no manger would accept working in the Broken Gold Villa.
"Don't worry, we just received a new batch of servants, I will choose one of the higher-ranked ones in a month or two" responded Mordritch casually; of course, usually it will be impossible for a new servant to take on a job as a Villa's low-rank manager and be promoted that fast, but lady Clovis is a special case, and he fully knows that the new manager like his predecessors will end up as lady Clovis errand boy for impossible tasks.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Sigh... don't act like you just survived a beast tide, and I hope you don't hold a grudge against the young lady; she didn't do it with the intention to make your life miserable!" chided and advised Mordritch at the same time.
Armi nodded, conveying that he understands and left the office after getting Mordritch permission.
...
Back to Marik.
"Marik!" called the servant who came with the man in the black suit.
Marik took a step forward leaving the last rank-2 young man behind him, He also didn't forget to answer the call in composure "Yes sir!".
"You are a rank-2 servant, so you could hold posts that deal with accounting or handling a register in any hall in the mansion or one of the stores that belong to the family in the city!" pointed the servant.
Marik knew right away, he got accepted in the family without any issue; but! the option he got didn't suit him, if it before he found about the Avatar's space, he wouldn't mind, but! now things are different.
After a brief moment, asked Marik"what about the library?"
I need to work in the library, it's the only way I could have the time to scan all the knowledge stored in, without araising any misgivings toward me.
"There are no free spots in the library," said the servant shaking his head.
But! Marik didn't give up, "I can clean and maintain the books!"
the servant looked strangely at him with one eyebrow elevated " but you are a rank-2 servant, and cleaning is for rank-4 and 5 servants, you know that?".
"It doesn't matter, I'm more comfortable with books, and since I'm new, I'll avoid making mistakes if I work with books" answered Marik with confidence; just give me the job, why are you being so long-winded? I'm ok with cleaning books! give me the post already.
"Well..." the servant showed indecisiveness and looked toward the man in the black suit for an opinion.
Marik saw this, and panicked, he knew dealing with the man in the black suit won't be easy, so he squeezed his brain for a solution, suddenly he got a bright idea.
" Oh! yeah, sir! I can help with something else in the library" Marik quickly blurted out.
"Mm! with what?" asked the servant showing interest on his face.
"As you may know sir! not all the information found in books are correct, and some of the false knowledge could be easily spotted by cross-referencing the other books in the library; I'm happy to write a report about all the weak or suspicious pieces of information I find"
Marik hurriedly explained his idea.
Still; although the servant could read and write, he has no idea if what Marik presented could be trusted, so, he looked toward the man in the black suit for help.
"Mr. Alfred! do you have an opinion about this? if so, please make a verdict concerning his Job assignment" the servant asked and sought advice with a small bow of respect.
Alfred looked Marik's way, Marik felt his gaze wants to dissect him and see all his secrets, yet Marik just bowed his head briefly, lifting his head he showed no signs of panic or succumbing under the pressure; My motive do no harm to the family and only benefit me, I have no guilt whatsoever, go ahead and stare as much as you want!.
After a long time without any result gained from this staredown, Alfred looked down and appeared to be lost in his thoughts.
Hands behind his back, chest out, back straight as a pole, Alfred suddenly spoke "I have read your dossier, and you could be considered as a Half-scholar" but felt like he's talking to himself.
"I'll give you a chance, and see if you could deliver what you're promising! if you do, you got to keep your post in the library" added Alfred seriously.
"Thank you! Mr.Alfred!" Marik quickly showed his appreciation with a happy smile lighting his face.
"Don't thank me so soon, it still depends on your skills, and honestly I hope you will show me the desired results, because, it will help organize the library tremendously and avoid accidents the false knowledge is the catalyst to, obviously, you'll be rewarded accordingly!" said Alfred slowly yet in a gentle tone of endorsement towards Marik, he hopes for this to work, because no one would offer to do it, for how boring of a task it is.
The other servants who witnessed the whole thing showed signs of envy and jealousy, while some expressed regret and lamented their level of education.
"Mr. Alfred need not to fret, I will do my best to satisfy the required results!" answered Marik with a face brimming of confidence.
Alfred nodded with satisfaction, and Marik moved forward to claim his wooden token from the other servant following Mr.Alfred, observing it, Marik found his name engraved on this card-like, half palm-size piece of wood on one side, while the other holds the family's Coats of arms, an opened-hand facing up, with a sword balanced by the tip on the Opened-Hand.
'hmm! strange! looks like my token is the last one, what about the last rank-2 servant?' wondered Marik moving toward Bob and Acton.
with these thoughts on his mind, Marik looked toward the last young man and instinctively knew that the Avatar's space already made a replica of the young man's body, and even the clothes and items on him, it's like a silent notification in the back of his mind, he just needs one look to know if an object is already fully scanned or not, it already been a while since the job allotting began so by now all the people and objects that fall in the area less than Fifty meters from Marik, are fully scanned and replicas of them stored in the Avatar's space.