The receptionist studied Vivian's face, waiting for her reaction.
"I apologize for my behavior earlier," Vivian said and bowed.
"Please, it was my fault after all for not explaining things properly in the beginning," said the receptionist.
Vivian raised her head and looked at the receptionist in the eye.
"Yes, you didn't explain things properly and I don't really know much about hostess clubs so you could say that we're both in the wrong. However, there's something that's not adding up."
"Which is?" the receptionist asked with a confused expression on her face.
"You're still trying to offer this to me," said Vivian. "I mean, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't have bothered anymore after being threatened. So tell me, what's in it for you?"
The receptionist let out a wry smile.
"The thing is, although that landlady is a bit peculiar, there are many perks in being her friend and she doesn't just let anyone enter her circle, so I want her to owe me a favor that I can use in the future."
"You're not luring me into a trap, like selling me into slavery, are you?" Vivian said and eyed her suspiciously.
The female receptionist almost coughed out blood.
"I would never! And plus, that's against the law!"
So there are no slaves in this world…?
Even back in her previous world, despite their modern sensibilities, there were still slaves. Some were still traditional slaves, while others just had different titles, but all were still slaves regardless.
That's quite progressive…
So having slaves to run my businesses for me is out of the question, huh…
Tch...!
She clicked her tongue mentally.
"I see, I see. But still, like I said earlier, I can't afford the rent. I'm broke."
"That doesn't matter. She said you can pay her next month while working at her club."
"And the deposit?"
"There's none."
"What about the time? I didn't come here to become a hostess, I came here to become an Adventurer."
"The club only opens are night from 6:00 p.m.- 2:00 a.m. and you'll have one day off per week."
Vivian counted the hours mentally.
8 hours, huh…
"What's her name?"
"They call her Madam Stonia."
"And she wants me to work at her bar as a waitress because of my looks?"
"Yes, I told her about your appearance."
"So she wants beautiful adventurers as her waitresses?"
"Not really. Like I said earlier, she has a peculiar taste that even I find hard to follow. All I know is, she's looking for someone with a beautiful face but at the same time a little bit scary or intimidating. However, she wants to meet you first."
Vivian subconsciously touched her face.
What the hell…
But I'm not gonna lie, I'm really tempted…
However, there's a reason why they say that whenever something seems too good to be true, it's actually the case…
An image of the female influencers back in her previous world flashed inside her head, especially the topic of being a porter-potty.
"Tell me, if I take this offer and something happens to me, who's going to take responsibility?"
"Take responsibility?"
"Look, we're both women so you know where I'm coming from. Let's say I take this job and something happens to me. Who's gonna assure my safety?"
"I'll take the responsibility as long as you can also promise me that one day when I need a favor from her, you will help me."
"But aren't you already going to have her owe you a favor by convincing me to work at her club?"
"Then I'll have 2."
Vivian couldn't help but let out an amused smile.
"Fine. I'll agree to that. However, there should be a legal and binding document between you and me. If you can't provide that, then I'm not interested, no matter what you say or offer."
"Fine. Wait here," the receptionist said and left.
When the receptionist returned, she was carrying a Memory Crystal and 2 pieces of a blank Quest Paper and placed them on top of the counter.
"As an employee here, I can issue special orders, documents and contracts. I'm going to write a contract -- one copy for you and one copy for me. After that, we'll both sign them and then also record the details of this agreement on the Memory Crystal. Do you agree to this?"
"I agree. But I can't read so there must be a third party -- 2 people at the very least who aren't associated with each other and will read the document out loud."
"Okay."
***
Some time later…
Vivian, the receptionist and 2 other people -- another receptionist and an old woman -- were sitting down inside a room within the Adventurer's Building.
As for where the old woman came from, Vivian went outside of the building and approached her, asking her if she could read and write. And if she could, she wanted her to act as one of the witnesses for a contract.
And as for the reward of participating as a witness, the Guild promised to give her some compensation. Vivian, on the other hand, given that she was broke, promised that she would do something for her in the future.
Hearing those things, the old woman happily agreed.
The room that they were currently in was one of the meeting rooms inside the Adventurer's Guild building. It was usually used for clients and adventurers to discuss matters about a quest.
All of them looked tired and bored after debating for more than 1 hour about the details.
There were now 3 Quest Papers.
One was for Vivian.
The second one was for the receptionist.
And the third one was for an extra copy that will be kept within the Adventurer's Guild building.
"Okay, done copying," the other receptionist said and gave one paper to the old woman and another one to the receptionist.
Only Vivian wasn't holding any paper.
"Okay, I will read the contract..." the other receptionist said and began reading.
According to the contract, the receptionist offered Vivian to rent and work under Madam Stonia.
The place she will be staying at is a house located at Phoenix St. and she will be a tenant there. The rent is 1 gold coin a month for a shared room and 3 gold coins a month for a single room.
The place she will be working at is Paradise Kiss, which is a hostess club, not a sex club, and she will work there as a waitress where she will be earning 2 silver coins per shift and plus tips.
By accepting to rent and work under Madam Stonia, Vivian is required to help the receptionist convince Madam Stonia to grant her a favor. However, if something bad happens to Vivian while under the care of Madam Stonia or any of the details mentioned above do not match, the receptionist will be one of the people held responsible and has to pay 100 gold coins. And depending on the crime, she could be charged with slavery or human trafficking.
There were other clauses.
1) In the event that Vivian is under the care of Madam Stonia and something bad happens to her where Madam Stonia and her establishment are faultless, the receptionist would not be held responsible.
2) Once Vivian stops renting or working under Madam Stonia, as long as nothing bad happened to her during the time she worked and rented under Madam Stonia, she is still required to convince Madam Stonia to grant the receptionist a favor.
3) If Vivian fails to convince Madam Stonia to grant the receptionist a favor despite nothing bad happened to her while under the care of Madam Stonia, she is obligated to grant the receptionist a favor herself.
4) If Vivian refuses to grant a favor to the receptionist after failing to convince Madam Stonia to grant her a favor despite nothing bad happened to her while under the care of Madam Stonia, she is obligated to pay 100 gold coins to the receptionist or be sent to prison.
5) All favors must be within reason. If any of the favors is unreasonable or puts any of the parties in a dangerous situation, the party who issued the unreasonable favor must pay 100 gold coins or be sent to prison.
6) Vivian is not obligated to accept the offer to rent and work under Madam Stonia. But once she accepts the offer, all conditions listed on the contract will take effect.
After reading the contract, the other receptionist looked at everyone.
"Are there any questions or objections?"
Vivian glanced at the old woman.
"I have no questions or objections," said the old woman.
"I have no questions or objections well," said Vivian.
"Same here," said the receptionist.
"Okay, there are no questions and ojections. Everyone here agrees. Please sign the contracts then," said the other receptionist.
All four of them were required to sign the contracts with the other receptionist and the old woman labeled as witnesses.
After signing the contracts, all four of them touched the Memory Crystal. It emitted a faint white glow and details of the contract entered in Vivian's mind and the others.
"Congratulations. The contract is officially registered and will take effect right away," said the other receptionist.
Vivian turned to the old woman.
"Thank you, Mrs. Belfair," she said and smiled.
"It's fine, child," the old woman said and smiled as well.
Vivian got up and turned to the receptionist before offering her hand.
When the receptionist saw Vivian's hand, she got up and reached out.
"I look forward to working with you, Pana," Vivian said as they shook hands.
All of their names were listed in the contract so they learned about each other's names.
"I look forward to working with you as well, Vivian."
"So when do I meet Madam Stonia?"
"I missed my lunch break and I'm going to ask someone to cover for me. Let's go to her now."
"Okay."