Charlotte looked at the young girl in front of her, knowing full well that letting her stay would invite some trouble.
But she certainly couldn't live with herself if she was thrown out.
"You can't use magic in front of people, then you'll have to take on more work if you want to stay." Charlotte said calmly.
"Such as?"
"Clean all the upstairs and downstairs of the clinic every day and keep the clinic clean and tidy."
"Okay." Vivian nodded her head cheerfully, for a water magician, cleaning was a simple matter.
"You'll also have to take on some of the potion making."
Vivian was startled, "Refining potions?"
"Yes, it's work that can be done without having to be in front of people." Charlotte nodded.
It was naturally impossible for him to use an intermediate level magician only as a cleaner, the cows of the production team wouldn't dare to let her rest like that.
"But, I've never touched pharmacy and am not good at potion refining." Vivian said with an apologetic face.
Pharmacy was offered in medical school, but she did not take it.
As a magical genius girl who had been sought after since she was a child, it would only be something that would be questioned if she wasted her time studying pharmacy.
Charlotte said with a confident face, "It doesn't matter if you don't know how, as long as you're willing to learn, I guarantee that you'll soon become a qualified apothecary."
Vivian was a little hesitant in her mind, but when she met Charlotte's gaze, she nodded her head and agreed with a clench of her teeth, "I'm willing to learn."
Compared to going out and stopping people, refining potions should be a better learning experience, right?
"If there are some unexpected situations that require you to assist me in some surgeries without revealing the fact that you know magic, you may not refuse." Charlotte made another request.
Vivian nodded her head in response after a moment's thought.
These requests made by Charlotte are not excessive.
"Good, then from now on, you are an employee of the clinic." A smile finally appeared on Charlotte's face and she extended her right hand towards Vivian, "I'm Charlotte."
Vivian was a little lost in thought as she looked at the warm smile on Charlotte's face, her blue eyes clear as water, as if a light was shining on her.
"Charlotte?" Vivian thought the name sounded familiar, but couldn't recall it for a moment, and reached out to shake Charlotte's hand gently.
The warmth of her touch brought her back to her senses as she finally found a place to land in the abyss.
A small, mediocre clinic.
A young boss.
Charlotte withdrew her hand and looked at Vivian as she continued, ''The job content is what I just said, the salary is 1000 copper coins per month, and if your performance is good enough, you will be turned into an official employee after one month, plus 200 copper coins.
Moreover, there is an extra commission for refining potions, 1 copper coin per bottle."
"Good." Vivian had a few moments of surprise on her face, this was a little better than she had expected.
"I'll start by familiarizing you with the clinic, the first floor is the work area and the second floor is the living area." Charlotte's gaze fell on the white cat on the counter, "And this one, her name is Anna, the clinic's mascot."
"Here, Anna, smile."
"Meow-" The white cat let out a warning yowl at Charlotte, her high tail twitching slightly.
"Good, you see, she seems to like you." Charlotte said with satisfaction.
"Eh?" Vivian looked at Anna, who had jumped back onto the counter with a high hand, and didn't feel much like it.
The clinic was cleaned up, but very spartan indeed.
The presence of the operating room, on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise to Vivian, who, as a medical school student, had always been taught that the healing arts and internal medicine were the orthodoxy.
And so-called surgical procedures are the stuff of low-status barbers.
In the imperial capital, every year, there are many people from the lower class who are superstitious about the so-called bloodletting therapy, and the disease is not cured, but the person is lost.
Her new boss, it couldn't be a being like the barber, could it?
Vivian couldn't help but feel a little worried, it would be too bad for her, a healing magician, to work as an assistant to a trickster who was a recruiter.
"This is the alchemy room, where potions are made and your work area from now on." Charlotte said as she opened a door.
Vivian looked at the humble alchemy room, the most noticeable thing was the large iron cauldron in the center set up on the stove.
Those so-called potions with magical properties are boiled in that big iron pot?
It made her feel more and more like she might have gotten into a den of thieves.
Then Charlotte showed her around the second floor space, which had four rooms, the largest one being Charlotte's bedroom, and the other three empty rooms stacked with clutter.
Charlotte let Vivian choose a room of her own for her bedroom, the smallest one he planned to make into a kitchen.
He'd thought it all through, and now that there was an extra person at the clinic, he certainly couldn't eat that dark, crusty black bread every day.
This body of his now was weak, partly due to the aftermath of his magic essence being nullified, and partly due to lack of nutrition.
Of course, looking at it dialectically, it cannot be ruled out whether it is related to some bad habits of the predecessor.
"I'll leave the cleaning of the room to yourself, and I'll go out and get you some groceries." Charlotte said as she looked at Vivian who couldn't hide the joy on her face.
"Uh-huh." Vivian nodded repeatedly, but her stomach growled uncontrollably.
Grunt--
Vivian blushed and dropped her eyes in embarrassment.
I can't blame her, she's only eaten that bread Charlotte gave her since yesterday.
She didn't even take more than a couple sips of water because she hadn't found a safe water source.
Charlotte sighed inwardly, "Stopped by to get you some food back."
"Thanks boss!" Vivian said gratefully.
She suddenly felt ashamed of what she had just thought, even if he was a liar, he was the only one willing to offer her food.
An ordinary person who couldn't do magic would inevitably have to put in more effort to survive in the Abyss.
Charlotte went downstairs and out the door, while Vivian couldn't resist circling the room.
The room was very simple, the wooden floor had a lot of potholes because of its age, the walls were made of coarse stone, and the large and small gaps were impervious to light, but there was still a slight leakage of air.
The only furniture was a wooden bed against the wall, but it was missing a leg.
Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust because it had been left unused before.
Pushing open the wooden window, the gray skylight of the abyss didn't make the room much brighter, but it made her feel as if the gray world had been illuminated for a few moments.
With her own separate room, she was like a drifting flotsam that had finally taken root in the abyss.
From her family's sudden fall from grace, fleeing all the way south, going through many hardships, and watching her closest family members die with her own eyes, her terrified and mournful heart had finally found a place to land.
Even if it's humble, it's better than drifting around.
"Let's clean up first and finish the day!"
Although she was hungry and a little weak, Vivian felt energized!
...
Charlotte first went to the grocery store on Baca Street to purchase a bedding, a few toiletries, and a black wig for 250 copper coins.
"Shit, a shoddily made wig also costs one hundred and eighty copper coins." Charlotte came out of the grocery store, looked at the wig with threads bubbling in her hand, and cursed lowly.
It was still one of the least flawed ones he'd handpicked.
Then he went to the bakery and bought four black loaves of bread.
"The doctor has had a good appetite for the past two days." Old Mrs. Bella from the bakery said with a smile as she handed Charlotte her bread.
"A new sweeper has been recruited, and as you know, orcs don't have small appetites." Charlotte took the bread and said with a helpless face.
This old lady is the owner of the bakery, has a big mouth, and is the center of news-making on Baca Street.
"That must be a pretty little orc girl of about twenty?" The old woman asked with a smirk.
"You guessed all that." Charlotte was startled.
"Oh, you've been very affectionate these past three years, I've seen it all." The old lady's eyes narrowed into slits as she smiled.
Charlotte was a bit puzzled, this could be a bit different from what was recorded in the original diary.
"You've always liked girls in their mid-twenties, your tastes have never changed." The old lady added.
"You sure know me well." Charlotte ran off with the bread, what a reputation.
Pushing open the clinic door, Charlotte froze.
In the past two days, he thought he had cleaned the clinic quite well, at least compared to the original body's previous kennel which was in a completely different state.
But he had just gone out for a while, and the clinic had completely changed again.
The marble floors were so polished, the walls, ceilings, and furniture so spotless, that even the air seemed to have become a little fresher.
The counter had been reorganized, glass jars and potion bottles, neatly arranged in order from large to small, even the placement of empty bottles was symmetrical.
"What kind of OCD is this?" Charlotte had a mouthful to spit out.
On the other side, Vivian, sitting behind the counter, was holding Anna, the little one staying obediently in her lap, letting her gently rub her stomach and making whirring noises.
"Ah this? A white-eyed cat!"
Charlotte said she couldn't take it, obviously he was here first.
"Boss." Vivian got up.
Anna was interrupted in her enjoyment and rolled her eyes at Charlotte.
"Here's the bedding, have a loaf of bread to pad your stomach." Charlotte put her things on the counter and went to get Vivian another glass of water.
Vivian did a double take at the sight of the bread, having just cleaned the top and bottom with cleansing magic, and a kitty in the process, leaving her feeling completely hollowed out.
Not caring about being a lady or not, a big mouthful of bread, a big mouthful of water, and a dark loaf of bread rolled into her stomach.
Finishing one, Vivian glanced at Charlotte and then at the rest of the bread.
"Eat up, the clinic cleaned up nicely, hard work." Charlotte smiled, very satisfied with Vivian's work ethic.
Starting today, he can say goodbye to the tedious job of cleaning.
That's a thousand copper coins. It's worth it!
With Charlotte's nod, Vivian picked up another loaf of bread, but this time she didn't wolf it down, taking small bites and savoring the comfort the food brought to her hungry gut.