Chapter 65
Flange Orphanage, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2030, Planet: Grimoire
Darmono recognized when he should take his leave. He was hesitant to do so because he knew other problems might occur without warning. As a result, he decided to dawdle in one of the hallways. Listening to the staff members sometimes gave Darmono more warnings about the possibilities of affecting the orphans than official reports. It made him wonder how often Moline received reports from his staff. If he wasn't getting any from all the individual voices, that might be why he had blind spots.
Immediately, Darmono saw Garnet frowning in a hallway until she spotted him. Damn, she always remained formal with him, no matter the occasion. Yet, he knew she wasn't too hostile toward him, not after he'd ensured that Moline had received sufficient rest after her father's sudden death.
Garnet clearly hadn't known he was still in the building. "Oh, dear, now what did I expose this time?"
Darmono heard her mumble and shook his head. She really needed to control her reactions around him.
Garnet was clearly flustered. "I'm just making things harder for myself with my reactions, aren't I?"
He nodded.
She flinched and sighed. "So, what might I do for you?" Garnet tilted her head as she studied him.
Darmono took it easy on her. It wasn't her fault that Moline was dense as a brick. "I'm curious about the flow of information from employee to employer."
Garnet tapped her jaw with a finger. "Ah, such as regular reports and informal meetings with Moline and all the staff?"
When Darmono nodded. "Yeah, I'm a little concerned about how the orphanage doesn't seem to prosper." This was not how he'd envisioned things going. "I was hoping that would change with additional staffing on the premises." Disappointment didn't entirely cover how he felt about this occurrence happening now.
Garnet blinked in surprise. "So, you were trying to help?" At his sheepish inclined head, she heaved a sigh of relief. "As for the staffing issue, I can answer truthfully."
Darmono grunted. "Only if it won't keep you from anything important right now." He cautioned.
Garnet shook her head. "Oh, that won't be a problem." She frowned, clearly trying to figure out how to word the problem. "As for the group or informal meetings between Moline and the staff..."
Garnet shook her head wearily. "Those types of meetings are rarer than I'd like."
Darmono nodded. "Yes, I got the impression that Moline was frustrated because he couldn't open direct communication channels either."
"Hmm, that's odd." Garnet shrugged. "It seems as if he's almost detached from being able to talk to us." She was displeased with the change, but clearly wasn't sure how to change things. "The change began since he had new accountants and attorneys start relieving us of having to manage those."
Oh dear, so that was probably on him. Darmono rubbed the back of his neck. "I would make changes if I could," He'd forgotten one little problem with the recommended individuals. "I'm aware of how much of sticklers those accountants and attorneys can be for protocol."
Garnet's eyes widened. "I see how it is. Since they're more used to the military protocols and likely similar to business..." She frowned. "Okay, that makes sense. Certain changes were instituted regarding routing requests to talk to Moline."
Darmono grunted. "If those accountants and attorneys are blocking that. I will deal with them and address the problem with Moline directly." He sighed. "I should've known those six would try to overtake the business completely." Darmono shook his head. "This is my fault, so I will intervene and speak to Moline before he's completely taken off guard." He just hoped it wasn't too late.
~*~
It hadn't taken long for his conversation with Darmono to end. Moline knew that Darmono enjoyed a good relationship with his staff. Lately, he took a moment to wander the halls and chat with the employees, something that Moline used to do.
Hmm, Moline frowned. When was the last time he'd done such a thing? He shook his head. He'd do it later once he cleared at least half of the paperwork off his desk.
It seemed that all he did was push papers around and sign most of them before he could get to anything of interest. Moline still read through everything thoroughly, which was why he recognized that the attorneys and accountants were attempting to isolate him from his employees.
"That is not going to last much longer." He would even if he had to take over the accounts again and kick all of them out.
The last thing Moline wanted was to tolerate the wall of isolation he despised. He tried to regain the trust he once had with his staff. "The only way I can do that is if I talk to them individually and in groups." He would do that more often in the future.
As for that failed plot that he'd penetrated before someone was horribly hurt, Moline sighed heavily. "I should've known there was something off about that couple." He made a sour face. "All's well that ends well, I suppose."
What had happened to that orb? Did he need to retrieve it? That was something Moline hadn't remembered doing at all. In fact, he hadn't even had a chance to talk to Grifton and see how he'd fared. "I'll have to talk to him later too."
Well, now that a most horrible crisis has passed relatively uneventfully, Moline chose to focus on other matters. He looked over the reports and was confused. "Odd, so people say Grifton is blocked regarding magic studies." This was very strange unless it could be that he was focused in the wrong direction.
Moline exhaled. "We don't have instructors specializing in spirit and elemental-based subjects." He tapped his jaw. From what he remembered, dragons often had companions resembling or remaining in elemental form. He shook his head wearily. "I could use Darmono's advice right about now about this."
Now that Moline had considered it, he needed to do something about those accountants and attorneys. A pattern emerged that was troubling him greatly. He didn't enjoy being isolated from his employees. Therefore, Moline planned to walkabout and chat with all of them when he knew they'd have some breaks. That would hopefully break the wall being built between them. He just hoped it wasn't too late.
With that in mind, Moline just stood up and stretched. Then he left his office after setting up small traps to ensure no one messed with his paperwork or anything else. He remembered to save and download his work to an alternate source at the last minute. "Man, I'm getting careless, that won't do."
The last thing he wanted was for it to be copied, stolen, and deleted. He'd gone through that three times already. Yet another quibble he had with those accountants and attorneys. Moline didn't enjoy that childish type of delaying tactic. It was infuriating.