"How did this even become about a salary increase?"
Feeling speechless at the tempting offer proposed by the red-haired director, Leon couldn’t help but complain:
"Director, this isn’t about getting a raise. Given my situation, it’s really not very suitable for me to participate in this kind of examination..."
"As long as you get first place, I’ll increase your salary by 6 Gold Wheels!"
"It’s not about how much of a raise it is either."
Leon said helplessly:
"The results will definitely be reported to the headquarters after the examination, right? If the Director of Taurus sees my name in the results, it would be too embarrassing..."
"I’ll increase it by 12 Gold Wheels!"
"I’ve already said it doesn’t matter how much the raise is, but if it’s 12 Gold Wheels... hmm... weekly or monthly?"
If it’s on a weekly basis...
Thinking about the delighted smile Anna involuntarily showed when she received his paycheck, and the sense of relief and security that radiated from her, Leon’s expression visibly wavered.
Although with his current "status," he could simply ask Princess Veronica for money and it would never be an issue, he always got teased when he saw her, plus it felt somewhat like he was mooching off her. So a salary increase was quite tempting.
The main issue was that he and Anna had been poor for so long, having only been "wealthy" for a little over three months and hadn’t fully adjusted to their current lifestyle. Even knowing they wouldn’t lack money in the future, they were in the habit of saving and not wanting to spend, even keeping a tight rein on William and Melanie’s allowance.
The problem was they attended a "noble" elementary school where their classmates’ families were all wealthy or noble, each with very good conditions. Although the two little demons didn’t care about that, seeing them being so frugal made Leon, their elder brother, feel a bit guilty.
His original weekly salary was already 12 Gold Wheels, and after the increase, it would be 24 Gold Wheels per week. With that, Anna would probably feel more at ease, and he might be able to give those little rascals a bit more pocket money... Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel✦fire.net
This offer was too good to pass up!
Faced with the enticing offer of a 12 Gold Wheel per week pay raise, and the thought of his siblings’ happy smiles, Leon, who had just completed a coup and destroyed the entire Crolock Kingdom a little over a week ago, capturing 1.3 million citizens, finally chose to give in.
"If it’s 12 Gold Wheels, then I might as well make a trip..."
After quietly cursing himself for being so weak-willed, Leon nodded and agreed to the red-haired director’s terms, then proactively asked:
"Director, when does this exam start, and what’s the exact content of the exam?"
Seeing Leon, who had significantly increased his engagement and even took the initiative to inquire about the exam information, the red-haired director, delighted by her success, gave a sly smile in her heart before answering:
"The exam will be held in the next few days, and at the latest won’t be more than a week. The exact content hasn’t been decided yet, and even if it were, they wouldn’t tell me. After all, besides you, our branch has others participating this time. Telling me would be like helping them cheat."
Upon hearing the red-haired director’s words, Leon, somewhat curious, asked further:
"Who is it? Is Senior Jerry planning to take the Level 1 exam again?"
"It’s not Jerry, it’s Amin."
The red-haired director shook her head:
"Although Jerry really wants to go, before signing up with me, he asked Tom to roll the dice for him, and they found he had a 66% chance of encountering questions he’s not good at.
You know, Tom’s dice typically only ’show’ a maximum probability of 66%. In reality, the chances are even higher. Jerry felt his chances of passing weren’t great, so he decided not to go."
Oh my, they even consider divination before exams, choosing strategies between solving problems and cheating seems to be a ritual for them...
Upon hearing this, Leon couldn’t help but twitch the corners of his mouth, and asked:
"What about me then? You must’ve planned for me to take the exam, did Senior Tom roll the dice for me?"
"Probably rolled them?"
The red-haired director hesitated for a moment upon hearing this, then uncertainly said:
"He didn’t throw the dice directly but instead cupped them in his hands, mumbled a few words, and then told me that you had a 99% chance of encountering favorable questions. If even you can’t pass the exam this time, then no one can."
Hmm... That sounds pretty good...
After nodding in reassurance, Leon continued to inquire:
"What about Senior Amin? What happened after she rolled? Is she guaranteed to pass?"
"Amin didn’t roll the dice. Her goal was never to pass the exam."
The red-haired director sighed, somewhat resignedly:
"She applied to participate in this exam not to be promoted to a Level 1 Cleaner, but because she recently developed a few new drugs and wanted to test their efficacy. And for her, there’s no better test subject than the 400 Cleaners participating in the exam."
Attending the exam just to test drugs? This... makes it hard to entirely blame others for spreading rumors about our Virgin Branch’s reputation being so bad...
"Rest assured, Amin knows what she’s doing."
The red-haired director reassured:
"Her abnormal object ability is incredibly valuable, allowing those who take her medicine to immediately rid themselves of negative states, rapidly heal old injuries, and even greatly mend mental health, soothing the minds of Cleaners distorted by abnormal objects.
In summary, for Cleaners who mostly suffer from various old injuries and have very unstable mental states, aside from inevitable diarrhea, being tested on by her actually could be considered a good thing."
So... originally wild, aggressive battle maniacs would start to smile peacefully and suddenly have diarrhea after taking her medicine? I mean, their old injuries might be healed, but they could socially die from embarrassment!
After nodding with a slight toothache, Leon asked one final question with a dark face.
"Who are my targets for face-slapping? I’ll assess the situation at the time. If they really aren’t anything decent, I’ll introduce them to Senior Amin."
Hmm... you’re so bad~ I really like it~
After looking at Leon with exceptional appreciation, the red-haired director nodded smilingly:
"Very good~ Amin will definitely be very pleased to hear this.
As for specific face-slapping targets, prioritize those with the Scorpio Branch’s mark on them. Most of those who quit from our side went there, leaving quite a few from the Libra and Aries Branches who can also be dealt with.
But just those who left aren’t your main targets. Focus on those who not only left but also came back to step on us, cooperated in spreading false rumors, and defamed our Virgin Branch... Feed them all to Amin!
Recently, there’ve been both large and small issues happening, so I can’t conveniently drink, and I’ve saved up my salary from the branch. For every turncoat you feed to Amin, I’ll give you a 5 Gold Wheel bonus!"