"Here, the juice."
"Ah, t-thank you, Carole."
We let Carole give the girls their share of lemon juice and sip it to ease their minds before we continue.
Like a proper maid, Carole is now wearing her custom-made maid uniform.
The skirt is long, featuring laced long sleeves and an embroidered apron. Whenever I saw her, I always saw an image of an arrogant lady, like a typical villainess, with her curly, long blonde hair and all. Her actual personality is not suitable for that role, but if she used her experience from the time when she was still running around scamming people, she could show people what an arrogant, but charming, noble lady looks like. And after my mother polished her, her skill has taken a new step to perfection.
It would be better if Tizmilly could fill that role, but she wouldn't be able to fully take that position after the holiday ends later. The third year of our Academy life is waiting, so Tizmilly's era is still far away from our reach.
We waited until the girls finished drinking their juices.
Tizmilly is the one who would explain the restaurant to them. After she made sure that the girls' attention was on her, she started.
She goes from the reason why we started this restaurant, to the main theme we were aiming for.
"... We may look ridiculous with the use of maids that are clearly different from barmaids or waiters, but it does a favor for our goal to create a place where people can eat and enjoy their time without the shadow of the caste system looming over them. The maid pays huge role here. You may serve the customer, but not with the loyalty and obedience usually shown by others. You would hit them with a raw ego, blindly, no matter who they are!"
The girls' reactions are as expected. They are shocked, even Carole is surprised. Now that I think of it, we haven't really explained everything to Carole, huh? Well, he'd hear everything here, so that's okay.
Seeing that Tizmilly had finished her explanation, I took back the lead.
"Alright. We'll end the briefing here. Now that you have gained some understanding about what kind of place our restaurant would become, let's start the actual interview."
I raised my hand, then pointed out a girl who looked the most well-mannered, with her short, bobbed black hair.
"You there, introduce yourself."
She flinched after I pointed at her. She took a big breath of air before she opened her lips.
"Good day, Mr. Roost, Mrs. Roost, Ms. Tizmilly, and Mr... Timmy. My name is Yona, 17 years old. I came to Dungeon City with a hope to raise my name and... G-gain wealth enough for myself to retire early!"
'Hmm... Mature personality with little motivation to gain fame. She wanted to raise her name, but clearly not in a way that an average teenager usually aims for. And she's polite.'
I noted that down on the mini whiteboard I have beside me, before looking back at the girl.
"I heard you are interested in becoming our maids after you heard Carole's story. However, I wanted to know, what is your actual motivation?"
She fidgets a little before Yona opens her lips to answer me.
"It's because if I work at a restaurant where I knew someone, I would face less risk compared to aimlessly trying to get a job in the wide city outside, where I don't have an idea how thingsworks. And indeed, after I saw the place myself, the restaurant looked calm, well-decorated, and cozy, like a family. I thought it would be fun to work at this place."
'Well said. She have briliant lips. She has potential.'
Since Yona had mentioned everything that I wanted to hear from her before I could ask her for that, I immediately shifted to the next girl.
I pointed out a girl whose word nervous is written boldly on her whole body. Compared to others, her appearance couldn't be called beautiful, with a thin figure, double-braided brown hair, and a speckled face.
"How about you?"
She trembles under my gaze. She looked like she was about to pass out when she opened her lips to answer me.
"G-good day! I-I-I am... Sirry! 16 years old! I came to Dungeon City to make money... Uh, wealth... I mean!"
I waved my hands to calm her.
"Okay, okay, don't push yourself too hard, Sirry."
Although she still looked pale, Sirry responded to me with a nod.
'Immature. Lacked education and confidence.'
I noted the information I got.
Needless to say, Tizmilly and other interviewers also have their own whiteboards. Just like me, they also write what they understood about our applicants onto their boards.
"Is there a specific reason why you are interested in our restaurant?" I asked her again.
She widened her eyes and started trembling even more violently. She must not have expected to be confronted with a different question here. Hehe, but you should adapt swiftly, girl!
"A-ah... I am, I-I always like to see the maids working at Mister Habajj, a rich merchant, back when I was in my village. They're beautiful, and cool, and amazing, like a group of super girls!"
'Not too bright, but... She understood the point. And her nerves eased when she was talking about what she likes, that's a raw material for a must-protect type of maid!'
I glanced at my side, and like me, my mother's eyes were shining when she was looking at Sirry.
We continued the interview like that.
"A beautiful day today for us fated people! My name is T-R-E-V-I-N-A! Currently at my 18s! I came to this city to grab one or two husbands back to my village! Maids work around people, so I'll be able to know a lot of handsome guys while working! A perfect job for me, don't you think?"
'Confidence level went out of the roof. Interesting, but... Hmm...'
"My name's Gerena. 15 years old. Loves the book. I have read all of the books in the village, so I ran away from the village to find more books. Works give me money, money could buy books, so I'll work."
'Veered motivation, but her cold expression is interesting.'
"I am Wendy. People in the village always wanted me to marry their sons. They are getting forceful lately, so I fled to this city. Hopefully, people wouldn't want to marry if I worked here, together with Carole. Mister Roost, you wouldn't force me like them, right?"
'BIG. Huge. Massive. I kinda get why they wanted their sons to marry her. But I won't force anyone, okay? I am not that kind of man.'
"Mister Roost is not that kind of man!"
'See? Even our Miss Villainess thought the same.'
We continue to interview them one by one.
By the time we ended the interview and moved to another room to discuss who we should hire, I found a shocking truth.
They were all unique and had the potential to become great maids!
What kind of village is Carole coming from?
Unfortunately, since we were still in the early phase of development, we couldn't hire all of them and could only take two out of eight as planned before.
And since we should choose safer options during development to avoid risk, in the end, the ones we took are...
Sirry, and Gerena.