Chapter 34 - Immoral proposal
"You want to... hire me?" asked Riko in disbelief.
"Yes." replied Rose simply, her expression calm and focused as if this situation wasn't strange in the slightest.
"Ehm... Why?"
Her friend smiled in a way that indicated that she had expected that question.
"Because I believe you would be an excellent addition to our team of course! From the moment we first met I could feel the potential in you, that is why I sent you all these letters over the years, trying to nurture your education. I know that their contents must have seemed trivial to you, but it was the best I could do to help you along your way towards becoming an accomplished delver. I-"
"Those were amazing, Rose! The other kids were so jealous!" she interrupted. Riko would not let her friend downplay those wonderful gifts!
For a fraction of a second Rose's eyes widened before her lips quirked up in a pleased manner.
"Thank you. That is nice to hear. Anyways, what I wanted to say is that you have a bright future ahead of you in our corporation. My employer values curiosity, thoroughness and creativity above all else. Do you think you have those traits?"
"Definitely!" she blurted out. "Ehm... Well, l love to learn about the Abyss and I think I am creative? How... Ehhh..."
If her friend was disappointed in her vague answer then she didn't show it.
"Excellent! With a few months of specialized training you'd fit right in with us! I can promise you new career opportunities beyond what your education here at the surface provides and your salary will also be twenty percent above average, although we can negotiate that later."
Hesitantly Riko raised a finger just like in class when Director rambled on about a topic. Rose raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless.
"That sounds really cool and stuff, but ehm... sorry, but who are you talking about?"
"I was getting to that. Have you ever been to the 'Delving Information Centre & Cabinet of Abyssal Curiosities' in town?"
"Yes? I go whenever I can. The exhibition is so awesome!"
Riko tried to mask the strange feeling in her gut by acting cheery which only somewhat worked to distract her from the oddness of this mysterious girl that she called her friend.
"You see... This facility in question is actually part of our company. Riko, I will be frank with you... I have not been entirely honest with you and for that I am sorry. Although it was necessary, I have deceived you about my background and you deserve a proper apology for that."
"W-w-what do you mean?" she stuttered helplessly. Rose had... lied to her?
"Let me introduce myself again... My real name is Tanya and I am the first adopted daughter of the Lord of Dawn, Bondrewd the Novel." said her friend with a deep bow.
Riko's thoughts were running a mile a minute, switching from shock to betrayal to excitement in a dizzying carousel of emotion.
"My father has many enemies and so I saw it necessary to hide. I wanted to tell you the truth before you can make an informed decision about your future. We at our company take honesty and education very seriously after all."
A quiet "ehhhh..." slipped out of her mouth as she tried to process this bizarre turn of events.
Undeterred Rose – no, her name was Tanya – continued: "As a small apology I have brought you some gifts as a sign of my regret that-"
"Gifts!? Where?" interrupted a voice from the door.
Riko's head snapped around so fast that her glasses nearly flew off her nose. Jammed into the doorframe of the room were countless familiar faces, eagerly listening to their conversation and ogling her friend.
Her brow crinkled in anger at their interruption, but Tanya merely sighed and chuckled good-naturedly.
"I suppose that privacy is hard to come by in an orphanage. I should have remembered... Would you lot be so kind as to bring your caretaker here? We have business to discuss."
∞•۞˂Jirou's point of view˃۞•∞
"Absolutely not." he said with conviction that he wasn't really feeling right at the moment.
Jirou did have his suspicions about who the strange girl with her entourage of masked men was, but he did not dare to voice his concerns to Belchero. Letter after letter had arrived for Riko over the years and he managed to lull himself into the delusion that she was simply a friendly girl with overprotective guardians. After all, she was just a small child, right? The red whistle around her neck denoted her inexperience.
'She's harmless' he had told himself and look where that got him now.
Everyone who spent some time in the seedier bars at the edge of the Abyss heard unsettling tales about the deepest parts of the netherworld. Among them were stories of caravans of children, mostly orphans if the accounts were to be believed, being brought down to the fifth layer, only to never return.
He gave as much on the half-drunken horror stories of these people as he did on the legends of the Golden City deep below the earth, but he nonetheless was wary of the 'Lord of Dawn' as he called himself.
However this child, Tanya, claimed to be his adopted daughter and she was obviously a healthy and sane - if slightly creepy - little girl...
"I understand your reservations, Mr. Jirou, but I do not think you realize the incredible possibilities for both you and Riko here."
Perhaps though, this was no girl at all, judging by how comfortable she seemed at buying other children. He would not let Riko be spirited away to some nebulous place that he had no control over. His promise to Lyza would not be broken a day after the celebration of her death.
Still, against his better judgement he decided to indulge the mysterious not-quite-child.
Looking over at the stern visage of Belchero who was sitting right beside him, he hesitantly asked: "What would those be?"
Inwardly Jirou winced. He sounded like a cow peddler, for Orth's sake!
"You see, I took the liberty of inspecting your institution a bit and I noticed a certain state of... use. Wherever there are children, there comes disrepair and fixing it can be quite the burden on your finances."
Tanya smiled warmly, as if she was speaking from experience which bewildered him.
"My father owns ample funds with which to properly modernize and quite possibly expand this wonderful building to bring you and your wards the comfort and safety you deserve. Central heating, a more sanitary kitchen, new bathrooms and much more would be on the table."
"You are just throwing your daddy's money around." his boss cut in.
The blond girl whose arm was clasped tight by Riko had the audacity to laugh.
"By no means. I know that Father would be overjoyed to help children in need, but I am equally as willing and able to contribute. Have you heard of the coffee machine that some of the fancier tea houses around town have adopted?"
What was she getting at? Raising a questioning eyebrow he waited sceptically.
"Well, if our sales reports are accurate, which they one hundred percent were last time I checked, then our backlog of preorders is long enough that we could afford to buy three whole factories on the nearest continent. Seeing as I possess a significant amount of their stocks I am, without attempting to brag, one of the richest people in the city. Discounting my fellow Black Whistles and above of course."
There were too many revelations and implications in this calmly delivered statement that Jirou couldn't help but inquire: "Did you mean to imply that you are a Black Whistle?"
Tanya looked not a day older than eleven, except her cold, blue eyes, making him once again wonder if this was maybe some elaborate disguise to appear nonthreatening. There had never been a Black Whistle so young, simply because it was just not biologically possible. The strain of ascent from the fourth layer alone was unbearable even for adults.
Lyza did confide to him that the only reason Riko survived her ill-fated birth down in the Abyss was because she had been transported the entire way in a special, one of a kind, curse-repelling box, yet still her eyesight was irreparably damaged by the strain.
How could Tanya possibly have been able to travel upwards from the fifth layer at that age? And apparently proficiently enough to earn a coveted black whistle? No chance. This had to be a lie or exaggeration of some kind.
"Indeed."
From below her shirt she pulled out a necklace along with a whistle. Without a doubt it was a real one, with its fine polish and smooth engravings; or it was at least an expensive fake.
"My father lives at the lowest point of the Abyss, furthering our collective understanding of the Abyss and its mechanics and as such I have been required to deal with the curse for a long time. Thanks to the amazing support of Bondrewd and his excellent associates I am proud to have undergone a thorough training in the art of delving. I am sure that if you ask Riko here to present the letters that I wrote to her over the years then they will form a comprehensive picture of most of my many exploits anywhere from the fifth to the second layer."
Keeping his growing puzzlement off his face Jirou glanced over at his boss who wore an irritatingly thoughtful expression. He needed to cut in quickly before the shrewd, old woman could get the wrong ideas.
"We are still not going send Riko with some stranger-"
Placatingly Tanya raised her free hand and cleared her throat to interrupt him.
"All I am asking is let Riko make that decision herself. I believe that she is destined for great things and that keeping her here against her will would be irresponsible. She can take as long as she wants to come to a conclusion, but at the end of the day it is her life we are talking about here. I am merely presenting her with an opportunity of early employment."
He frowned.
"This is too dangerous. Her mother left her in our care. I-"
"And for that I am thankful."
Why did she keep interrupting him? Was this part of her plan?
"Here... For taking care of my friend for all this time. See it as a small token of my gratitude."
Easily she produced a purse from one of her many pockets, sliding it over the table and making it jingle in a way that audibly demonstrated how full it was. Jirou did not dare touch it.
"As I already mentioned, she can stay here if she chooses to. But if she wants to come with me to join our family and you let her... then I foresee a great many benefits coming your way..." she smiled pleasantly, fixing Belchero with a meaningful stare.
He did not like this. Not one bit. There was some greedy glint entering his boss's eyes, but certainly she wouldn't...
"Alright."
Jirou bit his tongue to stay quiet.
