Sora approached the counter, feeling a mix of curiosity and awkwardness. The players around him were giving him strange looks, as if he were walking into the ladies' room.
'Just like in France...' he realized. It was customary to leave administrative jobs to civilians and those who didn't want to venture outside the safe zones. Players like Sora choosing a desk job were rarely looked upon favorably.
"Ignore them... They just think you aren't cut out for the job."
A woman's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. When he looked up, he saw a woman in her forties leaning against her workstation. Playing with her red hair, she looked thoroughly bored.
She pointed a finger at the other counters and continued, "Every other desk has a queue, and there are more applicants than job offers. Except ours."
Sora, who hadn't noticed that detail, looked around and saw she was right. But before he could ask why, she spoke again.
"Civilians can't work in Human Resources. And it's a pretty tough job for warriors, too. Hence the stares." She nodded toward a group of players who were eyeing him.
Sora struggled to understand. "Why?"
Seeing Sora's ignorance, the woman sighed. "It's a bit of a special profession. You see those contracts hanging all over the hall? You know they're guaranteed, and that they reward or punish the parties involved?"
When he nodded, she continued, "It's our profession that gives these contracts that power. And without a massive amount of mana, it's impossible."
For the second time, she pointed at the crowd. "So even if the Innocents wanted to do this job, they couldn't. Same goes for warriors with pathetic mana pools."
Seeing the woman's smirk and the dirty looks from the people she was pointing at, Sora felt amused.
"Your turn to answer. Based on your getup, you look like a warrior. I don't mind it at this point—we have too much work and no one to do it—so if you can handle at least one or two contracts a day, that works for me. Are you interested in learning the trade, or are you going to run away like those clowns over there?"
When she pointed at another group, who immediately looked away, Sora burst out laughing.
'She's completely unhinged,' he thought, before answering aloud. "I'm interested."
He had already made up his mind the moment she explained that the job required a large amount of mana.
The woman grabbed a stack of papers and handed it to him. "These companies accept and train beginners like you. Pick the one you want and tell them Riley sent you."
Sora leafed through the job offers. Seeing they were all similar, he picked one located close to the Job Hall. Once he made his choice, Riley handed him a token symbolizing his official candidacy for the position.
Then, watching him leave, Riley smiled and went back to staring down the players at the other counters.
***
On the way to his destination, Sora toyed with the token Riley had given him, thinking over the offer's conditions.
'I can go in at any time of day or night. And to keep the job, I just have to show up once a week and try to finalize a contract. Try? Seriously? How desperate are they to offer terms like that?'
Riley had explained that this job wasn't for Innocents or low-mana players, but Sora wasn't sure if she was exaggerating.
After a few minutes of walking, he arrived in front of a small building bearing his employer's name. He took a deep breath before pushing through the revolving door, where he was greeted by an extremely polite host.
"Hello! How can I help you today?"
The host was a man in his twenties—young, but clearly accustomed to greeting clients and visitors.
"I'm here for the [Human Resources Assistant] position," Sora explained briefly, presenting his token.
The clerk's eyes lit up. "Ah! We were notified just a few minutes ago. We're delighted you're already here. Please, come with me, I'll introduce you to the manager."
Sora knew how the tokens worked and was aware that the client was alerted the moment a token was issued. He followed the employee through the office corridors, taking note of the bustle.
'Even in a small city like Córdoba, it's lively...'
He saw files circulating, lawyers coming and going, and players sitting behind desks doing... whatever it was they did.
At the end of the last hallway, the host asked Sora to wait and knocked on a door. After a few moments, he was invited into a large office.
A beautiful woman with fine features looked at him intently. Her blonde hair was tied back, her suit was impeccable, and behind her glasses, Sora saw curiosity mixed with hope in her green eyes.
"Hello, please, sit down," she said. As Sora approached to take a seat, she asked, "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Tea?"
Sora was pleased by the warm welcome. "I wouldn't say no to a glass of water."
The woman signaled to the host who had escorted Sora. "Clement, could you get us a bottle of water and an orange juice?"
Seeing Clement leave, Sora smiled before settling into the armchair. 'So she just wanted an orange juice herself...'
The woman blushed when she saw Sora's smile and immediately changed the subject. "I'm Aria, a manager here. Thank you for choosing our agency for your HRA training."
Sora nodded and introduced himself in turn. While he spoke, Aria sat down opposite him—not behind the desk, but in another armchair. She scrutinized his appearance from head to toe, staring for so long that Sora had to clear his throat several seconds after he finished speaking.
Aria didn't hide her intentions and asked him directly, "That armor you're wearing, those developed muscles, and your sword tell me you look like a warrior. But I've also learned not to judge by appearances. Do you happen to have large mana reserves?"
Sora nodded. "I have good reserves and a high regeneration rate, but I don't know if it will be enough. I've never tried this kind of job before, after all."
Aria smiled. "Don't worry. Even if a magician has larger reserves, your high level will more than compensate. It should be enough to learn the ropes and finalize a contract or two today."
The mention of his level compensating for his lack of mana made Sora wince internally.
Before he could respond, Aria pointed to a stack of contracts on the desk. "I've prepared some contracts, and I'd like us to start with these."
Sora took a sip of water from the bottle Clement had just brought and sat up straighter in his chair to take the pen Aria was handing him.
"Before we start, I need to explain what our work—and yours—consists of."
Sora nodded, and Aria continued. "Our agency creates contracts for clients throughout the region. Before your world evolved into this, your contracts served to define a framework, rules, penalties, among other things. And when someone broke a rule or needed to be sanctioned, you appealed to the justice system, correct?"
Sora nodded.
Aria continued, "In this world, there is no need for that. Contracts are magical. Breaking a contract means being sanctioned by the contract itself. You probably know this, but all quests are contracts. Joining a guild means signing a contract. The token you took at the Job Hall is a contract."
Sora nodded again. He was aware of all that. He asked, "And our role in this?"
The beautiful woman smiled. "We create these contracts. Our lawyers, legal experts, and other staff draft and materialize the contracts for everyone. Your role, specifically, will be to empower them. Since you have a specialization in Human Resources, you can only handle contracts binding an employer and their employee. If you want to handle other types of contracts, you'll need to take a similar job in the relevant branch."
Sora was fascinated by Aria's explanation and didn't stay silent for long. "So mana is enough to make the contracts binding?"
Aria giggled. "In reality, it's not quite that simple, but you're not entirely wrong either. To put it better, mana is the final piece of the puzzle that allows the contract to come to life and become a divine rule."
Sora narrowed his eyes. "A divine rule?"
"Yes. It transforms a scrap of paper into something sacred and inviolable, redefining the relationship between the signers. Some contracts are so extreme they even suppress free will."
Sora understood immediately. "Slavery contracts?"
Aria answered directly. "Exactly. By using specific terminology, enough energy, and when there is a massive power gap between parties, those contracts are possible. That type of contract is illegal in our kingdom, but no one is truly safe from that kind of thing."
Noticing Sora's silence, she continued. "The contracts I'm giving you today are basic hiring agreements and some low-level quests. You'll need to trace over the terms of the contract with this pen, pouring your energy into it. When you run out of mana, you can stop and come back the next day to continue."
Sora nodded and took the contract Aria was holding out.
"Alright," Sora said, feeling more confident now. "Let's give this a try."