GILF Hunter

Chapter 336 Unknown Guest

A massive crowd had gathered in the plaza since early morning.

Louise, glancing out at the throngs of people through the shop window, let out a small sigh.

As Louise turned back from the window to look inside the shop, the clerks and assistants she had hired recently all wore similar expressions to hers.

Today was the grand opening of the Louise Atelier storefront.

The people crowded in the plaza were customers who had come seeking the Louise Atelier opening today.

Rumors about Louise Atelier had already spread throughout the entire city.

Once news broke that the shop belonging to Louise, the developer of that potion, was opening, people flocked from all directions to buy the potions today.

Since the large merchant guilds she’d contracted with were also scheduled to sell the potions soon, it would likely be cheaper and involve shorter lines to buy them then.

That’s what Louise thought, but the people’s perspective was entirely different.

After all, there was a certain image that a product made directly by the developer themselves would be more effective.

In fact, when it came to items like potions, that wasn’t entirely incorrect.

Compared to potions mass-produced by hiring alchemists in a factory, those made directly in the workshop of a high-level alchemist were naturally bound to be even slightly more potent.

This was the result.

A crowd that seemed to almost fill the plaza.

At the very least, it was a relief that a line had formed.

If such a crowd had surged into the shop in a disorderly fashion, it would have been impossible to handle.

Louise recalled the potions displayed in the shop and the stock she had prepared in the warehouse beforehand.

Potions made in preparation for today were piled high, but seeing the crowd gathered outside, she wasn’t sure how many days they would last.

’...Let’s open.’

The scheduled opening time for the shop arrived.

Louise nodded, and soon, the shop doors opened.

Immediately, customers poured into the shop along with cheers.

It was Day 1 of the Louise Atelier opening.

＊ ＊ ＊

At the same time, the base of the Ian Mercenary Group.

There, too, various people were moving around the interior since early morning.

’Good morning, Master.’

Maids passed by Ian in the hallway, offering a light greeting.

The rest of the members were sitting quietly on the sofas in the lounge, looking like they hadn’t adjusted to the change yet.

They were the new employees of the base hired recently.

While Ian was recruiting staff to work at Louise’s atelier, he also recruited staff to handle the mercenary group’s affairs.

It was possible thanks to the regular monthly income source established through the potion supply.

General staff to handle various chores of the mercenary group, and office staff to manage administrative processing.

Most of them were former guild employees hired through Camilla’s introduction.

Since large mercenary groups have many external affairs to handle, most places have staff to take over work outside of mercenary duties. Now, the Ian Mercenary Group had joined those ranks.

Perhaps because most had experience working at the guild, they were professionals who needed no further instruction in handling the group’s business.

Thanks to them, a serious and orderly atmosphere settled over the mercenary group in an instant.

However.... the members didn’t seem to be adapting well to the suddenly changed, unfamiliar environment.

Because of the staff present everywhere, the members—who felt self-conscious and could no longer lounge around the breakroom as they used to—asked Ian tentatively.

’...How long are these people going to be here?’

’They’re staying permanently?’

’My breakroom is....’

Mika hung her head with a look of despair.

Until now, it had been a hideout-like place where only the members gathered to rest, but now that staff were moving about, it began to feel like a full-fledged mercenary office.

Once a mercenary group reaches this scale, it’s practically no different from a corporation, so it wouldn’t be wrong to call this base of operations a corporate office.

Members of other large mercenary groups who are used to being with staff seem to lounge comfortably without caring about the staff’s gaze at all, but for the members of the Ian Mercenary Group who were meeting staff for the first time, that was a distant story.

’...Then when will the construction on the building next door be finished?’

’Probably around next month?’

Mika asked while pointing at the buildings under construction right next to the base.

Both sides of the mercenary base. They were the two new buildings Ian had purchased.

By entrusting the potion sales to the merchant guild, Ian had received a significant contract down payment.

As the profits this contract would bring in the future were massive, the down payment Ian received in advance was also an enormous amount.

Ian immediately purchased the adjacent buildings with that income.

The charm of managing a mercenary group that begins from the point where personal funds become practically meaningless in the mid-game. This was the first start of a large-scale base expansion.

Buying new land to put up buildings, operating shops to earn income.

Or, one could directly increase the city’s development level by constructing facilities like research labs or large-scale workshops.

There was also the option of investing donations into the city to strengthen defensive facilities.

If one had excess money, the things they could do were scattered everywhere.

However, unlike a game where you can buy land and put up buildings with a single click, now it took quite a bit of time and procedure to acquire buildings and land.

So Ian started the expansion lightly by first purchasing the closest places, the buildings on both sides of the base.

Since most of the buildings near this Guild House were owned by the guild anyway, negotiations weren’t that difficult.

’Please hurry and finish the new breakroom first.’

’Can’t you just use this place?’

’...There are way too many people passing through.’

’Well, it’s the first floor.’

Ian originally intended to make a small lounge on the floor where the dormitories were, but the members wanted it on the first floor.

That was likely because it was more convenient to use and the space was much wider. The kitchen was close, too.

But with the staff increasing like this, the breakroom occupying a large spot on the first floor—where the most movement occurred—was no longer a space where they could rest comfortably.

...At that time, they probably couldn’t have predicted the mercenary group would become this big.

In that sense.

What the members were waiting for were the two buildings under new construction on both sides of the base.

In one building, a large warehouse and private workshops.

And on the other side, a large training ground and magic practice room that increased learning effects and training proficiency.

...was the plan to build.

Unfortunately, the documents were discovered by the members, and he faced a rebellion before the construction even started.

It was a narrow margin, sadly.

In the end, in the building where the large training ground was supposed to be, a new large lounge with a big garden, flower beds, a library, and a kitchen was being built.

This was because the main building was now being used for the mercenary group’s official business and office space, and with so many employees, it was difficult to rest comfortably as before.

Thanks to the large-scale leisure facilities being built, the base’s stress recovery speed and rest bonuses had reached almost their maximum values.

He also managed to snag some growth bonuses thanks to the library’s study books and meditation room tucked in as a compromise.

However, since completion was still far off, everyone was peeking at the construction site next door whenever they had a chance.

’Master.’

Meanwhile, one of the employees came to find Ian.

’There is a guest looking for you, Master.’

It was an unscheduled, sudden visit from a guest.

＊ ＊ ＊

A little while before that.

There was a person who knocked on the door of the Ian Mercenary Group.

A woman with long blonde hair flowing down.

She carried a fairly large travel bag and was wearing clothes that were easy to move in.

At a glance, she looked like an ordinary traveler, but the high-quality material of the fabric showed she wasn’t just a typical traveler.

A moment later, an employee opened the door and greeted the sudden visitor.

Since there were no appointments scheduled for today, the employee asked the guest her business.

’How may I help you?’

’I’m here to meet someone. An alchemist named Louise.’

’Miss Louise?’

Is she an interviewee for Louise Atelier? The employee looked at the guest with a puzzled face.

The interviews were already over. Did she mistake the date?

Thinking that, the employee was about to explain the situation and send the guest back.

But before that, the blonde woman, reaching into her pocket for a moment, pulled out a letter.

’I received a letter, and it said the location was here.’

An envelope stamped with the guild’s seal.

The sender’s address was definitely this Ian Mercenary Group.

...Ah. Is she someone the Master invited personally?

Only then did the employee understand the situation and nod.

Seeing that she had received a separate letter, it seemed she was an individual specifically invited from afar.

’Please come in.’

The employee first guided the guest inside.

And soon, the guest who visited the mercenary group building was guided to Ian’s room.

This was because Ian had handled all the hiring for Louise Atelier.

Due to the misunderstanding that she was an interviewee, this guest was also naturally guided to Ian.

’...?’

’...?’

The guest suddenly guided to Ian.

And Ian, who met a guest he was seeing for the first time.

Both looked at each other’s faces with puzzled expressions.

Their faces carried the meaning of ’Who is this person?’

’Who are you?’

’You are the one who...?’

It was a guest who had been misdirected.

...Well, it was something that happened quite often. The larger the organization, the more channels there are to receive guests, so if communication is slightly off, they are bound to be guided to the wrong person.

The guest, who grasped the situation first, bowed her head to Ian in greeting.

’I’m Elena.’

Elena held out her identification tag along with the introduction.

Orsia Jewelers Guild, 1st Class Artisan.

’I came looking for a friend. An alchemist named Louise, I heard she works at this mercenary group.’

’So you were Miss Louise’s friend.’

Ian first pulled a gift from the drawer.