Volume 2 - CH 1.07

Part 7

The first applicant who entered was a mature-looking woman.

“Pleased to meet you.” She gave a fine bow of respect and sat on her designated seat.

The woman had thin eyelids, and her long black hair fell over her suit that did not fit, and her jacket creased as if to cover her seemingly well-nourished bust.

Heh, she’s showing no signs of tension and she was able to start the session with a warm smile on her face. +2 points. Furthermore, she doesn’t seem to be particularly affected by the presence of a strange mascot in the room. She’s seems pretty composed. +1 point.

Moffle folded his arms and threw himself back in his chair. For some reason, Isuzu was blinking in disbelief and muttered “From…my dream…?”, but Seiya couldn’t connect the dots, so he just left her as is.

“Pleased to meet you too, Adachi Eiko-san,” Seiya said while flipping through her CV. He was in charge of asking the questions while the other two observed. “Firstly, thank you for applying.”

“Likewise, thank you for having me today.”

Having settled the pleasantries, Seiya went ahead and checked what she had applied for.

“Okay, so your preferences are: 1)”Attraction” Cast Member, and 2)”Entrance” Cast Member. Truth be told, these two require a lot of guest interaction. Do you have any related work experience?”

“Yes. Up until last month, I was working for a talent agency.”

“Wow. Which talent agency, may I ask?”

“It’s a pretty obscure one…called Quatro Produce.”

As she said, Seiya had never heard of it.

But to be fair, there were easily hundreds of talent agencies out there. The one she mentioned was probably like a model agency or something. He’d heard that many working for talent agencies couldn’t renew their contract because of poor work performance or prolonged absence.

At any rate, her pride might get in the way and worsen relationships between other cast members. -1 point.

“I take it you don’t know about it?” Eiko said with an apologetic smile for the trouble he was having responding to her words.

Looks like she has a tactful side to her as well. +2 points.

“Ah, my apologies, I don’t follow many talent agencies… By the way, what kind of service does your agency provide? Modeling? Or perhaps escort service?”

“The one I work at makes films.”

“I see, what kind of films?”

“AVs.”

“…Sorry?”

“…Eh?”

“…Mofu?”

“AVs.”

An awkward silence ensued, with the legs of three chairs smacking the floor in perfect synchronization.

Eiko remained calm on her seat despite their adverse reactions.

“Uh…T-T-That’s a…rather…t-t-tough job, huh…”

“Indeed,” said Eiko with a pleasant smile.

“Uh…just to confirm again, an…AV, you say?”

“Yes. I’ve done about ten of them.”

“T-Ten!?”

Seiya may have been in charge of the interview, but he was not able to contain his disbelief and his voiced wavered as much as his body.

F-For real? Like…the actual AV and not some Advanced Vehicle or whatever? You mean…this gentle woman who managed to captivate even the great Kanie-sama? This…pure and innocent woman who was basically the ideal neighbor of any teenage boy? For such indecent videos… How could that be…what universe could have possibly put these two together?

Thoughts like these caused Seiya’s imaginary world inside his head to crumble.

Isuzu tensed up in shock, and Moffle hit Seiya’s sides with his paws.

(Seiya…Seiya!)

(W-What…?)

(Ask what her stage name was! I wanna know, fumo!)

(You know I can’t ask her that, right!?) Seiya hissed back.

He turned to face Eiko, who was still smiling at them, “Ah, p-pardon me. I-I have to say, you have some unusual work experience…please give us some time to think about this…”

“No problem, I get that quite a lot…”

This time her smile revealed a tinge of sadness. It was a smile that made one want to protect her in exchange for dark, shady favors that could never be said aloud.

“But don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

“M-Much obliged.”

Right then, Moffle continued whispering to him.

(Seiya!)

(W-What do you want?)

(Get yourself together, fumo. An interviewer obliging to the interviewee?)

(B-But…)

(You’re the boss here. Now go and ask her stage name and debut title!)

(Shut the hell up!)

Having said that, Seiya still wasn’t sure of how to follow up with the questions. The possibility of his questions being taken as sexual harassment had to be carefully considered.

Example 1)

‘You’re a university student, am I right?’ might be taken as…

→“What do your classmates think about you? I’m sure they all look at you with lecherous eyes, huehuehue…”

Example 2)

‘Your hourly rate will be 750 yen during your probation period. Is that okay?’ might sound like…

→“Your pay will be pretty low, are you really okay with that? Well, depending on your…’performance’ you might get more…’tips’, huehuehue…”

Example 3)

‘Oh, you enjoy horse riding as a hobby, I see?’ could possibly be construed as…

→“Oh my, you must have excellent horses to ride on, eh? Don’t worry, I’m a one-of-a-kind breed, why don’t you try me? Huehuehue…”

(No way can I say that!)

Cold sweat began trickling down Seiya’s temples.

Eiko cleared her throat and awaited his questions.

The air in the room became tense.

What should I do… Let’s see if our female interviewer can help with this situation. She wouldn’t get shaken by things like this after all, so she’ll probably be able to help.

He tore his gaze from Eiko to look at Isuzu.

“…”

Her face was pale and she was covering her mouth as always, shivering ever so slightly.

“S-Sento?”

“Mm—!!”

Isuzu looked up and moved her arms to reveal her mouth that was wide open and ready to shout. She grabbed Seiya by the ear and leaned forward.

“Ouch! Hey, what do you want…?”

Isuzu inched her lips closer to his ears, sucked in some air and said,

(Kanie-kun, I’m already on the brink of insanity right now, so don’t expect any help from me. First off, this applicant looks exactly like the one in my dream last night. Second, you seem to be very impressed by her conduct. Lastly, you even got that worked up after hearing about her work experience…mm—!!)

(W-What?)

(I don’t want to say further; from the looks of it, the heartsleeve fruit’s effect has yet to wear off. You’re an exceedingly talented person, yet at the sight of her bust and knowledge of her work experience, you got all wobbly inside. I can’t help but feel disappointed and insecure that you might replace me with her—) Once again, Isuzu squeezed her nose and groaned.

“Mm—!!”

“S-Sento…?”

She face-tabled for a moment and sighed. Ignoring everyone’s gazes, she dropped her shoulders and exhaled, “Ask…her reasons for applying…”

“G-Good idea. I like it.”

At least it won’t make me sound like I’m sexually harassing her.

(Mofu. Her stage name, fumo!)

(Shut your trap!)

Seiya cleared his throat and began. “My apologies, Eiko-san.”

“No worries,” replied Eiko in her usual professional manner.

“I’m sorry for the wait. Well then, can we hear your reasons for applying?”

This is something I’d really like to know. Why would one who holds a job in such a lucrative industry want to work in a damned theme park?

“Actually, you see…” Eiko took a brief moment and pondered over this as she looked at the ceiling with her index finger on her lips. The sight was one that could have taken any man aback.

Just what was on her mind that required that much consideration before telling us? Seiya thought of using his magical power, the one granted to him by the princess of Maple Land.

(No…)

Now was not the time. This should be used if an important event occurs when and if she gets accepted to work for Amaburi.

Thought the person who never used his grenades in games.

(…Ugh.)

Isuzu scowled at Seiya, presumably because she saw through his every motive.

Nah, I doubt she’s sharp enough to tell that much.

A while later, Eiko began to speak. “…I was simply not cut out for the job, to be honest. Of course, it’s not that I hated it or anything, it’s just that I’d prefer seeing my customers’ smiles up close, so I applied here.”

“R-Right.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“N-No, of course not.” Seiya struggled to keep his watery eyes in order.

Why must such a fine lady be…why…I don’t get this world anymore.

The phrase “not that I hated it or anything” dealt critical damage to his soul.

So you didn’t dislike your previous job, huh… For some reason I’m shattering inside. Seriously…why…

Anyway, I’d better get myself together.

Seiya regained his composure and continued. “Thank you very much. We will contact you on a later date regarding the outcome of your application.”