Charlot was certainly not doing this for himself; his record otless. If he wanted, he could even bee a true "sary thief." After all, Charlot’s legal superior, the Imperial Prince, would never meddle in the affairs of the city patrol guards. Whether Charlot showed up for work or not would have no impa his sary. He was doing this to create a legitimate system for these adventurers.

  Ever since being forced into exile, Charlot had resolved to aplish something meaningful.

  Once he turhis group of adventurers into city patrol guards, he would no longer be a lone ander with no troops under his name.

  As for the adventurers, there was o worry.

  The city patrol guards were formal military positions. Though the ine for lower-level patrol guards was modest, the pay was stable, and it offered safety. Rarely would anyone dare to attack patrol guards, making their lives far more secure pared to adventurers.

  If Charlot mao pull this off, it would be like a gift from the heavens for these adventurers, and very few would refuse.

  With dots signed by Mrs. Aldegonde, Charlot used the flors he had prepared and visited several departments. His experience smoothed the process. Having spent two years in the tral Gover Office, Charlot had not wasted his time and was deeply familiar with the Empire’s bureaucratic procedures.

  Following the formal process to recruit even the lowest-level civil servants was extraordinarily difficult. However, if existing civil servant records were “lost” and subsequently “replenished,” obtaining identities for a batch of low-level city patrol guards became much easier. It didn’t even require rep to higher authorities; all it took was w through a few key clerks.

  Of course, the most critical part of all this was Charlot’s own position as the ander of the city patrol guards, which granted him signifit power.

  After spending just over fifty flors, Charlot mao secure Lukavaro District city patrol guard identities for more than 170 people. Of those, around thirty were “questiories.”

  Naturally, this wasn’t the ey of the irregurities under his and. On paper, Charlot had more than 700 subordinates. As for the other 500 to 600 names, Charlot dared not iigate further.

  Sihese city patrol guards had been “missing” for so long, the relevaments also issued a back payment of saries. This money would certainly never make its way to the Lukavaro District city patrol guards. Who intercepted it, or which departments beed, was not Charlot’s .

  This money also served as one of his “access passes” to get things done.

  …

  By the time the sky darkened, Charlot returo 1 Yansun Street in Lukavaro District.

  The adventurers still had no idea that they had all received new identities. They were anxiously waiting for Charlot to return with “good news.”

  As soon as Charlot stepped into the office, the adventurers surrounded him, b him with questions about the treasure’s status and when they could get their share of the money.

  Charlot smiled broadly and raised his voice, saying, “Everyone, quiet dow me expin today’s au results.”

  “I aued off the first batch of treasure today!”

  “No! There’s no moo distribute just yet.”

  The room fell into a tense silence, and the atmosphere grew hostile.

  If they didn’t know Charlot possessed extraordinary abilities, someone would have already tried to attack him.

  Charlot quickly fahe fmes of their excitement with a few carefully chosen words, before steering the versation in another dire. “But I didn’t e back empty-handed!”

  “I secured a long-term small-payment tract! Each of you will receive thirty-five to forty times a week…”

  “For life!”

  The adventurers were stunned. Mason couldn’t hold back his anger and shouted, “You’re joking, right? Where would you find this so-called ‘long-term small-payment tract’?”

  This “tract” sounded so unreliable that it struck everyone as a crude, new kind of scam.

  Many people started shouting:

  “Pay us directly!”

  “We want real money!”

  “Who would fall for this nonsense?”

  “We’ve never heard of anything like this! How could such a tract exist?”

  “Thirty-five times a week, for life? That adds up to over a dozen flors a year. If I live for a few decades, wouldn’t that amount to dozens of gold écus?!”

  Charlot raised both hands to calm the crowd and said, “I know you don’t believe it, but let me expin the payment system. You will all receive jobs as members of the Lukavaro District city patrol guards. Most of you will start as 53rd-rank first-css privates, while a small number will be 52nd-rank sed-css privates.”

  “As long as you remain employed in the Lukavaro District city patrol guards, you will keep receiving this sary. However, if you decide to leave, then unfortunately, the long-term small-payment tract will be terminated.”

  “This is just the first batch of treasure. Remember, this is only the beginning!”

  “I made a promise!”

  “To everyone who participated in this treasure hunt, I swear on the aors of the beastmen: I guarahat your future wealth will not fall short of one hundred gold écus!”

  “I will not break my word!”

  “Now, please e forward to collect your Lukavaro District city patrol guard identification papers.”

  “These are official dots issued by the tral Gover Office. They are legitimate and ot be falsified. You verify them at any relevant gover department.”

  Yas whispered to the panioo him, “Do you really think he get all of us into the city patrol guards?”

  Many of the adventurers had tried to joiy patrol guards in the past, but the sele process required a “ record” and internal es. Most of them would never pass the sele on their own.

  This band of adventurers had e from various small groups, but over time, they had fed a sense of camaraderie. The man Yas spoke to replied quietly, “It’ll be easy to verify. He won’t be able to fool us for long.”

  Yas nodded. Seeing everyone else step forward to collect their new identification dots, he went up as well and received his papers as a sed-css private.

  In the Fars Empire’s 53-rank occupational hierarchy, first-css privates usually required a plete middle her education. Their weekly sary was thirty-five times, the Empire’s officially mandated minimum wage—though in practice, many received less.

  For the 52nd rank, the weekly sary was forty times. A middle education alone was no longer suffit to secure this position upory. It typically required waiting for promotions that occurred once every five years. These lower-ranking gover employees couldn’t pare to uy graduates, who e the 49th rank and advanced much faster.

  Graduates from national institutes, like Charlot’s superior Mrs. Aldegonde, began their careers at the 45th rank as assistant clerks.

  Charlot’s former fiancée, Miss Sylvie Martin, was also supposed to start as an assistant clerk, but… some things never went acc to pn.

  Once Charlot finished distributing the identification papers, he announced loudly, “Tonight, I’m treating everyone! Mason, Yas, Homonsa…” He called out a few names and said, “Head to the nearby shops and buy some supplies. Have them deliver everything here, and I’ll cover the cost.”