"By the way, boss lady, Hydis Magic Academy will be granting slots for external assignments in a month. Can you get one here?" Caius suddenly asked.

  "Hydis?" Yvlan raised an eyebrow while wiping a glass. "Then I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. My tavern isn’t big enough to qualify. Those slots will be in the hands of the old-timers in the inner city."

  "As for the outer city… probably only that mercenary tavern in the east will get one slot."

  "No way. Even someone as capable as you doesn’t qualify? Are they blind?" Caius exaggerated.

  Yvlan was quite pleased by the remark and huffed, "Who says they aren’t?"

  "They look down on me because I’m a woman. They think I can’t handle big things."

  She seemed somewhat indignant but soon shook her head and sighed. "But they’re not entirely wrong. In this line of work, men do have an advantage."

  Caius’s eyes flickered.

  He caught the deeper meaning behind Yvlan’s words.

  Men have an advantage in this line of work?

  No, compared to men, women actually have more advantages—especially beautiful women.

  However, it was clear that Yvlan had no intention of leveraging that "advantage." Otherwise, this place would undoubtedly have a lot more "customers."

  Caius had already noticed—no mercenary in the tavern dared to whistle at Yvlan.

  Because of that, he actually admired this beautiful tavern owner quite a bit. But right now, she clearly needed a little motivation.

  Taking a sip of his drink, he said, "So, you’re just giving up?"

  Yvlan paused her glass-wiping for a moment before turning to face Caius. His face bore a faint smile, which inexplicably irked her.

  "Of course not. Otherwise, do you think I gave you those jobs because you’re handsome?" Yvlan glared at Caius.

  "Isn’t that the case?" Caius stroked his chin, then turned to Kiki. "Am I not handsome?"

  Kiki: "Very handsome, meow!"

  Caius turned back, raising his chin at Yvlan in a teasing manner. "As everyone knows, catfolk never lie."

  Yvlan chuckled. This kid could really talk. She had never heard of this so-called "everyone knows."

  She sighed helplessly. "So, what do you want to do?"

  "If I get you the qualifications, can you secure an external assignment slot?" Caius asked.

  "Of course!" Yvlan’s competitiveness was stirred. "The slots are mainly distributed by the Guild."

  "Hydis Academy grants the slots to the Guild, and the Guild distributes them to its branches."

  "The tavern essentially acts as a branch of the Mercenary Guild."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "Branches follow a rating system, evaluated every month. Only those rated at least two stars in a given month have a chance to get a slot."

  "A chance, mind you."

  "And that’s assuming there are enough slots available. If not, higher-rated mercenary taverns get priority."

  "Hailan No. 11 is a tavern I opened two years ago. Our monthly rating has always been two stars."

  "That meets the minimum requirement, but in the past two years, I haven’t managed to get even a single slot!"

  She was clearly frustrated, her tone sharp.

  "Because there’s another tavern in the outer city that maintains a stable three-star rating. Last time, they got two slots, and I still got nothing."

  "So, if I want to secure a slot, I have to raise the tavern’s rating to three stars within the next half month."

  "How do you do that?" Caius asked.

  "It depends on the tavern’s monthly revenue and the level of commissions it takes. I did the calculations—my monthly revenue already meets the three-star standard. But our commission level isn’t high enough," Yvlan said.

  "If I can accept ten Gold-tier missions this month and maintain an 80% completion rate, then my rating next month will be three stars."

  "If Hydis Academy grants over 150 slots, I will definitely get one!"

  Snap!

  Caius snapped his fingers, leaving Yvlan puzzled.

  "Done. I have insider info—this time, there will be over 180 slots." Caius grinned.

  Yvlan was stunned. This guy had only just arrived in Ocean City, and he was already making connections and getting insider information?

  Then, growing excited, she asked, "So, you mean…?"

  Caius stood up, waved at Kiki, and headed for the door. His confident voice rang out, "I’ll handle the rating, you handle getting me the slot."

  Yvlan, startled, hurriedly vaulted over the bar and chased after him. "How exactly are you going to do that?"

  "Just so you know, those three Gold-tier missions were the only three I managed to get as free commissions. There are no more."

  To upgrade the tavern’s rating, they needed free commissions—missions submitted by a third party, accepted and distributed by the tavern.

  Guild missions, on the other hand, were public, long-term assignments issued by the Guild itself. These didn’t count toward a tavern’s rating or a mercenary’s rank advancement.

  "Sponsorships. That’s my specialty. Just wait and see." Caius walked off without looking back, leaving Yvlan standing at the entrance, watching his departing figure.

  Her fists clenched slightly as she murmured, "Maybe… it really is possible?"

  ……

  "Big guy, can you really do it?" Kiki hopped along beside Caius, joyfully inspecting her newly acquired mercenary ID while curiously asking.

  "With me, nothing’s impossible." Caius laughed heartily, then began organizing his thoughts.

  First, he had to deliver Holan’s letter. That was urgent—only three days to complete, and today was the second day, so he had to take care of it soon.

  Second, he needed to reach Gold-tier mercenary rank within a month. That was a given. He had already reviewed the requirements, and they weren’t difficult for him.

  Third, he needed to secure sponsors—or rather, secure missions.

  According to the rules posted in the tavern, a mission qualified as Gold-tier either by its level of danger or by the rank of the target involved.

  So, his next step was to find people capable of issuing Gold-tier commissions and have them submit their requests through Yvlan’s tavern. That way, private jobs would become Guild-registered missions.

  Then, by completing those missions, they would count toward Yvlan and Hailan No. 11.

  Even though middleman fees made this route pricier, Caius didn’t care.

  Yvlan would know how to handle the business, and at worst, he could take a slight pay cut. Gold-tier missions ranged from 1,000 to 5,000 in commission fees—losing a bit wouldn’t hurt him. He wasn’t strapped for cash.

  What mattered most was building his reputation—and securing an external assignment slot for Kiki.

  As for finding people to issue Gold-tier commissions…

  Caius figured the lovely Instructor Holan might be willing to help.

  Or, he could go for another method—one he had used in his past life, which was very practical and effective.

  The downside? It tended to get him beaten up.

  What method?

  Simple—he’d camp outside Yvlan’s competitor, the other three-star tavern, and poach their clients.

  Since commission issuers had to visit a mercenary tavern to submit requests, he’d intercept them at the entrance—grabbing, persuading, even sweet-talking them into transferring their tasks to Hailan No. 11.

  A bit underhanded? Maybe.

  But Caius didn’t care. Business was business.

  Besides, if he became well-known, he might not even need to steal clients—they would come to him naturally.

  With everything sorted out, Caius snapped his fingers. "Let’s go, Kiki. Time to deliver that letter."

  "Got it, meow!"