Klaus arrived in Fiore after a few days of travel and an equal number of days lost in thought, pondering what the future held for him. In the east of the country, bordering the nations of Seven and Bosco, was the town of Hosenka. Klaus was somewhat familiar with the town's popularity after hearing the tales of its beautiful holiday attractions, of the regular fairs and the festivals that drew tourists from far and wide.

Hosenka was rumoured to have been built by settlers from Joya, a country south of Bosco, who sought to build on top of a bed of hot spring areas due to its geographical location near a range of mountains. Klaus observed how many of the town's structures were sculpted from wood rather than the usual brick and mortar, an architectural choice typical of the Joyan people, as soon as he entered into the town.

"Mersmerising," "beautiful," and "awe-inspiring" were among the adjectives that rushed through Klaus' mind as his feet approached the town square. Even though it couldn't compete with larger cities, the town deserved every ounce of its reputation as a fantastic tourist destination. Despite that, Klaus was not on a cultural tourism trip, and his motivation for being there concerned different aspects.

Klaus struggled to stay focused on the reason he came to Hosenka in the very first place as the town's charm kept drawing his attention and deflecting it away from the issues at hand. The town he was so taken with was just that, a modest stepping stone on his road to rehabilitation, but he had to adjust to the shift in scenery and culture before he could even begin the actual work. Regardless of the fact that he wasn't particularly an introvert, the idea of dealing with a crowd of strangers felt a little daunting, but he had to do what he had to do.

Speaking of strangers, he was precisely that in regards to all Fiore encompassed. He was a stranger among strangers, a fresh face in town, and possibly even an oddball given the circumstances. Klaus couldn't pass as a tourist or a mere visitor, no matter how hard he tried; he couldn't give off the festive spirit that so many tourists do. Nonetheless, money is universal, regardless of where you are in the world, and Klaus had to get his hands dirty in order to acquire some cash. The dilemma was that he didn't know where to begin. If adventurers operate in a similar manner all over the place, then the local inn or tavern should have some form of employment board hanging around.

Jobs are duties that mages can partake in and gain compensation for when they complete them, most commonly in the form of regional currency. Because the difficulty of these jobs varies and they are classified into different ranks, Klaus' best bet was probably to take on a mundane task. The typical line of work caters to mages of various degrees or strengths, and someone like Klaus, who really doesn't need to be particularly strong to do these assignments, could easily complete them. Granted, the rewards fluctuate depending on the objectives, but Klaus was in desperate need of money and didn't have the freedom of pondering over these matters.

While trying to orient himself in space, hoping to eventually run into a place with a job listing, he had the brilliant idea of talking to one of the locals. When he came to a halt on the streets of Hosenka, he approached the most pleasant face he could see. Klaus cleared his throat as he approached this person, an elderly woman who, despite her age, could be called young, and then respectfully asked for directions because he didn't know his way around. He explained to the lady in front of him that he was looking for a tavern in the vicinity so that he could get some jobs off the board, and she simply stopped him for a second. In response, the eldery woman requested Klaus to work for her instead, on a temporary basis, with an almost cheeky smirk on her face. Of course, as a reward for his kind aid, he would receive the much-needed directions once he completed the work she had in mind for him.

Klaus couldn't help but wonder about the various implications accepting this lady's offer would have as he listened to it right in front of his eyes and ears. Admittedly, he was quite fortunate to be recruited in such an unsuitable location as a street, but what could an old person like his discussion partner compensate? It wouldn't be fair for her to hire a new employee, even if only for a short time, if the most she was willing to pay them was some coordinates. Obviously, a map could do the same thing, and it would not involve any physical work. Somehow still, Klaus felt tempted to accept what the old lady was suggesting.

In fact, he did. Silence fell when the lady finished speaking and presented her offer to Klaus. He appeared lost in thought during that brief moment of total silence, clearly evaluating the highs and lows of this job. He eventually decided to accept because he had nothing to lose. He wasn't yet given any details about the job, but how risky could it be? After all, his soon-to-be employer is only an elderly woman.

The lady's cheeky smirk changed into a wide smile as soon as Klaus told her he was intrigued. The smile, which was framed by wrinkles and other signs of withering, was complemented with some kind of tenderness Klaus wasn't used to. The lady finally introduced herself as the smile slowly began to fade naturally. Despite the fact that her name is "Meirin," she proceeded to express her pleasure at meeting Klaus and requested that he address her simply as "Granny." When she told Klaus that she disliked being called anything other than "Granny," especially in certain situations, she came across as almost too sincere. He took the decision right away to never refer to Granny by anything other than her preferred nickname.

Granny, Klaus's new charismatic acquaintance, had a peculiar energy around her. Klaus couldn't tell what kind of expertise she had because she carried herself with a confidence that seemed to be formed on years and years of training.  Then, as part of the natural flow of the conversation, Granny began to describe what she did for a living. To Klaus' surprise, the lady he was chatting with was not just any ordinary citizen, but one of the best cleaners in Hosenka, if not all of Fiore, as she charismatically joked.

In fact, when Granny proudly stated that, despite her age, she gets the job done better than most young trainees in town, Klaus' intuition became a fact. Her bones, akin to machinery, are still strong and trustworthy to this day, while her hands, despite trembling from age, still demonstrate enough dexterity to put her competitors to shame. Indeed, Granny was quite unique.

When he was younger, Klaus used to dismiss elderly people right away and treat them as living annoyances. He didn't understand why he should respect folks who had just a few more months to live. Klaus didn't know any of them personally, so his respect wasn't going to keep them happy beyond their dying breath. After all, he was a firm believer in earned respect, and respect, in his opinion, could only be gained by strength. At such a late stage in life, none of the people he was supposed to respect could display that.

As time passed by, Klaus had the opportunity to learn about the wisdom of some elderly people, especially after his near-death experience. A significant number of the philosophers he read, both female and male, published some truly inspirational books near the end of their lives, and Klaus continued to live by some of those lessons even after their passing. Reading their works served as a wake-up call for him, or at the very least for his common sense.

Klaus developed some sort of admiration for Granny after hearing a small part of her story, but due to his distant personality, he kept his thoughts and feelings to himself rather than voicing his admiration for her. At the same time, Klaus couldn't help but notice that the elderly lady was standing there, glancing at him weirdly. He felt as if she was invading his personal space, and in other circumstances he would speak up and tell the other person to piss off, but he couldn't risk offending Granny, so he let it go. She stopped studying him by the time she had finished explaining how she worked for a couple of nearby resorts, one of which was the location of his job.

Eventually, she revealed that she was paying more attention to Klaus because she didn't notice how well-trained his body seemed at first. Klaus's immediate thought was that Granny was perhaps a little too elderly to look at young men in that way, but he didn't say anything about it. As the talk progressed, Granny went on to describe how Klaus's slightly aloof attitude would be ideal for the job.

Granny had a group of trainees she wanted to supervise for a few hours at one of the nearby resorts where she worked. Of course, she quickly stated that she had more important things to do and tasked Klaus with keeping an eye on her pupils in his absence. After all, she needed a young man to keep them working, and his aloof attitude, as previously noted, could help keep the trainees in check. The job itself was simple: all he had to do was make sure the trainees didn't slouch and didn't do anything stupid that would harm Granny's or the resort's reputation. An almost too easy task.

Klaus had to think about it once more. Tasks that appear simple are rarely simple, and something is bound to go wrong, so he had to carefully consider the likelihood of that happening. The concept of training someone else's students didn't bother him, but his intuition was going crazy in the back of his head, as if an accident might happen out of nowhere and Klaus would have to pay for the damage. Of course, his instincts weren't always correct. If they were, it would have been ridiculous; he didn't strike anyone as a fortune teller. Or, in this case, misfortune. Nonetheless, there were many things that could go wrong, and Klaus was unsure whether the effort was justified.

Granted, Granny's offer appeared to be a good one at first, but dealing with other people meant he had loose ends he couldn't regulate. Klaus was far from a control freak, but his concerns were reasonable in that scenario, and he would have preferred to have a bigger picture before expressing interest in the job. With all of the details on the table, refusing would appear impolite, especially since he had previously expressed interest in what Granny had to say. Overall, the risk-to-reward ratio was fairly normal, and Klaus only had to think about it for a minute or two before realizing he was being paranoid for no reason. Perhaps this was a result of relocating to a new country and starting from scratch all over again.

Eventually, Klaus extended his hand to meet Granny's, thanking her for the job offer and stating that he accepts and would do his best to keep the trainees under control. Having a grandma willing to give him directions and answer his questions could be useful, and Granny appeared to be a trustworthy ally in times of need. Of course, in proportion to her ability as a senior citizen.

As Klaus politely accepted the offer, Granny told him to meet her the next day at one of the resorts, dubbed Sultry Heights, right at the entrance.