Have you ever been a witch? Take this fireball!

Chapter 178 Selecting Orphans

Holy Light Church Orphanage.

There are currently about twenty orphans being cared for here.

There were more people at the beginning, but some of them have been selected by the Church of Holy Light for training and may become paladins, priests or nuns in the future.

When Dorothy arrived, the nun in charge of their care had already informed them that someone wanted to adopt them.

Every child was dressed very neatly; the oldest was twelve or thirteen. They usually helped with cooking at the orphanage.

The children were washing clothes, and the younger ones were only two or three years old, who were played with by some eight or nine-year-old children.

The children were very surprised when they saw Dorothy.

Especially the older children, in their eyes, Dorothy wasn't much older than them.

So they were even more curious about the identity of the girl who was about to adopt them.

I heard it's some kind of chamber of commerce; could she be a merchant's daughter?

"Children, come here." Renee beckoned the orphans to her side.

"Hello, Sister Renee." The children were very polite.

Renee greeted the children with a smile, then turned to Dorothy and said, "These are all the children the church is currently taking in. How many do you want to take?"

Dorothy looked at the children lined up in front of her.

"Are any of them literate?" Dorothy asked.

Renee shook her head.

"They are all children from ordinary families who have never received literacy education. Generally, children who come here will be taught to read and write by the Holy Light Church, but right now we don't have enough manpower or money."

Renee sighed helplessly.

Originally, after the Church of Holy Light came here, the number of believers gradually increased through development.

However, the events in the City of Apprentices have made it difficult to recruit believers.

The Holy Light Church here is barely able to keep operating and simply cannot spare any extra manpower.

Dorothy turned to look at the children in front of her.

These children's eyes held both curiosity and wariness.

Dorothy stepped forward and held up one finger.

"Hello, I am the president of the Carter Chamber of Commerce. We are currently looking for a few capable apprentices."

"Don't worry, I'm not some wicked, unscrupulous businessman. If anyone is willing to come with me, I'll provide three meals a day and lodging, and I'll also pay you a salary."

Then Dorothy extended her second finger.

"What I just mentioned are only the most basic requirements for you to work here. I will also hire special teachers to teach you to read and write. If any of you have magical talent, you can also learn magic."

After Dorothy finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Dorothy noticed a deeper wariness in the children's eyes.

It's obvious that they all reacted this way because of the conditions Dorothy had just set.

Then Dorothy suddenly realized that what she had just described as the bare minimum conditions were already as wonderful as heaven for the children in front of her.

So they subconsciously felt that Dorothy wasn't a good person.

They are villains who lure them in with attractive offers.

Dorothy was somewhat helpless; she could only add to her own words.

"If you want to get what I just mentioned, you have to work hard and earn gold coins for me. You have to hand over 30% of your monthly pay to me, since this is a job opportunity I'm giving you. You also have to sign a contract and work for the Carter Chamber of Commerce until you die."

"Who among you is willing to come with me?"

Dorothy noticed a change in the expressions of the children in front of her after she said those words.

The wariness in their eyes had lessened considerably.

The little ones clearly didn't believe in free lunches.

Dorothy scratched her head.

The little guys were clearly more convinced that Dorothy was looking for slaves than that they were paying them to work.

Dorothy noticed that several older children were making eye contact with each other.

Finally, two children stepped forward.

A boy and a girl.

The boy had short, flaxen hair, freckles on his face, and a cunning glint in his bright blue eyes from time to time.

The girl had her hair tied in golden pigtails, and although she was wearing coarse linen clothes, she was very well-developed.

The two children are about the same height, but the girl looks slightly older.

The girl spoke first: "Um, esteemed owner of the merchant guild, my name is Ellie. May I ask, if we join your merchant guild, will we still be able to come back to visit the nuns and our younger siblings?"

What a sensible child.

Dorothy sighed to herself.

She smiled kindly and said, "Of course you can. I'm a businesswoman, not a slave trader, so I won't restrict your freedom."

Upon hearing this, Ellie breathed a sigh of relief and fell silent.

Dorothy then added, "Oh, and you can call me Dorothy."

At that moment, the boy spoke up.

"Lady Dorothy, my name is Jack. I'd like to know if, after paying you a portion of our wages, we are free to use the rest?"

This seemed very important to the boy, because as he asked the question, his hands were clasped together and he kept swallowing nervously.

Dorothy raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you can. You can allocate that money as you see fit, and I won't interfere with how you use it."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief after receiving Dorothy's affirmative reply.

Then Jack and Ellie exchanged a glance, nodded in unison, and said to Dorothy in unison, "We're willing to go with you, Lady Dorothy."

Dorothy turned to Renée and said, "Could you please prepare a contract for us, Miss Renée? Just what I just mentioned."

Renee nodded and said, "Of course, Miss Dorothy."

With Renée as her witness, Dorothy completed her first employee recruitment.

Although they only managed to recruit two people, Dorothy felt it was a good start.

Moreover, Dorothy felt that both Jack and Ellie were clever children and would definitely do well in the Chamber of Commerce.

After leaving the Church of the Holy Light, Dorothy took her two children directly to Angel.

"Hey! Angel! Look at the two adorable little henchmen I brought you!"

Angel looked on in bewilderment at Jack and Ellie, who were being pushed by Dorothy from behind and looked very reserved.

Dorothy pointed at Angel and said to Jack and Ellie, "Her name is Angel. She will be your boss from now on, and she'll also be the owner of this clothing store."

Then, pointing to Jack and Ellie respectively, he said to Angel, "This is Jack, and this is Ellie. Teach them well how to make costumes so they can share the burden of your work in the future."

"Also, to showcase the unique characteristics of our Carter Chamber of Commerce, Angel, design me a uniform right now. From now on, everyone in the Carter Chamber of Commerce will have to wear this uniform."

Angel stared wide-eyed at Jack and Ellie standing on either side of Dorothy, and for some reason, she suddenly felt out of favor.