While Xu Feng walked around the hotel lobby to give a quick inspection, he was subtly interrupted by one of the employees.
"Sir, would you like a coupon that gives you an offer to buy two get one free." The employee asked.
Amused, Xu Feng shook his head. "No thanks, I'm only staying here for a few nights and that's it. I have no need for coupons."
After saying that, he turned around and left, whereas the crowd went back to their own business once they saw this scene.
It wasn't the first time they witnessed an employee trying to offer up some coupons to random passersby in hopes of getting them to spend more money.
However, what they didn't know was that this was precisely Xu Feng's arrangement to be informed that Tracy wanted to see him to report back.
By doing so, the NPCs won't suspect him of being an owner, and it would also boost sales by giving them coupons to continuously spend their money on the hotel.
Shortly after leaving the lobby, Xu Feng donned a mask and swapped to an employee uniform discreetly before making his way to the employee lounge.
He was even more wary than before, given some of these NPCs were extremely perceptive. Just one small hint would expose his identity.
As for the reason why he didn't simply have Tracy go to his room, it was even more obvious.
With Tracy's high profile as the auctioneer, her every movement would be heavily scrutinized.
If news of her entering his room went out, it would be a miracle if no one deduced the person who rented that room was someone unique.
As for having the other employees relay the news on her behalf, it was even more inapplicable, given they had been recognized and marked for being the ones to guide them to their new rooms.
Additionally, the system interface was limited when giving instructions to Tracy, resulting in him having no other choice but to speak with her directly in a safe spot.
Sometime later, Xu Feng arrived at the employee's lounge and noticed Tracy jotting down a lot of notes.
Upon seeing Xu Feng's arrival, she quickly got up and smiled, "Boss, we made a lot of money this time. Aside from the rental room money, we also earned a lot from the customers ordering food from the built-in restaurant and bar."
Nodding, Xu Feng already knew about this detail.
After all, the overall income was listed in a new system interface specifically for owners. Thus, he didn't need to hear his employees reporting him the overall income constantly.
"Alright, let's put that matter aside." Xu Feng commented and calmly took a seat. "What was the reason that you needed to see me?"
"Ah, right, reporting to my boss, I've found a few blacksmiths willing to be hired by you. However, the merchants seemed disinterested." Tracy reported, handing him a list of documents.
The merchants being disinterested was not much of a surprise to Xu Feng.
After all, the city's condition was truly terrible. Only a foolish merchant would want to settle here.
Hence, he wasn't disappointed and instead had his eyes on the blacksmiths willing to be hired by him.
Similar to the Mastery Level ranking, blacksmiths were also ranked accordingly, with only one additional rank. They are ranked from lowest to highest: Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master, and Pinnacle.
Fiona Forgefire was an Expert Blacksmith, and being an expert already allowed them to receive a similar status to a Duke in terms of noble.
The ranking might not seem large, but just trying to increase one rank to another was extremely difficult.
Just to rank up from Novice to Apprentice, the person must be capable of knowing at least 50 items, and they must successfully craft at least 3 items on the level of an Apprentice to be promoted.
The first requirement itself was already a daunting task, given not many are resourceful or wealthy enough to get their hands on many designs.
As for the second requirement, it was even more difficult, given the materials required to forge one on that level were rare.
This was because they couldn't possibly cut any corner like Expert Blacksmith, who could outright ignore some of the materials.
"It's already not bad that I have at least 3 Apprentice level blacksmiths willing to be hired, but their asking price is quite expensive." Xu Feng furrowed his brows and said coolly.
They all wanted a monthly fee of 3 gold coins, as well as a fixed amount of supplies of materials delivered to them.
The gold coin itself wasn't a problem considering his current wealth, but their asking price of the fixed amount of supplies was exorbitant.
They wanted at least 200 monthly supplies, enough for them to continuously study their respective craft. That was equivalent to a price of 100 gold coins and above, depending on the market price for them.
As for the Novice level blacksmiths, their monthly asking fee was 1 gold coin, but they still wanted around 50 monthly supplies.
"Inform them that the hiring fee is fine, but if they want that many monthly supplies, then they must produce results and deliver the items I want." Xu Feng returned the documents to Tracy and said sternly.
He didn't mind being extorted if the people he hired were extremely useful and productive.
However, if they weren't and just wanted to leech him, then they can all fuck off to the other side.
Just when Xu Feng thought the matter was done, Tracy suddenly handed him new documents.
"The Apprentice Blacksmiths seemed to know their conditions were too much, so they have already listed their specialty as well as their production rate," Tracy explained softly.
Meanwhile, Xu Feng was slightly taken aback by this second phase.
'No wonder Tracy asked for my presence.' Xu Feng thought to himself, taking a look at these specialties that the blacksmiths were so confident of.
Upon giving one glance, his eyebrows twitched as he stood up. "If this is true, then so be it. They must be hired!"