As Brutus revealed their plight and loss of income, Xu Feng had somewhat expected the situation.
'Any monster's invasion of a city would usually result in a fierce retaliation. Afterward, there would be a stagnant commission.' Having experienced such a situation numerous times, he understood their predicament.
After all, back when he was still a lowly member of the Reaver Guild, and the city they were in, happened to get invaded. Everyone thought it was an amazing feat, and they started joyfully accepting a bunch of quests.
However, once all the quests were taken and they cleared out almost all the monsters within 10 kilometers of the city, they became very stagnant.
Without quests to take down monsters, they were only left with dungeon raids, and for the lower members, these dungeon raids did more harm than good.
Durability of equipment was lost very quickly, and materials needed to repair were scarce, driving up the repair fee.
The ones that were situated at the top were fine, but the lower members were legit starved with barely any money left after a long day of grinding.
And having personally experienced all of that— to the point that even an instant ramen was considered a luxury at that time was truly one of his darkest moments.
'No wonder their gears were even more shabby than before despite earning a few gold coins from me.' Xu Feng inspected their appearance and equipment with a disbelief expression.
These two definitely squandered their wealth, having mistakenly believed fortune was waiting for them, only to end up facing the harsh reality.
While these two were gazing at him with anticipation, Xu Feng sighed softly.
"The training ground is not yet built, and I wasn't prepared to hire you this quickly." He said honestly.
Back then, he spouted those words because it was planned for a later date, even if a month had gone by in their time.
Although the income was steadily rising, Xu Feng couldn't afford to spend all his wealth on investment or improvement. He needed to ensure there was a sum of wealth to be vaulted and be prepared for any sudden emergency.
"Boss, we understand that we came in a bit too early, but we're willing to accept a lower wage," Brutus said, albeit somewhat nervously.
"But why come all the way to Star Falls City?" Xu Feng narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure there are other cities who would be glad to have another handful of Tier 3 Fighters assisting them."
At this point, Razor bit his lips and patted Brutus' shoulder. "I was right, didn't I? Boss isn't foolish enough to be deceived and we should have been honest from the start."
Shortly after, Razor finally revealed the truth that the spread of depression was far and wide.
By depression, they meant that most of the fighters had reacted like them and were forced to migrate to another city to earn income.
In hindsight, these cities were practically swarmed, leaving next to zero crumbs for others to pick up.
Left with no other choice, these two finally remembered Star Falls City and understood there was someone like Xu Feng in the city. Except… they were still too late, given the influx of people coming here.
"No wonder one of my employees called you brainless." Xu Feng shook his head and was truly baffled by their ridiculous judgment.
At the same time, he began to realize that the influx of people into the city wasn't because of his victory in Paradise Plains. Rather, it was because these people knew that Star Falls City was starting to revitalize and missions were being placed everywhere.
Previously when he went to the Adventure Association to meet with Jessica, he had already noticed many people rushing to grab a commission.
That was already some time ago, so it was a given that most commissions were taken.
Xu Feng tapped his fingers at his armrest, pondering over the consequences of this domino effect. 'It seems like I need to prepare after the large-scale raid is finished.'
Thankfully, Razor and Brutus reminded him of the drastic situation that was about to come like a tsunami wave. He had been blinded because Star Falls City was considered a "barren" place to the many unaware of its revitalization.
The people who were coming here were those who went to Paradise Plains or received news from there.
"Um, Boss, so will you hire us?" Brutus asked nervously. "We can accept 20 silver coins per month and work as guards in the hotel."
"Mhmm, my perception is high and I can detect any troublemakers or problematic individuals with a single glance." Razor chimed in, raising his worth.
Hearing that, Xu Feng calmly stood up from his chair and said, "Hiring people for the hotel or any affiliated business of Vanguard is not really my job. Do you remember the employee from earlier? Her name's Tracy, and you can find her regarding it."
"That woman from earlier?" Brutus instantly became dazed when he recalled how he interrupted her earlier.
Meanwhile, Razor's eyes lit up as he was rather polite to her. Without even waiting for his companion, he had already used his extreme speed to search for Tracy.
As the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm.
"Razor, you traitorous bastard!" Alarmed, Brutus realized he was about to get betrayed. A few seconds later, he started chasing after Razor, refusing to let him steal the chance.
Despite Brutus' speed being a bit inferior, it was still fast nevertheless.
Thus, a gust of wind was left behind in his trail, and Xu Feng somehow received damage from the wind pressure.
"Do they even want to be hired or not?" Looking at his health points dropped a little, Xu Feng was rendered speechless by their behavior.
Who the hell in their right mind would damage or hurt the boss if they wanted to be hired?
Amidst his annoyance, Xu Feng received a message and after opening it, his expression changed. "Truly, only Carmen had yet to disappoint me!"