17 17 - Merchant Test

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a semblance of self,

an ire that cannot be quelled

until all that stood against him are felled.

save for when his hand was finally, sincerely held.

-R.

~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~

"No. I can do it right here, right now. I'm ready."

"Huh," the sly man shut his jewel-bespeckled eyes due to forming a manufactured smile.

But this boy made him reveal a piece of his true self, as when the man's eye opened, he was no longer smiling.

Kairo felt a shift in the air. It was a different vibe from the lady at the counter earlier when she cracked. This man's change was much more vivid, as if he could physically see his aura around him.

"Well, I'll procure the test papers then," the man's wry smile returned, and the air around them gradually grew less tense until it returned to how it was before.

All of that happened in a split second, but that was the longest split second Kairo ever experienced in his life. Unnerved, he gulped.

The man rose from his seat and left Kairo to his thoughts as he went to a cabinet to get the test papers and some writing materials.

After a while, the man returned to Kairo and placed the arithmetic test paper, a blank parchment, a bottle of ink, and a beautiful, large, purple feather on the table.

"You may use these materials," the man told Kairo. "The blank page is where you shall put your solutions so I may verify your process. Oh, and forgive me for the late introductions, my name is The Jarquis Marlarkey. I am the head of the guild of merchants in the kingdom, namely TJ Merchants. TJ stands for my name, The Jarquis," he said, ending with a smile and a ludicrous pose.

"The? The 'The' is part of your name? Woah, that was a weird thing that I just said," Kairo said, shaking his head to reorient himself.

"Yes, I had it legally changed as soon as I became of age. I disowned the name my parents gave me, made my own, and added 'The' in front. You could say it is a mark of my independence," Jarquis chuckled as he looked afar, thinking about his past.

"Huh," Kairo thought about what Jarquis meant.

It seemed fantastical that this person had such a story in his name, and that he controlled a large, influential faction in the kingdom at quite a young age. Apart from himself, he was the youngest person that he had seen in this building. Kairo surmised that Mr. Jarquis was... twenty-five? Thirty? 

Kairo then started to think that Jarquis probably received a lot of help from his parents, whom Jarquis seem to have rejected. That was the only way Kairo could fathom such a young person becoming the head of a vital guild in this city.

"You might be thinking, 'this person probably just got his position and money from his rich parents'."

Kairo's eyes widened. "Did he just read my mind?" Kairo thought to himself. Indeed, it was not exactly what he was thinking, but it was close to it.

"No, I didn't read your mind, dear boy."

"Okay, did he just read my mind again or not?" Kairo thought once again.

"It is only natural that you might think that. And you didn't deny it, so I presume that my assumption was correct. With how important my job is and how youthful I am, I've already been asked the same questions again and again by a nauseating amount of people. Your face resembled a person about to make that certain question."

"It happened to you so many times that you know what a person's question will be simply by looking at their face?"

"Quite. Well, in any case, you may start your test at any time. We're getting sidetracked here, this was supposed to be about YOU, dear boy, not me," he said theatrically. "There is no time limit, therefore, feel free to hand it in whenever you're done or feel like giving up," Kairo couldn't help but see Jarquis' smile and words as condescending.

"Give up? Still underestimating me, huh? I'll show you, Mr. Head-of-the-Guild!"

"Then give me a result that will amuse me, Kairo-boy!" he exclaimed, making another ridiculous pose. 

Kairo's first test of skill, a literal test.

For the first time since leaving his village, he felt confident in something he could ace. His confidence came from the fact that his parents wanted him to be as noble and educated as an aristocrat. His mother, who he vaguely remembered to have had an academic background, tutored him in reading, writing, and arithmetic every night, on top of the aforementioned herbal medicine lessons, drilling into him as much knowledge as she could, as well as her study ethic.

She truly was strict, becoming a wholly different person when teaching him, but he was thankful because he knew that he would have more opportunities when he was learned.

And this exact moment was one of those opportunities.

"This is... multiplication," Kairo muttered. "No long numbers, huh? Piece of cake."

His brain was calculating as well as writing every step in rapid succession. His eyes were focused on the numbers, keeping no mind to his surroundings. All he had to do was keep grinding the numbers just as how he was taught.

"No long numbers, he says? Those are ten thousandths... a typical adult would already be having trouble with just the hundredths...! What speed! He doesn't even need an abacus?"

Suddenly, Kairo stopped. Jarquis saw where Kairo stopped and grinned.

"HA!" Jarquis shouted excitedly. "There it is! A bunch of long numbers where you have to multiply with nine! That's the hardest number to multiply with, many aristocrats lose their minds when it comes to that number!!! There's only around a twenty-seven percent passing rate when it comes to multiplying with nine! You're done now, Kairo!"

"Nine, huh..." Kairo smirked darkly.

"What?!"

"Here comes my favorite number to multiply...!" hoping that it was all a bluff, Jarquis saw Kairo confidently scribble on the parchment with the magnificent, purple feather he gave him.

"Im-Impossible!" Jarquis exclaimed.

Kairo wasn't bluffing, he was completely owning the most difficult part of the arithmetic test that even stumped many aristocrats and rookie merchants.

"All I have to do is multiply the number by ten, then subtract it once by itself. So, if it's something like nine multiplied by eight, because I know eight multiplied by ten is eighty, I can simply subtract eighty by eight! Therefore, the answer is... seventy-two!"

"He knows the trick..." Jarquis quietly bit the nail of his thumb. He didn't expect such a young person to breeze through this test that had a reputation for having a high passing threshold. He must investigate any sort of cheating that may have occurred.

And then it hit him.

He knew of it, but he didn't understand it until now. This was probably how people felt when he swiftly rose to the top as a young, seemingly naïve person.

"Tsk," Jarquis clicked his tongue.

"Y-Yes, sir?" Kairo flinched at Jarquis, who thought that he had somehow vexed the man.

"No, sorry. It's nothing that you should worry about. I was merely thinking about something regarding work. Carry on," he assured Kairo, who then continued to put his nose down on the parchment.

Jarquis silently reprimanded himself for his ungraceful response.

"What am I doing? I must not stomp upon the flames of a capable youth merely out of anxiety. Refrain from such unjust scrutiny, Jarquis," he took a deep sigh. "If he truly is the same as you, then he is your one and only peer in this world. I must care for him and guide him expertly to ensure that he grows to his fullest potential... that is, if he does pass these tests."

And so, once Kairo had answered the last arithmetic question, he declared that he was finished. Jarquis raised an eyebrow, thinking that Kairo should've checked his answers and solutions, but he chalked this off as being part of the test if Kairo ever lost points because of his hastiness. Jarquis handed him the literacy test and took the answered arithmetic test paper and solution parchment.

"While you answer that literacy test, I'll be grading your arithmetic test. After that, I'll be listening to your oral test, which simply needs you to read a script out loud."

"Understood."

And so, Kairo put his nose down on the parchment again while Jarquis graded his test with an answer sheet at hand.

As Kairo answered the literacy test, he kept hearing Jarquis scribbling on the arithmetic test paper. Kairo didn't expect the tests to be a blood-pumping activity, but he was nervous and kept checking on his arithmetic test unwillingly. Even though he didn't really get to count how many he got correct, every time he heard or saw a check mark, he felt both anxiety and relief at the same time.

He kept tapping his feet, eager to know if he passed, until...

"Kairo," Jarquis uttered.

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Forgive me for distracting you," Jarquis stood up. "Do focus on that current test of yours, I shall distance myself to help you focus on your work," he said before walking away to the smaller table by the fireplace.

Jarquis continued grading there. Kairo appreciated this gesture, for it definitely helped a ton. He snapped himself back to his current test.

Later on, Kairo finished the literacy test. He felt like he did better in this test than in the arithmetic test. He thought it may be because he got a warm-up from the first test, his brain was able to become well-oiled up.

Kairo handed the answered test paper to Jarquis, who finished grading Kairo's previous test and returned to the seat in front of him.

"Here is your oral test. Simply read out the script as best as you can," Jarquis handed Kairo a parchment with a couple of paragraphs of text.

Kairo proceeded to stand up and verbalize the writings on the parchment audibly. For the whole time, Jarquis was eyeing Kairo, but despite that, Kairo was able to pull his focus on the task at hand.

Afterwards, Kairo thought that he had finished the script without a hitch, but Jarquis' stiff look made him feel uncertain about the results of his tests.

"I see. Great work, young boy. Don't worry, you passed the oral test. Now, you must lend me some time to grade your literacy test. It shouldn't take too long, feel free to treat yourself to some snacks," Jarquis said, pushing a bowl of small, light cookies towards Kairo with his fingertips. 

Kairo took the elegant man's offer and grabbed a cookie one at a time, still acting with manners intact in case his behavior was part of the test.

After a few minutes, Jarquis leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Alright, we're done, Kairo-boy," Jarquis said with a wide smile.

"Did I pass?"

"Hmm, well, which would you like to hear first, the good news or the bad news?"

"Erm, the bad... news...?"

"You made some miscalculations born from carelessness. If you didn't rush and instead hesitated for some time to reflect on your answers, I imagine you would've gotten a perfect score on your arithmetic test."

"Oh..." Kairo stared at the table in dread.

"Yes."

"Well, what about the good news?" Kairo asked, hoping to alleviate his dampened mood.

"The good news is... that's the only bad news. You passed."

Hearing this, Kairo made a wide-eyed smile and breathed a cheerful "Yes!" which solicited a soft smile from Jarquis, who also felt somewhat proud of the boy.

Jarquis continued, "You only made a few mistakes on your arithmetic test which could be counted on only one hand, which is an impressive feat for an aristocrat, let alone a child who isn't one," Kairo listened keenly to the feedback. "You did more than well on your literacy test. There, you received a perfect score. You're even a great orator. You have the makings of a high-quality merchant."

Hearing such high praise from the figurehead of the merchant guild was supposed to make him feel relief, so why then... "If that's the case, why do you possess such an irritable look, sir Jarquis?"

Jarquis was taken aback. His usual, sly self was disturbed by this comment as he started to perspire. "I was smiling wasn't I?" he asked himself in his mind.

He realized he was clenching his teeth, so he relaxed them and asked, "What do you mean, Kairo-boy?"

"Hmm... I don't really know how to explain it. You just feel... off," he said, gazing to and fro between the ceiling and Jarquis' face, contemplating with his fingers on his chin. "It's like you're smiling, but not really? The air around you is... untrue, is how I would put it."

Astonished, Jarquis had his mouth slightly open.

"Oh, but please don't take offense to this, sir Jarquis!" Kairo pleaded. "I hope this doesn't affect your evaluation."

Jarquis closed his eyes and regained his composure with a chuckle. "Not at all. As I have said, you are already a great merchant in the making, you have one of the best foundations I have ever seen in a while. Your attitude is nothing to worry about, I have seen adults behave far more childish than you, but they're all bonafide merchants in their own right. I only wish they work on their inelegant ways," he ranted dramatically with a worried exterior, hoping to shake off Kairo from reading him again.

But Kairo felt that the air around Jarquis continued to not match with how he presented himself. Kairo decided to remain quiet about it this time. "Not to say that your attitude is childish, dear Kairo. You're perfectly fine," his sly smile returned.

"Then, I passed?"

"Hmm... sure. You could say you passed officially. You passed all the tests, even the hidden test. Yes, I was watching your behavior when you were eating those cookies, you were right to be wary. If you couldn't act like an adult, I wouldn't have treated you as one. Wise choice. In any case, you shall be granted a... license. But to make it quick and since there aren't a lot of new recruits anyway, I'll be personally making your license."

"I passed officially? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Would you like to hear my personal evaluation then?"

Suddenly, Kairo noticed the air shifted around Jarquis again. It was darker, but not evil, he thought. Kairo responded reluctantly, "Y...es?"

"Are you certain? This will not affect your license acquisition, it is truly, merely a personal matter."

"I welcome such a renowned and respected person's insight on my person," Kairo asserted with formality.

Jarquis joined his hands together on the table, and once he did, he made a sinister smile that shocked Kairo.