It was just as I was preparing to keep training for the next two hours that I saw the adventurers gathered at the edge of the arena.

They were looking at us with wide eyes, whispering to each other.

To me it seemed that the training methods we used might have impressed them.

Which in my mind was a very good thing, because if our training methods impressed them, they might consider joining us.

And if they considered joining us, then there is a very good chance that they might get a good impression of us.

Now some of you might be thinking that I thought like this because of my recent understanding of the faith system.

And you’d be completely wrong.

In my mind I saw all of them as potential employees of my mercenary company.

All I had to do was make my mercenary company seem a lot more attractive than the adventurers guild.

Which shouldn’t be that hard.

I mean with my company they would get a standard base salary, whether there was work for them or not.

That could not be said about the adventurers guild.

"Honey," I called out.

"Do you think you could do some preliminary recruitment tests?" I whispered to Julia.

Cat had come closer to us as well, she was looking over at the adventurers when I asked Julia if she could test them.

"You really want to try and recruit adventurers into your mercenary company?" Cat asked.

"Is there something wrong with that?" I asked her.

"Not really, it’s just that adventurers tend to be a rowdy bunch, who don’t like to follow orders all that much." She answered.

I looked over at the adventurers again, just from looking at them I could see what Cat was talking about.

Most of them looked like a bunch of ruffians.

Some of them looked at Erick and his men with derision for losing to a woman.

Others were openly laughing at them.

Luckily for me though, none of them were laughing at me, even though I had had my ass handed to me by Cat for almost two hours straight.

I think that might be because our battle tended to be a lot more flashy than the battle between Julia and the mercs, which was only physical combat.

"I see what you mean, we might need to bring them down to ground level before we even consider recruitment." I said.

"Why do you even want to recruit more people right now? I thought the mercenary company was a new business you’re starting." Cat asked.

She was right about that.

Originally I had no plan to recruit more mercenaries for quite a while.

I mean I had to pay them each month whether there was work for them or not.

But with two of them already stationed at the Forest Flute, that left me with only four men that would come with us back to Lofie Village, which would leave me heavily understaffed if I got the contract for the security of the village.

Only four men would never be able to stand guard in the village for a full day, every day.

Which meant that I would need to speed up recruitment quite a bit.

Which is exactly what I answered Cat with.

"Now then, my love." I started, turning back to Julia. "Do you think you can bring them back to our level for me?"

Julia turned her attention back to the adventurers, a broad smile forming on her lips.

"I’d be happy to."

I could practically feel the excitement coming from her in waves.

"Thank you," I said, as I started walking over to them.

"Ladies and gentleman," I began when I came to stand before them all, I felt kind of like one of those announcers at fighting events back on Earth.

You know, one of those guys that would introduce the fighters like.

’In the Blue corner we have the Elegant beauty, the undefeated slayer of men... Shadooowwww Killleeeerrrr!!’

Anyway, the adventurers turned their gazes toward me almost like one entity.

"If any of you are up for it, you’re welcome to spar with my lovely wife here," I said, pointing at Julia who had come to stand next to me.

She was looking at them with clear challenge in her eyes.

What kind of frightened me was the slight murderous edge that flitted through her eyes when they passed over the lady adventurers.

I noticed that maybe it wasn’t a very good idea to have them immediately spar against her.

Maybe it would be better to make a challenge of it.

Yes, that would make a much better test after all. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"But before you can have the right to fight against the instructor you must first defeat the students." I said, gesturing for Erick to join us.

"So if you wish to spar against my wife, you must first prove yourselves against Erick."

Julia’s gaze immediately snapped over to me.

"What are you doing?" She whispered.

At first I thought that she was afraid that Erick would be embarrassed by one of the adventurers, but that thought only lasted until I saw the jealousy in her eyes.

"Calm down," I whispered to her. "This would be a much more thorough test after all."

"Now are there any of you who are up for this challenge?" I asked.

The entire group of adventurers stepped forward.

Clearly they were all up for the challenge.

"Good," I nodded.

I turned away from the group, and walked over to Erick.

"Don’t hold anything back," I whispered to him.

"Can you handle this for me please?" I asked, as I looked over at Julia again. "And don’t go too far against them please."

The only answer I got was a nod, which I decided at that time would probably have to do.

I made my way over to Cat again.

"So, should we continue?" I asked her.

"Aren’t you going to supervise the tests?" She asked.

"Nah, Julia can handle it."

Cat looked at me for a few more moments, her red eyes shining with all kinds of thoughts.

"Sure," she said. "We can continue."