"Listen to what you're saying, of course it's a job! We also rely on our talents to make money, we're definitely not selling our bodies or seducing rich sugar mommies!" the handsome man said righteously.
"They pay?"
"They do!"
The handsome man gritted his teeth, thinking Fukaboshi found it too low, and said, "Here's the deal, I can't change the commission for now, but I'll bump up your base salary to eight hundred thousand Belly a month! I really have high hopes for you, you're definitely going to be the ace of our club! Please, join us!"
As he spoke, he even gave Fukaboshi a ninety-degree bow.
In truth, aside from female Mermaids being very beautiful, both male and female Fishmen and male Mermaids were all extremely ugly, completely shattering their fantasies about Mermaids.
Clearly they were all supposed to be pretty-type Merfolk, but the girls were the only ones who smelled sweet; some of the male Merfolk were even more bizarre-looking than Fishmen.
Originally, when Fishmen and Mermaids joined, these businessmen had been quite happy at first; once a pretty-type race joined the club, they were sure to be in high demand.
Turns out after all that, not a single one was decent-looking.
As a Cowherd club, they could only stare and drool, with no way to actually enjoy any of it.
But now it was different. This build, this smoothness of his skin, that burly physique, and that cold, pale complexion from under the sea—most importantly, his face wasn't bad either!
Once he joined them, their club would absolutely become the number one Cowherd club in O'hara!
"You'll give me a proper job? And you won't discriminate against me?" Fukaboshi asked in disbelief.
He didn't know what a "club" was, but he knew that if they paid, it had to be a proper job.
Giving a Fishman a proper job...
So it really was like Sage said!
"Huh?"
The handsome man was a bit confused. "What's this about discrimination or not? What era do you think we're in, still playing that discrimination routine? Don't talk nonsense. We don't care, but if your own people hear you, they'll come cause you trouble."
There were too many races in O'hara, but most of them more or less looked human, and the other races also called themselves human, so there wasn't much sense of alienation.
The Fur Race and the Fishman Race were completely different; one had animal traits, the other had marine creature traits.
The former, though, were the lord's Household Servants, proud and arrogant, like the lord's pets, viewed a cut above the rest.
Only the Fishman Race was relatively odd.
They were quite self-abasing; although they had been in O'hara for a long time and had integrated, they still kept themselves constantly in check—but they no longer sought validation from a human perspective. To fully integrate, they cut off any clansmen with negative thoughts toward humans, even if it meant "correcting" them with violence.
The humans of O'hara did not discriminate against Fishmen, and Fishmen were also not allowed to discriminate against humans.
If someone like Fukaboshi, who thought humans would discriminate against Fishmen, was found out, they would definitely show up at his door to "correct" him.
"Anyway, just come with me!"
Seeing Fukaboshi stay silent, the handsome man grabbed him in one motion and flat-out dragged this burly guy toward the club.
"I'll first let you get familiar with the work environment! Relax, just keep up this aloof attitude of yours, plenty of people will like that!"
...
Half a day later.
Still not seeing his eldest son, Neptune, brimming with grief and anger, came ashore at the main port of O'hara and headed for the Royal Palace, prepared to clash with Sage in negotiations.
Then...
In the reception room, Lily walked in, her expression a bit odd as she leaned in close to Sage's ear and whispered something, making Sage's expression even stranger.
Sitting on the throne and sipping his drink, Sage looked at Neptune, who was sitting upright across from him, and tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear?"
"He's been taken, hasn't he!" Neptune said, forcibly suppressing his anger.
"More or less."
Sage said, "The bad news is, your eldest really did get taken."
Neptune's eyes practically glowed red, his body swelling with rage in that instant.
So it was true— even a force like Calamities still couldn't fully guarantee the treatment of Fishmen.
Even here in O'hara, there were still people who would capture them.
And it was even Sage personally who'd done it; now he was just giving him some excuse.
If that was the case, then even if it cost him his life, he would...
"The good news: your son's quite popular. On his first day he sold eight hundred bottles of booze! Right now he's being treated as the club's top star and is making a lot of money."
Sage said with a maliciously amused grin, "He's working as a Cowherd now!"