"It's a pleasure to talk with you too, Miss Riverdale. What is this about?" Emina asked hurriedly.
She could not contain her excitement with Ryoko's words.
"I am aware that your studio is about to close, right?" Ryoko asked suddenly.
"Yes, after everything it happened, we have too many debts to continue the studio operational." Emina replied with a wry smile.
"Then my studio has a proposition to you and your studio. The studio that I am the Head Director of is new. We opened for business this past month. And the owner of the studio does not want to depend on other sound studios for the production of our animes. That's why he asked me to hire a team of sound engineers and designers to work in our studio. We want to invite you to come to Elffire City, where our studio headquarters is located, to do an audition. If you pass our test, we will hire us to work in our studio." Ryoko explained with a patient voice.
Emina froze as she heard Ryoko's words.
It was so much information, that she could not process everything at once.
After thinking for a while, she said, "I cannot speak for my employees, but my two partners and I have a huge debt to pay. I don't know if we can work for you."
Even after selling everything that they had, the three of them still were not able to gather all the money that the justice told them to pay to the other animation studio.
"How much debt do you guys have?" Ryoko asked calmly.
"The court sentenced us to pay 3 million dollars to the other studio. We already paid 2.1 million. So, we have a little more than 800k dollars to pay." Emina replied as she remembered the huge debt that she and her friends had.
"My offer is this. If you and your partners perform well in the test. Our studio will pay off your debt. But there is a catch." Ryoko declared calmly.
Emina's heart stopped for a second when she heard that.
The studio would pay their debt?
That was crazy!
"What is it?" Emina asked hurriedly.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Your salaried will not be as high as the other employees with similar leadership positions. That is because you will pay the money we used to pay your debt by discounting a certain amount of money from your monthly payment. That will continue until you three pay the debt you have with us. And the second condition is that you have to sign a contract that says that you have to work with us for at least 10 years. But again, it all depends if you three pass our test." Ryoko replied honestly.
She did not trick these people, so she told Emina all the details of the deal, even if the conditions were not that good.
Emina was silent for a while as she thought about the conditions that Ryoko had just said.
And the more she thought, the more she saw this proposition positively.
At the moment, she did not see any way that she could pay her debt.
And her future as a sound engineer was practically ruined.
No other studio would hire someone with her dark past.
The same thing happened with the other two owners.
But now someone was willing to pay their debt and also hire them as sound engineers.
When she thought that all hope was gone, this proposition was like a boat appearing in the middle of the ocean when she was about to drown.
This was too good to be true.
"Are you sure you want to hire us? We do not have the cleanest past. Why are you doing this? There must be other sound engineers in the market that you can hire." Emina questioned with a puzzled face.
She could not understand why Miss Riverdale chose them.
Everyone believed that they leaked anime episodes, and that made their image in the animation industry reach rock bottom.
"That's true. Everyone that asked about you guys told me that you were all despicable for leaking episodes." Ryoko commented.
Emina clenched her fists tightly when she heard, she hated those people who judged them without any knowledge.
But she just lowed her head when she remembered that she could not change the way everyone looked at her and her friends.
"But I know for a fact that your studio did not leak those episodes." Ryoko simply said with a calm voice.
Although her voice was calm, the effect of her words in Emina was nothing but calm.
It seemed as though time was frozen for Emina when she heard Ryoko's words.
She did not notice, but tears streamed down her cheeks as her eyes teared.
She could not describe the emotions that she was feeling.
For the first time since this nightmare started, a person said that believed in them.
"How?" It was all that Emina could say through the rollercoaster of emotions that she was feeling.
"Oh, I have my ways." Ryoko replied with a mysterious voice.
When Ryoko was searching for a sound effects team to hire, she found out about the Grotto Studio.
And that picked her interest.
She could not understand why a studio that was about to establish itself as a reliable studio in Sakura City would leak confidential episodes.
They were just one step away from their objective!
It did not make any sense for them to leak the episodes.
But the thing was that all evidence pointed to the conclusion that they did leak the episodes.
But when Ryoko saw that, she was not convinced.
So, she went to the person who was her role model and the most skilled person she knew.
She called Theo and told him about the situation with the Grotto Sound Studio.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWhen Theo heard the whole situation, he was as intrigued as Ryoko was.
He agreed with her that the story did not make sense.
So, he told Ryoko that he would investigate.
It was not surprising to say that Theo asked Sylph to dig into the whole story.
Unsurprisingly, Sylph found the truth.
She was the most skillful hacker in the world.
Therefore, the hacker that attacked the Grotto Studios did not have any chance when Sylph started looking for him.
The untraceable attack on others was like child play for Sylph.
She even found out about the traitor.
That was why Theo told Ryoko to hire the sound engineers and designers from the Grotto Sound Studio.
They were top-notch skillful people who would be a great addition to his studio.
When Ryoko heard that the Grotto Studio was indeed not guilty, she immediately started devising a plan to work with them.
She already expected that she would have to spend some money to hire the owners of the studio.
But she and Theo did not mind spending this money because Emina, Kanai, and Oichi were genius sound engineers!
It was totally worth spending that money.
"I can explain how we found out, but you guys have to come to Elffire City. And answering your second question. Why am I doing this, right? After I analyzed all your works, I concluded that you and your partners are awesome in what you do. Why would I let it pass the opportunity to hire talented employees to my studio?" Ryoko chuckled.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I will talk with my partners and other employees. Can I call you later?" Emina said with an excited voice.
Gone was her sad face, now she was excited about her future once again.
"Sure, just call me at this phone number." Ryoko replied with a calm voice.
Emina hung up the phone and looked at her friends and employees with shining eyes.
She could not wait to tell them the news!