Is James trying to discourage her? Wasn't he angling for getting a Diviner?

The odds aren't actually that high! And he promised he'd be a good boy and not pressure.

"Nope! I'm sold. Also, the evil book is still out there, and I now personally want vengeance against it."

"Oh, I like her."

"All in favour of hiring Elaine say 'aye'," he says, then lifts a hand and says, "Aye."

"Aye."

"Unsurprisingly for having made the offer, aye."

"Sounds unanimous, then," says Elaine, wryly. "Hey, since you all like me so much, can I request an advance in my pay...?"

Oh no.

She's going to be another Neil when it comes to wringing the most out of her benefits, isn't she.

She almost certainly is! Very clever, this woman.

Uh huh.

He doesn't roll his eyes in real life but internally he's rolling his eyes.

"We'll discuss advanced payment back at the office, how about," sighs Dunn, resigning himself to his fate.

Daly pushes herself onto her feet and walks over to Dunn to pat his shoulder. He suffers so.

So, working for the Seventh Unit (the police division devoted to the Church of the Evernight and Her Nightwatch) does come with a lot of restrictions and responsibilities.

For one, it's a commitment. Of five years per contract, specifically. Except for the confidentiality contract, which is forever. She cannot quit her job before that time is up, and she can't refuse assignments given to her. If she wants to leave Tingen for any period of time, she must get pre-approval from the captain, and preferably have a really good reason. If she wants to move cities entirely, she can apply for a transfer to another city within her Church's jurisdiction, but it is not guaranteed to be accepted. If she violates any of these contracts, she will be tried in the tribunal courts of the Church of the Evernight. It's pretty clear that it is they she answers to, not precisely the police force itself.

For another, it doesn't exactly resemble 'a regular 9-5 schedule.' Weekends are not a thing; work is in shifts, and there must always be at least three members of the civilian staff on duty. Yes, even at night. She still gets days off, but they're based around the rest of the staff's availability. She will have to negotiate with her coworkers if she wants to change her schedule, and might be asked to fill in for someone else's absence if something happens to them.

But then, she didn't expect that keeping people safe from cosmic horrors to be a job that was easy, predictable, or something she could casually drop on a whim. The five year commitment is a long time, but at twenty-two, she has breathing room after if she decides she'd like to do something else with her life. The inability to refuse assignments is more than a little sketchy, but she is free to trade assignments with her colleagues; what matters is that the work gets done, not that she in particular has to do it. Which is the kind of results-driven thinking that she likes, so it will, tentatively, get a pass.

(And if they order her to do something horrible, well. Then she supposes she gets to go before the Tribunal of the Evernight.)

The ultimate loyalty to the Church of the Evernight instead of the police force itself is the only thing that gives her real pause, but... no, she really does sincerely think the Evernight Goddess and Her church is the best one available. It pushes equality between sexes, the sanctity of life no matter the intellect or status of those lives, and that those with power have a responsibility to not abuse it. Importantly, Elaine has firm memories of the local church actually backing up these beliefs. She's not sure Benson would have been able to keep himself and his two younger sisters out of poverty without its help, and even with it, it was a near thing. She does not think her little family is the only one that was kept safe by her church. In comparison, the other orthodox churches vary wildly in their priorities and effectiveness; she wouldn't be willing to sign one of these contracts for the Lord of Storms, that's for sure.

So.

She signs her name on both the work and the confidentiality contracts, impresses her thumb print on both, and she is now a civilian staff member of the Seventh Unit.

And yes, she did secure that pay advance, thank you for asking~

That's very suspicious.

...hmm? What is?

Everything? Does James seriously not see it?

Well, kind of, but...

This random historian gets sucked into a situation involving the occult against her will, that's par for the course. But then it turns out to involve the Antigonus family notebook, and those guys were bad news.

...is that so. James would've appreciated knowing about this before.

James is a smart boy and surely figured out that they couldn't have been good news on his own, getting confirmation doesn't really add anything, does it?