21. Home Sweet Home
By the way, the silver-haired, big-breasted female mage is the director. Why? Because she’s pretty. Not silver—gray? Whatever, fuck off.
Yes, that person is me. A hero and mage wearing a hard hat instead of a pointed hat and a fluorescent X-vest instead of a frilled cloak.
I begged and pleaded not to wear the X-vest, but the cameras made it unavoidable. Thanks to that, the bizarre outfit of a frilly skirt, white blouse, and X-vest was complete.
No, it’s better this way, right? It’s practically an outfit for macho men. I hope this dilutes my femininity a little.
“Heh heh.”
The construction site for the headquarters. Accompanying me on the inspection were Incheon Mayor Kim Sijun, whose face was a map of wrinkles, Bupyeong District Head Kwon Jio, the facilities manager, construction personnel, local newspaper reporters, and various others. I’d received all the introductions, but there was no need to memorize every single name, so I simply filed them away mentally.
I had no desire to remember the names of all those wrinkled old men anyway.
“The foundation work is already underway, and over there—as requested—we’re digging deeper underground. This area is close to the 7th Line subway, so we’re proceeding with extra caution. Yes, that’s the section we’re handling.”
“Please prioritize safety and building a sturdy structure above all else.”
That line had been suggested by the reporter. Well, safety was important.
“Of course! It’s an obvious priority, so we’re focusing on it the most. When assigning safety managers or operating equipment, safety is always the top emphasis…”
Hmm. I nodded along, listening to the various explanations. I walked the site while the manager rattled off every little detail in exhaustive, repetitive fashion.
This was going to drive me insane!
“Achoo!”
My nose kept itching, probably from the dust. I rarely used material-blocking magic because it sealed off my sense of smell, and chronic rhinitis versus losing my sense of smell was an easy choice. After three thousand years, I was used to it by now…
“*cough* Well. I just wanted to say—please take good care of your health while working in this cold weather.”
“Thank you for your concern. We’ve already set up megurozol heating with alcohol drums in various spots, and the rest-area heaters are running as well, and…”
Oh god, please stop with the “parts.”
To cut off the manager’s endless barrage of “parts,” I quickly changed the subject.
“Um, anyway. Is there anything I can help with on the magic side?”
Mayor Kim Sijun waved his hands in alarm. The others looked equally reluctant.
“Oh dear, Director, you don’t have to…”
“Is that so… Then, hmm.”
But I couldn’t help myself. A high-ranking official working directly at the construction site—and all the other high-ranking officials forced to follow me around reluctantly. The reporter would probably love capturing such a rare scene.
“…”
Though no one spoke, their eyes were full of barely contained expectation—like puppies staring up at their owner pulling out a bag of jerky.
Just as I was wondering what to do, an orange excavator in the distance majestically raised its arm.
—Wheeeing, kugugung!
An excavator? A man can’t resist that.
“Wow.”
“Wow.”
Several people besides me had been watching in silence before snapping back to reality. Then came the flash of inspiration.
“Digging the ground…? Hey, I have a question.”
When I asked how far the excavation needed to go, sweat began pouring down the site manager’s face like rain.
“Point designation. Multiple designation. Mana deployment. Attachment. Vector setting. Movement. Movement.”
That day.
Humanity remembered.
“Uwaaah.”
“Th-that…”
—Kudududuk!
…that they were dominated by—no, that’s not it. That I was actually an absurdly powerful mage. Not just some popular star who only spouted nonsense in front of reporters and posed for photos with high-ranking officials…
Everyone’s mouths fell open in shock at the sight of the ground itself—a hundred meters wide and long, five meters deep and high—being lifted into the air, and they couldn’t close them again.
I had scattered mana around the perimeter of the area to be dug, calculated the exact space from the sky, coated the entire mound of earth with mana to form a perfect cube, and lifted it.
It was magic I had used during wartime for trench work because there was never enough time and it was too complex for anything else, but with this level of performance it could make ordinary heavy equipment look like toys!
With this spell, in the previous world, I had single-handedly dug dozens of kilometers of trenches. Well, the soldiers handled the detailed finishing work afterward.
“It would take too long to haul away with dump trucks…”
There was an entrance where twenty-five-ton dump trucks came and went, but moving it bit by bit like that would never clear the site even in a full day.
“Spatial domination. Rift. Sub-space deployment.”
So I scattered mana over the rectangular mound, split the space itself, connected the sub-space, and dropped the entire cube inside.
Because the earth was coated in mana, there was no risk of soil scattering inside the sub-space. It was the perfect result.
—Jjeojeojeok!
The black rift that let no light in or out sealed shut, the mound vanished, and only then did applause erupt from the onlookers.
Just as my shoulders were shrugging at the admiration from Mayor Kim Sijun, District Head Kwon Jio, and the others, one of the construction officials wore a troubled expression.
“Ah, what about the equipment and all the subcontractors…”
Hmm. I should pretend I didn’t hear that… No, what now?
Impulsive nonsense like this always ends up causing trouble for someone. I thought, Why did I do something unnecessary? but since more people seemed to like it, it was probably fine, right?
“*sob* *sob*”
“Come on, don’t be too sad. I’ll help out with odds and ends from time to time.”
It wasn’t necessarily because I felt guilty—though the faster the headquarters was built, the better it would be for me too. That was the real reason.
“No, it’s fine. No matter what, we can’t have the Director doing that.”
“I can fly, weld without a welding machine, and—as you just saw—I’m strong.”
—Jjaeng geurang!
The official’s eyes widened so far I could almost hear the sound. After a handshake, we smoothed things over amicably. What work did a director without a headquarters even have to do anyway…
“Great work today.”
“Eh, what did I really do?”
After finishing the short inspection in about an hour, I moved to the nearby area with Serin.
Yes—this was the sweet my-home I finally got to live in after returning to Earth several months ago. It was a little over ten minutes by car from the site, a newly built apartment near Line 1.
The state had provided it almost free of charge, accepting my preference for a place where I could mingle with people rather than some isolated house.
Even the brand was State Hills. Not quite the place that accounted for fifty percent of some online community’s population, but still a pretty respectable brand apartment.
The exterior—dark gray with striking orange accents—was impressive, but the interior of the new unit on the twenty-fifth floor was even more so. The fresh-house smell only added to the excitement.
“It looks like a hotel…”
“Wow.”
Serin, who had carried the luggage up with me, couldn’t hold back her admiration either.
The overall minimalist black-and-white monotone emphasized cleanliness, but the black marble dining table with its vase and the basalt art wall provided a striking contrast.
The included furniture consisted of the oven and dishwasher built into the kitchen sink, bedroom pieces, and the system air conditioner. I mentally listed the living-room TV, PC, monitor, refrigerator, microwave, washing machine, and dryer I would need while touring the apartment.
The king-sized bed was so fluffy it felt like lying on a cloud, and the stone bathtub, shower booth, sleek bidet, and sink all screamed expensive—exactly the kind of thing a rich young lady might use.
Is this really my house? The question rose naturally.
“These are the basic furnishings provided by the apartment. Any additional appliances or furniture will have to be purchased with your own funds or handled separately; the country will provide support for those.”
What? The apartment company provides all this? Is this level of benefit standard these days?
“Wow. How expensive must apartments be to include all this?”
Whisper whisper. Startled!
Th-that much?
“Good heavens. A salaryman would have to save for fifty years just breathing to afford this, wouldn’t they?”
“More people can’t finish paying it off in fifty years. It’s a new forty-pyeong unit in a prime subway-adjacent location, so the price is manageable.”
“Insane. Good heavens.”
I couldn’t contain my shock, while Serin simply nodded as if it were perfectly normal. After floating in a daze over the housing prices for a while, I only snapped out of it when hunger struck.
“What should we eat, Serin? I’m getting hungry.”
The wall clock read six in the evening. Since we’d eaten lunch early, it was definitely time to be hungry.
“How about delivery? It’s convenient for eating and cleaning up, and we don’t have any ingredients or a stocked refrigerator anyway.”
Serin couldn’t stay at the house as a matter of course. As a makeshift housewarming, I’d planned on chicken and a beer, but the beer was vetoed.
“I wanted to drink too.”
“You have to drive, don’t you? Just endure it this once.”
“Forget it, I’ll drink today and take a taxi…”
“Hey, no.”
In the end we settled on one chicken per person and cola. We each ordered seasoned and fried, shared them, and it was delicious. I had a feeling I’d be eating this often from now on.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Won’t you stay a little longer?”
“I have a bit of work to finish when I get back…”
“Ah.”
Serin left. The new bed felt awkward, but what was the point of tossing and turning? I’d just use magic to sleep soundly… Snore.