The Archmage Waits in Line
I am a great mage! The next day, Elena rose from her bed, running a hand through her messy, disheveled hair. The moment she stood up, a small smile tugged at her lips. It had been a long time since she felt this kind of excitement.
‘Maybe I should place an order too.’
The previous night, Elena had taken Ed deep into her heart. Because of that, she had gone around the village asking the residents who had commissioned custom items from him, examining each of his inventions one by one. Every single one was an outstanding creation. She couldn’t help but marvel at his creativity and engineering intuition.
‘I must, I absolutely must bring him with me.’
At first, her only intention had been to correct her own mistake. He had simply been one of the bidding competitors she had lost due to her own arrogance. To Elena, Edgar Fix had meant nothing more than that. But last night, after speaking with the village chief, her feelings toward him had subtly changed. She had been moved by his humanity—his willingness to use his talent solely for the sake of others.
Elena liked people with that kind of pure heart. She had already grown tired of the fake, self-serving relationships that revolved only around personal gain. She wanted someone like Edgar Fix—a genuinely good person—by her side.
“Uuuuuuuugh!!”
Perhaps that was why. Elena stretched with a refreshed feeling. The inn was shabby compared to her own residence, yet even that felt endearing. The entire village gave her a sense of comfort, as if she had returned to her hometown.
Her stomach growled.
Suddenly feeling hungry, Elena headed down to the inn’s dining hall. Several men who sensed her presence glanced at her with dazed expressions. Their eyes were captivated by her external charm. But she was already used to such gazes. Compared to the nobles and powerful figures in the city, these were almost cute. The way they immediately turned their heads the moment their eyes met hers proved it.
‘Now that I think about it, everything about him is strange. Edgar Fix didn’t waver even after meeting my gaze.’
But Edgar Fix had not avoided her eyes. Even though she was the Grand Mage, the princess’s mentor, and the Academy’s chief professor, he hadn’t been intimidated at all. He had simply spoken his mind with complete confidence.
‘He remained calm even though he knew who I was. That’s not easy for a commoner to do.’
Moreover, Elena possessed stunning beauty. Her appearance was so exceptional that any man weak to feminine charm would stare at her in a daze. Yet Edgar Fix hadn’t cared about any of that. He had set aside her status, her natural beauty, and her widespread fame, treating her simply as one person to another.
A soft chuckle escaped her. What an interesting man.
“Mmm…”
Even someone like her had a flaw, however. She had no money. Although the chief professor’s salary was high, she was buried in debt. After all, her relationship with her adoptive parents had never been one of parent and child—it had been a strictly transactional one. She had received their surname in exchange for repaying the family’s debts, while they had used their political influence to elevate her to central nobility in exchange for clearing those debts.
Because of that, Elena found herself hesitating even when choosing a breakfast menu. She had to pick the most cost-effective option.
“One C set, please.”
In the end, she ordered the C set—the cheapest meal on the inn’s menu.
About fifteen minutes later, Elena ate while slowly scanning the entire dining hall. People were gathered in small groups, chattering excitedly about Ed, who would soon arrive.
Ed’s name was everywhere. Here, there, everywhere—every conversation revolved around Ed. It made sense. In two hours, Ed would begin accepting custom orders. According to what the chief had told her last night, Ed took custom commissions every Saturday at noon. That was why the entire village was buzzing with excitement at the thought of ordering personalized items.
‘Now I can clear up the misunderstanding.’
Elena was just as excited to meet Ed again. How happy would he be when he learned he had been given another chance? Thinking of his joyful reaction, Elena smiled softly to herself.
Over the past two days, I had enjoyed a vacation as sweet as honey. James and I had wandered all over the big city, eating, drinking, and having the time of our lives. Of course, I paid for everything out of my own pocket. After all, the whole purpose of this trip had been to help James feel better.
In the end, we really had a blast. We drank all kinds of high-quality liquor, had passionate debates about engineering approaches to equipment crafting, and of course, women weren’t left out of the equation.
It had already been ten years since James lost his wife. I encouraged him to remarry and, as a joke, slipped a note to one of the female servers he seemed to like. I even handed him a flower to go with it. The woman looked at James’s face, then went straight up to him and said it would have been better if he had given her the flower himself, openly showing her interest.
The look on James’s panicked face at that moment was hilarious. I shouted “Fighting!” and slipped out of the inn. James and the server spent a long time drinking and talking together.
Well, in the end it didn’t work out because she noticed the ring on James’s left ring finger, but we still managed to create some fun memories.
‘Time to get back to work now.’
Although it had only been two days, it was a very fulfilling break. So now it was time to work. Every Saturday at noon, I accepted equipment commissions, so I hurried back home.
And today was also the day I received the ‘Jackpot Quest.’
‘Gotta grind that experience hard.’
The reason I called the day I accepted equipment requests from the villagers my ‘Jackpot Quest’ was simple. One of my bound items, the Creator's Hammer, had an effect that increased skill level experience every time I crafted equipment. And as the skill level rose, the seals on the Creator's Hammer would slowly be released.
That was why days when equipment requests came in were pure jackpot for me. The more diverse and thoughtfully crafted pieces I made, the greater the increase in skill experience.
‘I get paid, my reputation with the villagers goes up, and I grind experience. Total jackpot.’
It was truly killing three birds with one stone. I could earn money, gain fame, and raise my experience all at once. Humming a cheerful tune, I quickened my steps toward home.
In the peaceful rural village of Greta, an unusual scene was unfolding—one rarely seen in such a place. Most of the villagers had gathered at James’s blacksmith shop, creating a lively crowd as if they were holding a town meeting.
“He should be here any minute now!”
However, they hadn’t gathered for a meeting. Their purpose was the weekly Saturday custom equipment commission. They had abandoned their work and flocked here just to entrust their orders to Ed, the pride of the village.
And among that huge crowd stood one person who had reached the realm of the Archmage and served as the princess’s mentor—Elena von Illide Rosario.
A powerhouse ranked within the top ten of the empire’s power structure was mingling among ordinary commoners, waiting for a single commoner boy.
Therefore, this was a very unfamiliar experience for Elena. No matter which city she visited, people would usually fear her and clear a path. But in this village, the only thing on everyone’s mind was Ed. Since it was such a remote rural village, no one except the chief and his closest aides recognized her face as the Archmage.
She had also asked the chief to keep her identity secret from the other villagers. Right now, the villagers only thought of her as “an outstanding mage from the city who came after hearing rumors about Ed’s skills.”
‘Well, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.’
Elena actually didn’t mind the experience. On the contrary, since she was rarely free from other people’s gazes no matter where she went, she felt a sense of liberation for the first time in a long while. It felt like she had returned to her commoner days when she could wander freely outside. Maybe that was why this village felt like home to her.
“Oooooh! Ed! You’re back!”
While she was lost in thought, Ed finally arrived. The villagers welcomed both James and Ed as if they were returning in glory.
“Hey, James! How did the evaluation go?”
“Obviously he passed with flying colors!”
“Of course! He brought Ed with him, didn’t he?”
“Khh… I don’t know how I’m supposed to live without Ed around anymore.”
The villagers didn’t even seem curious about the results of James’s evaluation. After all, he had taken Greta’s genius prodigy, Ed, with him.
But James’s answer was unexpected.
“Haha. I got a bit unlucky. I ended up failing.”
…He failed the bidding competition?
The villagers began murmuring among themselves. Elena broke out in a cold sweat and quietly slipped away from the center of the crowd.
“Wait, if you weren’t chosen, then who the hell was?”
“This is really surprising.”
“Who were the judges? They must have done a terrible job!”
“Weren’t the professors supposed to be judging? I heard they invited some big shot, the chief professor or something.”
“Tsk tsk. For a chief professor to have such poor judgment…”
“Still, from our perspective, it worked out well, right? Hahaha! Ed! We’re counting on you!”
Elena’s face turned bright red. For the first time in her life, she was hearing such words poured at her from all directions. To be told she had no eye for people—when she had always been praised as a genius.
‘Ugh…’
But it was her own fault. The one who had impulsively disqualified Edgar out of momentary anger was none other than herself. Elena pulled her hood over her head and reflected on what she had done once more. This was exactly why you shouldn’t rashly cast people aside.
“Alright, enough about that. Time to start taking orders. I’ll call out the waiting numbers, so get in line.”
While Elena was deep in self-reflection, James began calling out the waiting numbers. The order for equipment commissions was determined by three factors: 1. The fewer times someone had commissioned work, the higher their priority. 2. The more essential the item was to daily life, the higher the priority. 3. The shorter the production time, the higher the priority.
James had already checked these three criteria in advance and pre-arranged the villagers’ waiting order. All he had to do now was call them out.
“Number 1, Graham. Number 2, Jackson. Number 3, Aleta. Number 4, Wilson. Number 5, Jake…”
The names of the villagers were called out one after another. Those whose names were called stepped forward and formed a new line.
“Number 47, Tom.”
With Tom as the 47th person, a single long line was finally completed. However, there was one person who still stood hesitating.
Elena, with her hood pulled low, fidgeted awkwardly. Since she was an outsider, James hadn’t prepared a waiting number for her in advance.
Eventually, James called out to the hooded Elena.
“Excuse me, who are you? I checked all the waiting numbers…”
James asked who she was. Elena hesitated. What should she say? At that moment, a middle-aged villager answered for her.
“Ah! James, this person is a mage from the city. She heard rumors about Ed and wants to commission some equipment.”
The middle-aged man had perfectly recited the fake identity she had asked the chief to spread. James glanced at her and nodded. Having lived his entire life in this rural village, James had no idea who Elena was.
“Hmm… Since you’re a visitor from outside, please wait at the very end. You didn’t make a reservation in advance.”
With those words, James went inside the blacksmith shop.
Whoooosh—
A desolate wind blew, fluttering Elena’s hood. Her lips twitched as if in a spasm while she fully realized her current situation.
‘Am I… last in line right now? Me, the Archmage?’
Elena von Illide Rosario. The Archmage, the princess’s mentor, and the Academy’s chief professor. Someone like her had just been assigned the very last spot in line. She, who had always received the highest priority no matter where she went, had been pushed to the very end.
At that moment, a boy spoke up in an irritated tone.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and get in line at the back.”
“Ah, yes.”
But there was nothing she could do about it. Here, she was nothing more than a complete outsider. Elena trudged dejectedly to the very end of the line.