Dopamine Swept Away!
Dopamine Swept Away!
"Now I'm serving!"
Ellen brought coffee and set it in front of Max and the employee.
Then she stepped back from the reception sofa and looked at her smartphone from the computer chair.
The Association employee's eyes flickered toward Ellen.
Even while drinking coffee, he seemed unable to calm down.
"...Max-nim?"
"Yes."
"That, you said you hired an employee..."
"That's the one. Though it's only two to three hours a day at most."
That wasn't the answer the employee wanted.
Knowing that, Max immediately added a follow-up.
"She's indeed from the Mado Myeongga Clements family, but her job at the office has nothing to do with her family. She herself said she doesn't want to be known."
"Eonni-ya~ Please keep it a secret, okay?"
Even though he insisted it had nothing to do with the family, he knew full well that it wasn't unrelated. Still, Max had no choice but to say this.
"...."
After keeping his mouth shut for a long while, the employee rose from the sofa.
He straightened his back, politely clasped his hands, looked toward Ellen, and spoke.
"Ellen Clements-nim."
"What, are you calling me?"
"May I report Ellen Clements-nim's existence only to the Association President? This is too great a secret for a mere employee like me to bear."
"Who's the Association President? I don't even know what oppa-ya's Mercenary Association is."
"The Bohemian Mercenary Association."
"Ah~ Are you under that old man? Not bad."
The Association President is an old man? High-class information dropped unexpectedly from Ellen's lips.
The employee shot a startled glance at Max, but it was too late.
At this point, was he going to argue that he shouldn't reveal information about the Association President to Ellen? That was obviously impossible.
The answer was to end the conversation before more information leaked out.
"...Yes. I'd like to ask for permission."
"Go ahead~ I don't care. That old man will hear and act accordingly. He knows who the next head of Clements is."
"I thank you for Ellen Clements-nim's generous understanding."
"That's enough. Eonni-ya came because you had business with oppa-ya, right? Don't mind me and do your work. I'm just gonna laze around."
Only then did the employee sit back down on the sofa.
He looked like he had aged ten years in that brief moment.
"...Max-nim. I will confirm your rank."
"Go ahead."
The employee opened his bag and took out a metal plate.
Max placed his palm on it and followed the request to channel just a bit of mana.
As if the confirmation was complete with that alone, the employee put the item back.
"Confirmed. I will update Max-nim's information registered with the Association to 3rd rank and reflect it in mission compensation."
"Please take care of it."
"I will process it quickly."
The employee nodded with a stiff face, then quietly stood up.
He carefully approached Ellen, who was placing colorful bottles on the desk and doing her own nail art.
"Ellen Clements-nim. Would you give me a chance to correct my mistake?"
"Huh? What mistake?"
"I should have first stated my name and affiliation and introduced myself, but I was nervous and committed a rudeness. Allow me to greet you again. I am Meredith of the Bohemian Mercenary Association."
So her name was Meredith.
Max learned that for the first time too.
"Ahaha! You're the diligent eonni-ya that old man absolutely needs~ I don't care about stuff like that."
"Thank you. I'll take my leave now."
The employee left the office.
Ellen filled the remaining three hours chatting with Max, registered her fingerprint on the door, and then left for the day.
··
··
Days passed one after another.
'I've almost finished the medicine.'
Max checked his side as soon as he woke up in the morning.
"Holy moly."
The effect of the cell proliferation treatment was remarkable. Though a scar remained because an old model was used, he was satisfied that there were no aftereffects from being cut that deeply by a knife, and he hadn't died.
'If I hadn't gotten the Gold Nectar, my side wouldn't have just split open—my body would have been cut in half.'
He also had the impression that the Genesis Bio Solution the broker had obtained for him had preserved his life.
It was clear he had used the money earned from stocks efficiently.
"Hooouup!"
He stretched and came out to the office.
He ate the side dishes Flora had left for him and washed up.
After finishing preparations to receive clients, he turned on the office sign to indicate it was open and left the door ajar.
He looked up news about Gaia Food on the computer while sucking on a lollipop.
Mango flavor.
The sticky sweetness woke him up.
'Now I need some proper requests to come in.'
While focusing on his treatment, Max had handled a few light requests.
There was even a kid who came asking him to open a drink cap because he couldn't, which Max did for free.
There was also a request to drive away a pack of stray dogs that had taken over an alley, and an odd request to teach someone how to fight with a crowbar.
There were other trivial requests, but those were the ones that stood out for now.
'It's a relief I'm not in the red, but they're all borderline.'
He spun around in his chair, pondering the future.
How much power and reputation would he need to satisfy all his curiosity?
Ziiing! Ziiiiing!
The smartphone vibrated in the office, which had only been filled with the sound of mouse clicks.
[Layton Steiger]
His father's call.
Max, who had been rolling the candy in his mouth, raised one eyebrow at the screen.
'In the past, he never called me at this time...'
Still, it made sense.
Just by attending the introduction to his remarriage partner, the trajectory had already diverged from before his regression.
"Yes. I've received the call."
─ Where are you.
"I'm working."
─ I told you I had a position ready for you at Cheonmyeong Pharmaceutical.
If this had been his childhood self, he would have regretted answering the phone here.
But now, after his social life had worn him down to the bone, it was different.
Even if unpleasant feelings welled up, he didn't show them. He had the will to drag the conversation along calmly to extract information.
"What kind of work at Cheonmyeong Pharmaceutical?"
─ Are you in a position to be asking such things?
"I'm human too, so why can't I ask? I need to know if the place I'm crawling into is a toilet or a flower garden."
─ Human? Do the Haze consider someone without talent to be human? With that mentality, no wonder you have no development!
"Father. How did you become a middle-aged man who only keeps repeating the same words?"
─ ....
"Your way of thinking is outdated too. It's the Steiger, not the Haze, that refuses to treat someone without talent as human."
No answer.
It seemed he was having a hard time understanding because his son, who used to lose his temper and lash out at the slightest provocation, had suddenly changed.
"If the Steiger wants to develop, you need to reform and accept new things. If the path isn't clear, you need to look around instead of being stubborn."
─ Shut up!
"Are you still resentful that the Steiger family couldn't be counted among the Mado Myeongga because you were pushed out by the Ezra family?"
─ I fed and clothed you, you son of a—.
The speaker crackled and the audio quality broke from him shouting so loudly after having his scale touched.
There was also a thud crash! sound from beyond the phone. Seems he couldn't contain his anger and smashed a desk or something.
"What can you do about it? The Ezra family is a perfect superior version of the Steiger."
Max shook the lollipop, which had shrunk to a tiny size, in the air and continued his announcement.
"I'll drop by the main house soon. On a day not too far off."
After saying what he wanted, he hung up.
Given that he would have a fit just from Max hanging up first, how much of a commotion was he making now?
'Am I still a kid? I didn't get anything useful, but it feels good to have screwed him over.'
Max chuckled and crunched the candy crunch!.
··
··
About an hour after Ellen came to work.
A man in a neat suit with horn-rimmed glasses slightly opened the door and poked his head in.
"Excuse me... Is this... a mercenary office...?"
His voice, and his shoulders shrinking as he watched for reactions, seemed frail. An attitude that wasn't good to show at a mercenary office.
He gave the impression of being completely unrelated to actual mercenary work.
"That's right. Come in."
Max got up from his seat and guided the guest to the sofa.
Ellen hummed a tune while preparing coffee. She also added one for herself, making three cups.
"Is this your first time at a mercenary office?"
"Ah, yes. That's right. I heard you also handle dangerous jobs..."
"We handle pretty much anything. As long as the pay matches."
"About how much is the base rate...?"
"It depends on the request. For now, just be aware that you're hiring a 3rd-rank mage."
"A m-mage!"
The man also muttered the word '3rd-rank' under his breath.
He took a handkerchief from his inner pocket and wiped his cold sweat.
"The criteria for the fee naturally include the level of danger, but the time consumed is also important. It's fine if you just tell me the details and get a rough estimate."
A mercenary office is a shop without a menu.
Therefore, the client should raise their voice from their superior position and negotiate the market rate. If they can't do that, they end up paying a lot of money.
"Th-then, I'll just tell you the details first..."
"I will listen attentively to your words, customer."
"Ah! Also, about confidentiality..."
"Of course we'll keep it. Reputation is important for a mercenary."
Max smiled and handed over the coffee he had received from Ellen.
After moistening his dry mouth, the man glanced around and then spoke.
"I think my wife is cheating on me..."
A topic that makes the dopamine hit.
Max, and even Ellen's ears perked up.