Chapter 13
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Salary Negotiation
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Morgana Raven was peering into the stack of grievance reports.
Everyone had so many complaints that processing them felt endless, no matter how many she handled.
Most of the writers were mages, and their demands were all the same.
Expansion of magic healers.
More active magic healing support.
Morgana wanted to grant the mages' requests.
But it was realistically impossible.
Healers were in critically short supply, weren't they?
They were barely holding on thanks to her administrative skills, yet the mages remained unsatisfied.
Still, she couldn't just ignore their demands outright.
After all, it was the mages who risked their lives to destroy Rainbow Holes.
Everything Morgana enjoyed rested upon the mages' sacrifices.
Without healers, mages died. Without mages, humanity vanished.
She knew they had to prioritize and support mages, but...
"These bastards deserve nothing! How can they not know what satisfaction even means!"
Frustrated, Morgana exploded.
Even the usually rational Morgana snapped at the absurd demand for round-the-clock healer standby teams.
She ripped the grievance report to shreds.
Every year, the number of mages grew, while healers emerged about as often as beans in a drought.
This only made the healer shortage worsen with each passing day.
Unable to create more healers, boosting efficiency was the right answer.
'What if we find more effective ways to tackle Rainbow Holes and cut down on dispatched mages?'
Morgana picked up a report she'd set aside.
< Measures to Enhance Rainbow Hole Clearing Efficiency>
Flipping past the bold title on the cover revealed a wealth of data.
At the end, it proposed optimal mage numbers for each Rainbow Hole grade, based on hard stats.
For example, the lowest-difficulty Red Hole required 5 mages.
The higher-tier Blue Hole called for 15.
Of course, even same-color Rainbow Holes varied in difficulty and manpower by size.
But the report claimed those could be calculated from preset baseline values.
The suggested figures starkly contrasted with recent dispatch logs.
'Why send twenty mages for a single Red Hole?'
Eliminating that kind of waste alone would save the Magic Management Bureau's budget and ease the healer crunch to some extent.
'Isn't there some genius out there who could smash through this inefficiency with a breakthrough idea?'
That was when it happened.
-Eloise Rubelia.
Morgana flinched and glanced around.
She was alone, yet a voice echoed from somewhere.
-Vice Director, Eloise Rubelia is here to see you.
The voice belonged to her secretary.
She repeated the message through the speaker linking the secretary's office to hers.
-Vice Director, Eloise Rubelia is...
"Got it."
-Good, you heard. I called five times with no answer—thought something was wrong.
"Just had some thinking to do. Send her in; everything's fine."
Eloise Rubelia.
Come to think of it, she was a factor.
'She can forecast Rainbow Holes?'
If she truly demonstrated that ability...
Maybe she could overcome the bureau's chronic inefficiencies?
Harboring high hopes, Morgana welcomed Eloise.
"Come on in, Miss Rubelia."
"I'm here too."
An uninvited guest trailed behind Eloise as she entered with her greeting.
Morgana clenched her jaw to maintain her smile.
She didn't like Gerard much. He was the ringleader of all those complaining mages.
He never harassed healers or made petty demands, but that aside, she still disliked him.
He wielded covert influence over the Magic Management Bureau.
Until now—no, until just a few days ago—he hadn't flaunted it openly.
But yesterday, things changed.
Precisely after the meeting on establishing the Forecast Team and personnel assignments!
Recalling that moment, Morgana clicked her tongue.
"Did I catch you at a busy time?"
Morgana shook her head at Eloise's question.
"Not at all, Miss Rubelia. Settling into the new office okay?"
Morgana addressed Eloise, but her gaze fixed on Gerard.
'Why stare at the Tower Master like that? Does she have a crush?'
Unaware of Eloise's ridiculous misunderstanding, Morgana gestured to the sofa.
"Have a seat, and we'll talk."
"Thank you."
Eloise sat right away.
Gerard naturally took the spot beside her.
Morgana, en route to the head seat, hesitated and pivoted to sit opposite Eloise.
The Tower Master Gerard wasn't one for etiquette, but her deeply ingrained civil servant instincts kicked in.
She couldn't strictly rank them, but convention placed the Tower Master above the Vice Director.
He was the Emperor's son, after all.
"So, Miss Rubelia, what's the business?"
"Yes, Vice Director. First off, thank you for setting up the new department."
"No need to thank me. The Forecast Team exists because of your abilities. That power of yours... it isn't a fib, is it?"
"Absolutely not! I can forecast them for sure. I was just grateful for the swift appointment. With your personal attention, the department must be up and running already, right?"
Morgana glanced at Gerard.
Gerard dodged her eyes and stared at the wall.
Shameless man.
Morgana muttered inwardly and nodded.
"Let's call it that."
"Thank you. But there's one more thing we need to iron out."
"What's that?"
Morgana's eyebrow arched.
Eloise straightened up with a resolute expression.
She clasped her hands on her lap and spoke.
Pouring her earnest plea into every word.
"Salary negotiation."
"Sal... ary negotiation?"
"Yes. Civil servant pay follows the standard pay grade scale, but in my case, it's a brand-new team, and I've been made the leader. I think a different benchmark applies."
Morgana was utterly dumbfounded.
It made sense on paper, but there was no precedent for salary talks upon promotion to team leader.
A modest allowance bump, sure, but nothing more.
Still, Morgana decided to hear her out.
"How much are you after?"
Eloise squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them.
For a split second, her blue irises gleamed gold—an optical illusion, surely.
"How could a lowly civil servant like me propose a figure first? Though, to assist your deliberations..."
Eloise drew a breath, then unleashed a torrent of words.
"As a patriot and dedicated public servant, I see devoting my abilities to the Magic Management Bureau as the highest honor. That said, if you were recruiting an outsider with comparable talents, you'd offer a fitting salary, I imagine."
Morgana blinked rapidly.
'Eloise Rubelia—you're not the same girl from yesterday.'
Yesterday, she'd sat quietly beside Gerard.
Today, her words flowed like a river.
"I heard you out. But I can't grant special privileges to just you. No precedent."
Eloise shot her hand up.
Morgana's eye twitched at the forceful gesture.
"Sorry. In meetings, you always raise your hand for speaking turn. Force of habit."
Eloise sheepishly lowered it.
Was that a snicker from somewhere?
Eloise pressed on, persuading Morgana.
"All innovation springs from exceptions. And innovation drives organizational progress. Your own promotion is a prime example. I wouldn't dare compare myself to you, Vice Director, whom I so admire. But considering how unique my ability is and how immensely it'll aid Rainbow Hole management—couldn't you make an allowance?"
Eloise pressed her clasped hands to her chest.
She gazed at Morgana with desperate, pitiable eyes.
Hoping to sway her heart.
But Morgana, true to her "Machine Human" nickname, didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow.
"I heard your points, Miss Rubelia. Innovation matters greatly. But for an organization to run smoothly, rules must apply without exception. I favor the latter."
It was a long discussion, but the salary negotiation had fallen through.
Eloise forced her lips into a smile.
She couldn't back down now.
Morgana's aura was no joke.
A commoner-born Vice Director like her exuded something extraordinary from the start.
'But I'm no pushover either!'
Just as Eloise, returned from the brink of death, mustered her courage to speak again...
"Just resign, Eloise."
Eloise and Morgana both whipped wide-eyed stares at Gerard.
Gerard crossed his legs with a leisurely expression.
"Like Eloise said, recruiting an outsider with your skills would cost a fortune anyway."
It was a completely fresh angle.
Eloise, born and bred a civil servant, had never even considered leaving the Magic Management Bureau!
"And if you're job-hunting anyway, how about the Magic Tower?"