Chapter 14
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Chilly Verification on Sirion Peak
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"Annual salary double what the Magic Management Bureau offers. Incentives too. A Rainbow Gem every time your forecast hits the mark..."
"Hold on, hold on, hoooold onnn!"
Morgana shouted, her composure shattered.
"Gerard, you know this violates business ethics, right?"
"I don't think this is the time to talk about business ethics."
"Can you just poach a civil servant like this? As Miss Rubelia said, civil servants serve the nation out of a sense of duty."
"The Magic Tower serves the nation too. Joining us wouldn't change what Eloise does."
Gerard openly raked at Morgana's nerves.
Eloise saw her opening.
"Vice Director! I take pride in serving the continent."
Morgana's face lit up for a moment.
"I knew it. You'll stay with the Magic Management Bureau, then..."
"But does that mean I have to stay here to do it?"
In truth, Eloise had zero intention of leaving the Magic Management Bureau.
'There's a healer I need to help.'
And if she went to the bustling Magic Tower as a mage, only for her healer awakening to be exposed later?
The mere thought was horrifying.
Still, for the sake of negotiation, Eloise rattled off words she didn't mean.
"I don't need that huge salary you're offering at the Tower. Just two... no, three times what I make now! For incentives, a tiny amount based on conquest difficulty."
Aim high and find common ground—that was negotiation 101.
"Eloise, looks like you didn't hear my full pitch earlier. Incentives come as Rainbow Gems."
Rainbow Gems traded for hundreds of gold coins—enough to dwarf a lowly civil servant's salary—depending on size and function.
It was an offer anyone would waver on, and Eloise felt her resolve shake.
Morgana grew urgent.
"Let's negotiate salary! Whatever Eloise wants. But first, prove your ability with the Forecast Team."
"I can do that right now."
"Hm?"
"A Blue Hole opens on Sirion Mountain's peak in twenty minutes."
"This is really where it opens?"
Morgana shouted, clutching her coat tighter.
"Yes!"
Eloise yelled back at full volume.
"Very cold, Eloise?"
"A little."
Compared to Morgana—lips blue, shivering uncontrollably—Eloise looked perfectly serene.
Morgana stared at her in disbelief.
It was understandable.
This was Sirion Mountain's summit, blanketed in snow that never melted year-round.
"A Blue Hole opens on Sirion Mountain's peak in twenty minutes."
They'd come to verify Eloise's second prediction.
Morgana had promised that if it proved true, she'd raise Eloise's salary as requested.
Gerard had volunteered to conquer the Blue Hole, teleporting Morgana and Eloise straight to the peak.
Without time to grab thick coats.
Whiiish—the wind sliced like blades.
Every inhale shook her insides; every exhale froze mid-air.
Morgana trembled.
Eloise, meanwhile, was fine.
Because Gerard had secretly slipped a Red Gem into her pocket.
Red Gems from Red Holes generated heat.
Thanks to it, Eloise felt only a slight chill despite her thin coat.
Eloise glanced at Morgana.
It felt embarrassing and guilty to be the only one receiving Gerard's kindness.
But she couldn't just hand over his gesture to Morgana.
"Keep it secret," he'd whispered.
Besides, he'd said he'd handle everything himself—no room for her to say more.
Morgana glared at Gerard.
If only the mage would light a fire.
But with a Blue Hole conquest ahead, she couldn't beg for such a trifle.
Plus, her pride wouldn't allow it.
They'd just been raising their voices over Eloise's recruitment!
'Poaching our talent like he's been waiting for this.'
Shed freeze to death first.
No begging warmth magic from Gerard.
Her teeth chattering, Morgana turned to Eloise.
"Eloise, you're sure about the Blue Hole in two minutes?"
If not, the salary talks were off—and Eloise would answer for dragging her into this cold.
It might seem harsh, but that's civil service for you.
Success slides by; failure demands accountability.
"Yes, any moment now."
As if in response, the wind atop Sirion Mountain howled fiercer.
Fine snow particles whipped through the air, sharp enough to lacerate skin.
"Gale?"
Morgana muttered.
Gales were a classic Rainbow Hole precursor.
Was Eloise's forecast spot-on again?
Before doubt could escape her lips, a massive, dark-blue glowing hole ripped open in the sky.
Blue Hole.
Eloise's forecasting ability, proven once more.
Morgana regretted entering the Blue Hole immediately.
Shed thought monsters rampaging inside beat freezing on Sirion Peak—but this was even colder.
Giant snowflakes poured endlessly; an infinite snowfield stretched ahead.
Icicles dangled thickly from the bare branches of jagged dead trees.
The wind's howl mimicked screams.
A realm of brutal cold alone.
"Cold-specialized hole."
Eloise murmured, prompting Morgana's reply.
"We'll freeze to death at this rate."
Ice already rimed her lashes.
Eloise fidgeted with the Red Gem in her pocket.
Monopolizing warmth felt increasingly uncomfortable.
Gerard noticed and scowled, conjuring a fireball in mid-air.
Morgana darted to it.
Her frozen body thawed abruptly, prickling and itching all over—but better than death by frost.
Eloise brightened.
Gerard pulled her near the flame too, saying,
"Not all Blue Holes are this frigid."
So don't blame me if you freeze, his tone implied.
"Blue Holes typically spawn liquid-themed environments and beasts. They embody liquid's fickle nature."
Sometimes you'd face steam-filled cauldrons and scalding-water monsters; other times, normal temps meant aerial water bombs.
Torrential rains that blinded you, or fights while submerged.
"I know th... AchOO!"
Morgana's condition worsened by the second.
Better smash the core quick and head back to HQ.
Eloise stared pointedly at Gerard.
Go destroy the core already.
But he extended his hand.
"Come with me."
"Pardon?"
"What if something goes wrong if I go alone?"
Eloise gaped, but Gerard remained nonchalant.
It was a relatively tough Blue Hole, but today it was mere lake-sized—child's play for him solo.
Just a matter of time.
"You're joking, right?"
Eloise asked.
"Dead serious. Not at my best lately."
"What can I even do if I tag along?"
Eloise hadn't awakened as a healer yet.
Neither mage nor healer—what use was she but baggage?
"Don't want to?"
How could she refuse phrased like that?
Besides, sending him alone didn't sit right with her either.
Part of her yearned to witness his combat up close.
Shed never seen it even in her past life.
Disaster Response HQ rules barred non-mages from holes unless special exceptions—like accompanying the Tower Master.
'What if healers could enter holes together?'
The idle thought stirred regrets of the past.
'If I'd just followed him into that Purple Hole from the start...'
Could Gerard have survived?
If shed stayed by his side, purifying his magic continuously?
She shouldn't have left him alone.
With that realization, Eloise seized Gerard's hand.