Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Part-time Job (Revised)
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Inside the Magic Castle's Revision Citadel.
"Welcome! This is the Magic Castle Comprehensive Complaints Office!"
I was currently standing at the reception desk on the first floor of the Magic Castle, in the Comprehensive Complaints Office.
Here to file a complaint? Nope. I was here for a part-time job.
Ramu's request was none other than for me to cover his duties for him.
I wondered if that was even allowed, but apparently it was. Being a decrepit old beast, maybe everything just went his way.
Of course, it wasn't a slave contract grinding me from dawn till dusk. Just part-time on weekends.
Exactly three days. If I endured just three days, he'd wipe away my 3.72 million won debt like it never happened.
'What kind of job requires leaving it empty for three whole days?'
It reeked so much of a setup from the start, like he'd loaned me the money just to rope me into this. But what could I do? It was money I'd spent.
And honestly, 3.72 million won for three days was a steal. So I decided to tackle the gig with a positive mindset.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
My main duties were simple.
Sorting reports from magical girls' incident resolutions, helping complainants with their paperwork, and occasionally guiding lost mascots.
Sitting next to me was the Malay bear mascot who'd handled my paperwork last time.
His name was Duchil. He flipped through documents with a thimble on his front paw, muttering to himself.
"Ah, crap... This month's compensation claims are insane. Why are so many monsters showing up?"
Then he glanced at me. 'It's because of you, you.' His eyes spat curses like machine-gun fire.
"Senior, there's a complainant over there."
"Haa... Again? What got smashed this time? I swear, some of these guys are claiming stuff that fell apart from age, not monster damage."
Duchil knew I was a magical girl moonlighting as part-time help, but he treated me like a total junior and worked me hard anyway.
Maybe it was because I'd hogged all the love from senior magical girls. The attitude drop felt extreme. This was probably normal, though.
While Duchil half-assed the complaint duties, I looked around.
Like I'd noticed before, the Magic Castle's atmosphere was nothing like what outsiders imagined.
Dreams and hope? Love and justice? What was that? A complaints office was a complaints office, no matter the world.
I swallowed a sigh and picked up my pen.
The work here was like a rhythm game.
Check document, sort, stamp, pass. Four beats.
Tap. Rustle. Bam. Thud. Tap. Rustle. Bam. Thud.
Master this, and the day was done in a flash.
"Oho, you're good. Big hands help?"
My hands weren't big at all, but compared to the mascots, mine—and my eyes—were huge. Stamping was a breeze.
"Take some more of mine."
Duchil slyly shoved his stack my way.
It was such a natural toss, but with extra pay at 500 won per document beyond the base wage, I took it without complaint.
Before I knew it, I was processing faster than Duchil. Duchil vs. Ha-rin. We see who's superior.
I was in a trance, battling the paperwork,
when
Ding.
The complaints office door opened with a clear bell chime.
The rowdy air shifted in an instant, and the mascots all shut up at once.
The parrot on the phone, the sloth dozing off, the turtle getting chewed out. Everyone stared at the entrance like they'd rehearsed it.
Me too. Because...
'Huh?'
Silver hair and deep blue eyes. A prim maid outfit. In her hand, a stately broom instead of a magic wand.
Magical Girl Aurora. She'd arrived.
I'd wanted to thank her properly for a while now. Not as Magical Girl Neph, but as Republic of Korea citizen Seol Ha-yun.
Honestly, without Aurora, Korea would've been wiped off the map ages ago. How many S-rank monster raids had she led?
I recalled some Axon incident? Before I was born, one that flattened all of Haeundae—she'd been at the front lines.
And most recently, without her mana in the slime fight, we might not have won.
Then Duchil bolted out, tail wagging.
"Welcome! Lady Aurora!"
His worldly smugness flipped in a heartbeat.
"Hello, Mr. Duchil. You're working hard."
Stiff and businesslike tone.
That was Aurora's shtick.
Serving everyone below the heavens. The maid concept stuck to polite speech with all.
Of course, I couldn't demand she obey me as "master" for some adult scenario.
Someone had tried once... and paid for it.
Frost and Aurora both clung to their concepts fiercely despite their age. Professionalism, I guess.
"Oh, no need! Compared to you, Lady Aurora, we're just desk drones! So! What brings you here?"
Aurora held up the document envelope in her hand.
"I'm here to settle Imagine Points from the recent monsters we took down. There were so many, auto-deposit to the card failed. They said it needs manual processing here at the Castle."
Normally, IP from monsters went straight to the membership card.
But catch too many too fast, and the server glitches, so manual it is. Makes sense.
"Aigoo, leave that to us! Hand it over! I'll prioritize it!"
Duchil groveled, paw outstretched.
That moment.
"......Huh?"
Our eyes met. Aurora's and mine.
I reflexively yelled out the part-timer's instinct.
"Welcome! This is the Magic Castle Comprehensive Complaints Office!"
Aurora—no, Jang Won-ju—couldn't believe her eyes.
'Am I seeing things?'
She rubbed them and looked again.
Reality didn't change.
At the complaints desk, tiny hands slamming stamps. It was definitely Neph, Seol Ha-rin.
Who was Seol Ha-rin to her? Her secretly pegged future daughter-in-law (not confirmed, personal wish).
Seo Jun's recent whining echoed in her ears.
Some fox-like girl named Ha Sol-an or whatever was seducing the innocent future daughter-in-law.
It'd irked her already, but this scene went beyond irritation.
"Neph?"
Jang Won-ju called out in a trembling voice. The kid stamping away looked up.
"......Hello, Lady Aurora!"
Beaming bright. Covered in dust, ink on her hands, yet smiling purely.
It stabbed at Jang Won-ju's heart.
She strode forward. Duchil yelped and backed away, but she ignored him.
"What are you doing here?"
Even dropping her polite maid persona. No time for concepts now.
"Ah, I'm part-timing!"
"......Part-timing?"
Jang Won-ju's eyebrow twitched.
"Yes! Short-term gig at the Magic Castle. Good hourly pay, and they feed me."
She's eight.
Just started elementary school, should be buying fish cakes after class and playing at the park.
And this kid was negotiating wages and meals in a labor site?
"Do you... need money?"
"Yes. I have some debt."
"Debt?"
Jang Won-ju felt dizzy. Not words from an eight-year-old.
"......How much?"
"3.72 million won."
Specific amount too.
"Why do you need that money?"
"Ah, well... I used the membership card a bit. Turns out it's not free. They say I have to pay it back."
Neph scratched her head sheepishly.
"So I looked for part-time jobs, but no one hires eight-year-olds. Tried swapping IP for gift certificates to sell... but they wouldn't take it..."
Of course. Anyone who did would be nuts.
"I was stressing, then Ramu introduced me to this job! Help with paperwork here, and they'll forgive the debt."
Ramu. At that name, Jang Won-ju heard reason snap in her mind.
To sum up:
1. Magic Castle gave a kid a credit card. (No proper explanation)
2. Kid used it. (Debt incurred)
3. Demanded repayment from a kid who can't pay. (Child labor exploitation)
4. Ringleader is a magical girl's own mascot?
"......Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped Jang Won-ju as the air froze solid around her.
Duchil had crawled under the desk, shivering. Other mascots held their breath.
Instinct told them: The legendary magical girl who smashed S-rank monsters was truly pissed.
Jang Won-ju grabbed Neph's hand.
"Neph?"
"Yes?"
"Put the stamp down."
"Yes? But the quota's not..."
"Put it down."
Neph set it down in a daze.
Jang Won-ju pulled out her smartphone.
She usually lurked in the group chat.
Didn't want to seem like some old fogey butting into the young ones. When she did chime in, it was brief.
Mostly had Bella relay announcements.
Not today.
As a senior, an adult, and a Korean parent, she couldn't ignore this.
Aurora's call emptied the chat in seconds.
If she spoke up like this, it meant Earth was half-destroyed or equivalent crisis.
Jang Won-ju snapped a photo of Ha-rin. Pitiful, dazed in a dust pit next to a stack of papers as tall as her.
Hit send.
A suffocating silence blanketed the chat.
Then, one second later.
The reactions exploded.
How intense? Even this.
The legend who'd become a magical girl right after Prima herself was calling out Prima over Neph.
Of course, she had no clue Prima was the true culprit.
Jang Won-ju glared coldly at the complaints office ceiling, aiming for the director's office at the top. She typed her final message.
She pocketed her phone and turned to Neph.
"Wait outside for a bit, Neph."
"Uh... Where are you going?"
"Director's office."