A Carelessly Thrown Stone

“Pecia, what about a salesperson?”

“What salesperson?”

“You need to hire someone if you’re going to focus on your studies. You’re not seriously planning to run the shop yourself, are you?”

Elaine said this after looking around the store.

I answered out of pure laziness.

“Couldn’t I just use a self-checkout machine…?”

Elaine looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“This isn’t a convenience store. Toy golems are luxury goods — high-end merchandise. Of course you need staff who can explain things and handle customers properly.”

I hadn’t even considered hiring anyone.

The Academy’s shopping district was mostly a street where artisans and their apprentices sold their wares, and most people who came to shop brought a decent amount of money with them. Naturally, they expected a certain level of service in return. It was basically like a luxury department store.

I clutched my head at this sudden extra mission.

“Even if you say that… where am I supposed to find someone on short notice?”

“What are you worried about? There are tons of people who want to work at Aegis. You could even use people from my family if you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠want.”

“We’re allowed to bring people in from outside?”

“Yeah. Who do you think maintains this enormous Academy? It’s all ordinary people from the outside.”

Apparently there was a line of people waiting to get in. Aegis staff were well-paid, and the experience counted for a lot when they moved on to other jobs.

Who should I bring in?

But I couldn’t leave it to Elaine’s family people. They needed to fully understand that Party Bears were magical beasts, and guide buyers so they didn’t make any mistakes.

I’d originally planned to just slap up some instructional signs… but thinking about it, there was no way “customers” would give a damn about the circumstances of the “merchandise.”

I did need someone to guide them.

Someone who understood Party Bear traits thoroughly, could talk well, and pick up on my intentions quickly.

Did something like that even exist in this world? Yena fit the bill, but I couldn’t exactly kidnap her from elementary school.

After mulling it over, I asked Elaine.

“…Elaine. Does this employee absolutely have to be a person?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, as long as they handle customers well and don’t make mistakes, that’s enough, right?”

“Well… I’m not sure about that. But if you’re talking about some kind of automatic robot, business is going to tank.”

So anything but an automatic robot was fine.

I immediately pulled out my smartphone and checked my shopping delivery status. I’d ordered high-grade Mana Cloth and Mana Cotton from overseas, and there was still about a week left before they arrived. Given the nature of the goods, customs clearance was apparently a hassle.

……

I needed to hit Rank 1 with Party Bears before I could make those guys.

For the record, the materials for the Toy Soldiers were already prepared. The Mana Wood had been the condition I’d offered in exchange for helping Teacher Seo Yun-ji with her Meteor research. It should have been ready by now — I just needed to contact her and pick it up.

The real problem was still the Mana Cloth.

“Come to think of it, the Manufacturing Research Lab had all kinds of stuff, didn’t it? Elaine, let’s go!”

“Go where?”

“The Manufacturing Research Lab!”

“I don’t mind going, but… wait. You don’t actually not know where your own lab is, do you?”

Having secured a guide, I contacted Teacher Griebe and asked if he had any stock. He said he’d prepare it right away, so I arrived in high spirits — only to find Teacher Griebe and senior researcher Yang Jun-sik waiting at the entrance.

Elaine ran over cheerfully.

“Teacher Griebe!”

“Ah, Elaine.”

As expected, the two of them knew each other well and started catching up.

In the meantime, I stared at the blue wooden box Yang Jun-sik was holding. From inside, I could feel the faint pulse of high-grade Mana Cloth.

Yang Jun-sik approached carrying a box roughly the size of his own torso.

“Where should I put this?”

“Just give it to me. I’m going to send it into subspace.”

“You can use subspace magic too? As a freshman?”

I’d blurted out information in my haste, but I brushed it off casually.

“I’m more capable than I look.”

Yang Jun-sik smiled.

“A real little witch just joined the family, huh. Here.”

I felt a twinge of guilt as I took the wooden box he held out. Wondering if he’d noticed something, I asked carefully.

“A witch…?”

Yang Jun-sik laughed as if he found it amusing.

“Ah, you’re good at making golems. Everyone thinks it’s fascinating, so that’s what they call you. Plus, from what I’ve heard from the other freshmen, your magic talent is pretty considerable too.”

Apparently he’d been digging into the new researcher’s track record. He even knew about Kang Jihun bouncing off my Meteor after headbutting it.

Casting a scaled-down Meteor as her first elemental spell, plus absurd golem-crafting knowledge — the joke going around was that she was a witch who’d hidden her real age.

Balancing the wooden box on my head, I bolted for a secluded thicket. If I stuck around chatting any longer, I was bound to slip up or get tangled in something weird — just like when Han Hye-yeon had figured out my identity.

“Wait, Pecia! You have to make it where I can see!”

I ignored Teacher Griebe’s voice and headed for a quiet corner of the garden.

The moment I entered the amusement park, I opened the wooden box. There was a decent amount of high-grade Mana Cloth and Mana Cotton inside.

I quieted the Party Bears squeaking and beeping from every direction, then got to work.

The basic crafting method was no different. Knead the Mana Cotton the same way, shape it into a bear form, and wrap Mana Cloth over the top.

But high-grade materials were considerably stiffer than regular ones. Unlike before, when they’d been soft as mud, I had to put real arm strength into kneading just to change their shape. Considering how much I’d invested in my Strength stat and it was still this bad, Toy Soldiers would probably take even longer.

After about twenty minutes of sweating and kneading furiously, a Party Bear was finally complete.

Its black eyes popped out with a boing. With a hop, it sprang free of my hands, planted its fists on its hips, and puffed out its chest.

Ta-da!

The existing Party Bears surrounding us immediately swarmed the newcomer and started talking.

The magical beast world ran on survival of the fittest, after all — a specimen made from premium materials was bound to be popular.

Cool.

Nice coat.

Different. Hide.

Wanna swap one arm?

As flattery poured in from every side, the new recruit’s shoulders rose higher and higher.

Normally I would have educated it not to get cocky, but I was busy right now. Leaving the noisy squeaking bunch behind, I continued crafting.

By the time about nine Party Bears had been made… my crafting rank rose to Rank 1.

That was easy.

If I’d known it would be this simple, I would have gone to the research lab and secured materials ages ago.

“Unlocked skill list.”

The names in the submenu were all nobles of the amusement park. Originally, they managed the park as a whole.

Pirate theme: the flume ride and the Viking ship. Fairy-tale theme: the central plaza and the castle. Jungle theme: the green coaster and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the safari. Fairy theme: the rose dance and the carousel.

Each of them had their own domain roughly like that, and most Toy Soldiers didn’t move under my direct control — they entered the nobles’ retinues. In other words, because they had territories (themes) and subordinates (Toy Soldiers), they were called nobles.

The moment I stepped out of the gate, I went looking for the Mana Wood. Phone calls were a hassle, so I just fired off a text and decided to head over without waiting.

Dozens of missed calls were stacked on my smartphone, but I’d check them later. I needed to finish what I’d started before I’d have the mental bandwidth to deal with other people.

The ones in a hurry were the ones calling me — not me, right?

Still, I should probably pick up the pace a bit.

It had been morning when I opened the gate, and the sun was already hanging low. Who would have thought a single B-class would take twenty minutes? Making the S-class nobles might take two all-nighters.

The difficulty gap between regular and high-grade materials was night and day.

“Pecia! Where have you been?!”

Before I could even properly move, Yang Jun-sik spotted me. He came striding over on those long legs of his. His face had gone pale for some reason, so I asked, puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? A gate appeared on campus and you just vanished — are you okay?”

……!

“A g-gate?”

Surely it wasn’t mine?

Yang Jun-sik sighed.

“It was detected near the Manufacturing Research Lab, then disappeared almost immediately.”

Yep, that was me. Hehe.

I’d deliberately opened it somewhere out of sight and closed it right away, so I had no idea how they’d caught it. Honestly, this wasn’t my fault — Aegis’s detection system was just ridiculously good.

They couldn’t have captured any mana signature or footage, so how did they find it?

As Yang Jun-sik grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the dorms, I asked anxiously.

“Did they pick up any mana waves…?”

Yang Jun-sik answered in a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tense voice.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“That’s not what I meant. The mana waves. Did they find any?”

“I don’t know either. Whether the detection system glitched or what… every trace completely vanished, so security is still conducting a massive search. Students have been ordered back to the dorms. We need to get inside too.”

Oh ho. Fortunately, it looked like I wouldn’t get caught. No matter how good a detection skill was, it was useless without a mana trail.

Riding in the transport vehicle, I looked around — and sure enough, the place was in chaos. Dozens of flying vehicles and helicopters filled the sky, while mages wove between them deploying detection magic.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue. Light particles rained down from the aftermath of the spellcasting. Everyone was casting in different colors, so it made for quite a spectacle.

Next time, I should try it at night.

“Hey, I need to stop somewhere.”

“Later. I already wasted four hours looking for you.”

“Aah, it’s really urgent! Jun-sik oppa.”

“…Fine, whatever. Where?”

“Teacher Seo Yun-ji’s lab.”

“Lucky for you, it’s on the way. Handle your business and get back fast, got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

I collected the Mana Wood from the lab and returned to the dorms in high spirits. Hearing that tomorrow’s classes might be canceled too only improved my mood further, and without a thought for the aftermath, I fell into a deep, deep sleep.

The ones suffering were the security forces and teachers combing the entire Academy like they were hunting lice, so it wasn’t my problem. If you counted this as a combat drill, I’d done them a considerable service.

“Mmph!”

“Shut up!”

Thud!

He drove the blade into the throat of the woman hanging upside down from the ceiling. Bright crimson blood soaked her short hair and dripped downward, tracing the grooves in the floor to form a red magic circle.

The man licked the blood from his dagger.

Mental Power. Just a little more.

Aegis’s gardener, Kim Tae-hwa, gazed at the underground altar with a faint smile. In a few days, the Academy would become a living hell.

A hundred years ago, the great magic houses had branded his family as traitors and reduced them to slaves. Now the chance for revenge had finally come.

Kim Tae-hwa himself would not survive the terrorism charges… but if he could quench this multi-generational rage, no sacrifice was too great to fear.

A hundred-year grudge was right before his eyes!

WREEEEEEE—!!

“…?”

Suddenly, an alarm began blaring across the entire Academy. Then — bang! — the sound of an iron door swinging open. Bright sunlight flooded the dim underground warehouse corridor.

“—Senior, it’s not here! This building isn’t in use!”

“—Ah, just search everything! Check every single corner with your own eyes!”