Starting Over - 5
I'd always heard that holidays like summer break make time fly by, but that wasn't the case at all. Maybe it was because I wasn't the one enjoying the vacation—I was the one being worked to the bone. It wasn't even a real holiday, either.
Looking back, each individual day had rushed past in a breathless blur, yet the break as a whole had dragged on with infuriating slowness. And I was supposed to go through this five more times? That was almost too good to be true.
At this rate, I deserve a diploma of my own.
Three solid years of stubbornly enduring the Academy ought to make me an honorary graduate, right? If the headmaster had any sense of recognition, he would hand me one. I believed in the headmaster. I believed in that kindly nature of his.
"Still, while you're at the Academy, you won't have to report for duty, will you?"
"……."
"My apologies. Don't look at me like that."
Coming from the Chief of Information—someone who should have been a comrade suffering under the same crushing workload—the betrayal cut especially deep.
If anyone had to choose between babysitting royals at the Academy or simply going to work, they would all pick the latter. And if I told them to go in my place, they would thrash and refuse with every fiber of their being.
At least the Chief of Information seemed to realize he had gone too far and apologized quickly. To be fair, he had mellowed somewhat ever since that day.
That's the least a person can do.
When I learned that Luise was using the Magic Lord's unique magic, I had contacted the Chief of Information. I thought that if anyone might know how Luise had come to learn the Magic Lord's personal spell, it would be Intelligence.
The result had been pure, ugly betrayal. The same man who promised to look into it simply funnelled my words straight to the Magic Lord herself—a miracle of efficiency, really.
The sheer gall of it still made my teeth grind. And when he realized I was going to protest, he had the audacity to vanish from his post the moment I arrived in the Imperial Capital. Absolute scum.
"Audit Department Chief. Have you been well?"
"If it isn't the traitor himself. I've been dying to see you."
A few days later he contacted me first as if nothing had happened.
Been well? I had been summoned after getting caught digging into a duke's private life. Thankfully the Magic Lord had settled for a light warning, or things could have gone far worse.
"I'm sorry. Her Grace the Magic Lord has eyes and ears everywhere in the capital."
He said he was sorry, but he did not look particularly sorry.
Had Intelligence's movements truly been detected by the Magic Lord, or had the Chief simply found the whole matter bothersome and sold me out immediately? Only he knew the truth.
Vile, despicable traitor…
Still, as someone who understood exactly what it meant to be offered up as a sacrifice to a duke, the Chief of Information had grown noticeably milder after the incident.
I was grateful he still possessed that last shred of decency. I could hardly raid his entire house out of personal spite, after all.
"In any case, I sent everything you requested through the communication orb."
"Yes, I confirmed it. Thank you—it was a sudden request."
And it was nice that I could still casually ask him for information like this.
"Don't mention it. We've already been monitoring their movements, so we had plenty of intelligence."
In response to my thanks, the Chief of Information gave a light shake of his head.
The "they" he referred to were the five organizations that, in the original story, had gone completely feral trying to tear the Academy down.
Two of them—Third Glory and the Twilight Cult—had been annihilated like dogs, but three dangerous elements still remained. Checking on them regularly was the only way I could sleep at night.
After crushing Third Glory I had half-forgotten about the rest, until the Twilight Cult crawled all the way into the Imperial Capital and snapped me back to reality. I had expected them to infiltrate the Academy, but I never imagined they would charge the capital itself. Absolute lunatics.
No matter where I am, I can't let my guard down.
So I had requested additional information on the remaining three groups. If I sat on my hands and got ambushed on the way back to the Academy, I would lose my mind.
"And as you've already seen, of the three, the Five Pillars have been relatively quiet."
Just as the Chief noted, the Five Pillars had been silent. They were probably too busy championing traditionalism in the Uven Alliance with the Empire's covert support. Honestly, they did not look like they had any intention of coming to the Empire at all.
Still, I could not afford complacency. Assuming the worst meant that if a fist suddenly came flying, it would hurt a little less. Later, after all, was highly likely to end up at the Imperial Academy precisely because of that possibility.
"I'll pass along any additional intelligence as soon as it comes in."
"Ah, thank you. I'd appreciate that."
I nodded at the welcome offer. Having information arrive automatically without needing to ask was ideal.
After exchanging a few more brief farewells, I ended the call.
…Though for a second I thought I glimpsed papers in his hand.
It's night right now.
A solemn feeling welled up in me. Setting aside the fact that I had been sold off to the Academy, my working conditions were still better than his. Being sold to the Academy was the problem, of course, but still.
There was always a bottom beneath the bottom. Thanks to the Chief of Information, I managed to stay sane.
The day after I unintentionally witnessed the Chief of Information's real-time overtime, it was time to leave for the Academy. Considering the carriage ride, I needed to get moving soon.
"So you're heading back."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Since we were departing after lunch, I went early in the morning to pay my respects to the Magic Lord.
When we parted after suppressing the Twilight Cult, she had made me promise to stop by without fail. I could hardly ignore a duke's words, so I made sure to visit.
Besides, I had something to collect anyway, so I would have gone even without the reminder.
"This should last you until winter."
At her words, a box that had been floating beside the Magic Lord drifted over to me. She used magic in ways that managed to be both magnificent and utterly mundane.
"Thank you. I'll make sure to take them regularly."
But it did not matter. This was magic devoted to looking after one pitiful civil servant's health—what was there to complain about?
With this, the Magic Lord's special potions had been refilled. Looking at the quantity, they really would last until winter without issue.
The color's beautiful, too.
That soothing red-ginseng hue brought a natural smile to my face. Between these and the supplies Mother had packed for me, I would not have to worry about my health for a while.
"Do you like them?"
"Of course, Your Grace."
"Then I'm glad."
The smile on the Magic Lord's face truly left nothing wanting for the title of Mother Magic Lord.
She really was incredible, though. I had tried nearly every potion on the market, and I had never encountered anything on this level. If she started selling these, the results would be insane.
I stared at the potions for a moment before turning my gaze to her. The Magic Lord shook her head.
"I have no intention of selling them. Mass production is impossible anyway."
"Is that so?"
Well, if the maker said so, what could I do? It was not as if the duke was hard up for money.
"Besides, they were made using your blood as the base, so they wouldn't be very effective for anyone else."
"Excuse me?"
My… blood?
The unexpected revelation left my mouth hanging open for a second. So it was blood-colored, not red-ginseng? I never even considered it.
As I sat stunned by the sudden shocking truth, the Magic Lord's ears drooped slightly.
"D-didn't I tell you good results would come soon? That's what this is."
"Ah, yes. I remember."
Now that she mentioned it, I did recall. On the day I was summoned over the Luise incident, she had said something like that.
By half-elf standards "soon" was probably quite a while later by human standards, so I had forgotten. Turns out it really was soon.
Doesn't matter.
I had been surprised, but it did not matter. Something that came from my body was simply returning to my body. If I were drinking it for lack of water it would have been tragic, but this had been transformed into a once-in-a-generation health tonic. What was the problem?
The Magic Lord, however, seemed to think I found it distasteful; her drooping ears showed no sign of rising again. Even her gaze had dropped a little, broadcasting her dejection with her entire body.
"That's wonderful. I'm glad all that drawing finally paid off."
So I immediately downed one. Watching an elder carefully reading the mood of someone far younger was uncomfortable. From the way she spoke just now, it did not seem she had deliberately kept it secret either.
At that, the Magic Lord's ears perked back up. Her face was nearly a poker face, but her ears were far too honest.
"It's all thanks to you, little one. Without you it would have been impossible."
I was relieved her mood seemed to have recovered.
Having soothed the Magic Lord, I returned to the mansion with both hands full. Something similar had happened when I met the Duke of Victory not long ago. Was generosity suddenly in fashion among the dukes?
"Only you must drink them, little one. If anyone else does, they might as well be ordinary water."
In exchange, the Magic Lord had emphasized the point several times with heavy ears before sending me off. Even so, the difference in effect seemed extreme.
If the pharmacist says so, it must be true.
If you could not trust an expert, whose word could you trust? Even herbal medicine could cause headaches if taken wrong—how much more so for a potion whose ingredient was blood?
Still, I felt a little disappointed. I had wanted to share a few bottles with others, but if they were no better than water, better to give them something else.
"Master."
"Why are you waiting out here?"
I trudged back to the mansion only to find the Fourth Section Chief waiting for me. The problem was that, unlike usual, she had been standing outside the walls.
What kind of maid waited for her master outside the mansion? Her loyalty was excessive.
"Today is the last day, isn't it?"
But seeing the Fourth Section Chief lower her eyes with clear reluctance made my heart ache of its own accord. After today I really would not see her for a while.
I was going to miss her too. If the Fourth Section Chief and the Mukgwangdae could be stationed at the Academy, both body and mind would be at ease.
"I'll be back in winter. See you then."
I suppressed the regret and patted her shoulder. Summer break was over, but winter break was waiting.
Of course I did not know whether the Ministry of Special Affairs would send the Mukgwangdae again during winter break, but if nothing unusual happened they probably would. Once civil servants assigned a task, they tended to keep giving it to the same person.
"Yes, Master. I'll be waiting."
The Fourth Section Chief seemed to have reached the same conclusion; her expression brightened faintly.
I was glad I could at least decorate my last moments in the capital with the Fourth Section Chief. If the First Section Chief's provocations had been the final memory, I would have boarded the carriage clutching the back of my neck.
Just imagining it made my nape tighten. Was this the First Section Chief Effect?