Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Indefinite Contractor Returns
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Wyvern Attack Day 14 / Kazan Dispatch Week 6.
"Ugh."
Daniel opened his eyes.
"Ow, my head."
An unfamiliar ceiling swayed above him.
No, was it his vision that was swaying?
His body felt light, but his head was heavy as a lump of lead.
It was the worst hangover imaginable.
'Whoa. This takes me back to when I had COVID.'
This mana exhaustion had hit him harder than any before, he couldn't help but think.
Forcing a bitter smile, Daniel somehow managed to sit up.
"You're awake, sir."
"Huh?"
Through his hazy vision, he spotted someone.
He thought she might be a maid at first, but her voice sounded strangely familiar.
A beauty with wavy blue hair.
Daniel knew exactly who she was.
"Elena, Grade 5?"
"Good morning, Daniel."
His colleague Elena flashed a bright smile.
Beyond the window where she sat, stars and the moon shone in the night sky.
Elena, Grade 5. A 5th Circle expert upper-class archmage.
And Titania's secretary and right-hand woman.
Daniel was flustered.
Did they bring me back to the Magic Tower while I was out? Why is my boss's shadow hanging around here?
"What brings you here?"
"Several reasons, I suppose. One of them is to nurse our Daniel, who collapsed from mana exhaustion."
"It's just mana exhaustion, though?"
"If you want to call it 'just,' you should've collapsed at the Magic Tower. That's no way for someone who passed out from mana exhaustion in a place without experts like me to talk."
'Huh? Was it like that?'
Daniel, an indefinite contractor whose magic training had only ever pushed him to mana exhaustion during special sessions with Titania, learned a new fact.
He wasn't particularly thrilled.
"Here you go."
Elena handed him a vial.
"It's a recovery potion. It should make you feel a bit better."
"Thanks. I'll take it."
Daniel drank the potion. It was definitely effective.
His leaden head felt noticeably lighter.
'Phew. Now I feel alive again. But seriously, why is Elena Grade 5 really here? Did I mess something up?'
Daniel tilted his head in confusion.
To resolve his doubts, let's rewind time a bit.
Right after the battle between those guarding the talented black sheep... no, the hardworking indefinite contractor mage began.
The guardians moved first.
"We need to secure intel first!"
Titania didn't make the mistake of thinking she could win this fight with prayers alone.
Her first move was to dispatch family members to Kazan.
Not waiting for slow periodic reports—she opted for real-time intel gathering.
And it was a godsend.
[What, what did you say?]
[It's true, miss! I saw it with my own two eyes!]
[No way. Really? For real?]
[I swear!]
A week ago, at dawn, Titania received an emergency report that made her wonder if she was still dreaming.
She pinched her cheek.
She didn't wake up.
"He took down 12 wyverns by himself?"
Even repeating it didn't make it feel real. But there was no reason for her family member to lie.
The moment she accepted it as reality, the first thought in her mind wasn't promotion, career advancement, or faction strengthening.
'They're going to steal Daniel away!'
She shot up from her seat.
Daniel wasn't a perfect talent.
If he was a 100 in work, he was a 0 in politics.
Power structures, faction names—they were all from another world to him.
It was an advantage, but also a fatal flaw.
'He'll just blindly grab the alliance hand Rainer offers without a second thought!'
Now Rainer would pull out all the stops for an even more aggressive headhunt. Because she would too, if she were him!
Even now, he was probably scheming to turn Daniel into [Kazan’s Hero] and pull him to his side!
Stay passive, and she'd be the one losing!
'I can't let that happen!'
Defense ends here.
Now it was time for offense.
"Elena!!!"
She summoned her secretary and confidante.
Despite the early hour, Elena rushed to Titania's home without complaint.
"You called for me?"
"I have a job for you."
"Anything you say."
"Go north."
Titania shared the intel.
"... This is dangerous."
"Yes. So you protect Daniel."
"I'll assist with his duties and stand by his side as a political shield, under the pretext of guarding against any personal threats."
"As expected of Elena. You get it."
"Shall I leave immediately?"
"No. Wait for it. We'll hear from upstairs soon—move then."
"Upstairs?"
"Think about it, Elena. A mage who shot down 12 wyverns. First time in Magic Tower history—a feat that'll echo through the ages."
Titania smiled for the first time.
"The higher-ups aren't political idiots enough to ignore a mage like that."
—Back to the present. On the sickbed—
"How's your condition?"
Elena asked with a gentle smile.
Daniel checked himself over and whistled.
"Head's a bit heavy, but otherwise fine. Feels like I'm even healthier than before."
"Good to hear. Worth feeding you the Blue Geyser."
"Pardon?"
Wait. What did I just hear?
What did she say I took?
"Blue Geyser, you said?"
"Just kidding, right?!"
"Why would I joke about that?"
Daniel's jaw dropped, frozen in shock.
Blue Geyser.
One of the Magic Tower's own high-grade elixirs.
A priceless treasure requiring advanced alchemy and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd heart crystals from krakens, massive sea beasts caught only in the deep ocean.
Even the Tower produced fewer than 20 a year.
Consuming it permanently boosted physical ability, recovery, and mana regen rates—a legendary item with reservations backed up three years minimum!
And he'd just heard he'd consumed one.
Not to be shocked would be a lie.
"That stuff needs the Tower Lord's personal approval, doesn't it?!"
"Yes. That's why I brought it."
"Huh?"
"The Tower Lord himself ordered it delivered to you, Daniel."
"...?!"
"No need to feel burdened."
No. Why is the Tower Lord's name coming up here?
Elena's eyebrow arched slightly.
"Daniel, have you forgotten what you did?"
"Ah."
Wyvern takedown: 12. With zero casualties. An absurd record.
A monumental achievement that would endure not just in magic history, but imperial war annals.
If not wartime, the Northern Archduke would've visited personally to pin medals on Daniel.
"You've earned an unprecedented feat, Daniel. You think the Tower wouldn't give proper recognition to someone like that? What would happen?"
"... Chaos?"
"Such a humble way to put it."
Elena couldn't suppress a sigh.
'No wonder the manager's so worried. Sending me was the right call.'
How to protect this political dunce.
The regular mage's worries over the indefinite contractor deepened.
Daniel had no idea.
How much had transpired before the Blue Geyser reached him.
The moment news of his wyvern kills arrived, the Magic Tower erupted.
The indefinite contractor, already a thorn in regulars' sides from upper management's frequent mentions, had struck again!
And this time, a jackpot even regulars couldn't dream of matching.
"Took down 12 wyverns solo?"
"Bullshit? For real?"
"Insane. How?!"
If this had happened in the Tower, regulars would've done anything to downplay it.
But it was in the north, vouched by heir-apparent Rainer himself.
Touch it? That'd just be declaring, "Come at me with a no-holds-barred political brawl for my soul!" to Rainer.
Untouchable. No other choice for the regulars.
And Titania didn't miss the opening.
"A mage from our department defended Kazan solo! Unlike you lot!"
"Kuh!"
While rivals froze, she solidified her position and grew her faction.
Other factions ground their teeth but couldn't block her.
Daniel's feats she touted were that overwhelming.
Titania's influence swelled by the day.
Regular mages lining up to pledge loyalty surged daily.
Then the Tower Lord's reward was announced.
"Bestow a Blue Geyser upon indefinite contractor mage Daniel."
Titania and every mage in the Tower were stunned.
Not a mid-grade— a high-grade elixir!
Even for huge merits, wasn't this too much for an indefinite contractor?
"So? Wrap up the northern hero who smashed 12 wyverns with a few mid-grades? Rainer and the Archduke would love that, huh?"
"...!"
"I hate wasting it too. But everyone else died. Right?"
"..."
"I'm doing this because you lot suck. Bunch of useless fools. The Archduke remembers only Daniel's name from this dispatch—no face even seen. Fair? Huh? Fair?!"
"..."
"Tch. All circle levels, no talent I like. What're you waiting for? Scram."
The executives who'd come to protest left like mutes, honey stuck in their throats.
Thus, the overkill-yet-unavoidable high-grade elixir Blue Geyser reached Kazan's hero, too precious for mere recovery potion.
And that hero of Kazan was currently—
"Ugyagyeok!"
"Whoa, check that potion high. Zero backlash on an imp summon? For real?"
"... What are you doing?"
"Huh? Can't you see? Recontracting after summoning an imp."
"Why?"
"I'm better, so time to get back to work. Prepping for that. Problem?"
"... No wonder everyone's after you."
"Pardon? What was that?"
"Nothing."
Elena pressed her forehead.
Watching a patient—whose four-week recovery should've been halved by the Blue Geyser—prep not for discharge but duty return gave her a headache.
'This workaholic being the eye of the storm shaking the Tower's politics? Comedy gold.'
Talent extremes: politics 0, work 100. And the imbalance driving everyone mad? Peak comedy.
'Shows the gods are fair. Every genius talent comes with a glaring flaw.'
The beauty mage, newly enlightened, watched the workaholic mage loop imp summons and contracts.
What face would she make if she learned the gap between her [workaholic] and his [workaholic]?
A question too intriguing to ignore.