The New Recruit Everyone's Been Eagerly Awaiting
“Everyone, the new recruit you’ve all been so eagerly waiting for has arrived. This is Miss Carolina Diaz.”
“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Carolina Diaz.”
My self-introduction was short because I wasn’t fully prepared, but everyone responded with warmth.
Lucy clapped her hands with dramatic flair, instantly whipping up a festive welcome.
“You already know Lucy, and going clockwise we have Beth, Nadan, Sophia, and Derek.”
After exchanging brief greetings with the team as Kylus introduced them, he turned to me with a suggestion.
“I hate to put you to work the moment you walk in, but how about starting by assisting the others with their tasks for the time being?”
“Yes, please teach me everything you can.”
I wasn’t disappointed; I had never expected to be handed important work right away.
Even if the beginning was humble, the end would be magnificent.
Kylus smiled softly as he watched me.
Then he addressed the rest of the team.
“I’ve brought an absolutely incredible talent, so feel free to get your hopes up.”
‘I am talented, that’s true.’
But please don’t raise expectations quite that high.
I prefer keeping my abilities hidden.
Unfortunately, Kylus couldn’t hear my inner grumbling.
‘What’s the point of a psychic mage who can’t even manage telepathy?’
I complained only inside my own head.
Whether the Blue Hawk’s creed was lavish praise or not, Kylus kept right on going.
“Especially when it comes to tax law—she’s supposedly memorized every revision from the kingdom era onward. Isn’t that amazing?”
‘Yes, I really did memorize it all.’
I hadn’t gone around mentioning it lately, though. I was worried it might shatter the whole “humble newbie” concept.
“How does Kylus even know that?”
Flustered that he knew something I had never mentioned aloud, I accidentally called him by the nickname I used for him in my head instead of Count Seymour or Kylus.
Fortunately, Kylus showed no reaction.
“Wow, first time I’ve ever met someone who memorized all of that.”
“Right? Wouldn’t memorizing an entire encyclopedia be easier? At least that would be less confusing.”
“I bet even the tax-law professors at the academy couldn’t pull that off.”
The others were murmuring among themselves, which thankfully diverted some of the attention.
‘It just stuck in my head naturally while I was studying.’
I had seen those texts hundreds of times during my academy years, after all.
Still, I knew my memorization ability was unusually strong.
While I was busy trying to think of a suitably modest reply, Kylus answered the question I hadn’t actually voiced.
“I saw your interview evaluation sheet, Miss Diaz.”
“Ah.”
Before regaining my past-life memories, the naïve version of me hadn’t understood how cool it was to hide one’s power.
I had answered without even opening the law book left there for reference, and when the interviewer asked in disbelief whether I had truly memorized the entire thing, I had cheerfully confirmed it.
‘So the personnel file made its way over.’
It was far more legitimate than I had guessed.
“I think that’s enough introductions. Miss Diaz, could I speak with you alone for a moment?”
The conversation had veered off course, and Kylus calling me aside meant my chance to act humble was postponed.
“Ah, yes!”
When we stepped into Kylus’s office—connected directly to the 5th Division of the Inspectorate office—he gestured for me to sit.
‘What’s this about?’
As I took the seat across from him, still wondering, Kylus set a cup of tea in front of me and spoke as if he had read my mind.
“It’s nothing serious.”
He formed a hand sign in the air, opened a subspace, and pulled a small pouch from within.
“Oh.”
Subspace magic was something even mid-level mages could use now that the Magic Tower had refined the formula, but this was the first time I had ever seen Kylus cast a spell.
My eyes sparkled with curiosity. Kylus, who had been about to open the pouch, paused and laughed.
“Now I feel like I ought to pull a pigeon out of this thing.”
Naturally, no pigeon emerged.
“These are…”
“Unfortunately, they’re just ordinary artifacts enchanted with protective magic.”
What came out of the pouch were artifacts so beautiful they could have been jewelry.
Kylus arranged them neatly so I could see them clearly and began explaining.
“The work isn’t entirely safe, so we issue artifacts as a precaution. Would you like to choose one?”
“These?”
Kylus spoke as if it were no big deal, but the way they caught the light from the office’s magic lamps was far from ordinary.
‘They look like they’re set with ridiculously expensive gems.’
Higher-grade gems could contain more powerful magic, and an artifact’s value usually rose in proportion to the quality of its materials.
‘I’d believe it if you told me you raided the emperor’s treasure vault.’
When he noticed me hesitating, clearly overwhelmed, Kylus urged me again.
“Everyone carries at least one, so please don’t feel burdened. And the ones here are at a level where it’s perfectly fine even if you break them while using them, Miss Diaz.”
His calm voice was surprisingly reassuring.
“If it really bothers you, you can return it when you resign.”
The joking addition melted my remaining wariness.
“I thought it was a lifetime contract unless there were special circumstances.”
“Exactly. So I’d rather not get them back. I’d be grateful if you used them well, Miss Diaz.”
‘Maybe they’re unexpectedly low-grade after all.’
I remembered hearing that failed artifacts—those that went wrong during production and ended up far weaker than intended—were sold cheaply.
“It’s really all right if I break them?”
“Of course.”
After confirming several times, I chose a bracelet enchanted with shield magic while listening to his explanations.
‘If it’s too precious, carrying it around would be stressful anyway.’
Among artifacts flashy enough to belong in a noble lady’s jewelry box, this was the only one with a rugged, plain design.
‘It doesn’t look like silver or platinum.’
It was a ring-shaped bracelet made from a mineral with a faint blue tint.
‘Usually, other colors in minerals mean impurities, which lowers the value. So this must be the same, right?’
By the common logic that more valuable gems produced more valuable artifacts, this seemed to be the least precious of the bunch Kylus had brought.
‘It has a useful shield spell, and at this level it won’t stand out even if I wear it every day.’
“You have a good eye.”
Kylus looked genuinely pleased with my choice.
“But don’t you think shield magic alone might be a little insufficient?”
Like a generous boss adding a bonus, he offered me another artifact.
In the end I also received a necklace engraved with short-range teleportation magic.
‘I’m sure he said one artifact per person earlier…’
It bothered me a beat too late, but I had already accepted it.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
I decided to take it lightly—he gave it because it was fine to give—and thanked him sincerely.
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
An oddly grateful reply came back.
‘The tea’s gone cold.’
Before standing, I took a sip of the now-tepid tea Kylus had served to entertain his guest. It would have been rude to leave without touching it.
‘It was peppermint.’
My stomach had felt tight from the tension of the new environment, but the refreshing peppermint tea eased it considerably.
“Is Count Seymour still banned from drinking coffee?”
Recalling what I had heard at the café before, I asked half in jest. Kylus pulled a long face and complained.
“Yes. It was briefly lifted last time, but while he was developing new products he drank some and got banned again.”
Perhaps because coffee had only recently arrived from the southern continent, the empire’s cafés were obsessed with perfecting the ultimate brewing techniques.
Yet Kylus, true to his nature as a mage who created magic potions through endless combinations, seemed to be experimenting with all sorts of wild new ideas.
“Any success?”
While finishing my tea, I thought conversation was better than awkward silence and asked. Kylus launched into an enthusiastic explanation, far more animated than when he had talked about the artifacts.
‘Wasn’t the café supposed to be his side job?’
He listed every method he had tried. Most were wildly original, but a tiny handful were ideas I had encountered back in my original world.