Side Story 4. The Magic School and the Monster in the Basement (3)

I finished getting ready to go to work with Hameln and packed a briefcase that I always carry. He was trying to take care of me in a rather burdensome way since morning, so I decided to just think of him as a maid. If he asked for something because he took care of me, then all I had to do was give him a whack on the head.

It was a peaceful morning as usual with warm sunlight.

On the way to work at the Adventurers' Guild headquarters, Hameln smiled and asked, "Does Senior always wake up early and participate in Lisbon and Alphonso’s training?”

"Yes, it's just a light morning exercise."

Lisbon and Alphonso didn't seem to think so, but their thoughts were none of my business.

"Oh... I see. That was a light morning exercise.”

Hameln smiled awkwardly as if he was trying to force himself to understand something somewhat difficult.

I only hung a 20kg sandbag on each limb and made them do burpees, but his expression was too much.

Isn’t 200 sets of 20 repetitions normal for a knight?

It would have been a little difficult without mana, but Lisbon was a candidate for knighthood who knew how to use mana. It's nothing if you have mana.

"Of course. Do you want to join in?”

"No, I appreciate the offer, but it seems too much for me."

It was a quick rejection without any hesitation. He looked quite strong, but what a shame. He seemed like it would have been fun to train.

Given the refined walking and scent of mana, I thought he might have prepared for the knight test for a local territory before becoming a civil servant.

Or did he want to be a butler of a high-ranking noble family?

The butler of a high-ranking noble also had to be the guard in the worst emergency, so he had to be skilled and have strength.

"Well, civil servants don't need to go as far as wearing sandbags."

After arriving at the Adventurers' Guild headquarters while chatting about one thing or another, Hameln and I started working leisurely with a simple tea. Demuir and Organ also went to work one after another. And Fiona, who was on night shift yesterday, yawned and came into the office.

"Ha-am~ You’re all here? I happened to have something to do, so that's a relief.” She rubbed her face, brewing black tea on one side of the office.

"Demuir and Organ know, but every year, the Knight School and the Magic School invite instructors to give lectures on adventuring and administration."

While sipping black tea, Fiona looked at me.

"The Knight School was done by Den in the Alps, so there was an official letter saying that that would suffice for this year."

"But not for the Magic School?" Organ asked.

Fiona nodded. "Yes. So I have to pick someone to go as an instructor for about a week, but the Magic School wants someone familiar with magic."

At that, Demuir put his hands behind his head, leaned against the back of his chair, and spoke, "Then it's either Den or Fiona. Since those two are the only people who know how to use magic properly."

Organ looked at Fiona and me with a serious face. "Miss Fiona is in the process of getting used to Mr. Roseland's work, so she can’t leave. I guess it must be Den."

Fiona nodded and looked at me. "I'm sure it'll be like that, right? So I'm thinking about recommending you, Den. What do you think?”

I think it's annoying.

"Well, I don't think I have a choice," I smirked.

Fiona smiled awkwardly. "Hahaha, I'm sorry. Instead, I'll buy you a big meal."

“Then, I'll have to get something expensive. So, when do I start?”

Fiona answered with a nod. "According to the schedule, it’s in three days. Oh! Come to think of it, you are on the night shift the day before. You can't go the day after being on a night shift, so I'll adjust the schedule to pull it back by one day."

"Yes, all right."

In the end, even though it was annoying, it was decided that I would go to the Magic School. I'll think of something delicious to get from Fiona later.

-o-

Three days after the Magic School business trip was decided, I looked at the Magic School building after a long time. It was the first time seeing the building in half a year since I completed the training center.

"It's been a while. How's your condition?"

I asked Dane Walker about his condition while looking at his still bandaged body. The bandage contained healing magic and was healing his body.

Dane Walker looked awkward and smiled. "Ahahaha, thanks to you, my magic circuit is almost healed. I heard from another alchemist that the medicine was something amazing."

"Ahem! Of course. I don't think there are many alchemists who are better than me in the empire.”

I couldn't say I was the best because my specialty was not alchemy. The fact that the Ainsmall school dominated alchemy meant that there were disciples of the Elder Mirpa in the empire. I heard that the head of the Alchemy Department of the Magic School was the disciple of a disciple of Elder Mirpa's disciple. In other words, I will be the great-junior of the head of the Department of Alchemy. Even though I’ve never seen the person before.

"Hahaha, I'll take care of you. Let's go! Great alchemist-nim!" He entered the Magic School as if he were guiding me. "By the way, didn't you say that some of your friends went to the Magic School?"

"Yes. When I said I was coming as an instructor, they made a fuss even though it’s nothing much," I said with a grin as if I were complaining.

He laughed pleasantly. "Hahahaha! That age is when you’d make a fuss at just about anything, even from looking at the fallen leaves blowing in the wind. Hmm, if they’re students at the Magic School, then that means they’re my juniors."

"Mr. Dane Walker, were you a student at the Magic School too?"

For a magician his level, I thought he was a disciple of someone, but it was surprising that he learned from the Magic School.

"Of course. It's probably rarer to find a well-known magician who's not from the Magic School in the empire."

"What? Really?"

I was truly surprised. Personally, I evaluated the facilities of the Magic School highly, but the level of education was not very high. It was natural since compared to one-on-one teaching, group education was more efficient but the effectiveness was not as good.

He smiled bitterly at my surprise. "Seeing that you’re surprised, your teacher must have been an outstanding person. Unfortunately, most magicians find it hard not only to find an outstanding teacher like you but also to teach them the magic that suits their aptitude."

Indeed, what he said was understandable. I was definitely lucky because a magician praised as a great madosa was close enough to become my teacher. When I didn't specialize in alchemy, my teacher had the capacity to provide numerous other magic. It was a great blessing that allowed me to utilize my talent.

"Certainly, if you ask if my teacher is a good person, I'd tilt my head, but if you ask if my teacher is an outstanding person, I have no choice but to nod."

"Hahahaha! I don't know why, but it's hard to find a magician of a high level with a good personality." Dane Walker laughed cheerfully and briefly reminisced. "When I was attending the Magic School, I didn't know I'd become an adventurer like this. You just can’t know the future."

A magician becoming an adventurer or mercenary also meant that he had fallen from the road to success. Of course, no magician could ignore Dane Walker. He was a madosa, of which there existed less than three digits in the empire. Considering that most madosas were elderly who had one foot in the grave, Dane Walker's future was unrivaled and very promising.

"So, do you regret it?"I asked.

Dane Walker smiled and answered instantly, "No, rather I think it was a good thing. Thanks to you, I became a madosa. If I had been stuck in a workshop and just did research, I wouldn't have been able to arrive at this level.”

I nodded and agreed. "But don't put on false air in front of the students. You can only move up when your foundation is solid." I warned him.

When Dane Walker flinched a little bit. "Well, that's true... But for some reason, you also sound like you’re a madosa."

I felt a prick at his words momentarily, but I skillfully avoided it. "Rather than mine, it's my teacher’s words, who taught me magic."

"Hmm, really? Are you perhaps close to being a great magician or already a great magician?"

"Ahahaha, if that’s the case, then there’s no way the madosa Dane Walker wouldn’t know."

I was hiding it very well to the point most madosas wouldn’t be able to detect it, but since he was suspicious, he had good senses.

"Is that so? I heard even if your alchemy skills are not up to par, you’re at the level of a great magician."

I don't know who he heard that from, but I changed the subject.

"By the way, is there any mystery that comes to mind about the Magic School? Each school has mysteries like the Seven Wonders, right?" I asked.

Dane Walker looked like he had fallen into his memories again, then replied with a smile. "Why wouldn't there be a school that teaches magic? There’s so many that I can't even count them all with both hands."

"Really? If you had to choose, what would it be? Although I’m being an instructor for a short time, things like that are good to get closer to the students."

It was just an excuse to change the subject. I had no intention of getting close to the students.

Dane Walker, who could never imagine what I was thinking about, deliberated, then flicked his finger as if he remembered something. "Thinking about it, it’s one of the oldest legends, and there is a story that there is a secret workshop in the basement of the Magic School, and there is an unknown monster living in the workshop.”

"Oho, really?"

I listened to him, pretending to be interested even though I was not interested.

"On the night of a full moon, a magic circle leading to the secret workshop opens at midnight in one of the basement laboratories."

"Full moon?"

"Yes, full moon. This is the story from when I was a student, and at that time, my friend and friend's roommate heard about the basement monster and went to explore the basement with some friends."

"And you didn’t go with them Mr. Dane Walker?”

He nodded. "That's right. I was actually going to join, but I couldn't because I had to do an assignment all night because I got so behind." Then, he smacked his lips as if it was a shame. "So the guys who went exploring without me contemplated in the hallway where the laboratories were gathered. There were too many basement laboratories, but they didn't know which laboratory the magic circle would appear in, and time was too tight to all move together."

"If it only opens at midnight, then certainly, you’d have to split up and check."

"Yes, so as you said, they decided to divide the sections to check and split up to quickly check the laboratories. Eventually, it became midnight and the guys moved fast. The guys all came back together after checking all the laboratories. But when they regrouped, they noticed they were one less. One of them went missing.”

"Went missing?”

A student going missing was a very serious issue.