Chapter 118 – Adventure’s Lightning Mage (4)
“Hey, follow Yuseong Han.”
Marid, frowning, called me. Why is she calling me with that face? There was nothing to pinpoint.
“Why are you calling? Did you spend your time living like the former senior said?”
I didn’t have an early morning tea time for a week. I have no idea how much more work I will have to do to make up for this loss.
“It’s a call from Orca-sama. Shut up and follow me.”
Marid said in a harsh voice.
‘The orca is calling me?’
She said why is that human me?
‘It can’t be because of the coffee and cake.’
I started with the expectation that it would take at least a month to tame an orca by eating it. It’s only been a week since I’ve been feeding properly.
It’s not enough for her to feel empty in her daily life.
‘Then why did you call me?’
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with any reason to sing other than cake.
“Aren’t you coming soon?”
I had no choice but to walk after Marid’s torch.
Once you go, you’ll know what.
By the way, Marid, why does he get annoyed when he distorts her face?
‘Aren’t you even sure what the orca called me for?’
So, for now, be patient.
As she thought about Marid’s intentions, she arrived at Orca’s office before she knew it. Marid knocked on her door.
-Come in.
After permission was given, we went into the office.
As soon as I entered, I was amazed by the scenery that caught my eye.
‘What kind of parchments…’
Countless parchments formed a mountain on the desk, showing off its status. Looking closely, each piece of parchment has something written on it.
‘I think it’s a document. Could it be that he wrote all of that by hand?’
Probably.
Unlike Earth, there are no computers and printers here.
It was somewhat understandable that she was stuck in her office.
It’s a little bit, but I also heard sympathy.
Then, before Marid entered her room, she put her hands together with a bright smile, completely different from her frowning face.
“Orca-sama, you have worked hard today. The Red Heart Adventure Team is running as smoothly as it is now because of Orca-sama, right? Although others don’t know, that Marie is deep in her heart…”
“Good job Marid. Go back now.”
As Marid started to start her engine in gold lacquer, Orca cut it off with her single knife. Marid’s bewildered look came into view at a glance.
“Yes? Oh, that…”
“What? Do you have anything else to do with me?”
Orca openly showed her annoyance. Her Marid’s smile was slightly rotten. She bowed her head towards the orca.
“No. Then I will go alone.”
She glared at me for a moment before leaving her room.
‘Patience…’
It was taken
When I go to work, I even prayed that my boss’s luck is important…
Was my prayer not enough?
Seeing her two deputy superiors at the same time, her mind went giddy.
There was no way Orca knew how I felt. She narrowed her eyes and asked me.
“Why didn’t you come for coffee and cake at dawn?”
I was at a loss for words when she asked her seriously.
Was that really the reason?
At my silence, Orca frowned as if she didn’t like her.
“Why? Come to think of it, is the balance calculation not right? Rather than getting close to me, is it more troublesome to prepare coffee and cake at dawn?”
She seemed to be misunderstanding something.
I partly hurriedly shook my hands and produced a puzzled look.
“No, absolutely not like that. How dare you weigh my efforts against Orca-sama?”
“Then what? Why didn’t you come out all of a sudden?”
“Um, that’s…”
I didn’t answer right away.
Is it okay if I tell you the truth?
‘Lunatic High’ looks like a small party to people who don’t know. However, the reality is that it is a party under the Silver rank of the Red Heart Adventure Corps. Marid is the head of such a party.
As you can see from the look of Orca’s office, she probably couldn’t manage her party properly because of her work.
That’s why Marid borrowed Orca’s authority to manage the party instead. It must be the reason why the other party members notice Marid.
In that situation, you say that Marid threatened me?
Not a good judgement.
No matter how much Orca enjoyed my cake, from her point of view, I’m just a newcomer.
It’s like trying to pull out a stone that’s been rolled in, and your arm will end up bending inward.
I had no choice but to come up with an excuse…
‘Wait, I was filmed anyway, right?’
Come to think of it, yes.
Whether I reveal here or not, I will end up being an outcast.
If the result is the same regardless of this, shouldn’t it be something like candy?
Besides, I have no intention of living in the same grade for the rest of my life. Someday I’ll be silver rank, so then Marid, the party’s powerhouse, or whatever, can’t touch me.
In the end, I decided to cool off.
“Marid threatened me.”
“…Marid?”
Her furrowed brow straightened. Seeing that her eyes are also wide open, she seems surprised by the unexpected answer.
“Yes. He told me not to do tricks to get noticed by Orca without his knowledge. Just one more time and she says she’ll use all her influence to crush me. As a newcomer to the party, I had no choice but to agree with shivering.”
“…”
Orca’s eyes trembled slightly. She twisted her pretty face. Then she sighed and leaned back in her chair.
“I thought that would have happened. I left it alone because it seems to be doing well on its own…”
“What do I do now? Just looking at it, I think I was completely taken.”
I deliberately whined as if to ask for help. Originally, in this situation, it is more helpful to do this than to pretend to be resolute.
If you pretend to be resolute, you’ll know that it’s really okay and move on.
No one likes to do troublesome things.
Orca just nudged her head to look at me.
“Whatever, I need to get some coffee.”
“…Yes?”
“Coffee, please. Crave it.”
“…Did you hear what I said correctly?”
“Uh. Didn’t I tell you not to mess around behind your back? Then you can do it openly. Bring me coffee and cake quickly.”
Having said that, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. It was an expression of her will not to speak further.
‘What is this…’
She was dumbfounded, but she did as she was told.
She left the office and went down to the hall. Unlike Dawn, the hall was filled with some adventurers and attendants.
I went into the kitchen not minding them.
The warm-looking man was wiping the sweat from his forehead.
“Mister.”
“Huh? Ah, Han Yuseong! How are you?”
The chef, Genn, welcomed me. He shook hands lightly with him.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face. Show your face sometimes. As I get older, my memory isn’t what it used to be. If you don’t, I’ll even forget your face.”
“I’m a bit busy these days. Next time I have time, I’ll come over for lunch. By the way… How are you today? How are you?”
“You mean that? Haha! Don’t talk The way my wife sees me these days has completely changed. Will you take care of the breakfast that you didn’t even take care of today?”
Gen patted me on the shoulder and smiled brightly.
He smiles so brightly now, but just a month ago, this man’s face was gloomy.
After the hard work at work, when she returns home, her wife stirs her up. My children used to challenge me for having a big head or treat me as someone who didn’t have one at all.
At the time, I had to get permission from him to use the kitchen.
However, there was no way a person who looked so gloomy and had nothing left but pride at work would readily allow it.
I was troubled.
How can I get him to lend me the kitchen willingly?
After thinking about it, I decided to solve one of the problems that gnawed at him.
I gave him a technique to improve the relationship between husband and wife.
I felt a bit embarrassed to explain it in words, but the results were clear. His marital relationship improved, and his wife’s rip-off disappeared. Genn was happy and I was entitled to use the kitchen.
Good for each other
“But what are you doing at this time?”
“I just want to use the coffee machine for a while.”
He gave him a troubled expression.
“Hmm, sorry. I don’t know if it’s night, but I can’t let you use kitchen utensils during the day. If you don’t see other people, bad rumors can circulate.
“How can you not? It’s Orca-sama’s order…”
“Orca-sama’s order?”
Genn’s eyes widened.
Genn’s employer is the adventure captain, Siegfried, and Orca is the adventure captain’s daughter.
According to the employer’s daughter, she had no choice but to leave him as well.
“Write… Are you sure?”
“Am I going to lie about something like this?”
“I can’t help it if it’s Orca-sama’s words. Write it.”
“Thank you.”
I went into the kitchen and made a caramel macchiato. Avoiding Genn’s eyes, I bought a cake through the status window.
“Oh? It smells sweet. Did you make it yourself?”
Genn asked in a slightly surprised voice.
“Yes, I made it. Then I’ll stop before the coffee gets cold…”
Before Genn bothered to ask for the recipe, he went up to Orca’s office.
He knocked for permission to enter.
…
There was no response. Again he tried knocking, but the same. I gently opened the door. Orca, seen through the crack in the door, was on duty.
‘Looks like he’s concentrating.’
She did not take her eyes off her parchment from her work even as I entered the office. She walked over to her side. She put coffee and cake on the desk.
Only then did Orca notice that I had entered.
“What, when did you come? If you come, tell me.”
Her gaze went to the cake and coffee. A sharp look with a smile. However, what he didn’t like, his expression soon turned cold.
“Is this all?”
“Yes? Are you short of it? I made the same amount as I usually eat, but if it’s not enough, I’ll make more.”
“No, are you not eating?”
“Ah, I’m not really hungry right now…”
“…”
She was displeased with Orca’s expression.
Without further hesitation, I went down alone and brought my portion of dessert.
I now have the tea time I enjoyed at dawn. While drinking coffee, I glanced at the papers piled behind Orca.
No matter how you look at it, it’s too much.
“Is Orca-sama taking care of all those paperwork?”
“Huh? Oh, that one? Not all of them, but I do about half of them. Half of it is a report from below.”
“Even half of it seems like a huge amount… Are the other silver grades that heavy?”
If that’s the case, I’ll have to figure out how to get out of the adventure party. Training time is tight right now, but I don’t have time to look at that kind of work.
Fortunately, Orca shook her head.
“I am the only one in the adventure team with that much workload. It’s because I’ve been dragged into other departments.”
“Yes? Why are you deliberately increasing your work?”
Orca sighed as she set down her coffee cup.
“I know that? Our party is a party that competes for 1st or 2nd place in contribution in the adventure party. Where do you think all that contribution comes from?”
“…Could all of them come from there?”
“Okay.”
Orca nodded her head.
“Then how do other parties accumulate contributions?”
“I usually get high-level requests. Because it contributes to the adventure party’s funds and reputation.”
“Then shouldn’t our party do the same? It’s not that our party members aren’t getting any better, and Orca-sama is there too, right? The power seems to be sufficient.”
“Yeah, that should be enough for second or third place. But 1st place is impossible. Allen, as long as he is there, never.”
Orca bit his lip.
“Then do you really need to do those tasks alone? There are six of them under Orca-sama alone. It would be much more comfortable if you were with them.”
“They? Are you serious? Are you asking those who can’t read to write reports?”
“Ah…”
That’s it.
Seris and Kara have become illiterate lately, so I’ve been forgetting about it for a while, but this is a world where tolerable commoners don’t know how to read.
A world where even inns explain the menu verbally instead of on a menu board.
Convinced, I nodded.
At that moment, Orca opened her eyes wide as if she remembered something. Her gaze turned to me.
“Han Yuseong, do you know how to read?”
“Yes? Yep…”
I know how to read. I stopped what I was about to say. A foreboding feeling ran down her spine.
It was time to say I couldn’t read.
“Don’t say that you can’t read. I saw you rolling your eyes while looking at the report earlier.”
Did you see that? Damn.
No, it’s still fine
Even if I can read, isn’t there a fatal flaw in me?
“Actually, I can read, but I don’t know how to write.”
“What? What bullshit is that?”
“It’s literally like that.”
“…Are you kidding me?”
No.
* * *
The next day, as expected, I was bullied at Lunatic High. Originally, people who accepted greetings now ignored me as if I had never existed.
Later, when you get used to it, you will try to humiliate me subtly.
However, I never felt it.
Since that day, I have been living in her office in Orca.
“Han Yuseong, have you finished writing the Nambu Village game report?”
“Uh… Yes, I’m using it all up.”
“Are you using it all up? That’s a story about writing less. Why are you still writing less? Didn’t you just take a break?”
Being alive meant literally.
I ended up helping her with her work and working overtime every day.
‘A pen that allows you to write the kingdom language. Why is there such a thing?’
I glared at the pen in my hand. This is the pen that Orca gave me as an excuse for not being able to write.
Of course, he wasn’t omnipotent, so he had the downside of not being able to read his writing if he didn’t know how to write. But damn I know how to read.
Orca said sarcastically.
“Remember. Your break time is all about tea time with me. Okay?”
“Yes…”
I became a slave.
* * *
At a bar in an inn, the party members of Lunatic High gathered secretly from Marid and talked.
“A newcomer who came in a while ago said he was close to Orca-sama these days?”
“Don’t talk. Because of that, Marid is very sensitive. They tell us to go harder.”
“Are you afraid you’ll lose your spot? It’s funny.”
He laughed loudly.
