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Chapter 10
“What?”
“What did you say?”
The wizards stared at Frigia in bewilderment.
“What do you mean by restored? You don’t mean the data, do you?”
“No matter how scary the Duke is, that’s quite a boast!”
The wizards, flustered and overreacting, looked almost thrilled. It seemed they thought that because Frigia drew attention, they themselves would face less punishment.
“Shut up.”
“Ugh.”
“Errgh.”
Kai’en silenced the wizards with a single word and gave Aaron a nod.
“Aaron, check it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Aaron hurried over and placed a verification artifact on top of the thick pile of documents.
Vrrrr…
The artifact trembled as it activated. Soon, numbers began to appear above it:
-
-
-
3… The numbers started increasing rapidly.
-
-
“…!”
Aaron’s eyes widened slowly. Moments later, he shouted in disbelief:
“Oh my god… it’s all fully restored!”
“Really?”
“How is that possible? I thought it was hopeless!”
The wizards, who had been waiting for news of failure with smug expressions, were petrified. One of them couldn’t believe it and checked the artifact themselves—and went pale.
“This is insane… it’s literally 100%!”
The wizard pointed at Frigia with a face as blue as a corpse.
“Impossible! Restoring all of this in just one night is… how did you even do it?!”
“Quiet, quiet!”
Aaron scolded the wizards and turned to Frigia.
“Miss Violet, can you explain?”
“Wait… Violet? Violet…?”
One wizard pointed at Frigia.
“Could it be… that Cinderella of the Despair Arc?”
Frigia’s expression hardened.
“She’s just the girl who follows her amazing fiancé around, can’t keep up in the academy, and almost fails every time! A total dunce!”
“Oh! I heard that rumor too. The Duke, it must’ve been her messing with the artifact—uhgpp!”
At that moment, Kai’en grabbed the talking wizard’s lips.
“Ugh? Bbbpp!”
The wizard’s lips stretched comically like a duck’s as he groaned in pain.
“Don’t quack so loudly. It echoes.”
“Ubbpp…!”
How could he do that! The brutal scene silenced all the wizards at once.
‘Wow… unbelievable…!’
Frigia’s eyes widened too, though for a different reason than the other wizards.
‘So cool… someday, I’ll…!’
Someday, I’ll twist Felix’s obnoxious mouth just like that!
Filled with that ambitious thought, Frigia quickly pulled out her notebook and began jotting notes.
Kai’en glanced at her.
“New recruit. Explain.”
“Oh, yes!”
Frigia quickly put her notebook away and spoke.
“By analyzing the data before and after the lost portions, I fortunately noticed a consistent pattern in the movement. Using that, I was able to reverse-engineer the missing data.”
It was a bit rough, but a fairly clear explanation.
‘A… pattern?’
‘That existed?’
The wizards exchanged bewildered glances. The kind of applied method she used wasn’t in any of the textbooks they had memorized.
‘There’s no way that inferior student knows something we don’t!’
In the peculiar silence, Kai’en said nothing, just stared at Frigia like a statue.
After a moment:
“Huh.”
A faint curve appeared on Kai’en’s lips.
“Impressive.”
He slowly brushed his mouth and said:
“Not bad, recruit.”
The wizards’ eyes nearly popped out.
“Not bad?! Not bad?!”
No wizard had ever received such praise from Kai’en.
‘Why would he give such high praise to a D-average student?!’
Just as the wizards struggled with jealousy, a languid smile spread across Kai’en’s handsome face.
“The one who finally came to the Magic Tower who speaks Imperial…”
“…!”
The wizards, suddenly feeling like monkeys who didn’t even know Imperial, flushed red.
“Quite remarkable.”
“…!”
Frigia blinked, hesitant, as if hearing words she had never heard before.
After a moment, she said awkwardly:
“Th-thank you…!”
The wizards glared at her with jealous eyes.
One wizard was a senior of Felix at the academy. Felix would often sigh whenever his fiancée came up in conversation:
‘Ah… my fiancée? She’s not really dumb, but she likes to go out so much her grades are at the bottom. That’s how girls usually are, right? Hanging out in groups, gossiping, going out to eat.’
And now that silly girl is being recognized by the Duke!
She must have used some trick we don’t know about.
Just as the wizard who had his lips stretched like cheese glared at Frigia in frustration, Kai’en spoke again:
“The recruit should get some sleep first.”
Aaron finally noticed that her clothes were the same as yesterday, her lips slightly chapped, and her face pale.
‘She pulled an all-nighter here?’
Aaron nodded to Frigia.
“Go home and rest. You’ve worked hard today.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow at work…!”
Frigia gave a quick bow and left, keeping an eye on Kai’en.
Kai’en turned to the wizards.
“And you all.”
His voice was calm, almost gentle. The wizards hunched their shoulders.
“For you incompetent, jealous assistants, I have a special gift.”
A… gift?
Though his words stung, the word ‘gift’ always sparked hope. The wizards looked at Kai’en with desperate anticipation.
Kai’en smiled faintly.
“An opportunity to return to your roots.”
“…Huh?”
“Eh…?”
“You are all demoted to janitors. Start from sweeping and cleaning again. Fun, isn’t it?”
N-No!
The wizards grimaced and waved their hands frantically.
Kai’en’s smile deepened.
“Of course, if your skills improve, you can be promoted again. So, do your best.”
He patted one wizard on the shoulder. The others immediately knelt.
“D-Duke!”
“We’ve wronged you! Please give us one more chance!”
They had lived arrogantly under the title of Magic Tower wizards, and now to be reduced to janitors… the humiliation was unbearable.
Kai’en waved his hand lazily, as if annoyed. The wizards were dragged away by an invisible force.
“D-Dukeeeee!”
“Please give us a chaaaance!”
Their cries echoed into the distance.
Kai’en, watching the scene with a faint smile, suddenly spoke:
“The new recruit’s name was Frigia Violet, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Aaron nodded quickly.
Tap, tap.
Kai’en tapped the desk in silence. His long, straight fingers traced a slow rhythm.
Soon, his expression lost all trace of a smile as he said:
“Investigate her background.”
