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Chapter 04
“Let’s talk again in a month.”
The words kept echoing in my ears like a death sentence.
“I never agreed to any damn contract like that!”
I wanted to deny it, but unfortunately Serpiene’s memories were crystal clear—I had signed it.
She was even worried Roakin might cancel it first.
After graduating from the academy, Serpiene had no mana and struggled to find work. The only place that took her in was the Magic Tower, so her desperation made sense.
Still, you don’t sign something that looks like a slave contract!
And now I was the one stuck suffering for it.
I angrily threw my pen onto a ledger I had been working on.
“Seriously, why does this work never end?”
Thanks to Serpiene’s knowledge and experience flowing into me, adapting to this world hadn’t been too difficult.
But in just one week after possessing her body, I had already experienced hell.
The workload was insane.
I had expected dangerous monster-related missions as the Tower Master’s secretary, but that wasn’t the case at all.
While the Magic Tower did handle monster subjugation, I was excluded due to Serpiene’s almost nonexistent mana.
My job was to stay behind whenever Roakin was away and handle all administrative work and miscellaneous tasks.
I should’ve realized it the moment I woke up under a pile of documents.
In this world, there was no such thing as labor laws or regulated working hours.
Serpiene had been buried in endless work every day, surviving on stolen naps.
And now that I was her, all of that had naturally been dumped onto me.
Even I—hardened by years of overtime—was starting to suffer.
Was she really killed? Or did she just die of overwork…?
Maybe Serpiene hadn’t been killed by the imperial consort at all. Maybe it had just been burnout.
Then I suddenly remembered something she had written on the first page of her notebook:
[—Let’s definitely renew the contract this year!]
I tore that page out immediately.
“I don’t plan on dying from overwork twice.”
At this point I should be reporting them to a labor authority, not renewing contracts like a fool.
Even without the consort, I had no intention of staying.
Right. I’ve been working like a total sucker.
Losing someone like me would be a huge loss for the Magic Tower.
Roakin must be trying to keep me for that reason.
We barely even spoke outside of work reports—there was no personal reason for him to insist on this.
It could only be about work.
Fine. Then I’ll make them fire me.
I started writing down a new plan in my notebook.
“Fufu. Perfect.”
I hung a sign that said [STRIKE] on my door and clasped my hands in satisfaction.
The first phase of my plan to get fired.
Refuse to work until they can’t stand me anymore!
Strikes are a worker’s right.
Even if this concept didn’t exist here, I wasn’t going to hesitate.
Pleased with the sign, I turned back into the office—
And immediately, the door slammed open.
“Eliser! Eliser!”
“Serpiene-nim! Serpiene-nim!”
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“Lucifer is missing!”
I stared at Eliser blankly.
Eliser Hilbris.
A genius from the prestigious Hilbris family, head of the Artifact Department in the Magic Tower.
And right now he was panicking over a missing cat.
That spoiled cat is always wandering off anyway.
How many times had Eliser dragged me around looking for Lucifer already?
The pink-haired genius was already becoming more exhausting than unfamiliar.
“He’s probably in the Tower Master’s room.”
“I checked! He’s really gone this time!”
“Did you use the tracking collar?”
“He hates it! What if he’s lost outside in this cold weather?!”
Eliser looked like he was about to cry.
Lucifer usually disappeared and was found somewhere in the tower, but this time he genuinely seemed panicked.
I sighed and stood up.
“…Fine. Wait here.”
“Thank you!”
He cheered like I had saved the world.
I went to the storage room and pulled out dried Cataria leaves.
This should work… probably.
I had once seen the heroine use these leaves to lure Lucifer into acting strangely.
It was basically catnip.
“Go get one of Lucifer’s toys.”
“Yes!”
While Eliser ran off, I started brewing a potion using the extract.
Soon he returned with a pile of toys.
“I wasn’t sure which one, so I brought everything!”
There were so many enchanted toys it was overwhelming.
I picked a simple feather toy.
“This one.”
I soaked it in the potion and handed it over.
“Take this outside. Wave it around while searching—he’ll show up.”
“Got it!”
Before he could ask anything else, I pushed him out and shut the door.
Just as I sat back down, the communication orb lit up.
“Right… I forgot to turn this off.”
Gold light meant a call from the imperial palace.
Even on strike, I couldn’t ignore that.
“…This is the secretary’s office.”
A sharp voice came through.
[Has the Tower Master suddenly become a coward?]
Karas Rill.
Commander of the Imperial Golden Knights and the Crown Prince’s right hand.
“What do you mean by that?”
[Skipping minor missions is one thing. But refusing inspection duty? Are you picking a fight with the Empire?]
“…Did Roakin say that?”
[…You didn’t know?]
As Karas explained, the Magic Tower was obligated by treaty to assist in monster subjugation.
Two days ago, Roakin had skipped the Liu Gorge operation.
And now he was refusing the next scheduled mission as well.
At that moment, the door opened again.
“Serpiene-nim! A notice from the Council arrived, I need help processing it—oh, you’re on a call.”
I waved him away with my hand.
Get out.
The final visitor was Sila, head of the Potion Department.
She stormed in, furious.
“Serpiene-nim, how could you do this to me?”
“…What did I do?”
“Unauthorized absence! I didn’t know you were this irresponsible!”
“Sila, I’m not even part of the Potion Department.”
“…!”
She froze, shocked.
Serpiene had only loosely assisted the potion department in the past.
Even without formal qualifications, she had helped them whenever she could, because she once dreamed of joining.
So Sila had misunderstood.
“But… we were like family!”
Family at work? Seriously?
If this had been Serpiene, maybe it would’ve worked—but not me.
“Sorry, but you should find a replacement.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m quitting.”
“…That’s impossible!”
Sila looked like she’d been struck by lightning.
“You can’t leave now! It’s the busiest season! Orders are piling up everywhere! I can’t handle this alone, Serpiene-nim!”
Her eyes begged.
Yeah. Busy season meant more work.
But that was your job!
In office language, “I can’t do it” usually just meant “do it for me.”
“Sorry, Sila. I think you’ll manage without me.”
“…Are you really abandoning us?”
I nodded firmly.
After sending her away, exhausted, I collapsed onto the sofa.
The tower had always been like this because everyone dumped their work onto Serpiene.
They found a convenient target.
Even something as trivial as a missing cat brought people running to me.
How many people had interrupted my “strike” today?
Do they not see the sign?
Maybe someone had cast a spell to make it invisible.
I rushed outside and checked the door.
[STRIKE]
It was still there.
And yet not a single one of them cared before knocking.
Wizards really were all the same.
Self-centered to the core.
Completely fed up, I ripped the sign off and threw it into the trash.
