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Chapter : 08
Luka sighed and returned to his seat.
‘Honestly… Namia is really…’
Just thinking about Namia made him sigh again. And remembering her perpetually indifferent face also made him irritated.
‘Seriously, why does she even open her eyes so lazily? It’s so infuriating. Does she not have even that much motivation?’
Namia Roapi.
She had entered the academy as the top student and received everyone’s attention, but afterward she consistently remained in the lower ranks. So everyone casually assumed, “Maybe she just got lucky on the entrance exam.”
But Luka was different.
Because ever since the entrance exam, he had been watching Namia with the goal of competing against her.
‘Even though I don’t fully understand defensive scrolls… something about them feels extraordinary.’
Of course, that talent was probably just another thing Namia had been hiding all along.
And like before, it would likely be buried again quietly, just as Namia had predicted.
‘But seriously, what is her situation? I knew she was being heavily discriminated against by the baron couple since the academy days…’
He had already roughly noticed that the Roapi baron couple only cared for Juan.
Whenever they visited the academy, they never once paid attention to Namia.
And Namia herself had always accepted that indifference as something natural throughout her school life.
‘Everything about this is strange.’
He had thought she was thin before, but after actually paying attention, it only made him more uneasy.
‘If her nutrition is that bad, then what on earth… No, she says she keeps her extra pay, so is she not even eating properly? What is she saving all that money for?’
He just wanted to compete with her fairly at least once.
He wanted to be recognized as her rival.
While Luka sighed heavily in frustration—
“Luka.”
His supervisor from the emergency medical team suddenly spoke.
“Will Namia Roapi be conscious this afternoon?”
“Pardon?”
Luka blinked.
“Conscious…? She woke up early this morning.”
“What?”
The supervisor jumped up in shock.
“The Crown Prince said he would come personally once she woke up.”
“W-what?”
Luka’s eyes widened.
Of course, protecting the Crown Prince was expected of the knights.
So Luka had assumed Namia would only receive a simple imperial commendation.
“The Crown Prince… the future of the Empire himself… is paying that much attention to Namia?”
“Well… even without that scroll, he probably could’ve avoided it, but he insists on thanking her personally.”
Luka recalled Namia’s words from earlier and gave a bitter smile.
No one will care anyway.
Even his own supervisor had reacted the same way.
Even though Kiaros had clearly called Namia his “savior,” people still didn’t seem to care.
‘Then… will the Scroll Management Department also act the way Namia predicted?’
Earlier, he had held back from commenting because it wasn’t his department.
But instead of praise, she might even be punished for her actions.
If that department really functioned like that, just imagining it felt suffocating.
‘If I were in Namia’s position… could I still live with ambition?’
Only then did Luka realize something and swallow dryly.
‘All the achievements go to Juan… all the salary gets taken by her parents… and even if she shows ability, superiors just suppress her.’
Namia’s calm voice when talking about her future now felt even more painful.
How many frustrations had she endured alone to become so indifferent to injustice?
Now he began to understand her empty expression.
‘If you’ve experienced that nothing changes no matter how capable you are… what kind of expectations could you possibly still have in life?’
While Luka was lost in thought, his supervisor asked urgently,
“Anyway, she’s still in the hospital ward, right? I should report this quickly.”
“No… she already left the ward. She’s at work.”
“What?!”
The supervisor’s jaw dropped.
“She got discharged this morning and went straight to work?”
“Yeah… I think she should’ve rested at least a day, but she insisted.”
The supervisor sighed, rubbing his head.
“So then she went to the Scroll Production Department?”
“Sir, it’s not called Scroll Production Depart—”
“Damn it. I should inform His Highness immediately. If he said he’d visit the hospital, he’ll probably go directly to the scroll supply unit.”
This was something even Namia had not predicted.
Namia
Luka insisted I rest for at least a day.
Of course, I ignored him and left the hospital on time.
‘Precious leave days… precious sick leave… absolutely not.’
I walked through the imperial garden with the same expression as always.
I briefly wondered if I had said too much to Luka, but decided to forget it.
I no longer even had the energy for pride.
‘Anyway, I absolutely will not use vacation. I’d rather use my lifespan.’
Like most workplaces, annual leave and sick days were limited.
If unused, they were converted into cash at the end of the year.
Just like overtime pay, it was given in cash instead of appearing on official salary records.
‘It’s my money. My real money.’
I was determined to save every cent while surviving under the Roapi baron family.
On the outside, I looked indifferent—but inside, I was shouting more passionately than anyone.
‘I can live! I really can! As long as there’s no war! I still have things I must do!’
Of course, things like “finding my real father” were just trivial personal matters not even in the original story.
But preventing war—that part was sincere.
So I intended to do everything I could from my position.
‘The masterminds won’t give up after one failure.’
But regardless of them, I still had to go to work.
Thus, after receiving IV fluids and feeling lighter than ever, I stood in front of the Scroll Management Department door.
‘Haa…’
I took a deep breath and carefully opened the door.
click
The sound echoed louder than expected.
Immediately, all eyes inside the office turned toward me.
‘As expected… the atmosphere is terrible.’
Just as I thought.
As I slowly walked to my seat, my supervisor Osun approached me.
His expression was grim.
“Namia.”
“Yes…”
“Let’s talk.”
Of course.
This meant, “I’m going to chew you out now.”
Before I could respond, he shouted sharply.
“What are you going to do about this?! Huh?!”
This wasn’t a question.
It meant, “Just shut up and listen.”
The atmosphere instantly froze.
Then he shouted again.
“Do you even realize what your actions did to this department?!”
His voice echoed through the entire corridor.
I used to get nervous at moments like this when I was a rookie.
But now I was in my 4th year.
So now I—
“Your reported scroll count and the actual count didn’t match! Do you realize how incompetent this makes us look?!”
What was for lunch again?
Ah, right. Cube steak was on the menu this week…
“And if you’re that talented, why didn’t you go to the Mage Tower in the first place?!”
Was that yesterday… or today?
