NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 81. The potion carries love (1)
I still remember the Q&A I had with this vampire the day I took the practical exam.
‘Why do you have to make the question of how much you can realize your own limitations and give up into a national qualification exam?’
When I asked him this, he replied, ‘If you can give up on such an important test, then you won’t be inefficient in practice, right?’
This is the kind of author he is. He even gives out national exams in whatever order he wants. I understand that he has a mentor, but why did this guy with such high self-esteem become my mentor? What did I do wrong?
“I won’t interfere too much. I have my own schedule.”
Of course, that’s true. As a professor, you have to do your own research and also meet with the graduate students under you.
After saying this, the supervisor suddenly extended his hand to me.
“Can I have your cell phone please?”
He took out his smartphone and handed it over. He took it, played with it for a bit, and then handed it back to me. An app was just running on the screen.
A moment later, a simple bulletin board-like thing appeared, and the title of the post at the top of the screen was… .
“Request to review the possibility of repulsion between new magical materials? What is this?”
“Here is a list of contract requests coming into my lab.”
After hearing this, I was dumbfounded for a moment, and then I realized. If I can’t find a job, he’s telling me to accept assignments that come into his lab. In other words, to come into his Monster Ball…
“I won’t force you. Think of it as a second option if you can’t find a job.”
“Are you serious?”
“Seriously, I prefer that. I think the second best is better than the best.”
I think it means that it’s better to have someone who knows how to make a living on their own than someone who can’t find work and has to cling to others.
“Do you have any other questions?”
“How exactly and how much quota do I have to fill?”
“At least two cases per month, which is within the national standard.”
“Who will judge that standard…?”
“I will do it.”
I started hearing something like an auditory hallucination somewhere. It sounded like this guy was whining… .
“So, whatever it is, please contact me as soon as you take on the matter. If you don’t want to suffer injustice later on.”
“… Where should I report it? Chat?”
“If you post it on the bulletin board, I will look at it.”
I felt like this was something that couldn’t be helped. It seemed like a problem that could be solved only if I had enough time to meet the standards myself.
“What else?”
“What happens if I don’t meet this quota?”
“It’s cut off. Anything else.”
“… Really?”
“It’s true. Is there anything else?”
There wasn’t any, but the moment I heard that I was being cut, it all started to come to mind. First of all, I have a few other things going on besides this… .
“If I just fill my quota, can I do other things?”
“Assuming you are not involved in a crime, you are free.”
“Things like the place or method of working, or the set hours….”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s here or in my lab, it doesn’t matter what method I use, and the time? It doesn’t matter.”
After hearing it, I got it straight. As long as you don’t do anything that would get you into trouble, it doesn’t matter what you do. Instead, just fulfill your monthly quota. If you don’t, your license will be taken away.
“The work I did is recorded separately.”
“It will be automatically recorded on the back of the notebook. Anything else?”
“… there isn’t any.”
I don’t know what else to ask. Let me speak. The supervisor looked at me silently for a moment and then got up from his seat. He closed the front of his coat and spoke as if he was just throwing something out.
“I left my contact information, so if you have any problems, please contact me. Also, I have a question for you, too.”
“Please do so.”
“Did you turn down my offer of a professorship to work here?”
I was wondering when this story would come out.
I looked at his face, thinking that he was going to be the first to get screwed, but it didn’t seem like he was going to ask if being a part-timer was more important than being a professor. It didn’t seem like he was asking because he didn’t understand…
Anyway, it’s not a joke, but I can’t guess what your intentions are. I just answered honestly.
“Yes. Is this something I should have contacted you about later?”
“… No, it’s not a problem. It’s just… .”
Then, with an expression that seemed to be full of things to say, he began to stare blankly at the counter without saying a word.
To be exact, the store manager’s face.
“… Clearly… .”
After mumbling, he stared blankly with his eyes narrowed, and only after seeing the store manager tilt his head in the distance did he move his body. He went towards the main gate, looked at me, and said a word.
“See you later.”
“yes.”
Then he left, and when I checked the time, it was 10:05. I ran straight to the warehouse, changed into my uniform, and asked the store manager.
“Are there any handover matters?”
“Younha came during the day and filled up my cigarettes and gift cards, so you don’t have to worry about inventory. That’s it.”
Fortunately, there was no need to sell cigarettes. There were no other special circumstances such as lost items, so the handover was completed quickly… .
“Manager, may I ask you something?”
“Yeah. What kind?”
“Because that person looks like he knows the store manager’s face.”
I just spoke to him and I’m certain of one thing. That vampire is a man who hates inefficiency. He only says what he wants to say, and the way he talks.
Since the gentleman stopped explaining and just stared at the store manager’s face, I thought there must be a reason. However, the store manager’s reaction was a bit different from what I expected.
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“Um… I felt that too… .”
“You don’t know that person, manager?”
“You look familiar, but I don’t remember exactly. Is this someone we worked with before? When we were working as magicians?”
If we have collaborated, isn’t it difficult not to remember?
I don’t think so. I don’t remember every single business partner I met while working at the company. Maybe it’s just big business partners or business partners whose CEOs have impressive careers?
Although we have never met, if the president of my business partner had been a former professor, I don’t think I would have been able to forget him even if I wanted to.
“He might not have been a professor in the past.”
“Ah… I didn’t think of that.”
“Still, I’ve worked with vampires before. So… how many times was it? Twenty-three times? Twenty-five times?”
“If it’s to that extent, then you probably don’t remember.”
The problem is that the vampire seems to remember the store manager. Considering that the gentleman, who is a professor, still remembers the face, it seems like working with the store manager left quite an impression on him… .
“I was pretty good at being a wizard back in my day. Even if I say it myself.”
“You can brag about that a lot.”
“I don’t like it. It makes me look old.”
“Don’t worry. No matter what the manager says, in my eyes you will always be 17 years old.”
“Are you actually 17 years old?”
Since you said so yourself, I know it is so.
“Anyway, if you tell me what we did together, I might be able to remember… .”
“You don’t have to force yourself to remember. I was just asking out of curiosity.”
Next, I took out my certificate booklet. The vampire professor said that when I do something, it will automatically be recorded on the back.
“Wow, that was a lot of work. It’s not even parchment.”
When on earth did parchment come from… No, I don’t. If you talk about this, you’ll get a bad rap.
“Can you see right away that I put a lot of effort into it?”
“Look here, Chan-ah. The magic circle on the cover is also gold-plated, and each sheet of paper is covered with a damage-prevention spell―”
“Gold-plated?”
“Yeah. Pure gold… Oh, sorry. I guess that’s not what you meant.”
After speaking, the store manager opened the back of his notebook, picked up a pen, and started drawing something. He was putting so much effort into it that I thought he was going to draw something like a magic circle… .
It was just a doodle. A smiley drawing.
“I also think it’s good to live with a smile. But, why is this in my notebook…?”
“Just look at it.”
I kept looking at it because it told me to. After a while, the smiley face the store manager drew gradually became blurry and disappeared.
“This is connected to the Magic Agency. No matter what you write here, if the Magic Agency deems it unnecessary, it will be deleted.”
“If that’s the structure, doesn’t that mean that the graffiti you just saw was also deleted?”
“Yeah. So I drew it quite diligently.”
Those checking it out must have thought, “What is this?”, but to my eyes, it was a well-drawn doodle. So, I guess it’s okay.
“On the other hand, you will type in the information that needs to be written.”
I guess the order is roughly like this. When I finish my work, I report to the professor, and the professor passes on the details of my work to the Magic Office, and if they decide that it meets their standards, they engrave it here.
“If you fill out the back, I’ll put a star on the cover. It’s recognition of your experience.”
“Can you do that remotely too?”
“No way. When I was young, I went there in person. I gave them a prize and even gave them a round of applause.”
Now that I’ve gotten the award and the applause, I’d like to buy you a pizza. I’m collecting all the coupons in the coupon book.
“I’ll go with you then. The route is a bit complicated.”
“Why don’t you just fly there using teleportation…?”
“It’s hard. When I set coordinates to a government office and teleport, I end up flying to a place that has nothing to do with the coordinates I set.”
“Where are you going?”
“jail.”
For the same reason, even if you set the coordinates to a place like a bank vault, it flies to the same place. It seems like I need to visit that magic office at least once, no matter when. On my own feet.
“Or Chan-i might accidentally break the spell on the notebook and have to go back to ask for it to be put back on.”
“I’ll be careful about that.”
“Okay, then. Do you have any other questions?”
Not now. Instead, there’s one thing I think I’ll have to ask later… um… .
“Is your time okay?”
“The next bus will come in 10 minutes.”
“Then I would like to ask you to do just this.”
I immediately took out my smartphone and showed it to him by running the bulletin board app that the supervisor had installed earlier. The store manager looked at the screen for a moment and then asked.
“Are you asking me to choose which one of these I like? Just like when I took the practical exam.”
“yes.”
For example, a request to review the possibility of repulsion between the new magical materials we saw earlier? I can’t do something that big. I need to know the theory to review it, whether I want to or not.
To begin with, the things I can do are extremely limited. Things that require me to use my head instead of my body, things that require me to go far, things that take more than a day, etc…
My main job is a convenience store manager, after all. To the customers, I may be a convenience store manager or a convenience store manager, but anyway.
“I know it’s a bit tricky, but… I want to try it out right now.”
To be exact, this is the condition. If I run away for a few days to do some side work for the country, who will take care of the store? The store manager? For how many days?
The store manager said it was okay because he could withstand it with his magical powers, but I don’t like it. The store manager looked at me blankly as if he could see what I was thinking.
“I hope a part-timer comes in soon. Right?”
“Have you updated your job advertisement?”
“Yeah. That’s the first thing I do every day when I get home from work.”
After answering, the store manager takes the smartphone from me and slowly scrolls through it. I thought this would happen, so I was going to ask him later. What if I miss the bus?
While the store manager was scrolling silently, I just looked toward the bus stop. I was going to kick the store manager out as soon as the bus came.
Luckily, it ended before the bus came. He stared at one post, touched it, showed it to me, and asked,
“How about this?”
“What is it?”
“A pharmaceutical company. A place that makes potions.”
Pharmaceutical company? A miracle drug?