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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“How much do you want?”
“What?”
“How much do you want!”
What was wrong with this old man?
The half-crazed old man grabbed my wrist and spouted embarrassing lines that seemed straight out of a drama.
Taken aback by the sudden situation, I rolled my eyes, but the others also had stupid expressions on their faces, seemingly as bewildered as I was.
“I’m Lady Karina’s… escort knight.”
“Heh, that’s right. The basics of negotiation are to raise your price. You’re a wise young man.”
What nonsense was this?
There’s a limit to interpreting things as you please.
I took my eyes off the deranged old man who was talking to himself and nodding in agreement, and signaled to Gilbert for help with my eyes, but he also looked uncomfortable and avoided my gaze.
How annoying.
I thought the board members of the world’s best academy would be dignified and composed individuals, but in reality they were just senile old men.
I gently pressed down on the hand of the old man who was really trying to take money out of his pocket and clearly expressed my refusal.
“I am Lady Karina’s escort knight. I have no intention of leaving this position.”
“Can’t you reconsider?”
Huh.
Look at how he’s applying force with his hand.
In the midst of this ridiculous scene of a power struggle between someone trying to give money and someone refusing it, finally someone who looked sane opened their mouth.
“James. Calm down. What kind of disgraceful behavior is this!”
“You can say that because you don’t understand this man’s value! Look at his abilities!”
“What do you mean I don’t know! Do you think I, a merchant prince, wouldn’t know the value of a man who can do the work of hundreds of laborers alone! I’m telling you not to try to steal him so blatantly!”
“Ha! You know less than me, the head of the Civil Engineering Guild! You money-obsessed baldy!”
So this old man was the head of the Civil Engineering Guild.
Recalling unpleasant memories from the Civil Engineering Guild, I immediately averted my gaze from him.
I wouldn’t go there again, even if I had nowhere else to go.
“What did you say?!”
Come on, these old men’s pride fights were ugly, I wish they’d stop.
I came here to get approval for construction, not to watch a dog fight.
I sat comfortably in a chair I had created with my skill and waited leisurely for the fight to end.
From experience, I knew that someone else would intervene when they reached their breaking point.
“Would you like to sit?”
“…I’d like one too, please.”
“Crafting.”
“That skill looks quite convenient.”
“Not as much as you might think.”
“I see.”
Bored, I glanced at him.
I noticed him unable to hide his discomfort, crossing and uncrossing his legs while waiting for the situation to end.
Well, what could a mere Security captain do here anyway?
I turned my gaze back and yawned while watching the quarrel of the high-ranking individuals that wasn’t even worth spectating.
I wanted to go back quickly.
It would be more rewarding to watch Millia riding around on her kick scooter than spending time here.
“Can’t you two stop!”
How long had I been sitting askew in my chair watching this chaos when a roar signaling the end of the fight shook the tunnel?
Finally, he appeared.
I looked at the old man who had just entered the tunnel, exuding the aura of a wild beast.
The old man began to scold the two with a fierce face that looked like he might draw a sword at any moment.
“What on earth are you two doing at your age?!”
“Lord Merlin…”
As expected, this person was the principal and chairman of the board.
An old man with an impressive background as one of the few grand magicians on the continent and a collateral descendant of the royal family.
A man whose favor I should try to curry as a top priority if I ever obtained a magician-related job.
My gaze met with that of such an old man.
His gaze was examining me.
I met his eyes boldly as he stared at me as if trying to unravel my essence.
Why should I be intimidated?
His eyes weren’t even as scary as those of the hydra cubs.
“Ho. Quite a specimen.”
“Principal Merlin, he’s an incredible talent. Look at this! He dug this tunnel in just 10 minutes!”
“10 minutes?”
One of the unnamed board members pointed at the tunnel I had dug.
It was the traces of my digging that I had shown to persuade the board members.
Principal Merlin, who had initially looked at it as if it were nothing special, illuminated the tunnel with magic and then looked at me, asking.
“There are no traces of magic.”
“I dug it directly with a shovel.”
“With a shovel? That’s the most unbelievable thing I’ve heard in my life.”
Should I dig again?
I quietly raised my shovel and found a suitable spot.
As I stopped at a suitable spot, I felt numerous gazes on my back.
I was used to it now after receiving so many.
After drawing a line on the wall with the shovel to estimate, I stepped back a few paces and readjusted my grip on the shovel.
Shall we start again?
My shovel blade mercilessly dug into the hard earth.
Dirt splattered on my face.
It was a familiar experience.
On the deserted island, I had even been attacked by skeletons while digging, so this was child’s play compared to that.
One.
Two.
Three.
I moved the shovel diligently.
For this kind of work, it was more efficient to move intensively rather than taking it easy.
I continuously dug forward, estimating with my eyes, refining the earth with my skill, and digging again.
When I felt I had dug the tunnel to an appropriate depth, I turned around and came out.
“…Impressive. To think a human body could do such work.”
…This old man’s eyes looked a bit dangerous.
I was reminded of the magic guild examiner who had asked if I wanted to become an experimental subject.
It was exactly that look.
A look of great interest.
I quickly spoke before the principal could say anything.
“What do you think? Are you willing to invest?”
At my question, the principal stroked his beard with a thoughtful expression, and then, as if he had organized his thoughts, he looked at me and asked,
“I heard that you can do this alone… is that true?”
“That’s correct.”
Other people would only be a hindrance.
It was much more efficient to work with my digging and skill.
The principal consulted with the board members at my words, then approached me again and asked,
“Three percent of the budget. Would that be enough?”
I didn’t know exactly how much it was, but 3% of the entire academy’s budget should be sufficient.
It would be at least a thousand gold coins.
“That’s sufficient.”
I quietly took the principal’s outstretched hand and shook it.
Contract established.
Now, shall we start preparing?
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“…Phew. You really… never mind.”
Renny carefully folded the letter she was holding and handed it to me.
When I unfolded and read it, the name Silver Wood, a merchant prince, caught my eye.
Did this man even send me a letter?
I should have recognized him when he was trying to recruit me.
“Can’t you hide me for a bit? I feel like I might die of overwork before anything else at this rate.”
When I looked at Renny after hearing those words, her face was visibly tired.
Should I help her with the administrative work?
But I wouldn’t understand much even if I looked at it.
“How about requesting a priest to be dispatched to handle the administration full-time?”
“How would we know if they’re trustworthy or not?”
Come to think of it, that was true.
I had forgotten, but since there had been a surge of traitors from the religious order, even if we requested a dispatch, we couldn’t be sure if they were truly people of the Kalon faith.
It was really difficult to recruit people.
It might be better to hire someone capable from among the people we knew… maybe.
There might be talk of nepotism or whatever, but what was important was trust.
As long as their ability was at an adequate level, we could train them and put them to use.
“I see.”
“Well, let’s move on from this. Anyway, you secured the construction contract. Quite a large budget has been allocated to our side, and we’ve also received a significant investment from the Silver Wood merchant group. They seemed quite eager to recruit you.”
Should I be happy about this or not?
When I have some free time later, maybe I should take on some contracts from them and pull in some money quickly.
The more capital, the better for seeing the ending.
Especially to utilize my skill, it would be advantageous to accumulate capital.
My Crafting skill had the limitation of only being able to use materials that existed in my surroundings, so if I could purchase expensive and powerful materials and utilize them with my skill, it would be much easier.
It was a skill that got stronger with money splurging.
That was what Crafting was.
“So, when are you planning to start? I’d like to set a schedule…”
“From today.”
“What?”
“Today. I’ll finish within two weeks.”
Specifically, before the final exams.
Because the next incident was scheduled to occur during the final exams.
“Two weeks? Really?”
I nodded.
At my words, Renny looked at me with an expression that seemed unsure whether to believe it or not.
Did two weeks seem too short?
I thought I could manage if I worked efficiently while saving sleep time over two weeks.
“If we set it more leisurely, a month would do…”
“It doesn’t feel like a junior has joined…”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. After all, it’s work for Lady Karina, right?”
It was a typical reaction from Renny, who became lenient about anything related to Lady Karina.
It was true that I was creating an escape route for Karina, as Renny said.
“I’ll try to complete it as quickly as possible.”
“No, do it safely. If you do a shoddy job and it collapses due to poor construction, it would be a disaster.”
“Understood, and I’ll call in someone to help me with the work.”
“What? Who?”
“I have a suitable talent in mind.”
Well then, shall we get going?
It would be better to start quickly since I needed to call in people to help before starting.
I left the office and briskly walked towards my next destination.
I hoped they wouldn’t refuse.
If I held out gold coins in front of them, the thought of refusing probably wouldn’t even cross their mind.
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[damn these old men are funny af like beggars frfr]
Only 3%? Bro just got robbed