Chapter 12
The road home had turned into the road back to work in the blink of an eye.
The Magic Tower, Embryo.
Leaning against the elevator wall like a piece of gum stuck to it, I repeated the same words to myself over and over.
‘Damn it.’
‘One day, I’ll get my revenge by quitting.’
I couldn’t wish for the Magic Tower to collapse.
It was every mage’s dream workplace.
Instead…
I should pray for my early retirement.
By the time I reached the eighty-eighth floor, where the Security Department was located…
My face had already gone pale.
Looking around at my coworkers, who looked just as exhausted, I asked,
“So, which spell is causing problems this time?”
“It can’t be another hole in the design like the other day.”
Just thinking about that pack of wild dog-like monsters made me irritated.
They weren’t even particularly strong.
But their poisonous saliva had made them troublesome to deal with.
Because of them…
I had gotten off work late.
“…Why is everyone so quiet?”
I placed my ID badge on my desk and looked around again.
For some reason…
No one answered.
Elline, who had arrived much earlier, looked like her soul had already left her body.
“What’s wrong?”
“We need Sir Carlo to get here…”
“It’s that bad?”
As usual…
The Team Leader’s seat was empty.
I heard Sir Carlo had gone out on official business after lunch.
From what I gathered…
They would probably have to ask other departments for help as well.
“How many incidents?”
“More than five.”
“They appeared in other territories too.”
“…Ah.”
I remembered the emergency magic notifications that had flashed several times while I was teleporting up through the Magic Tower.
I had figured I would hear the details once I arrived.
I never imagined it would be this.
‘Has this world finally gone crazy?’
I let out a dry laugh.
Just then…
Sir Carlo hurried into the office, putting on his mage robe.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
For once…
He wasn’t wearing a formal suit.
‘This is the first time I’ve seen him looking so relaxed.’
I secretly glanced at the loose buttons on his shirt.
‘It actually suits him.’
People always said that words could become reality.
This time…
My own emergency had truly come true.
The Magic Tower declared Eagle Level One.
It had been centuries since monsters had appeared across the human world at the same time.
‘Elline really needs to awaken as the Great Mage soon.’
‘Only then will the world finally become safe.’
Not only was there no Great Water Mage…
The position of Great Mage, who controlled the flow of the land, was still empty.
As far as I remembered…
Elline’s true potential wouldn’t awaken until after she married Lucas.
That happened in the story after the main ending.
Now…
A serious crisis that had never existed in the original story had appeared.
Waiting for Elline alone wasn’t enough anymore.
While our useless Team Leader was actually making himself useful for once by asking other departments for help…
Sir Carlo spread a large map across the center of the office.
Then he began the meeting.
“The defensive magic in three places has weakened.”
“Stein.”
“Lutiens.”
“And Pionio.”
“The monsters entered through those openings.”
“Have we confirmed the damage?”
“So far…”
“There are no reports of injuries or deaths.”
Looking at the Stein territory marked beneath Sir Carlo’s finger…
I quietly felt relieved.
‘My parents said they were safe too.’
When I heard their voices through the communication device…
I realized how careless I had been.
Just moments ago…
I had been calling this an emergency.
Yet deep down…
I had still believed nothing serious would happen.
I felt ashamed of myself.
Although everything had happened without warning…
The residents had reacted quickly.
Thankfully…
The damage was still limited.
Everyone in the affected areas had already evacuated safely.
Now they were waiting for rescue teams.
The Crisis Management Department mages sent by the Magic Tower would arrive there soon.
‘The immediate danger has been handled.’
If we stayed awake for several days…
We could probably finish repairing everything.
Of course…
Someone should also give every Security Department employee a whole box of energy drinks.
‘…I’ll just pretend I’m dead for the next three days.’
Saving people had never been easy.
That was exactly why we worked overtime almost every day.
To stop disasters before they happened.
Now that an accident had already occurred…
It was only natural that the work became even harder.
‘At least no one has lost their life.’
Thinking that…
I carried the files assigned to me over to my desk.
Alright.
Let’s see who dies first.
“Since I’m already here…”
“I think I’ll just go home tomorrow instead.”
“I’ll join you.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, Miss Rosé.”
‘Does calling yourself a slave count as a wonderful idea?’
I couldn’t even answer him.
While I silently despaired…
Sir Carlo simply watched me with quiet amusement.
“Fruit juice is healthier than energy drinks.”
“Yes…”
He quietly walked over to my desk.
Then…
Without saying anything…
He placed my favorite strawberry juice on it.
Though…
To me…
It only looked like he wanted his work slave to stay healthy.
Several hours passed.
I spent all that time running back and forth between the experiment table and my desk, which was covered with layers of blueprints.
Meanwhile…
Elline, who had been observing the Demon Realm from afar using magic, quietly walked over.
“Rosé.”
“Am I the only one who thinks the monsters’ invasion route is strange?”
“Tracking magical flows isn’t my specialty.”
“If your magic says so…”
“Then you’re probably right.”
Every mage had something their instincts were unusually sensitive to.
It reminded me of the “spider sense” from the movies in my previous life.
Even though I answered carelessly because I was exhausted…
Elline happily explained her theory.
“I think it’s like an animal’s instinct.”
“Maybe something changed inside the Demon Realm.”
“The monsters could have lost their habitat.”
“They might have destroyed the barrier while searching for somewhere safe.”
“So…”
“They ran straight into the nearest wall while looking for a new home?”
“Yes!”
“Exactly!”
‘Exactly? Not even close.’
It was already two in the morning.
We had been working for twelve straight hours.
At that point…
I felt like I could collapse and fall asleep anywhere.
“How strange.”
“I want to go home too.”
“Huh?”
“We were talking about monsters.”
“That isn’t important anymore.”
I muttered with lifeless eyes.
Home.
I needed to go home.
‘Without a home…’
‘Even humans can become violent.’
Thinking about it that way…
Humans and monsters didn’t seem all that different.
Monsters or not…
Just let me go home.
Looking at another failed experiment…
I placed both hands on my desk and sighed.
I had always known Elline loved research.
Unfairly…
She also had incredible stamina.
Some time ago…
She had started studying the Demon Realm whenever she had free time.
Already…
She seemed to have discovered something about the monsters’ behavior.
“Maybe…”
“We’re approaching a very important turning point in magical ecology.”
“If we can discover the true cause of this continent’s old problem…”
“This time…”
“We might finally find a way for both worlds to exist together.”
‘Right…’
‘You’ll solve all of that after becoming the Great Mage.’
My body had already reached its limit.
Even energy drinks couldn’t save me anymore.
I spread a blanket across my desk.
Then…
I simply lay down.
The earth and water mages were mainly responsible for defensive magic.
The wind and fire teams had much less work.
It seemed they had quietly gone home already.
Several earth mages had also reached their limits before I did.
They had gone to the duty room to rest.
‘I’m so jealous.’
‘If there’s another life…’
‘I want to be born as a wind mage.’
“No…”
“Let’s not be born at all.”
“We need to break this endless cycle of suffering…”
I only wanted a peaceful life.
Yet somehow…
I had ended up walking the hardest path of all.
I only wanted to avoid the hardships waiting after the story ended.
Instead…
Misfortune kept returning to me with interest.
‘What a completely twisted world.’
‘Doesn’t anyone know that even pretending to be kind is still kindness?’
Because the office was connected to the laboratory…
Dozens of air vents covered the ceiling.
As I stared blankly at them…
I slowly blinked my tired eyes.
All I could do was laugh.
‘There probably isn’t even an empty bed left in the duty room.’
“…Where’s Sir Carlo?”
“I think he already went back to the dormitory.”
“Perfect.”
“One less person to watch me.”
Now that no one was around to judge me…
I pushed two empty desks together to make a temporary bed.
Sometimes we used them as extra experiment tables.
That was why the desktops were made of marble.
There was nothing else I could do.
I didn’t even have enough strength left to leave the office.
‘A stone bed isn’t so bad.’
Remembering an old commercial from my previous life…
I quietly hummed the tune while climbing onto the desks.
‘It’s nice…’
‘But my back feels like it’s about to break.’
I closed my eyes.
Then I created a warm water cushion beneath my waist with magic.
That made it a little more comfortable.
By then…
Elline had climbed onto the experiment table across from me.
She was enthusiastically explaining how interested she had become in researching monsters.
Half asleep…
I barely skimmed through the report she handed me.
Ah…
My eyes kept closing.
“Did you finish reading it?”
“Mmm…”
“There are… two theories about the invasion route?”
“The first is what I mentioned earlier.”
“That something major changed inside the Demon Realm.”
“And the second is…”
Even while fighting sleep…
My eyes slowly followed the words written in her report.
Invasion.
Cause.
Exploration.
“Explora…”
Suddenly…
My eyes flew wide open.
“You want to explore the Demon Realm?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s absolutely necessary.”
‘That’s ridiculous.’
I closed the report.
Then I placed it beside my pillow and comfortably turned my back toward Elline.
No matter how sincerely she asked…
There was no way the Crown Prince would ever approve something that dangerous.
‘The Demon Realm is far too dangerous.’
‘Not a chance.’
My eyelids finally became too heavy to keep open.
I lazily nodded to show I was still listening.
Then…
I slowly drifted off to sleep.
Leaving tomorrow’s worries…
For tomorrow.
“…What?”
“An outside assignment?”
I just never imagined…
It would happen that quickly.
