Chapter 49 : End of Summer Vacation

“Hey, are you out of your mind? This is a mana stone from a lieutenant-class Devil Doll. Stuff like this is considered a strategic resource—you can’t just trade it however you want.”

“Then how about we at least get it inside the forge?”

“Hmm.”

Grimrock  glanced around nervously, then dragged the oak barrel and pushed it into the forge.

Knowing Grimrock ’s personality, there was no way he’d pass up a chance to work with such a rare material, even if it was against academy regulations.

That’s exactly why I deliberately took out Baron Squid’s mana stone in a public place, despite knowing everything.

“Actually, I have a rough design for the magi I want. I just sketched it out lightly—could you maybe take a look?”

“What? You drew up a design? Let me see.”

Grimrock examined the messy sketch I had scribbled in a notebook back at my hotel room in Neo Seoul City.

After reviewing it, he looked at me with a curious gaze and said,

“I’ve never seen anyone draw worse than you. But the magi’s mechanism and material composition? No matter how I look at it, you’re no beginner. Who taught you?”

“I didn’t have a master or anything. I just scribbled down what I read in books… sorry if I came off like I knew too much.”

“Tsk tsk, what are you being humble for in front of someone like me?

Experts like me can tell at a glance.

Looks to me like you’re trying to make a custom magi designed specifically to align with the abilities of a lieutenant-class Devil Doll.

Well, you came to the right place.

I’m a top-tier expert in this field.

But hey… we’re not going to get a sudden call from the Pantheon Peacekeeping Force’s logistics department or anything like that, right?”

“Absolutely not. I obtained it through legal means—it’s legitimate spoils of battle. By the way, if I request the commission, how much time and cost would it take?”

“Time? Roughly about a month—just around the end of summer vacation. As for the cost… bah, forget it. I won’t take any money.”

“What? I mean, labor cost aside, if you don’t even charge for the materials, wouldn’t that be a loss for you, Mr. Grimrock?”

“Well, sure.

But if I take money, I’d have to report it for taxes, and I hate getting tangled up in that kind of annoying stuff.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s completely free.

There are three conditions.

First, you help out with chores around here during summer vacation.

Second, if you ever need magi made again, you only come to me.

Third, when the magi is completed, you spend the entire day demonstrating how you use it in front of me.

Think of it as a kind of private showcase.”

I quickly ran the calculations in my head.

Even though I still had a good number of Dallant silver coins on me, money was always easier to spend than to earn.

Saving where I could would help me handle any unexpected events during academy life more flexibly—so I accepted the deal immediately.

After entrusting Baron Squid’s mana stone to Grimrock, I returned to the academy and headed toward the annex laboratory beside the Pantheon Shrine.

I remembered that I’d agreed to do a part-time job organizing magic books for the Projection of Wisdom, but had been avoiding it until now.

Since the lab staff didn’t really have the concept of “vacation,” they were all very welcoming when I showed up.

Apparently, during the break, a lot of students left the academy, leading to a shortage of research samples or something like that.

Anyway, I put on a bizarrely designed helmet, closed my eyes, and when I opened them—what spread before me looked like a sea of books worthy of being called a divine library.

“Whew… where do I even begin organizing this mess…”

“Why are you so late?”

Just as I was about to pick up the nearest book and begin organizing, a massive shadow suddenly loomed over my avatar, and I froze like a statue.

The Projection of Wisdom—so tall she reminded me of a mythical eight-foot ghost—had somehow appeared behind me without even giving me a moment to sense her presence.

“I’m really sorry. My home star, Earth, is under attack by Devil Dolls, so I’ve been busy with that and couldn’t come for a while. From now on, I’ll make time regularly to visit.”

“If you have no strength, you cannot protect your home star. You are a fragile human. Unless you seek wisdom and train diligently, you won’t be able to accomplish anything.”

The Projection of Wisdom, speaking in a heavy tone, tapped my index finger with one of her long fingers.

For a moment, I felt a searing pain, like my finger was burning, and I thought she was punishing me.

But I soon realized that wasn’t the case.

In that brief instant of contact, she had embedded a mana circuit into my avatar’s finger, enabling it to cast a flame-type Tier-0 spell.

In terms of result, it was no different than a cheap 500-won lighter—but the fact that I could now feel the process of shaping mana into fire through my own skin was astonishing.

However, when I looked up to thank her, she had already disappeared.

So, I had no choice but to flick the flame a couple of times and quietly devote myself to organizing the grimoires.

***

“I can’t believe summer break is already over… Feels like I didn’t get a single proper day to rest.”

I was completely exhausted, sprawled out on the bed, blankly staring at the calendar on my desk.

Of course, breaks at Pantheon Academy weren’t meant for lazing around like they are at ordinary schools.

It was a period granted to allow students the freedom to supplement their weaknesses outside the regular curriculum through self-directed learning.

If one used the excuse of vacation to slack off by going to a tourist-famous planet in a Green Belt zone, they’d inevitably be left behind.

In that sense, I did train… but something felt off.

“I know that if you learn all the Tier-0 spells by attribute, a hidden piece will unlock. But…”

Even though the Projection of Wisdom went out of her way to install mana circuits directly into my avatar, I was only able to manifest fire, lightning, and water attributes.

No matter how hard I struggled, I came to the realization that special attributes like light and darkness were just completely beyond my reach.

Even if you string together beads, they’re still just trinkets—Tier-0 magic barely equated to a lighter, a prank shock toy, or not needing to lick your finger to open a plastic bag.

Thankfully, today was the day that the magical device I commissioned from Grimrock Shadowsmith would be completed—so I could only place my hopes on that.

If that magic gear turned out to be a failure as well, then this entire summer vacation would’ve been a complete waste.

In contrast, Iris had only slept four hours a day and devoted herself solely to training—growing terrifyingly stronger even at this very moment.

“If my contractor’s working that hard, then as her Constellation, I need to do my best too. Guess I should head over to Shadowsmith’s forge now.”

Since tomorrow was the start of the new semester, the outskirts of the academy were crowded with students returning from other planets where they had spent their vacation.

However, as always, Shadowsmith’s forge was completely deserted—probably due to its poor location.

Just like before, not even a single ant could be seen.

Maybe that’s why, when I spotted a mysterious woman in a robe standing in front of the forge, I couldn’t help but stare—even though I knew it was rude.

Was there actually another customer using Shadowsmith’s forge besides me?

Well, I guess if there really were zero customers, there’d be no way he could afford the rent to keep the place open.

Caught in that awkward moment where it was too early to go in and too weird to just leave, time felt like it was dragging by—until, fortunately, Grimrock burst out of the forge with a loud shout.

“Kuhahaha! I’ve finally completed the magical equipment! Damn, I’m good. Two top-tier artifacts in just a month? Who else but me, Grimrock Shadowsmith, could pull that off?!”

“You took on a double commission, you damn soot-covered dwarf? I knew it was taking longer than usual. I told you—no matter the situation, my request is always the top priority.”

“First come, first served. There’s no such thing as priority here. Now shut up and take it.”

The woman in the robe took the dagger with a thin blade from Grimrock.

She scratched the blade with her fingernail to check the quality, then tossed a hefty pouch of coins in front of the forge.

As she turned and our eyes met, a sudden wave of fear swept over me—as if I were a mouse facing a cat.

Every cell in my body screamed in terror.

I couldn’t see her full features because her hood was pulled deep over her face, but the vertical slit pupils and eyepatch gave her identity away instantly.

‘She’s a Black Agent of the Dragon Knights.’

Her real name was Canaria.

If Green Agents were masters of disguise and intelligence, Black Agents were draconians specialized in assassination.

In terms of one-on-one combat power, she was one of the top-ranked elites even among the Dragon Knights.

Usually, she was a ghost-like figure who silently eliminated threats to Pantheon Academy—an NPC character you’d rarely ever meet in person.