Episode 391. Preparing for the Mage Conference

“What are you talking about?”

On the day the Academy’s vacation began, at Alice’s mansion.

Alice’s eyes widened as she listened to Sebastian’s report.

“Miss Irene is being dispatched to the Korean branch.”

“So why is Unnie coming here? What about Team 1?”

“I’m not sure either. They said the Guild Master-nim’s permission is already finalized….”

“What does that…”

Alice couldn’t understand it at all – Irene, the leader of Team 1, leaving her post. Especially since Irene had never acted like this before. Because she cherished the Iris Guild so much.

“Anyway, I get it. I’ll ask later.”

“Yes. I’ll take my leave now.”

Screech-

“Maybe I should contact Unnie.”

Alice tilted her head inside the room. I guess she was busy with the Korean dispatch, considering how she hadn’t contacted me much lately. Alice activated her smartwatch and sent Irene a message.

• Me: Unnie. Are you coming to Korea?

• Unnie: Yep. Alice. They said the Korean branch needed personnel.

• Me: Why are you filling that role? Couldn’t another Team 1 member come?

• Unnie: Do you hate seeing me, Alice…?

Alice covered her smartwatch after seeing Irene’s reply.

“… Why is she acting like this again.”

Sometimes, Unnie’s reactions like that were hard to get used to. Because she sent messages that went beyond cheesy, almost like they were from lovers. Is this what family love is? … Doesn’t feel like it.

• Unnie: Alice, can I stay at your place while I’m in Korea?

• Me: That’s fine… Sure. Just do whatever you want.

Alice shook her head and sent her reply. I still don’t understand it, but if Dad approved, it should be fine. He’s an idiot father, but he’s good at running the guild.

“Ah.”

And after sending the reply, one problem came to mind. Lee Hoyeon lives right next door. What’s more, Lee Hoyeon isn’t living alone; he’s living with several women. What would Irene do if she found out about that?

“… It’ll be fine, I guess.”

We only met briefly in France, there’s no way she’d be that interested. She’ll probably be busy enough just with the Korean branch dispatch. Alice quickly dismissed the issue from her mind.

*

Click-clack-

The Academy’s faculty building.

Dr. Kang Hyorin, who taught Hunter Studies, returned to her professor’s office after finishing her class. Naturally, no one was in the quiet office, and she sat down to continue her work.

Scratch- scratch-

Dr. Kang Hyorin worked for a long time. Her duties as a professor and her duties as the head of the Iris Guild’s Korean branch. It took quite some time to finish both. Glancing at the time, the clock showed 4:30. Wow, time flew by.

Dr. Kang Hyorin began talking to herself while organizing documents.

“What’s going on? Quitting the Iris Guild too.”

Rustle- rustle-

Of course, no answer came back, but Dr. Kang Hyorin didn’t stop talking. “You seem to have a lot more free time than before?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have come to you.”

Shwoosh-

Soon, a voice answered from thin air, revealing Scarlet sitting on the sofa. Dr. Kang Hyorin smiled and met Scarlet’s eyes.

“What the- Are you speaking informally now?”

“You’re not my superior anymore.”

“If you agreed to work under me, then I’m your boss.”

“Then I quit.”

As Scarlet stood up without hesitation, Dr. Kang Hyorin quickly added, “What’s wrong, Scarlet? I was just kidding. Even as a former Iris Guild member, there aren’t many places that would look out for a freelancer like I do.”

“Yes, yes. Boss. Then why didn’t you talk to me a bit earlier? We had a 4 PM appointment, and you pretended not to see me for a full 30 minutes.”

“Sorry. I was focused on work and didn’t check the time.”

Dr. Kang Hyorin finished tidying the table and stood up. She took out the teacups for guests, expertly prepared coffee, and sat on the sofa.

“Anyway, I really didn’t expect you to quit the Iris Guild. You used to act like you’d dedicate your whole life to it.”

“How can I work somewhere when my friend is the boss?”

Scarlet took a sip of her coffee and smiled faintly. When she was just a guild member, it was hard to deal with Kang Hyorin, the head of the Korean branch, but now that she was a freelancer, she could speak comfortably.

“Lies. It’s because of a guy, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“C’mon. It’s a guy, right? Student Lee Hoyeon.”

“… How did you know.”

“It was obvious from the start when you were seen entering the male dormitory. You’re just living together now, right?”

“You even know my place?”

Scarlet glared at Kang Hyorin as she spoke, but Kang Hyorin easily brushed off the gaze.

“I have to check if a freelancer is safe before hiring them. It’s only natural.”

“You’re unnecessarily perceptive.”

“That’s a compliment for an information guild member, right?”

Sip-

Kang Hyorin took a sip of her coffee, then suddenly said as if she just remembered, “Student Lee Hoyeon. Introduce him to me too. He’s my new boss, after all.”

“If I get the chance? But aren’t you two already acquainted?”

“Still, it feels different than just knowing each other. I want to hang out with my friend’s boyfriend too.”

“If that’s the case, then.”

Scarlet nodded. He’s not a guy I’d be ashamed to introduce to a friend, so I can do it proudly.

“Shall we start with the first job? I need to dispose of that S-rank monster experiment we got from the Buyer Guild last time. After several high-intensity pain experiments, it’s almost lost its mind. I’d like to sell it for a high price while it can still talk…”

*

“Hoooh…”

I returned home after enjoying a party with Lucy, Lumi, and Nam Daeun. Actually, it felt more like a board game club gathering than a party. Of course, it was incredibly fun. How could anyone resist playing board games with beautiful women? By the end of the party, I could read the lust in the twins’ eyes, but perhaps because Nam Daeun was there, they didn’t pounce on me. Fortunately, they aren’t quite that reckless yet.

Nam Daeun said she was going grocery shopping and would bring Dahee back with her, so I headed home alone. On the way home, I exchanged messages with Professor Im Sol. Now that vacation has started, I need to prepare for the Wizard Association conference.

• Me: Professor. What’s the exact schedule for the Wizard Association conference?

• Professor Im Sol: It’s set for next Monday. I’ll go, rest for a few days, give my presentation, and come back.

• Me: Understood! I’ll stop by sometime tomorrow.

• Professor Im Sol: Okay. Got it.

I closed my smartwatch. About a week. I can rest a bit until then. I should go visit tomorrow and have a sparring match. I want to try out the new skill I acquired; it’s quite powerful.

‘Or maybe not?’

I might need to hide my full strength. That way, my chances of winning will increase.

While lost in thought, I returned home to find Scarlet and Rebecca resting in the living room. I guess they decided to rest together after I told them to go back earlier. Liliana, next to them, had her eyes fixed on the monitor, probably working on something related to broadcasting, so I left her be for now and approached Scarlet.

“Ah, you came at the perfect time.”

Scarlet stood up the moment she saw me.

“What’s up?”

“It’s just about time to pick up Miss Dahee.”

“Ah. I see. Did you find a new job okay?”

“Yes. It turned out pretty well, all things considered.”

Her expression looks fine. If Scarlet puts it that way, it must be a good job. I should probably go pay Dr. Kang Hyorin a visit.

I saw Scarlet off and approached Rebecca.

“What were you doing, Rebecca-ssi?”

“I was researching magic. It’s pretty much all I do at home.”

“Ah, how far along are you now?”

“Since I’ve been home all the time, I’ve made quite a bit of progress… Want to take a look?”

“Okay. Let’s see it.”

I followed Rebecca into her room. Inside the feminine room was a large magic circle, a degraded version of that fake dungeon magic. Rebecca looked at the magic circle and spoke.

“What kind of concept should the dungeon have?”

“I’ll think about that. We need a concept where anything happening inside wouldn’t feel out of place, so it needs a backstory. Something like a cursed land.”

The Cursed Land is a famous unique dungeon. It was called the Cursed Land because no one knew what would happen inside, and my goal is to truly move the heroines’ hearts. To achieve that, I needed a unique dungeon that would properly execute my plan.

“You’ve already worked out the basic concept, right?”

“The basic concept is mostly done. It would be best if I could manipulate the interior with magic, but that would be difficult, wouldn’t it?”

“Mmm. That’s a bit difficult. The risk of getting caught is too high.”

“Then we can go with a memorization-based approach for the interior. Since I only need to handle the important triggers, that works too.”

We continued exchanging ideas while looking at the dungeon magic circle. As this was a dungeon that my life depended on, I needed to concentrate even more. After discussing while looking at the magic circle for a while, quite some time had passed.

“Let’s stop here for today. My head hurts.”

“Yeah. If Baby Daddy helps out occasionally like now, we can finish it much faster.”

“Of course, I should help.”

I listened to Rebecca as I tidied up the magic circle.

“Baby Daddy, you said you were going to America, right?”

“Yes. Because of the Wizard Association conference.”

“Ah… So you’re debuting as a wizard this time. For a genius wizard like Lee Hoyeon, debuting at 20 makes sense.”

“It’s not like that. I’m probably just assisting a professor I know with their paper.”

“That’s what they call a wizard debut, Baby Daddy.”

“… Is that so?”

I didn’t know. The professor never mentioned anything about a debut.

“Yeah. You can’t expect a rookie wizard to come in with a magic paper right from the start.”

“My professor doesn’t seem like the type for that.”

Professor Im Sol isn’t the type to assist anyone. Rather, wouldn’t she submit something incredible on her own to show the other wizards a thing or two?

“There are exceptions, of course. There’s that famous genius wizard, too.”

“Me?”

“No, not Baby Daddy, Professor Im Sol.”

“Huh?”

I blinked at the familiar name that came out of Rebecca’s mouth. Does Rebecca not know that I’m Professor Im Sol’s assistant?

“I’m playing the role of Professor Im Sol’s assistant this time.”

“Really?”

“Yes. That’s why they call me a genius wizard too, since I’m Professor Im Sol’s student.”

“Was that it? I thought you were just a student at the Academy since you said you were her student. So you’re a personal student. No way, is Professor Im Sol also Baby Daddy’s girlfriend?”

“Not yet…”

“Wow. Baby Daddy, you’re really something else.”

Rebecca looked at me, seemingly surprised. I’m a bit surprised too. I can’t tell if this person knows me well or not. And why does she know so much about the Wizard Association?

“Rebecca-ssi, you surprisingly know a lot about the wizarding world?”

“Of course. I have a fake identity as a wizard, too.”

“Ah.”

Just what I saw in Korea, there were about three fake identities; how many has she hidden? Could Rebecca also have a fake identity?

“Baby Daddy. Introduce me to Professor Im Sol later.”

Rebecca’s eyes sparkled as she gripped my hand tightly.

“Introduce you?”

“She’s someone any wizard would want to meet at least once. Talking with her might help me improve my barriers too.”

“There’s no reason why not. I was planning to visit her next time anyway, so I’ll ask her.”

“Okay. Thank you so much.”

“But the Professor mentioned that most wizards don’t really like her. It’s strange that you do, Rebecca-ssi.”

“That’s probably true for third-rate wizards who can never become first-rate. They’re filled with jealousy and inferiority complexes. But I’m different.”

“As expected of you, Rebecca-ssi.”

There’s no way anyone among my women could be stupid. It feels good to hear the Professor getting praised, even if it’s indirectly.

As I smiled, Liliana, who had been looking at her computer in the living room, approached with a crestfallen face.

“Rebecca, help me out. The computer broke again.”

“Liliana. I’ve told you multiple times that asking me to fix a broken computer is unreasonable. Using a Rune Barrier takes a tremendous amount of magic power each time.”

“Please, just do it one more time. It worked last time, didn’t it?”

“If you just rewind time without fixing the cause, you’ll use it the same way, and it’ll break the same way, Liliana.”

Liliana was pleading with Rebecca with a sad expression. She’s probably asking Rebecca to fix the broken computer using a Rune Barrier…

Hmm.

‘One foolish person isn’t so bad.’

There’s a word called ‘foolish charm’. If they’re pretty, you can see that as an attraction too.