Bonus Short Story

An Educational Negotiation

By the time he noticed, he was in his twenties... How fast time had flown by.

It felt like he’d become a Magicmaster too early. Working as hard as you could just to die an untimely death was common in that line of work, and it was a helpless feeling.

Thinking back on it, his childhood had gone by so fast...but it wasn’t like being an adult was nothing but problems. He was confident that he knew a good deal more about the world than most people his age, not to mention that his salary had increased since he’d started out. He’d become moderately wealthy by now.

With those vague feelings in his mind, Lindelph Maeger was lost in thought.

Suddenly, a certain idea popped up...to start taking life more seriously going forward from tomorrow. He was past the age where pranks would be forgiven, meaning that he was at a crossroads in his life.

Right now he was enjoying some leisure time granted by the Special Unit. However, because of the nature of the unit, he couldn’t just go out to a bar in the city. It was less leisure and more like a long standby in the unit’s waiting room. Lindelph was starting to get used to it, but at the same time he didn’t have a way to spend the fortune he’d amassed.

“Hey, Alus. When they tell us to rest like this, it’s like you just don’t know what to do, right?” Lindelph said out on the windblown terrace where he’d taken the eleven-year-old child.

“You’re going to say that to me? I’ll have you know that I’m pretty busy, Mr. Lindelph. I need to seriously consider my own AWR.”

“Why don’t you act more like a child? You’re going to live a boring life in the future if you’re like this now.” Lindelph cracked a joke about what a waste it was to see Alus acting like an adult.

In response, Alus looked at his carefree colleague with a scowl. “Studying is fun. But Ms. Elina might kill you next time if you don’t start acting like an adult. Though it looks like you need a few bones broken before you learn your lesson.”

“Well, if that happens, I wouldn’t mind being nursed back to health by a beautiful military physician. Unfortunately, the luck of the devil is the only thing I have going for me.”

“And ninety percent of that luck is me coming to save you.”

Alus remained serious, but he was pretty good at socializing with Lindelph, serving as his conversational partner whenever he was free. Their conversations were pretty pointless, though. When Alus saw Lindelph grin, he frowned. He had a bad feeling about it.

And so, with a coaxing voice, Lindelph moved on to the main topic. “By the way, Alus, would you accept this?”

“What’s this?”

Lindelph was showing him a virtual screen projected from his license. On it was a number, in other words, a sum of money. “You bathe with Elina, don’t you?”

“Just so you know, she forces me to... Oh, so that’s what you want.”

“I’m glad you’re quick on the uptake. I only need one picture, that’s all.”

The sum of money was a reward, compensation. And the sum was far too high to be called a child’s allowance. But Alus’s reaction didn’t seem too promising.

“You’re in the same changing room too, right? At least get a photo of her changing!” Lindelph abandoned his air of composure and adult dignity to implore Alus.

“I refuse. So you’ve moved on from peeking to taking creep shots. If they find out, you’ll be facing a court-martial. Last time you only got away with a physical punishment because of how the changing room was laid out.”

Not only did Alus refuse, but he looked at him with disgust, prompting Lindelph’s shoulders to drop. He asked himself just who had raised Alus to be so serious and unfunny. That said, he wasn’t about to give up yet. He could still teach him about the pleasures and delights of the world.

“Come on, you’ll wake up to this kind of thing too, one day. Think of it as studying! Time flies. If you don’t do it now, when will you?!”

Lindelph was rattling on, but Alus gave him a simple response with a dumbfounded look on his face. “Mr. Lindelph, if you’re serious about this...that’s not enough money.”

“R-Right...!” Seeing hope in Alus’s response, Lindelph didn’t hesitate to increase the sum.

“That’s still no good. You’re missing a few zeros.”

“What?”

“Just so you know, I earn more than ten times your pay...so that kind of small change is nowhere near enough.”

The smile on Lindelph’s face disappeared. Not only had he failed to bribe an eleven-year-old child, he’d been hit with reality as well. He forgot his original purpose and absentmindedly watched Alus’s far too large back walking away.

A Strange Daily Routine

Most students of the Second Magical Institute—about ninety percent—spend all three years living in the dorm. The female student who’d recently transferred in was no exception.

Lilisha Ron de Rimfuge Frusevan was waking up to a nice and sunny morning in her dorm room. Incidentally, she had slept on her chest with her face turned to the side. The small drool stain on her pillow was a part of her charm.

Rooms were typically shared between two students, but because of her mission, she’d been specially granted a room of her own. She had no complaints about the size, but when it came to choosing a room, there was one point Lilisha refused to give in on: the amount of sunlight the room received. It was of the utmost importance, and without it her mornings would be ruined. Everyone had their own strange habits, and sunbathing was hers.

As she awoke, the sunlight leaked through the curtains, reflecting off her golden hair and dazzling her as she yawned. She then stretched and got out of bed. She rubbed her eyes and went to take a quick shower. Next, she performed some simple skin care, fixed her hair, and brushed her teeth.

She put on her gown and stepped out of the shower room, heading straight for the large window. It was so big that it went from floor to ceiling, and the surface of the curtains faintly glowed in the light. Lilisha narrowed her eyes and spread the curtains open. As she bathed in the light she took off her gown, which slid off her shoulders and fell to the floor. Then she just let the sunlight shine on her. At the same time, she exhaled. Her pale skin shone with a golden glow as if she was wearing light itself.

She was quite literally sunbathing.

“Ahh, it feels so good...!”

Indeed, Lilisha’s strange daily routine was sunbathing completely naked. However, she was no longer in her family home, but in the dorm, and she was fully exposed to anyone who would happen to look inside. Considering that she was on the second floor, she was at a good height for the public eye to see. But Lilisha, who was almost in some form of trance with her eyes closed, showed no signs of being perturbed.

She felt freedom in her nakedness, and the natural light on her body felt good. With those factors she could feel not only the mana flowing in her body, but even her qi.

This had been Lilisha’s daily routine ever since she’d lived at her family home. Neither the maids nor even the chief servant—who was very strict on etiquette—interfered with her routine. Which was why she wouldn’t stop, even in a dorm.

“It’s strange that even the artificial sun feels this good,” Lilisha murmured in satisfaction as she stretched again in the nude. It was hard to tell if she lacked any common sense or if she was just doing things at her own pace... At any rate, the eccentric noble girl was off to a good start on her day.