Chapter 81
Having regained consciousness, Max spent two full days resting in the hospital.
For those two days, Flora and Ellen also got beds in the room next door and rested alongside him.
By now, his body was itching to move. He wanted to get up and do something.
With his health in such good shape, Max decided to be discharged today.
He wasn't forcing himself to leave.
The doctors at Genesis Bio had determined that his body, after receiving their treatment, no longer needed further rest, and Max himself felt the same.
‘My condition is great. Genesis Bio's technology really is on another level.’
Max had taken off his hospital gown and changed into the clothes the two of them had gotten for him. Now he was ready to leave the hospital.
It was time to return to the office he had left vacant.
“Big bro. You’re really okay, right?”
“I’m fine. Good enough to take on another job right now.”
“No way! You still need to rest more, big bro!”
Since Genesis Bio headquarters wasn't a hospital, there was no administration office where he could complete the discharge procedures.
All he had to do was notify the medical staff through the call button that he was leaving. Apparently, he could simply walk out like this.
Max left the hospital room with the two of them and walked through the Genesis Bio headquarters hallway.
They continued their casual conversation as they headed toward the elevator.
“Even so, since the head of the family took care of the hospital bill, I’d like to at least thank them··· But it feels a little presumptuous to contact the family head just because I know the number. Could you pass on Ellen’s thanks?”
“Understood. You don’t need to contact the family head for no reason, big bro. Even if they contact you, just ignore it. Got it?”
“No, ignoring them even if they contact me seems a bit···.”
Wouldn't my life be in danger if I did that?
Just as Max was thinking that and drawing an awkward smile, a voice reached them.
“The family head is currently attending to business. I will properly convey your gratitude, Mr. Max.”
A distinguished old gentleman wearing a monocle appeared. It was Domingo Clemens.
Max warmly greeted him again and expressed his gratitude.
“Mr. Domingo. I owe you my life. Thank you very much.”
“I merely carried out the young lady’s orders. I heard you were being discharged and came down for a moment. How are you feeling?”
“Thanks to receiving the finest treatment, I’m in better shape than usual.”
Flora, who was beside him, also thanked Domingo again for his help.
Domingo replied with the courtesy due to Flora, Aizen’s granddaughter.
His gaze naturally shifted to Ellen.
“Young lady. How about returning to the estate today?”
“···I was going to do that anyway.”
“The family head will be pleased. I’ll have a banquet prepared tonight.”
Having received the answer he wanted, Domingo escorted Max and the others to the headquarters entrance.
Max headed to the office with the two of them and began tackling the backlog right away.
“I’ll settle your pay after stopping by a bank on the way. I tried sending it all at once, but I hit the transfer limit. Sorry for the delay.”
As Max searched for a bank on his map, remarking that he should lift the transfer limit while he was at it, Flora and Ellen exchanged small smiles.
Then they stated firmly.
“Big bro. We can’t accept payment.”
“That’s how it is! You can use the pay yourself, big bro!”
“Huh?”
Max looked as though he didn't understand.
Ellen nudged Flora, urging her to explain quickly.
“Interns may only receive the amount reported to the academy. It’s the rule. There used to be quite a few incidents over this.”
“Why are you only telling me now···?”
“Big bro, we have a conscience, too. We’ve only been a burden, so how could we take money?”
Flora and Ellen made it clear beforehand that they absolutely wouldn't accept it, even if he found a way to keep it off the records or gave them the money in cash.
That was how Max knew.
‘They never intended to accept the job payment in the first place···.’
Ellen had worked part-time at the office to earn a little pocket money for her hobbies. If she ever needed a large sum, she could use her family’s card like Flora.
They probably never felt any need for hundreds of millions of credits.
But Max had no intention of pocketing all of it himself.
‘Should I set aside their shares separately? If they say they need it in the future, I can take it out then.’
You never knew what might happen in life.
Rather than giving them money directly, perhaps it would be better to spend it lavishly on something worth celebrating. Their graduation ceremonies weren't far off, after all.
“Then if there’s any furniture or electronics you two need, I’ll buy them for you. Since they’re for the office, that should be fine, right?”
“Big bro! Then let’s buy an ice maker! We’re always short on ice for our coffee!”
“What about you, Flora?”
“Me··· a team dinner···?”
“Now you’re finally making sense! A team dinner sounds great!”
Ellen reacted to Flora’s suggestion more enthusiastically than anyone.
As the two continued their internships at the office and fought together in the wasteland, it felt as though the distance between them had suddenly shrunk.
Max felt that this was his greatest achievement of all.
“All right. Let’s look at ice makers before we go to the office.”
Without putting away his smartphone, Max sent a message to Hoshikawa, whom he had said he would contact after finishing the job.
*****
Minerva Academy, Haze’s leading educational institution in District 17.
At this point, the academy was quieter than usual. Most of the cadets were away from the academy on experiential internships.
That did not mean the academy staff could relax.
Especially since this round of experiential internships held an unresolved mystery, prompting even a meeting.
Max’s Mercenary Office.
It was the place where Flora Crimsonhowl and Ellen Clemens, scions of prestigious mage families, had applied for internships.
For the academy staff who had assumed the two would apply to Genesis Bio, it was a major shock.
“A mercenary office in District 14. The location seems fine.”
“And according to the information on the business card, he’s a Fifth-Tier mage. Aren’t Fifth-Tier mages rare among mercenaries?”
The materials were circulated. Yet the reason the scions of the prestigious mage families had gone there remained completely unknown.
“We might be able to figure it out once the intern reports are submitted, so it seems best to wait.”
“The report is a formality. What could they possibly write in it that would tell us anything?”
“More importantly, we set the stipend as low as possible, and now this is rather···.”
“Those are the regulations. We couldn’t exactly help it, could we?”
“You have a point. But were regulations really so important in Haze? I was the one who set and approved the amount, and it’s keeping me awake at night!”
A staff member trembled, saying that they kept dreaming of being seized by Megacorp and taken away without knowing why.
“It would be awkward to suddenly provide additional support, too.”
“Maybe the best thing is to keep quiet for now. The two cadets didn’t apply to Genesis Bio, and if the mage families haven’t said anything──.”
The lively exchange continued.
A new staff member who had been employed for less than a year cautiously raised a hand.
“I··· may I offer an opinion?”
Everyone’s attention turned toward the speaker, as if urging them to continue.
“Before the experiential internships began, there was a famous rumor, wasn’t there?”
The rumor that Flora Crimsonhowl and Ellen Clemens were competing over one man.
It had reached the academy staff’s ears as well.
“Could the mage at the mercenary office be the man in that rumor···?”
As the sentence continued, the speaker’s voice grew quieter and trailed off.
The surrounding gazes were ice-cold, as though the suggestion wasn't worth hearing. Several openly regarded the speaker with contempt.
“Haha! You know how to lighten the mood. That was a funny joke.”
“It’s just a rumor circulating among the cadets. We haven’t heard anything of the sort outside the academy.”
“Cadets are at an age when they enjoy sensational stories, after all.”
The new staff member’s suggestion was dismissed.
The staff then discussed ways to show that the academy continued to pay attention to the scions of the prestigious mage families beyond the stipend, and to present the academy’s interest in and watch over the mercenary office as positively as possible.
“What about inviting the mage as an external lecturer? We could ask them to give a lecture for about an hour.”
“A mercenary as an external academy lecturer···? It certainly would be unprecedented, but···.”
For the upper classes, being a mercenary was a profession they did not want to associate with.
Everyone merely rolled their eyes—natural or prosthetic—with reluctant expressions, neither readily agreeing nor opposing.
If they rashly opposed the idea, they would have to shoulder the burden of coming up with a better proposal.
The silence, thick with unspoken calculations, gradually tilted toward tacit approval.
“What is the going rate for a Fifth-Tier mercenary?”
“Even for a mercenary, getting a Fifth-Tier mage to act··· I’d expect him to charge at least a hundred million credits. We’ll inquire with the association.”
“Hmm, the bigger issue than the amount is whether the scions of prestigious houses would welcome a mercenary lecturer. That’s the problem.”
“If we select the intern report submitted by Cadet Flora Crimsonhowl or Cadet Ellen Clemens as the best report and circulate it, won’t the cadets realize at once?”
“Indeed, selecting the best report was an established procedure. An intern report written by Cadet Flora Crimsonhowl was shared with all the cadets before, too···.”
“Even if only one person notices, word will spread by word of mouth.”
The process proceeded quickly.
They weren't concerned about what to teach.
An external lecturer only had to share personal experiences and say a few good things. They didn't expect anything more.
“The appropriate timing would be after the cadets’ internships end and before graduation··· We’ll have to coordinate it.”
While Max remained unaware,
another task was being added to his workload.