I’m a Rookie, but I’m an Experienced Professional - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 22

The moment we collided, something clattered and fell from the man’s hands.

“I’m sorry.”

I hastily apologized and picked up the fallen beads.

“….”

Meanwhile, the man did nothing and just stared at me intently.

‘Since I made him drop them, does he want me to pick them all up?’

It was true that I bumped into him because I wasn’t looking ahead properly, but the man was partly at fault too—wasn’t he being too shameless?

It was absurd, but I didn’t want to get into a pointless argument, so I silently picked up the beads.

“Here. Please check if the count is correct.”

Instead of taking the beads, the man suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“What color is it?”

“Excuse me?”

“What color does this look like to you?”

The man pointed to the beads I was holding and asked again.

The beads sparkled in various colors depending on the angle, but if I had to choose the most prominent color….

“Red… it’s red.”

At my words, the man’s somewhat dull blue eyes sparkled like stars had been embedded in them.

‘What’s this? Why is he being so scary?’

A bad premonition ran down my spine.

I wanted to run away, but he was gripping my wrist so tightly that I couldn’t budge.

“Excuse me, please let go of this hand.”

“Which organization do you belong to?”

I asked him to let go, but the man gripped my hand even tighter instead.

“Who are you studying under? I don’t sense anything special. Don’t tell me you’re maintaining a shield normally?”

Then he started spouting incomprehensible nonsense.

“Tell me who your master is. Or would you rather just come to our side? I’ll treat you better.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but one thing was certain—he wasn’t normal.

In modern terms, it felt like meeting a cult member who goes around asking ‘Do you know the Way?’

‘What a waste of a handsome face, such a waste.’

A beautiful face that seemed to stand at the boundary between boy and young man, blue eyes that seemed to hold the sea, mysterious silver hair.

He was handsome enough for any woman to find attractive, yet here he was going around doing cult activities.

“Oh, there’s a red bead that fell over there.”

When I pointed behind him, the man turned his head.

I didn’t miss that opportunity and pushed the man away with all my strength.

This caused the beads to fall again, but I didn’t care.

I just quickly escaped from that place to avoid being caught by the man.

* * *

“…Ah, wait a moment.”

The hand he extended a beat too late waved helplessly in the air.

As Eileen moved farther away, his bright eyes gradually became dull and hazy.

“It’s the first time.”

He stared down at the beads scattered on the ground.

“It’s the first time someone other than me has seen this as red….”

The man muttered to himself and kicked the beads with the tip of his foot.

“Lord Rael! So you were here!”

Just then, some man came running over breathlessly.

“How can you suddenly disappear like that! Do you know how much I’ve been searching for… Ugh, what is this!”

The man who saw the beads scattered on the ground gasped and shouted.

“How could you throw such precious Arcana on the street!”

“…I didn’t do it.”

Rael said resentfully, but the man didn’t listen at all.

“Oh my, just one of these could feed a commoner family for half a year. Oh my.”

As the man wailed and picked up the Arcana that had fallen on the ground, Rael frowned and flicked his hand.

“Ugh!”

Then mud shot up and splattered all over the man’s face.

“Why are you doing this!”

“I didn’t do it.”

“Don’t lie! This time Lord Rael definitely did it!”

“So you knew but ignored what I said, Zephyr.”

When Rael flicked his hand again, this time the man’s feet were buried in the ground.

“I’m sorry, Lord Rael! I overstepped my bounds and dared to defy Lord Rael!”

When the man, Zephyr, raised both hands and shouted that he was wrong, only then did Rael release him.

His relief at being safely freed was brief, as Zephyr picked up the Arcana that had fallen on the ground again.

“One, two, three… fifteen.”

Only after confirming the count was correct did Zephyr let out a deep sigh of relief.

If even one had been lost, the stubborn elders wouldn’t have let it slide.

‘Though Lord Rael himself doesn’t seem to care at all.’

Zephyr clicked his tongue inwardly and glanced at his master and owner of the Magic Tower, Raelion Silbert.

Although he was usually good at reading people’s minds—enough to be asked if he could read minds—he could never figure out what Rael was thinking.

‘It’s also strange that he suddenly came to Belheim.’

At first, he thought Rael had come to meet Callix Crowbell, but that wasn’t it.

He didn’t even go near the Lord’s Castle. Instead, he only wandered around where commoners lived.

No matter how much he asked why they came here, Rael wouldn’t answer.

Then suddenly he said someone was calling him and disappeared without a trace.

How panicked he had been then.

Fortunately, thanks to Rael leaving traces of mana, he was able to follow those traces and find him.

“Let’s return to the Magic Tower now, Lord Rael. The elders will be worried.”

“…I want to meet her again.”

“What? What did you say?”

Zephyr asked back, but instead of answering, Rael looked in the direction Eileen had disappeared.

His gaze was quite wistful.

“What’s over there?”

Zephyr also looked in that direction but couldn’t find anything.

“If we don’t leave soon, we’ll miss the train.”

“…I want to see Callix before we go.”

“What? Suddenly what’s that about… Where are you going, Lord Rael!”

At Rael’s sudden impulsive action, which was frequent enough to be familiar yet still bewildering, Zephyr hurriedly followed after him.

* * *

I was worried the cult member might persistently chase after me, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

Although I couldn’t explore all of District 9, I had found the biggest cause.

Since it would be terrible if I went back and got caught by the cult member, I returned to the multi-family house in District 8 for now.

“It’s become clean.”

When I first came, it was such a mess that it wouldn’t have been strange for ghosts to appear, but after the repairs it looked much better.

“It looks like we’ll need to repaint it too.”

But does paint even exist in this era?

There seems to be pigment though….

“Eileen, you’re here.”

Tabin, who was cleaning up trash at the entrance of the housing complex, greeted me warmly.

“What about the City Planning Department employees?”

They didn’t skip out, did they?

“They’re removing mold in the first-floor hallway right now.”

That’s not the case then.

“Are they being helpful?”

“Yes. Everyone’s hands are so skilled, the mold was cleaned off in no time.”

“That’s a relief.”

I was worried they might slack off, but it was an unnecessary concern.

“Tomorrow you’ll finish the hallway, right?”

“No. We’re going to finish the remaining houses first, then do the hallway.”

“Then the residents using the hallway will be inconvenienced.”

“I’ll have to tell them to bear with it for just one more day.”

After that, I need to make and install the triangular roof.

Oh, I think I needed to create waterways here too.

I left the housing complex and checked the long, stretched-out alley.

As expected, this area also had terrain where rainwater would pool, so it needed waterways.

‘Other areas with severe flood damage would be similar, right?’

To dig waterways in all those areas, two months definitely wouldn’t be enough. What should I do?

“Mr. Kranter.”

I caught Alan Kranter, who had just finished his work and come out.

“You worked hard!”

Then Alan Kranter showed me his swollen hands and said,

“I really worked hard!”

Who said anything? The way he spoke as if defending himself was funny, so I chuckled.

“I know. But do you happen to have any magical tools for digging ground?”

“Huh? You dig ground with shovels.”

I asked just in case, but it seems there aren’t any after all.

“Then how long would it take to dig from here to the river outside the city gates to create a path?”

“Hmm, well.”

I thought he’d say he didn’t know, but unexpectedly, he pondered seriously before answering.

“It depends on how many workers you mobilize, but on average, it would take about three weeks.”

I thought it would take at least a month, but it’s shorter than expected.

More than that, to think he could even make such calculations—maybe he’s not completely without skills.

Well, he is a City Planning Department employee after all.

“Why? Are you planning to create a new path?”

“Yes. I want to create a path for rainwater to flow.”

“Huh? A path for rainwater to flow?”

Alan Kranter asked back as if he didn’t understand what that was.

“Such a thing exists.”

It would be difficult to make him understand, and there was no need to.

The only important person was the lord.

I just needed to make Callix Crowbell understand.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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