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.
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