Chapter 4

“Sorry, we already have enough staff.” “This magic research institute only hires candidates with a letter of introduction. Please leave.” “This isn’t a place for girls from noble families like you.” Her search for a job ended in crushing defeat. The truth was that there was currently a surplus of mages looking for jobs. A coup d’état had just occurred in the bordering Magic Empire, and many of their first-rate mages ended up in Labyrinth City after fleeing abroad. Highly skilled personnel who normally couldn’t be hired in Dineez without dozens of gold coins could currently be hired for cheap. To mages job hunting in Labyrinth City, it was a nightmarish buyer’s market with more applicants than there were jobs. That was true of office work that required math and writing abilities as well. The two countries shared an official language, and because any linguistic differences amounted to nothing more than small variations of dialect, there was no communication issue for the immigrants. Fortune was not on Tiana’s side. “Haah… Why is my luck so bad?” She still had a decent amount of money that her family gave her. It would last her for a while. But being constantly rejected while trying to get a job using the magic skills she had worked so hard on was starting to wear on her. She bought only the cheapest bread and ate in public parks as she continued her job search. No matter how much she lowered her expectations for the type of job and working conditions, she couldn’t find anyone who would hire her. All she could do was sigh. Just when it seemed her heart was about to give into despair once again, a young man approached her. “Hey, beautiful. Are you free?” he asked. “If you’re hitting on me, I’m not interested,” Tiana said, pointing her staff at him. “Whoa, are you crazy?! I-it’s a crime to attack someone with magic!” “Maybe I am. I recommend you don’t talk to me unless you want to get hurt.” Tiana was aware of that rule, of course. Her threat was an empty one. She was simply irritated because the man’s handsome appearance reminded her of her ex-fiancé. “I’m not hitting on you; I swear. I only wanted to give you this,” the man said, forcing a piece of paper into her hands. It had a drawing of a dragon and the words DRAGON RACING written on it. There was also a list of dragon names and a detailed schedule, but Tiana didn’t understand what it was for. “What’s this?” she asked. “The famed Labyrinth City dragon racing. It’s a race where the fastest dragon wins, as the name implies. It’s very fun to bet on the races,” the man explained. Tiana stared closely at the flier the man gave her. Casinos and gambling dens were illegal in the royal capital, so she had never been to a racetrack. She had seen people open their own joints to bet on matches between knights, but she never gave it a second thought beyond how senseless it appeared. “Oh yeah. I’ll give you a ticket for a free meal at the cafeteria there, so stop by whenever you have time.” Tiana wasn’t the least bit interested, and she just stared at him in silence with an apathetic expression. The man quickly walked away; her cold attitude must have caused him to give up. Despite her initial reaction, Tiana decided on a whim to go check out the dragon racing. She recalled hearing that racetracks often hired mages. There were a number of jobs including cracking down on people who tried to use magic items to interfere with the race, or forming barriers to prevent probing spells. Given that this was city-sanctioned gambling, they would probably do a background check when it came time to hire her. Her family may have banished her, but she was still a noble. She should be more trustworthy than mages who fled here from abroad. “I should go check it out.” True disaster followed. The racing track’s clientele consisted of more than just gambling-crazed men, enabling it to present a fun and safe atmosphere. It was normally only open during daytime hours, which kept out the kind of shady customers that would show up at night. The track was loud, but it didn’t feel dangerous. That caused Tiana to relax and, on a whim, buy a betting ticket for one of the dragon races. After that, she thought she might as well stick around to watch the race. The entire crowd was engrossed in the race and yelling at the top of their lungs. This place is nothing like the royal capital… It’s a little loud for me, Tiana thought with a sigh, overwhelmed by the sight before her. But before she knew it, she was just as absorbed as everyone else. “First place goes to Infinite Blue. Second place was Meteor Arrow. Please collect your earnings at the window,” sounded a crackly, magically enhanced announcement. The entire crowd started booing. The dragon that was favored to win the race had slipped and fallen due to muddy conditions created by a sudden downpour. The other dragons struggled to adapt as well, throwing the race into chaos and causing nearly everyone to lose their bets. “I…won…?” But Tiana, who bought her ticket on a total whim, actually picked the winning dragon. Her ticket gave her a return of ten gold coins for the one silver coin she bet… In other words, her one thousand dina became one hundred thousand dina. “Congratulations!” “Oh, th-thank you.” Don’t say that out loud, Tiana mentally snapped at the racetrack employee. Worried about pickpockets, she put her coins into her wallet and hurriedly left the venue before she drew any attention. From that day on, Tiana became obsessed with dragon racing. Provided there were races that day, she was at the racetrack whenever she wasn’t looking for a job. She no longer had any intention of working there—becoming an employee would rob her of the ability to buy tickets. She eventually gave up on the job search, as it was a waste of time, and spent the days when the track was closed researching dragon racing. She found all the data she could about the dragons, such as which ones ran the fastest in which situations, and began to study it closely. Tiana was both fortunate and unfortunate. Her education was a great help; she had the intelligence and ability to reach conclusions through data gathering and analysis instead of having to rely on superstition and fortune-telling. She won a decent amount as a result. She also never did anything reckless such as borrowing a significant amount of money for a bet that would get her sold off to a brothel if she lost. Tiana was unfortunate in the sense that her gambling luck was only mediocre. Getting a bet wrong no matter how sure it appeared to be was a part of gambling. She never lost badly enough to quit in despair, but she also never won payouts large enough to make her rich. Instead, her gambling slowly chipped away at her savings. When she finally returned to her senses, she realized she was in trouble. “…I can’t pay rent.” The apartment Tiana chose was modest for a noble, but there were cheaper, dodgier locations she could have chosen. She would be kicked out if she couldn’t pay rent, which was due in one week. She would manage if she took out a loan, but she couldn’t trust herself with the money. I have to find an income, no matter the job, she thought. “My only choice left…is to become an adventurer…” Feeling glum, Tiana walked to an Adventurers Guild. Becoming an adventurer would allow her to make money with her ability alone—her academic history and birth would have no bearing. There was one problem, however: Novice adventurers needed to form a party. The female receptionist at the guild told her that beginners were forbidden from venturing into labyrinths alone. “There are others here like you who want to become adventurers, so why not try searching for them?” the receptionist suggested, and Tiana did just that. She noticed that there were a lot of posters on the wall recruiting party members. She was examining one of them when a handsome man approached her. “Hey, are you a mage? Wanna join our party?” he asked. Just then, Tiana’s eyes turned murderous. “…Oh, uh, my bad. I just realized my party is already full. Sorry about that!” “Huh? Wait, I’m also looking for…,” Tiana started, but the man hurried away from her before she could say “party members.” The glare wasn’t his fault, really; it was just that seeing cheerful and handsome men evoked memories of the one who dumped her and ruined her life, which put her visibly on guard. If not for that issue, she would have had no trouble finding members. She might even have been recruited by a mid-ranking party, leaving her no need to form a party with novices. Tiana’s magic skill was the real deal. She may have only studied the art in school, but her chief instructor valued practical experience, so she had training in killing beasts and weaker monsters with magic. Judging by fighting strength alone, she was much more skilled than the rookie adventurers around her. However, the sight of a person of her level warily searching for rookie adventurers only ended up scaring people, and no one approached her. She failed to form a party and had to leave when the guild closed. The adventurers flowed out of the building and down to a neighboring bar. Unable to go against the crowd, Tiana ended up being funneled into the bar along with them. She was hungry, so she decided she may as well take the opportunity to eat. “I’m alone,” she told an employee, and she was shepherded to a table that already had a customer. The counter was apparently full, so she had to share. The customer was a young man with black hair and a nimble-looking physique. Given his leather armor, he was likely a light warrior or a scout. The bar was mainly populated by rookie adventurers, but the wear on his dark-green leather armor indicated he had some experience already. His presence was also strangely intimidating as he sat alone at the table. He looked about the same age as Tiana, but she guessed he had been through countless battles. The sternness in his eyes attested to that. He’s in an awful mood…though I’m hardly one to talk. Before she knew it, two more adventurers had been led to their table. One was a tall clergyman, and unusually enough, the other was a dragonian woman. Tiana figured they all had problems of their own. But she had it worst of all. I can’t do anything to help them. Besides, if anyone needs help, it’s me, she thought, deciding to ignore them. The rookie adventurers at the other tables all looked like they were having the time of their lives. Tiana’s table was the only one in heavy silence. After a long wait, an employee finally brought the food and drinks they ordered to the table with a by-the-book “Please enjoy.” No one responded. Tiana chugged the tepid ale, and the frustration she had kept bottled up inside tumbled from her mouth. ““““I’ll never trust anyone again!””””