By the time Zoltan escorted the Egorovans to the Sorcery Department, the sorcerers had somehow managed to clear up enough space to walk through, tidied the jam-packed desks, ventilated the area, and—most importantly—barricaded the farthest research room. They even used magic to keep the objects in front of the door in place. The reason they didn’t use magic to seal off the entire doorway was because Ist would sense the energy, which could very well pique his interest and prompt him to break the barrier.
As the Egorovans peered around in interest, Qusta stood behind them, appearing visibly relieved. When his eyes met Seiichirou’s, the two of them silently nodded to each other.
“So this is Romany’s Sorcery Department, eh?”
“It’s quite small.”
Although there were more people around these days, the Royal Sorcery Department had been short-staffed prior to Seiichirou’s intervention. Given that he planned to expand the department even further, it probably was a good idea to look into physically expanding the space. Seiichirou added “ask the higher-ups about this” to his mental list of things to do.
“We have a number of smaller rooms, which our sorcerers use for research,” Qusta explained, since Zoltan hardly ever used those.
Even Seiichirou, a frequent visitor, knew nothing about magic or how the rooms were arranged. He decided to step back; this wasn’t where he was needed.
“What is this?” someone asked.
“Oh, that’s the nap room Kondo made for us. Right, Kondo?”
“……Um, yes.”
Seiichirou’s sentiments were wasted when someone called for him straight away.
“The nap room! I’m a big fan,” gushed one of the researchers.
“Yes, because some of us forget to go home when we’re absorbed in work!” said another.
“It’s good for waiting out magic stagnation.”
They were all babbling excitedly.
“Aren’t you from the Accounting Department? Why were you involved in the Sorcery Department’s facilities?” Lars asked the obvious question.
Seiichirou hesitated for a moment but decided to answer honestly. “Well, you see, I often come here, and I would see the sorcerers sleeping on the floor… I figured that sleeping on a proper bed would rejuvenate the body more quickly and lead to greater efficiency.”
This was something Seiichirou had learned through trial and error from his previous world. Sleeping on the floor or at his desk would always leave him aching somewhere. Even worse, the sleep was never good enough to rid him of fatigue. He tried all sorts of strategies, like curling up in the corner of a room, sleeping on the toilet, and laying out two or even three chairs. He had wished for a nap room on many such occasions—but sadly, the company never heeded his requests.
But now the shoe was on the other foot. When he saw the sorcerers on the floor, a wave of nostalgia had come over him. When he installed work desks for the new employees, he took the opportunity to order simple beds as well. The higher-ups gave him permission, of course—although admittedly, the budgeting mostly came down to Seiichirou. When one of the research rooms became a permanent napping area, he felt fulfilled, as if he had finally ticked something off his bucket list.
“And that’s not all! Kondo’s responsible for a bunch of other conveniences, like a regular food stock and a magic tool that automatically cleans the room. It really makes it easy to focus on our jobs!” the sorcerers enthused.
In contrast to the sparkly-eyed sorcerers, Zoltan and Orjef scowled at Seiichirou. This was the correct response.
“You set up a bunch of things to make them work all day?” Orjef muttered.
Seiichirou pretended not to hear him.
He was helping further the research into movement spells by making the Sorcery Department an easier environment to work in. At the same time, he was using them to fulfill his own dreams: an easy source of food and nutrition, a nap room where they could get a proper sleep, a machine—erm, magical tool—that would automatically keep the rooms clean. Yes, it was every workaholic’s ideal.
Of course, this could only make sense to someone with Seiichirou’s particular brand of obsession. Fortunately, the research nuts at the Sorcery Department were kindred spirits in that sense.
One of the research nuts in question heard Orjef’s muttering.
“Not at all,” he insisted, coming to Seiichirou’s defense. “We’re nothing but grateful to Kondo for increasing our budget! We never had much money before.”
The Egorovan sorcerers, who seemed to be a bunch of research fanatics themselves, cocked their heads at that.
“But isn’t he just an accountant? He doesn’t possess the special powers of a sorcerer. Why praise him for doing the obvious?” asked Donato, and the others in his group nodded emphatically as well.
From this, it was all too clear that Egorova valued its technicians and sorcerers highly. It made sense to those coming from a frigid land, where magic was essential for withstanding the cold.
“Yes, but you need money to do research, don’t you? We’ve only made leaps and bounds in our movement spells because we have the funds for it. So you can say we owe all this progress to Kondo!”
“Not at all. You’re the ones who put in the hard work.” Seiichirou tried to quiet the sorcerers. Even he thought that they were laying it on a bit thick, but that didn’t stop the flood of gratitude.
Since the Egorovan mages didn’t look pleased, Seiichirou failed to notice Lars peering at him with a smile.
Meanwhile, something appeared to catch Luciano’s attention.
“Who’s that kid?” He spoke up. “I’ve been wondering for a while.”
He was pointing at Sigma. With his white shirt and long beige shorts, he was the odd one out among all the Royal Sorcery Department uniforms. Sigma’s shoulders jolted at the sudden attention.
Needless to say, Sigma didn’t have a uniform because he wasn’t a member of the department, but he had to at least be presentable to go in and out of the palace. Seiichirou had given him a set of shirts and such. He took it from the public funds, of course, because it was a necessity. This was more than fair in his opinion, since that harebrained prince was using the country’s dime to pay for the Holy Maiden’s dresses and accessories. In the end, Yua asked to return them, putting most of that money back into the kingdom’s coffers.
Sigma sent Seiichirou an imploring look. Although he generally had a good head on his shoulders, he understandably stiffened up around the nobility.
“This boy is a very skilled craftsman,” Seiichirou said. “He has been given special permission to enter the Sorcery Department to assist with the research on magic tools and to further his own education.”
“Oho! A future magic tool expert! He must be quite skilled indeed to have access to the palace at his age!” Georgi clapped his hands.
Next to him, Donato frowned. “But is he not of common birth? Are peasant children allowed inside royal research facilities?”