IDWM 02
CHAPTER-02
The new recruits were divided into groups that would stay together throughout the three-month training period.
The people assigned to my group were Yuriana and the future Master of the Magic Tower—the second male lead.
Did the author start dividing us by test scores and then suddenly realize something was wrong? Why is this grouping so half-hearted?
Yuriana, the female lead, had ranked first.
The second male lead had ranked second.
And then there was me.
Dead last.
Our fellow recruits had plenty to say about that.
“Wow, it’s the top-ranked group. Well… except for one person.”
“Pfft. Why did they divide the groups like that?”
Because that’s how the original author wrote it, obviously.
Considering I prepared for the entrance exam while working at the orphanage all day, isn’t coming in last still pretty impressive?
Admittedly, ranking last on the entrance exam could hurt my chances of getting promoted.
But this old, exhausted office worker from a previous life had absolutely no interest in climbing the career ladder.
If I get promoted, I’ll just become middle management and have to take care of everyone beneath me.
And being middle management was absolutely infuriating….
“Haah.”
For a moment, unpleasant memories from my previous life threatened to overwhelm me.
But there was no point wasting energy on useless thoughts.
Anyway, everything was progressing according to the original story.
Yuriana and the second male lead will eventually join the Dark Magic Department.
The departments of the Imperial Palace could broadly be divided into three categories.
The first was the Central Administration, which included departments familiar even to someone from modern South Korea, such as the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education.
The second was the Magic Knight Division, responsible for magical and military security.
And finally, the Department of Dark Magic Retrieval and Prevention.
Also known by its shortened nickname—the Dark Magic Department.
Even in the original novel, it was described as the most brutal department to work for!
Since dark magic was essentially murderous magic, naturally, anyone assigned to deal with it needed exceptional magical ability.
As a result, the department was famous for accepting only a small number of elite personnel.
Only two new recruits would be assigned there this year.
Hehe. Then I’m safe.
Why would they choose me when they had Yuriana and the second male lead?
I’d casually tour the departments during training, find somewhere comfortable, and cling to it like a leech.
Still, I should probably get along reasonably well with everyone during the training period.
As we headed toward our assigned location, Yuriana, who had arrived before me, greeted me with a bright smile.
“Layla! You’re here!”
“Hi, Yuriana.”
Good.
It didn’t look like I’d have any trouble with the female lead.
The problem was the second male lead.
Seamus Finley.
Purple hair, pale skin, and deep, cold black eyes.
He was a handsome man with catlike features and a decadent, languid aura.
He’s currently the son of the Master of the Magic Tower, and later he’ll become the Master himself, right?
The Magic Tower was an independent organization that operated separately from the Imperial Palace.
Yuriana and this guy would eventually develop a rivalry.
But I was less interested in that potential romantic setup than….
Wow. Look at what he’s wearing.
It was like watching a new employee show up in striped slippers after being explicitly told to wear business casual.
He’s even wearing a skull bracelet.
The hidden old-fashioned corporate senior inside me was desperately trying to emerge.
Damn it.
Better bite my tongue before I say something.
Still, we’d be traveling together as a group, so I tried to greet him in a friendly manner.
“Hi, Finley.”
“….”
“Let’s get along from today onward.”
“….”
Only then did he glance sideways at me.
And then—
he simply turned his head away!
Look at this guy. His social skills are completely nonexistent.
Was it because he was the Magic Tower’s ace?
Did he think anyone besides first-ranked Yuriana wasn’t worth speaking to?
Fine. From now on, you’re just Grape-Head to me.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to complain internally.
Within three months, we were required to rotate through every department and gain some practical experience.
And, by coincidence, our assignment for the first week was the Dark Magic Department.
The first thing we encountered upon arriving there was….
“Oh my goodness.”
Yuriana covered her mouth.
Every few seconds, another document appeared out of thin air with a little pop.
The paperwork is literally piling into a mountain!
And Carlisle Lupesque, the original male lead, was staring at the ever-growing mountain.
He was the current heir to the Grand Duchy of Lupesque.
He could have comfortably lived off his powerful family’s wealth and influence, yet instead he had chosen to dedicate himself to eradicating dark magic.
A true example of noblesse oblige.
And, naturally, because he’s a romance-fantasy male lead, his family has some hidden secret and emotional trauma.
Yuriana would heal all that eventually.
Not my problem.
More importantly—
right now, he was staring at the mountain of paperwork growing before his eyes in real time.
And his eyes were filled with sorrow.
Memories of my previous life resurfaced, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
I never realized this while reading the novel…!
Even a romance-fantasy male lead had been reduced to a miserable office worker by this world!
How horrifying!
This was worse than an apocalypse!
“Welcome to the Dark Magic Department, recruits.”
But suffering was suffering, and work was work.
The male lead pulled himself together and greeted us.
“Have you heard what our department does?”
Yuriana nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, Young Duke Lupesque.”
“This isn’t a banquet. There’s no need for titles like that.”
“Ah, b-but….”
Yuriana’s hesitation was understandable.
The Imperial Palace did accept commoners as government officials, but—
That’s a relatively recent development.
Moreover, the Lupesque family was one of the empire’s greatest noble houses, with a history stretching all the way back to its founding.
Naturally, a common-born official would find it difficult not to address him by his noble title.
But the workaholic and practical male lead shook his head.
“You can simply address people here as seniors and juniors. And Lowell.”
“Ah, yes?”
“How much do you know about dark magic?”
“Dark magic refers to magic cast with malicious intent toward another person.”
And by malicious intent, I didn’t mean something as ordinary as:
My incompetent boss keeps making me work overtime. I hate him.
It had to be genuine hatred.
The kind that made someone think:
I will completely destroy this person.
Without hatred that intense, ordinary magic wouldn’t become corrupted into dark magic.
“I’ve heard that the Dark Magic Department prevents the circulation of artifacts capable of activating dark magic and is responsible for eliminating them.”
“You know your material. We’re also slightly understaffed at the moment.”
Slightly?
Another mountain of documents was literally forming behind him as we spoke.
And he called that slightly understaffed?
Perhaps he noticed my expression, because the male lead gave an awkward cough.
So even he was embarrassed.
“Ahem. Let’s begin with some light paperwork. All three of you, come over here.”
Ah.
So they were only slightly understaffed enough to immediately throw trainees into actual work.
What a wonderful working environment.
The male lead prepared a desk where the mountain of paperwork was at least somewhat lower.
Three vintage typewriters sat on top.
Naturally, computers and the internet didn’t exist in this romance-fantasy world.
Instead, documents were written using these typewriters.
Then, if you attached the item you wanted to send to one corner of the document using a magical cord….
“Ohhh.”
The paper and attached item vanished with a pop, almost like sending an email attachment.
“We’ll start with the basics today. Send simple reports to the people listed here.”
The male lead handed each of us a thick stack of documents.
Oh, we’re starting with grunt work.
This was basically the romance-fantasy version of being sent to make photocopies!
Perfect!
But as I examined the documents, I frowned.
Hmm. The content that needs to be sent is slightly different depending on the recipient….
If I wasn’t careful, this could become troublesome later.
At that moment, Yuriana hesitantly raised her hand.
“Um, Lupe… Senior? I’ve never used this kind of typewriter before. Could you explain it one more time?”
“Of course.”
I glanced sideways as the male lead explained it to her.
For the first time since recovering the memories of my previous life, my heart began to race.
Ohhh. This is a very nice scene….
Yuriana’s storyline with Grape-Head was built around rivalry.
Her storyline with the mastermind was the classic “Interesting…” dynamic.
And with the male lead, she would have the traditional mutual-healing romance.
Both Yuriana and Carlisle had lost family members because of dark magic.
It was because dark mages cursed their families, wasn’t it?
“I already know what you’ve been through, Crosswell. So….”
“Yes, Senior?”
“I… want to help you.”
“…Me too. I want to become someone you can rely on, Senior.”
