Into someone else's arms

"Any news from above?" Monica asked her trusted subordinate, Talia.

Talia hesitated for a moment, then said:

"It doesn't have any concrete connection to our Wartime Provision Department yet, but I've heard that quite a few Battle Mage have recently been organized to participate in a small operation."

"The Floating City will not participate in this operation."

Seeing this, Monica became curious and muttered something.

"These monks must be really bored. What time is it now? They still have the mind to participate in such an event."

Talia paused deliberately, letting Monica finish speaking.

Then she continued:

"I heard that this is because the monks wanted to accompany a very important person, which is why it happened at this time..."

Monica interrupted directly and said:

"What big shot? The Alliance's position has just been attacked. Even if the Chief of the Elemental School came, what could he do? Would currying favor with him get you a position?"

"The Legendary of the Alchemy School has arrived, named Oinrich."

"This is a former Chief of the Alchemy School. What's the point of currying favor with him? It's uncertain whether he even has any say in the Alchemy School now; he might have been sidelined by the current Chief."

Monica was quite blunt as she continued.

"Let me tell you, you'd better show respect to this kind of legendary Legendary, but that's all. Unless he's your boss or a manager here, sucking up to an old man like that is completely useless..."

Talia thought the same thing. The Legendary of the Alchemy School couldn't teach her Alchemy, and even the Legendary True Cult member—could they possibly learn it?

So aside from the benefits of a higher position, she saw no advantage in currying favor with this Legendary, unless you were a member of the Alchemy School.

Monica belongs to the Sword Chant School, Talia belongs to the Necromancy School. These two School have absolutely nothing to do with the Alchemy School.

However, this time the situation was clearly different. Talia pursed her lips and then continued:

"Minister, that Legendary didn't come alone; he brought a Second Order Mage with him."

"Then where is that Second Order Mage now?" Monica's expression changed quickly. If it were just Oinrich, then they naturally had no reason to get involved.

However, if it's a Second Order Mage following Legendary, then it's extremely useful; it's almost certainly a disciple of Legendary.

Although there is no systematic proof, in the Alliance's basic understanding, a Legendary disciple can easily become Fourth Order Mage.

After all, Legendary don't usually take on apprentices; if they do, it's usually before they become Legendary.

Those disciples who are accepted after becoming Legendary must be of extremely high caliber.

Moreover, even Second Order Mage Legendary cannot cater to every need; there may be other requirements. This gives mages in important positions an opportunity to curry favor and build networks.

It is precisely because of this demand that a chain of interests can be formed. If we can help this future Fourth Order Mage at this time, we will have made a huge profit.

"Minister, those people have trampled the reception area to pieces; you probably won't be able to get in now."

Monica was disappointed upon hearing this, and in her disappointment, she yelled at Talia.

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I just found out..." Talia said slowly, noticing that Monica was getting angry, so she quickly added.

"That Second Order Mage is actually this year's Gold Alchemy Award winner, ' Lai '."

"It's her..." Monica's eyes widened, not because she was surprised.

It's quite normal for a young mage like ' Lai ', who is capable of winning the Gold Alchemy Award, to be taken as a disciple by Legendary.

Just thinking about Lai reminded her of Lai's less-than-honorable rumors, and of how she shared the same fetishes as her.

Thinking of this, she lowered her head, and her face lost all color.

Although she usually told Talia that since she and the winner of the Gold Alchemy Award had the same hobby, Lai could do it, why couldn't she?

However, when this big shot actually appeared near her life, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. After all, although he was only Second Order Mage, he had already achieved the highest honors and status.

Both the highest academic award of the School and the newly accepted disciple of Legendary — Monica couldn't compare in either regard.

"However, this seems rather coincidental. Fran just happened to ask me for some materials, and it just so happens that this mage Lai, is on Sea Blue Island..."

Monica frowned, some unpleasant thoughts popping into her mind, but she was too worried to form any concrete ideas.

Just then, a voice that Monica found extremely annoying appeared in the Wartime Supply Department's office.

"Monica, it's been a long time."

"You're not welcome here." Monica snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the deputy head of the Logistics Department in front of her. According to the hierarchical relationship, this was Monica's direct superior.

However, because the assessment and management were separate, Monica rarely took on any non-official tasks assigned by her superior, except for those within the rules, which caused many unpleasant incidents.

Monica didn't care, because this wasn't her first boss. She had three bosses already, and apart from the first one, she didn't have a good relationship with any of them.

"Don't say that, Monica. I have some really good news to share. The Battle Mage squads you approved for ' Lai ' now need your confirmation."

"You're really generous, releasing all of this year's quota. I wonder what you're going to do when the war starts?"

Monica was stunned, while Talia was standing to the other side, understood everything and looked at Monica with some concern.

"Confirm?" Monica repeated the word, her hands beginning to tremble.

"What do you mean? It's already been stamped, isn't it? Now we need your signature to confirm it. The process is almost complete."

"This is your chance! You finally have a mage in your department who is acquainted with this ' Lai ' mage."

"So, when streamlining the process, Mage ' Lai ' specifically went through your channels. Although you offered so many Battle Mage squad slots, many department heads were actually envious that you got this opportunity..."

Monica felt her mouth go dry, Talia immediately saw what Monica was thinking, so she quickly handed over the forms that needed to be signed to Monica.

And whispered in Monica's ear:

"Minister, please sign the document first. Letting the process stall like this is bad for everyone..."

"Since things have come to this, you have no choice but to sign it for now, and we'll talk about the rest later."

It took Monica a long time to recover from her daze. When she was signing the papers, she seemed to have lost her soul, and it took her a full three minutes to finish the task.

The boss who came to see Monica also felt that something was wrong, but since Monica had already signed the papers, he didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he didn't get involved any further.

After her boss left, Monica was helped to a chair by Talia. Her eyes were unfocused, and she seemed out of sorts.

"Minister, Fran has already given you ten gold bars. Once you've used up these shares, that's fine. Even if you could sell them, it might take you ten or twenty years to earn that much."

Talia tried to persuade her earnestly, but it had no effect whatsoever, because Monica's focus was not on that at all.

"Fran actually has a connection with... ' Lai '..." Monica said, as if in great pain.

Talia was stunned. She had thought Monica was so sad because she had lost her share, or that Fran was so malicious that Monica was disappointed in her.

She never expected that Monica would still be thinking about these things even now.

She was speechless, not knowing what to say at all, and it took her a long time to sort out Monica's thoughts.

Judging from Monica's attitude towards Fran, Fran was a new member with whom Monica had some connection and who was deeply favored by her. Monica had even planned how to taint Fran's purity in the office.

However, judging from the current situation, it seems that Fran is not so pure.

First of all, ' Lai's' reputation speaks for itself. How could a winner of the Gold Alchemy Award have such a reputation? It's hard not to doubt whether this is true.

Judging from what the boss said earlier, it seems that Fran and this ' Lai ' have known each other for a long time, which is why Fran asked Fran for help.

"I even helped get this done; I was the one who stamped the document, and there was that resistant look in her eyes."

Monica felt her heart breaking; she couldn't believe how pathetic she had looked...

Even before this, Monica actually had a favorable impression of the winner of the Gold Alchemy Award; after all, they shared the honor, and those who know, know.

But now, the dazzling Radiance emanating from ' Lai's' honors has deeply stung Monica's heart, making her feel incredibly inferior.

She was no match for ' Lai ' at all, not only in terms of honor and status, but even in terms of the length of time they had been together. She had no special status in the relationship.

She felt as if she were sinking in water, about to drown, but despite the immense pain, she couldn't die.

Finally, Monica tremblingly picked up the longsword she had left beside her desk—a sword she hadn't held in a long time.

She remembered that she was a mage of the Sword Chant School, and also her instincts as Battle Mage.

"I will kill her!!! I will fight her to the death!!!" This was her final act of defiance as a mage of the Sword Chant School.

Fortunately, she was completely blinded by anger, and fortunately, she hadn't used her fists in years. Just as she was about to run out of the office, her capable subordinate Talia, managed to stop her.

"Minister, don't go! You're a third-tier player, and she's only a second-tier. If you go and challenge her to a duel, aren't you afraid of being laughed at..."

"Besides, we can't afford to offend them, so let's just call it a day!"

The other monks in the office all put down their work and stared intently at the scene before them.

The fight lasted for a full half hour before several mages, unable to bear the sight any longer, used their Mage Hand to stop Monica, preventing a major disaster.