Preparations

When the Magic Association received the Invitation Letter, the Workshop was also bustling with preparations for its opening.

"I never expected a newspaper to advertise for us of its own accord."

Angell chewed on a piece of bread and flipped through the Eastern Border Daily with a rustle. "Well, this is trouble. We're sure to get a lot more customers than we expected."

Mithril couldn't stand seeing him laze around like that. It reached out a forepaw and pressed its paw pad against Angell's cheek.

"Isn't an increase in customers a good thing?"

"Is Mr. Angell worried the shop isn't big enough?" Enlise asked.

After more than a month in business, the shop was already close to full capacity during its usual hours. With the newspaper's publicity, surely even more people would visit the Magic Gear over the next few days.

But Mithril wasn't worried in the slightest.

"The shop isn't big enough? How could that be?" Mithril tapped the table with its two tails. "Where do you think you are? You're at the Magic Gear! The Magic Gear that once welcomed adventurers from across the entire continent! This is only a little opening ceremony. How could we possibly not have enough room for our guests?"

As it spoke, it lifted its head and called out, "You lot!"

"Meow!"

A large group of cats rushed over and gathered around the dining table.

Mithril stretched out a paw and gave them orders. "You, you, you, you, and you! Go clean the first-floor shop and rearrange the tables according to Plan Three!"

"Meow, meow!"

"You three! Go clean the street outside."

"Meow!"

"You lot! Get the parasols and tables from the storeroom and arrange them outside according to Plan Five."

"Meow, meow!"

"And you! Come help me clear the folding balconies up high in the hall!"

"Meow!"

"Also, notify the temporary workers to get ready. Their pay will be as we agreed last time—"

Angell stared in astonishment as Mithril assigned the Cat Waiters their tasks with perfect clarity. "What are Plans Three and Five? And where did these temporary workers come from?!"

"Maybe they discussed them at an employee meeting!" Enlise said.

She sounded especially aggrieved as she brought it up. "Mr. Black Cat's employee meetings are only open to cats. Even Little White from the herbalist shop next door was allowed in, but I wasn't!"

That wasn't an employee meeting. It was a cat gathering, wasn't it?

Were the "temporary workers" just house cats from neighboring shops, or stray cats from outside?

Angell wondered.

In any case, Angell had never been good at personnel management, nor did he like it, so he gladly left that part to Mithril.

After finishing what was actually breakfast, though it was already lunchtime, he yawned and started back to his room—only to be stopped by the newly hired Rune Apprentices.

The one leading them was a child with ash-gray hair.

Angell remembered the child's name was Silverleaf. His rune skills were the best among the apprentices, and he seemed to be the Chief Student of his year as well. But his mana leaned toward chaos and disorder, so he would probably have had greater success studying magic like transformation or enchantment.

"Mr. Angell, is there anything we can do?" Silverleaf asked.

"Didn't Mithril tell you?" Angell said. "You only arrived yesterday. You can rest and get familiar with the place for the next few days. You can start working after the official opening."

But the Rune Apprentices clearly had no interest in resting.

Silverleaf spoke again. "But we didn't bring much luggage, and we can get familiar with the place in a morning. We'd rather start working than rest."

After all, the job had come so suddenly that they couldn't feel at ease without getting started.

Since the new employees were willing to work, Angell naturally had no reason to refuse.

"All right." Angell nodded. "You've seen the five Game Tables in your office, right?"

"Yes?"

"Then go play on them. Come find me when you've reached a hundred thousand points," Angell said.

"But... we want to work..."

"You don't even know what kind of games you'll be making, or what makes them fun. How are you supposed to write the runes? You might not even be able to copy them correctly," Angell said. "I don't want useless people!"

The Rune Apprentices looked at each other, then obediently went off to play.

But they seemed to have forgotten something.

A Horned Boy stood motionless at the edge of the flower bed in the corridor, his vacant gaze pointed in Angell's direction. It seemed as though he was looking at Angell, and yet he wasn't. That empty stare wouldn't have stood out in a crowd, but now that the other boys had left, Angell raised his eyes and met it.

Angell: "..."

Jack: "..."

Angell: "...Aren't you going with them?"

Jack: "... ...No."

Angell: "I see!"

Jack: "... ... ..."

Angell: "... ... ...You..."

"Mr. Angell?"

After a silence so long—twenty-six characters, enough to make anyone wonder if they were padding the word count—and so awkward that Angell's social anxiety was kicking in, he was just about to make up his mind and leave the lost Black Sheep behind when Enlise's voice descended like a blessing from heaven.

Enlise came out of the dining room and stared in confusion at her guardian and the new employee, who were standing motionless and looking at each other.

"What are you doing?" Enlise asked.

"Nothing," Angell said, then asked, "What are you doing?"

Actually, Angell hadn't wanted to ask, nor did he want to know the answer. But his mind was completely blank, and his thoughts and logic were all jumbled up, so he simply echoed Enlise's question back at her.

Enlise, however, was feeling a little dejected.

She didn't notice how flustered Angell was. Looking sadly to the side, she said, "I just went to wash the dishes, but Ms. Tabby said that was her job and wouldn't let me do it."

"Isn't it nice that you don't have to wash dishes?"

"But..." Enlise lowered her head. "Doesn't that mean I have nothing to do?"

That was something Enlise had been worrying about lately.

With the Cat Waiters, the cats took care of greeting customers, cleaning the shop, and washing the dishes. And with the Alchemy Pot making the food, the master chef's copied cooking skills were naturally far better than Enlise's. As a result, her "job" had been taken away from her.

Usually, Enlise had classes, so it didn't bother her as much. But this time, Angell had scheduled the opening for the middle of the June Festival, which lasted a whole week. Now that she was on holiday, everyone—including Angell—was busy, and she was the only one with nothing to do.

"I feel like I'm letting Mr. Angell down." Enlise's eyes reddened.

Could you please not reflect on yourself in a tone that made it sound as if I'd died?

Angell's mouth twitched. "You didn't need to work in the first place. For now, you just need to focus on your studies."

"I am studying hard!" Enlise said, looking as if she wished she could show Angell her Report Card. "I still came first in every subject in the latest exams, and my magic score improved a lot too... So, so it won't affect my grades!"

Angell couldn't bear to see a little girl looking so wronged, so he had to soothe her. "All right. How about we look around the Workshop and see if there's anything that needs doing?"

"..." Enlise silently nodded.

Angell led Enlise away, but as soon as he started moving, he noticed a gaze moving with him.

That was right. The Black Goat was still here!

Angell asked Jack, "Do you want to come along?"

Jack silently walked over to Angell's side.

So that meant he wanted to come, right?

Angell helplessly took a little girl and a black sheep by the hand and headed toward the Workshop's storefront.

*

Next, Angell was mercilessly driven away.

When he entered the shop's main hall and was about to check whether the Game Tables had enough Magic Cores, a Maine Coon called out, "Boss! I'll replace the Magic Cores all at once, meow! Please don't get in the way of the inventory check."

When he went to the shop entrance to help clean, a golden shaded cat called out, "Mr. Angell, please don't stand there. I can't sprinkle the water!"

When he went to the storeroom to help move things, a Big Orange Cat called out, "Please don't touch those. We just finished counting them, meow!"

When he went to the window, before he could even do anything, Calico hurriedly grabbed the curtain in its mouth and wrapped itself up in it. "Don't stand here, meow! The boss will catch me napping!"

...Hmm?

Had someone snuck something in there?

Angell didn't have time to figure it out before Mithril, gone all dark and intimidating, grabbed him by the collar and tossed him into the back courtyard.

"Don't come in here and make trouble!"

*

"So I'm just in the way, then." Angell grew depressed too.

Enlise patted Angell's arm in a comforting gesture. "I don't think Mr. Black Cat meant it like that. He probably thinks Mr. Angell works too hard and needs to get some proper rest."

That Argumentative Cat would be thinking that? As if.

Angell thought.

He'd made up his mind!

He was going to sneak off with the Argumentative Cat and buy dried fish! He was going to spend money!

Angell said to Enlise, "Let's ignore that bunch of stupid cats. We might as well go out and buy some snacks while things are still quiet—or not? Where's the other one?" Angell suddenly realized someone was missing.

Luckily, Enlise was more observant. "Are you talking about Mr. Black Sheep? He's over there."

You call him Black Sheep too?

Angell followed the direction Enlise pointed and saw Jack standing in the corridor leading to the Workshop's production area, staring blankly at a Game Table.

"Huh? Why is there a Game Table over there?" Enlise asked, puzzled.

"It was probably delivered by the Prop Shop a couple of days ago. I used it to fine-tune the employee interview questions, then forgot to move it," Angell recalled. "Oh, right. I remember the Core inside it is 'that one'..."

Angell paused, then looked at Enlise. "Enlise, didn't you say your magic scores had improved?"

"Yes. I got ninety-six this time!" Enlise hurriedly reported.

She felt a little guilty.

It was true that she had scored ninety-six and come first in her year, but her classmates' magic scores had improved significantly too. Her good friend Liti had scored a full ninety-five, just one point away from taking first place from her.

Angell didn't really care about Enlise's rank. He just looked at the Game Table and asked, "Do you want to check whether you've improved?"

"Huh?"

Angell took Enlise over to the Game Table and gestured for her to channel her mana into it.

As Enlise did, the outline of a woman appeared.

"Master, have you summoned me?"

"Ah, it's Miss Cecilia, just like the first time!" Enlise cried out in delight.

She still remembered the first time she'd used the Game Table. She remembered her excitement and curiosity, and the disappointment that came with failing. She even remembered the "spell" that had caused her failure.

"Left, left, right, up, right, right... That's it, isn't it?!"

The girl in white raised her Magic Wand high. A blood-red crescent moon appeared above her head, then slammed down toward her opponent, scattering a swath of dark red shadows.

"I did it!" Enlise happily looked at Angell.

"That's not how you play this game," Angell said. He moved to the other side of the Game Table and pressed the buttons too.

A mighty Magic Wolf appeared.

"Okay, try attacking me," Angell said to Enlise.

"Huh? Huh!" Enlise stared at Angell, flustered.

In her mind, attacking her own guardian was obviously out of the question.

"If you don't come over, I'll come to you," Angell said.

He pressed the forward button without hesitation. The White Wolf he controlled let out a howl and charged fiercely at the frail girl controlled by Enlise.

"Eek!" Enlise didn't react in time, so the girl stood motionless as she watched the White Wolf.

Just as the girl was about to die beneath the wolf's claws, the White Wolf sprinted right past her and, with unstoppable momentum, crashed into the Air Wall beside her. It collapsed onto the ground with tears in its eyes.

"Strange. Why did it veer off?"

Angell tapped the buttons, trying to get the White Wolf moving again.

But since he had set it up to have a "staggering state when injured," the White Wolf couldn't move for a moment.

Enlise, on the other hand, felt sorry for it and cautiously guided her character closer. "Is it okay?"

Miss Cecilia gently reached a hand toward the White Wolf, but a blood-red glow shone around it—

"Awooo!"

The White Wolf howled. Its health dropped by a third in an instant, and a large patch of fur on its back was scorched away by the bloody light.

"How could that happen?!" Enlise was startled. She made the girl back up several steps. "I-I didn't mean to hurt Mr. White Wolf."

"No, that's how the controls work. This game is about fighting each other, so you can't hold back." After pressing the keyboard several times, Angell grew impatient and simply hit the button for the hidden Ultimate Skill. "Never underestimate your opponent!"

The White Wolf sprang up and leaped into the air. It spun three hundred and sixty degrees, then brought its forepaw down heroically toward Miss Cecilia—

Then, in a Tiger Landing Stance, it landed right in front of Miss Cecilia's toes.

"Oh?" Enlise stared blankly at the White Wolf lying in front of her and reached out again... But then she remembered the damage she'd just done and switched to her Magic Wand, trying to touch the White Wolf. "Are you all right, Mr. White Wolf... Ah!"

"Woof!"

The Magic Wand came down hard on the White Wolf's head, leaving only a sliver of health on its bar.

"Enlise!" Angell shouted.

"I'm sorry!" Enlise cried.

Her hand instinctively pressed the button again, and the Magic Wand wreathed in blood-red light came down hard a second time—

"Smack!"

The White Wolf flipped over and nimbly dodged the blow. Then it reached out a paw and slapped Miss Cecilia three or four steps away, knocking off a small bar of health.

"Huh? What happened?" Enlise stared blankly at Angell.

Angell was turning his head in surprise too. The Horned Boy, who had been so silent he seemed not to exist, stood beside him with a hand over Angell's on the keyboard.

Only then did Angell realize what had happened.

"Nicely done!" Angell said with a smile to Jack.

"..." Jack still looked completely vacant. If his hand weren't still covering Angell's, you might have wondered whether he'd really been the one to pull off the White Wolf's nimble, impressive move.

Enlise looked at Angell's rare smile and pressed her lips together little by little.

...How unfair!

"I can do it too!" Enlise said.

She made Miss Cecilia execute a dazzling dive, then swung the Magic Wand at the White Wolf again—

Jack reacted in an instant and pressed down hard on the hand Angell had on the controls.

*

By the time Silverleaf found them, the girl and the White Wolf on the Game Table were locked in a ferocious battle. Nearly every club blow drew blood, and every claw found flesh.

Angell had long since withdrawn from the brutal scene—or rather, with his combat skills, he could no longer keep up.

He was muttering, "That's strange. Didn't I design two magic-based characters?"

"Mr. Angell?" Silverleaf called.

"Is something the matter?"

I'm here to retrieve that animal.

Of course, Silverleaf couldn't say that outright. He smiled politely instead. "I noticed Jack was missing, so I was looking for him. Then I saw... What are you doing?"

Angell certainly wasn't about to reveal his "dream matchup" controls.

He answered vaguely, "We're testing out how the new game works!"

Silverleaf looked at the White Wolf, controlled by Jack, as it lunged to bite the girl. Though he thought this was different from the Rune he'd seen before, he asked hesitantly, "The new game... Is this the full version of the Rune Game we tried during the interview?"

"Ah, yes."

"As expected of you, Mr. Angell!" So the White Wolf really was such a fierce creature?

Angell felt that Silverleaf's praise was a little off. "Want to give it a try?"

"I think I'll start with a simpler game," Silverleaf said. "But why not put this game in the shop? It seems more entertaining to watch than the other games there."

Because there wasn't enough Mana...

Angell had been about to say that, but then he looked at Enlise, who was now fighting Jack smoothly.

"That's a good idea," Angell said.