Talk to the Boss Directly When Looking for Work

Although they still had to wait for Mayor Marebu's final approval, the preliminary preparations could begin.

Over the next few days, Rhode first had people contact construction experts to inspect the dock and draw up some plans.

After all, Rhode had been a code monkey in his previous life, not a construction grunt, so it was better to leave specialized work to the professionals.

As far as civil engineering went, Rhode only knew that Gazlowe, the goblin from the Steamwheedle Cartel, was an absolute master. But he had no idea where Gazlowe was now, so he could only leave it to others.

After all, plenty of people besides goblins were skilled at construction. The famous Menethil Harbor, for example, had been built jointly by humans and dwarves.

Since work on the dock could not begin yet, Rhode had the murlocs help clear the rubble from the Jade Mine first so the miners could resume production.

As for compensation for lost wages...

Foreman Bondes insisted on accepting only fifty silver to distribute among the miners. The rest could wait.

This was his way of repaying Rhode for proposing the dock expansion.

Blacksmith Vyrintan also finished the small Silver Scale Breastplate ahead of schedule. When he delivered it, he gave Rhode another discount, charging only three gold and fifty silver as another gesture of thanks.

Lilia put on the gleaming Silver Scale Breastplate and was naturally bursting with pride and delight.

Now she looked like a real warrior!

It also made her even more enthusiastic about today's sword practice.

Sheriff Redpath was a very good swordsmanship teacher.

He swung his sword, moving very slowly at first, then faster and faster.

As he swung, he explained the points to watch out for in the sword technique.

Lilia watched closely and listened just as carefully.

After demonstrating the first few moves of the sword technique, Redpath stopped and asked Lilia:

"Did you see those moves clearly?"

"Yes."

"Can you try them once?"

Lilia raised her hand high. "I'll give it a try."

"Go ahead."

And so Lilia began swinging her shortsword.

"Hmm..." After a while, Redpath fell into thought.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm... what is it? Is something wrong again?"

"Nothing's wrong. Have you really never learned this sword technique before?"

"Nope."

Rhode had been studying his spells nearby, but the exchange involuntarily drew his attention.

Redpath had taught almost the entire sword technique, and Lilia seemed to have picked it up in no time.

Redpath stared at her with a strange look.

Although the sword technique he taught was not particularly complicated, she was only a child of seven or eight. How could she learn it so quickly?

At this rate, he would soon have nothing left to teach her.

"Let's take a break and have something to eat," Rhode said cheerfully.

Clearly, Lilia had a real gift for swordsmanship.

Hmm, just like me with spells.

It was a little odd, though: a human farmer learned spells quickly, while a little high elf girl learned swordsmanship quickly.

It felt as though it ought to be the other way around.

After practicing over the past few days, Rhode had learned virtually every little spell in Lilia's elementary school textbook. He even felt as though he had "nothing left to learn."

That was a kind of problem, too. He had no idea where he could learn more powerful spells to make himself stronger.

His use of core spells such as Mage Hand and Fireball had become much smoother and more proficient. He could even feel that his strength seemed to have increased slightly, and his body had become a little more flexible.

The most noticeable change was that he had begun to sense fairly clearly a soothing substance in the air, which his body was slowly absorbing.

This must be the mana surge Lilia mentioned before!

He could even sense the flow of mana radiating from Lilia.

It was a little like how the experts in Dragon Ball could sense one another's ki. This mana surge also allowed him to roughly judge another person's strength.

Clearly, Rhode's magical ability had now far surpassed Lilia's.

This improvement in his magical ability also showed itself in-

His cooking.

Rhode was making lunch now. He called Lilia and Redpath, who had spent half the day practicing swordsmanship, into the house and made apple pie for them.

A little Mage Hand controlled the knife and dishes, swiftly cleaning the apples and slicing them.

Then he casually released a small Fireball from his palm and used its flame to light the oven.

Flour leaped from the bag into a large bowl like a fountain. Once there was roughly enough, clean water flowed from between his fingers into the bowl.

Next, Mage Hand controlled a wooden stick to stir everything together evenly... finally, the large baking tray was lifted through the air and flew into the oven.

A little while later, the fragrant apple pie was ready!

"Rhode, you're amazing!" Lilia banged her knife and fork against the table, shouting excitedly. "I've never seen an elf use spells the way you do!"

"That's called putting what you learn into practice and applying it to new situations." Rhode was rather pleased with himself, too.

An ordinary human like Redpath could hardly be called inexperienced, but even he could only stare, utterly speechless.

Rhode used Mage Hand to lift the baking tray holding the apple pie and gently set it on the table.

"I'm digging in!" Lilia speared a piece with her fork.

"After this, I'll make some meat, too. And vegetables, and green peppers. Children need to eat everything, not be picky." Rhode loved giving Lilia little lessons.

It felt wonderful.

"Okay!" Fortunately, Lilia was very well-behaved.

Then again, she might simply have been eager to eat the delicious food in front of her and agreed first without thinking.

Knock, knock, knock! Someone knocked on the door.

Rhode went over to open it.

To his surprise, it was Mayor Marebu.

"Mayor! Please, come in," Rhode said welcomingly. "Would you like some apple pie?"

It was a little strange. He had not seen the mayor for several days, and the mayor generally did not visit the farm. Had something brought him here today?

Mayor Marebu stepped inside and first nodded to Redpath. "You're here too, Sheriff."

Redpath stood and saluted the mayor before sitting back down. "Just freeloading off Mage Rhode's cooking, haha."

Mayor Marebu laughed as well.

He sat down and got straight to the point. "I heard about the dock expansion. It's a good thing, so of course I won't turn it down."

Rhode nodded. He had trusted the mayor on that score; otherwise, he would not have made arrangements in advance.

The mayor continued, "You brought this about single-handedly, and you've supplied the labor as well. If this harbor is actually completed, I'll put it entirely in your hands."

Rhode was just about to say something when Mayor Marebu waved a hand and added, "But I came today to discuss something else with you."

"Oh? What is it?"

"I just returned from Durnholde Keep," Mayor Marebu said. "I went there to visit my former teacher, Vern Audric. I told him about you, and he was very interested."

"Oh?" Rhode took a bite of apple pie.

"Mages are rare, and gifted mages like you are rarer still."

"And?"

"His Magic Tower happens to be short-handed lately. I wondered whether you would be willing to help him."

"Huh?"

Rhode had not expected him to come with a job offer. This was rather sudden.

But I'm doing pretty well here.

I don't have to worry about food or clothes, I have a little girl for company, and I even have a loyal murloc army. Everyone in town treats me as a hero. It feels like I've reached the pinnacle of life.

Rhode shook his head.

"You don't want to go?" the mayor asked.

Rhode nodded. "You see, I've been here so long, and the people here..."

"He can offer generous compensation," Mayor Marebu interrupted.

"Oh..." Rhode's eyes lit up. "Generous compensation?"

"Yes, generous compensation. As far as I know, an ordinary mage's assistant there can earn close to one gold coin a month," Mayor Marebu added. "And if Mr. Audric thinks highly of you, he might offer even more than that."

What!!!

Was this salary the wealth gap between the city and the countryside?!!

One gold coin a month? I couldn't earn one gold coin in an entire year on the farm!

In the past, he would certainly have accepted without hesitation.

But now, he was no longer strictly a farmer.

Aside from occasionally completing wanted notices for bounty money, once the murloc army built the harbor, there would surely be profits in it for him, too. Not to mention his various joint ventures with the town's merchants.

"I must remind you that Mr. Audric is a High Magic User. You can learn more magic there." Mayor Marebu dropped another bombshell.

That was the real point.

After all, Rhode currently had no way to learn more magic. He had already learned nearly all the spells in Lilia's elementary school textbook.

The mayor suddenly appearing to offer him work at the Magic Tower was a godsend!

A fan in the sweltering heat, coal in the bitter snow, a bed just when he was getting sleepy!

In that case, he really could not refuse.

I'd be an idiot to pass up an opportunity like this!

Right now, I'm only a Novice Magic User. Once the great war starts, I'll still be nothing but cannon fodder!

I have to keep improving if I want any chance of surviving in the future!

There was another benefit, too: he might be able to find Lilia a better swordsmanship teacher.

Although Redpath was a good man, he was ultimately only the sheriff of a small town, and his limits were not high enough.

It felt as though he had barely been teaching her for any time at all, yet Lilia had already learned almost all his skills.

So a trip to Durnholde Keep would actually be a journey of learning that benefited them both.

At that thought, Rhode sprang to his feet, gently patted Lilia's head, and said:

"Lilia, are you ready for an adventure?"