Chapter 28 – Promotion

In the morning, I woke up on time and swiftly got dressed and prepared to go to work.

When I was young, I had always wanted to wear the uniform of a Royal Magician.
The porcelain pocket watch that swayed on my chest.

I couldn’t help but smile at my reflection in the mirror. And then I walked quietly to the door so that I wouldn’t wake up my mother.
Then I put on my usual boots and stepped outside.

The morning sky was clear as the sun shone down on the brick roads of the city.
There were rows of flowers of every color.

On the way, I stopped at a bakery, which had now become a daily habit.
The delicious scent made my mouth water. And as I was choosing my breakfast, the baker said,

“Ms. Noelle. You’re early again.”
“Not at all. This would be considered late at my old work place.”

In the first place, I would often not even be able to return home after work.
So I could not consider this to be early.

“I’ll take these.”

I handed the baker my tray of bread that I had selected.
The baker smiled and counted them.

“That’s three cream buns, two jam buns, four mellon breads, and seven croissants…”

I stuffed my mouth with freshly baked bread as I headed to the royal palace.
After greeting the knights who were on guard duty, I passed the beautiful gardens and entered the Royal Magicians Order Headquarters building.

I wonder if I’ll be the first to arrive again? I mused as I opened the door. But the person I saw inside made me freeze with surprise.

The face that appeared from behind the book he was reading had sapphire blue eyes that smiled.

“Morning, Noelle.”
“Uh, um… You know, I seem to have gotten my work hours mixed up.”
“I see. Mixed up. Yes. Though, it seems to happen every day now.”
“I-I, you know… I have trouble learning things that I’m not interested in. Yes.”
“Hmmm. Alright then. So you also forgot how I told you yesterday, that you shouldn’t work outside of your actual work hours?”
“…”

Scary.
Your way of pushing the point is quite scary, Luke.

“I’m sorry. I was going to go with my usual strategy of, ‘doing chores to earn sympathy points and avoid being sacked.’”
“Mmm. At least you’re honest.”

Luke said as he took a sip of the black tea that was on the table.

“It’s good that you are motivated, but you also have to obey instructions from superiors.”
“Well, it is the result of my effort to do my best, so I would be grateful if you could let me off the hook… You know?”
“Denied. If you want to work at this early hour, then you will have to go home early. In fact, that’s what will happen today.”

Damn it. To think that I was now troubled over how white this work environment is…!
Still, I frantically started to clean up and do the chores that I usually did.

“You really don’t have to do that.”

Luke would say. But clearly he didn’t know what he was talking about.

It was me who had been treated as useless in a countryside magic artificer guild. My work was never satisfactory there.
And so in order to keep my position as a Royal Magician, I had to contribute enough so that they could forgive my flaws. I had to become someone that they needed here.

Indeed, helping an empress from a neighboring country had been one accomplishment, but it was too early to let my guard down.

But when I explained this to Luke, he just sighed and muttered, ‘You’re as dense as ever…’

In any case, I went about these chores that newcomers were given in the morning.

“Ms. Noelle, you did all that today as well? But I told you that we could do it.”

The others were quite surprised to arrive and see that everything was finished before the day had even begun.

“Well, it was the least I could do.”
“You really are fast, Ms. Noelle. It’s amazing.”
“No, no, it’s really not.”

Still, I couldn’t help but smile at their words of praise.
They really are good at praising people, my 3rd unit superiors.

‘You’re done already!?’ They even acted with such surprise.

Part of the reason that I worked so hard with the chores was to see their reaction.

“I probably should tell you to take it easy, but when I see how perfectly you finish the job, I’m just so impressed.”

They said with a smile.

“It really helps. Thank you.”

They would thank me, and then buy me lunch to show their appreciation.
So I’ve been receiving plenty in return.

And since I knew what it was like to be in an environment where I wasn’t appreciated no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help but want to work even harder.

Because I wanted to continue to work here with these people.

Though, perhaps I was asking for too much.

But it had to be possible.
I will believe it and do my best!

But as I thought about this excitedly, my superior continued.

“And so it’s quite unfortunate. Seeing as this will probably be the last day you can help us like this.”
“What….? The last day…?”

The words were so horrifying that I felt my body turn cold.

“Is it because…I’ve been fired?”

I must have done something.
Could it be because I was working during hours that I wasn’t supposed to…?

As I shuddered and wondered what to do,

“Of course, it’s not that. Quite the opposite, actually.”

They said with a smile.

“A promotion, Noelle. The captain has summoned you to his office.”

Next Chapter

Expelled From a Black Magic Item Craftsman Guild I Was Picked up as a Royal Magician