Chapter 75

“Well, everyone has their own life path.”

For some reason, the President smiled meaningfully.

“To be honest, it’s actually really scary when you smile like that, President…”

This person sees much farther—and deeper—than I do. I suppose that’s what it means to have lived for five centuries.

“You might be able to learn a lot from that person as well, Franz-san.”

“So they really are another person with incredible skills.”

It’s something I’ve gradually started to notice since becoming a working adult: for grown-ups, the crucial thing is whether you stack your work and personal skills vertically.

When you’re young, your experience is short, so gaps in skill or career don’t show much. But as an adult, the difference becomes astronomical between someone who spent ten or twenty years stacking skill blocks upward and someone who spent the same time just lining them up side by side.

On top of that, society is tougher on an incompetent adult than on an incompetent youth. Life gets harder for anyone who hasn’t been building vertically.

The people in this company have grown in proportion to the time they’ve had. That’s why I genuinely respect them.

“Hmm. It’s less about skill and more about their approach, I suppose.”

As usual, the President spoke in hints; she wouldn’t tell me everything. Then again, describing an employee’s character to someone who’s never met them would probably invite misunderstandings, so I couldn’t blame her.

A scream-like sound drifted in from the distance.

Out at sea, something massive was approaching.

“Shark! An Island Shark has appeared!” someone shouted.

Yikes… something terrifying had shown up.

“Franz, is an Island Shark that dangerous?”

Mary seemed to know nothing about them. Perhaps they don’t exist in the Demon Realm.

“An Island Shark is a super-giant shark so big you’d mistake it for a small island. It can swallow several humans whole in a single gulp.”

Beachgoers immediately sprinted for the mainland. Locals know exactly how to respond to shark warnings.

“There’s no need to move in such a panic. It’s a fish; it won’t come up onto the sand, right?”

Mary looked relaxed. A few other tourists seemed to think the same. No, that wasn’t right.

“No! An Island Shark moves at incredible speed, so the beach is well within its strike zone! If you don’t flee far inland, you’ll be caught! There have even been cases where they lunged deep onto the shore—minutes away from the water—to bite people! Staying here is like leaving yourself out as bait!”

At those words, Mary and Cerulia finally changed expression.

“In that case, we must do something… regardless of our own safety, there are other guests here…”

With Mary in our group, I felt confident we could hold our own in a fight, but it would be terrible if other beachgoers got eaten. We had to move now before it was too late.

The Island Shark grew larger and larger in my sight. It was a monster, and none of my magic could fell it in a single blow.

Worse, our party lacked the versatility I’d assumed.

“This is troublesome… my Mini-Demon army would probably suffer quite a few casualties…”

“Mary, don’t you have any offensive magic?”

“I do, but everyone in this vicinity would die, so that would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it?”

I see… Mary’s magic lacked precision.

“I can fight, but unless it gets a bit closer to land, the surrounding area might get caught in the collateral damage…”

“As for me, the shark is currently too far away to attack.”

The President and my senior were struggling, too. Right—Black Magic isn’t specialized for direct combat, so we couldn’t handle this while the shark remained distant.

Yet the President was oddly calm.

“Um, President… I want to help the other guests…”

“Of course, it will be fine. One of our employees is handling it.”

“An employee? Is Farphistanya-senpai doing something?”

Senpai shook her head.

“It’s not me. I believe it’s Sanson-sou-senpai.”

“Huh? Where is this other employee?”

“If you’re asking where, then… the sea.”

At that moment, Cerulia shouted, “Master, something is happening to the sea!”

To my amazement, the water surged up like a wall, completely surrounding the Island Shark.

Is that a wave? No—waves don’t gather locally from four different directions like that.

“It’s Blue Magic! And incredibly powerful Blue Magic at that!”

The wall of water drifted across the surface, pushing the shark further out to sea until it vanished from sight. It likely gave up on targeting the beach.

“Oh, we’re saved!” “It’s thanks to the Blue Mage!”

Cheers erupted from the beachgoers.

After a while, someone stood on the ocean’s surface.

She wore a wizard’s jacket over a leotard-like outfit and gave off the unmistakable air of a Blue Mage skilled at the water’s edge; her long hair held a bluish tint.

The Blue Mage bowed politely.

“Everyone, after sending the Island Shark offshore, I used ‘Mental Domination (Strong)’ to make it believe that humans taste extremely bad. It should almost never attack people now. Rest assured, this Sanson-sou is managing the coast!”

She approached the land with a gallant air. Some guests called out, “So cool!”—she had that dashing quality that appealed to others.

But something about her words bothered me.

“Isn’t ‘Mental Domination (Strong)’… Black Magic?”

Sure, it’s possible to use simple spells outside one’s specialty; you might learn the basics at magic school. But ‘Mental Domination (Strong)’ is a technique specific to Black Magic.

The President giggled.

“Franz-san, well, that’s because that person is an employee of Necrogrant Black Magic Co. It’s not strange at all for her to use Black Magic.”