Chapter 77

For the record, there was a very specific trigger that caused Sanson-sou-senpai to snap.

Apparently, in an area the Blue Mages of her former company had neglected out of laziness, a child nearly drowned. Senpai rescued the child, averting a tragedy.

She couldn’t stay silent after that. She spoke up, telling them they needed to take their jobs more seriously. With lives at stake, she likely expected everyone to listen and figured it was a good moment for them to reflect on their conduct.

Instead, the other employees treated Senpai like a nuisance.

“I’m sorry, but I do not quite understand…”

Cerulia looked perplexed. It is indeed a strange tale—slacking off on the job, almost letting someone die, and then getting angry at the person who pointed it out.

“I thought so too, but there are many people in the world who simply cannot admit when they are wrong,” Senpai said.

After a string of petty harassment piled up, Senpai resigned from the company.

“When I left, they told me this: ‘Don’t think you’ll ever work in Blue Magic in this region again.’”

“What a bunch of small-minded losers,” Mary said, gulping the last of her coconut juice and slamming the glass on the table. She sounded genuinely irritated.

Afterward, Senpai had a hard time finding a new job in the same region. There aren’t many Blue Magic enterprises to begin with, and most of them shared a closed-off atmosphere. She struggled more than she expected.

“Since I had no choice, I went to the Royal Capital to see if there was any work. I thought that in the city there wouldn’t be those annoying local ties. And then—”

“—Let me guess: you met President Kelkel at a tavern?”

Sanson-sou-senpai blinked.

“Eh? How did you know…? Ah, did the President tell you?”

“No, it’s just that there’s no way to end up employed at this company unless you meet the President in a place like that.”

President Kelkel stayed as cheerful as ever.

“Yes, that’s right. I told her that if the Blue Magic industry was so closed-off, why not come over to my Black Magic firm?” the President said matter-of-factly.

I’m sure she sounded just as casual back then, but that offer was outrageous. An ordinary CEO would never make it.

“I turned her down at first. I told her there was no point in hiring a mid-career recruit who couldn’t use Black Magic.”

I think Senpai’s reaction was perfectly natural.

“Since she said that, I gave her this answer: ‘Then learn Black Magic starting now. The company will find a job specifically for you.’”

The President seemed in an excellent mood. I could tell by the way her tail kept wagging.

“The President is a saint. An angelic Cerberus,” Farphistanya-senpai said. It sounded contradictory, but I understood what she meant.

Normally a boss would say, ‘You don’t fit our company, so we can’t hire you.’ Kelkel said, ‘Then the company will find a job that fits you.’ Her thinking is the exact opposite of the norm. And yet, it worked—at least, it looks that way to me.

“I thought it would be nice to have an employee who could use Blue Magic too. I wondered if they might be able to do something very unusual. Of course, I had her learn Black Magic as well.”

“Yes, the President took care of me during the Black Magic Succession Ceremony…”

I almost choked.

That’s that, isn’t it…? The thing where you do the ‘naughty stuff’ with the President to drastically increase the number of Black Magic spells you can use…

“Ah, Sanson-sou-san was so shy back then. My apologies,” the President said lightly, resting a hand on her cheek. This really isn’t a topic that should be handled so airily…

“No, I owe the President my life for picking me up. I could never turn my back on her.”

“Oh? But turning your back was part of the ritual, wasn’t it? I made sure to give your feet a good massage, Sanson-sou-san.”

President, that’s not what the idiom means!

Listening to this was starting to make me embarrassed…

From that point on, Senpai threw herself into mastering Black Magic and racked up achievement after achievement. Part of it was her nature, but she surely felt a strong desire not to let the President down.

The President must have seen that she would flourish even as a mid-career hire.

“After that, our company expanded into new maritime management services that added Black Magic elements to Blue Magic, and it’s been quite successful. After all, there are few Blue Mages who can easily suppress an Island Shark like she just did.”

“Yes, and I’m happy to be doing the kind of work I used to do again.”

So the peace of my local sea is maintained because it’s managed by someone like Sanson-sou-senpai.

“By the way, didn’t the Blue Magic industry try to interfere?”

“If we did it on a massive scale, they probably could have interfered, but the range Sanson-sou-san can handle is limited, so there haven’t been any problems so far. Though we might be hated behind the scenes.”

The President really is amazing. I’m glad I joined this company.

“Now then, we still have time. Since we’re here—”

Sanson-sou-senpai glanced out the window to check the sun’s position, then looked around at us.

“Would you like to go cruising around the uninhabited islands offshore?”

“What!? Is that even possible!?”

Locals say you shouldn’t swim out to the uninhabited islands—the currents are fast and dangerous, the reefs are treacherous, and ships often founder—so even locals avoid them.

“It’s no problem. If you ride on my familiar, it’ll be a breeze.”