13

One of the types of people I despise most is the bully who acts brave only against the weak and cowardly against the strong.

That bastard Bator took out his anger at me on Jemina.

He confessed he couldn’t bring himself to go to work and had swapped a day with his older brother Jemini to cover him.

“What, an older brother just stood by and watched this happen?”

I was speechless.

“He… he didn’t know I was hurt. I asked him because I was kind of scared of Bator, so he, he agreed to do it.”

Because they’re in different departments, their routines differ and they only see each other at home occasionally.

“A-and also, Bator doesn’t act like that towards my brother, so…”

‘Then he’s even more of a piece of trash!’

My head ached.

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better if you two switched departments?”

Pinea, who was listening, suggested a plainly reasonable alternative.

“B-but I can’t just dump my work on someone else. I’m not even a good fit for the external relations department.”

‘You’re just going to stand by and do nothing?’

Neither the younger sibling nor the brother showed any will to resolve the situation.

“It doesn’t look like the first time. Violence is a crime; report it.”

Jemina shook his head.

“I’m fine. Bator wasn’t like this before. He was kind and a, a good friend.”

“What?”

I thought I must have misheard.

With a look that said this made no sense to me, Jemina clumsily tried to explain as best he could.

He said he had been very close to the former head of administration. Then that former head was disgracefully fired for taking illicit requests, and Bator had started becoming violent since then.

I had no idea what I was supposed to understand from that.

“So?”

“…huh?”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“So you mean Bator was originally kind…”

I was dumbfounded. Pinea snapped with a cutting remark.

“Who are you calling kind? Would a senior hit a friend in that situation?”

“Ah, I… I…”

Jemina looked bewildered, as if nobody had ever said that to him before. Watching it all, I felt intensely frustrated.

“What kind of person is afraid of their friend?”

If he didn’t realize it himself, the same thing would just keep happening.

‘How on earth did it get to that point…’

I couldn’t understand it at all. I’d never seen anything like this in my working life.

The next day, Jemina came to work as usual. I felt her glances flicking toward me, but she acted as if nothing had happened.

‘I don’t have the right to interfere.’

Thinking about it, I had no reason to get angry. He wasn’t family or a friend of mine; it felt like I was intrusive meddling.

If I stuck my nose in for no reason, I might just get hurt.

‘No matter how you look at it, it’s not normal, but he’ll handle it himself. Just don’t cause trouble for me.’

But if that bastard Bator does another shitty thing to me regardless of Jemina, I won’t let it slide.

“Cornelia, go check if the Sales Goods Department finished inspecting the new products.”

Right, back to work. Following ‘Senior Yul’s’ instruction, I headed to the second floor.

The Sales Goods Department manufactures, inspects, and manages products sold by the merchant guild. They make items directly and also receive supplies from workshops or small guilds.

‘Nicola was in this department, right.’

I heard they’ve been busy with a recent product launch.

“Coco, what brings you here?”

Nicola, who spotted me the moment I entered, rushed over. His drooping eye shape seemed further sagged by fatigue and I felt sorry for him.

“I’m here to check if the new product inspections are complete.”

“I’ll show you around!”

That saved me the trouble of looking. His senior was a man with similarly droopy eyes and a similar look.

“Wait a moment? I’ll bring the product list and inspection sheet. Nicola, show them around while I get those.”

His tone was as warm as Nicola’s. He seemed excited to see a friend after a while and chattered happily.

“Nicola, how’s work?”

“It’s busy but fun. The seniors treat me well. My colleagues are kind!”

Judging by his expression, he wasn’t lying. Was the goodwill he’d shown finally coming back to him?

‘Lucky kid. But I admit it…’

With a warm senior and a junior of similar temperament, the peaceful atmosphere would likely continue. I sighed, thinking of the great seniors at the desks beside mine.

Nicola showed me the department’s products one by one. It was interesting to get a sneak peek at items not yet released.

“Feel free to try them. The items going to stores will be produced separately. What’s on display now are samples.”

“Are all these products sold?”

“No, some are experimental or brought in at outside requests. We do another selection here to decide the final sold items.”

“I see.”

There were cosmetics seniors had given as gifts. I tried a bit when I came in — the pigmentation was good and it didn’t flake much; it felt surprisingly high-grade. I thought I’d buy more if we had an employee discount.

As I browsed, a fountain pen caught my eye. Its sleek shape looked like it would write well. I grabbed paper and tried it: press the button on the nib and red ink comes out; press it again and black ink appears.

“This is pretty nice.”

“Right?”

Nicola beamed proudly and boasted about it.

“It’s a new product going on sale this week. It’s annoying to dip different inks each time, so we developed it with that in mind! It’s enchanted with anti-leak magic, so unlike cheap fountain pens, you worry less about mistakes while writing! Refilling the ink is as simple as injecting it from the back of the pen.”

“Sounds expensive.”

“Yeah. Hehe.”

‘Looks convenient, but the price is out of the question.’

Then Nicola said something to his senior. The senior pulled something from the display drawer and handed it to me.

It was that fountain pen I’d seen earlier.

“It’s got a slight scratch on the side so we can’t sell it, but would you like it? The function is exactly the same.”

“What? Really, I can take it? But you said it’s expensive…”

Nicola’s senior smiled.

“The administration department, which handles more paperwork than us, would find it more useful than we do. We’ll refill the ink for free when you come here. You said you’re a friend who came up to the capital with Nicola? Nice to meet you.”

‘Nicola, how did you get a boss like this…!’

Having witnessed that shower of affection reach me too, I trudged back to the bleak administration department feeling stunned.

No sooner had I handed the documents to senior Yul than I had to rush back out; Bator had sent me on an errand saying he left something at the main store.

‘Worthless bastard. I’ll see how long you can keep working here.’

Cursing inwardly, I arrived at the main store — a three-story building holding almost every product shipped across the empire. It was also the place where you could see the latest items first.

I searched diligently for the item he told me to fetch but couldn’t find it. When I asked a staff member, I was told such an item didn’t exist.

‘That bastard. I’ll kill him.’

It was a petty prank I had no choice but to fall for.

To waste a worker’s precious time on such dog training boiled my blood. If I saw him right then, I’d probably unload a string of curses.

Meanwhile, I felt someone’s gaze fixed on me. When I turned, a tall, well-built handsome man stood beside me. His attire marked him as a noble. His deep gray hair with a purple sheen swept to one side and made him look wolfish.

‘Who walks around acting like he owns the world?’

Contrary to my thoughts, I immediately put on a sales smile.

“Sir, can I help you?”

His gaze lingered on the item in my hand — the fountain pen I’d just been given.

“What’s that?”

Being a noble, he spoke in the familiar tone from the first meeting.

“It’s a newly released fountain pen. You can switch between black and red ink conveniently. It’s enchanted with anti-leak magic, so there’s no worry about leakage! Would you like to try it?”

I led him to the stationery section I had scouted earlier, instinctively pitching a desk mat, a book rest like a desk mat, and a pencil holder that paired well with the new pen.

“Not bad.”

He scribbled with the pen a few more times, then bought all the items I had recommended.

‘This is noble flexing.’

The familiarity born of his status difference was no problem at all.

“Thank you for your purchase, sir.”

The man barely nodded in response.

‘There’s no affection for the company, yet I feel good when someone buys the company goods. I can’t understand it.’

“By the way, you…”

“Yes, do you need anything else?”

The man was about to say something when senior Yul burst through the door and into the store.

“An emergency meeting’s been called. Let’s go.”

‘Emergency meeting?’

I excused myself to the customer, handed things over to another employee, and hurried to the administration meeting room. Unusually, even the administration department’s apprentices were gathered.

Department head Samora’s expression was grave.

“The reason we called this meeting suddenly is the merchant guild head’s orders.”

The murmuring meeting room fell silent.

“The higher-ups are paying very close attention to this new cosmetics release. They’ve ordered every department to make sure it’s a success.”

The employees’ faces hardened instantly.

‘The higher-ups? Make sure it’s a success?’

Some of the words didn’t sink in. Aide Soledad raised a hand.

“…What happens if we don’t succeed?”

The department head wet his lips a few times, looking serious, then spoke slowly.

“It will be hard to avoid responsibility.”

That meant at least a few people could lose their jobs.

‘But they’d cut those in charge, right? They’re not going to fire a low-level newbie like me.’

Honestly, it felt like someone else’s problem.

“But if we succeed, there will be rewards accordingly. A hefty special bonus.”

No. It was my problem.