Sir Mage, You Said We Would Only Hold Hands! Chapter 12 - Contact Efficiency Level 5

 

“Vice, here are the documents!”

 

“Thank you for your hard work, Sir Docson.”

 

It’s been two days since she arrived at the Deepdale branch and became Team 3 Vice of the Service Division.

 

Birkin admits that she was a fool yesterday when she madly regretted coming down here.

 

Did they say that humans are animals of adaptation?

 

She now knew how comfortable it was to be in an office without a boss paying attention to her. To think that she can go to the bathroom without being noticed or drink coffee alone while working!

 

Still, Birkin recalled her rookie days and worked hard to improve the atmosphere in the Team 3 office. Where they don’t play too much, but aren’t too cautious about their boss’ gaze either, that kind of atmosphere.

 

Birkin once again praised herself for choosing Deepdale. She decided to turn a blind eye to the eventful first day.

 

“Sir Docson, it’s much better than yesterday. Please fill out the general consultation-related documents as is.”

 

“Hah! Really? Thank you!”

 

Docson, who was visibly in a better mood after hearing Birkin’s praise, returned to his original position at a flying pace. Herion, who was sitting next to him, glanced at Docson for a moment.

 

This morning, they completed the paperwork without any problems, and in the afternoon, they did general consulting work like yesterday and then were off work. Birkin realized that the rumor that a good office atmosphere improves work efficiency was true.

 

It was a time when four people were handling their respective tasks in the office, which had become quiet for a while.

 

Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring!

 

The alarm clock placed in the office rang. It was a magic alarm clock, not a regular alarm clock, and there was only one time it went off.

 

“Yes! I have received the call. This is Sophia Violette from Team 3.”

 

Sophia pulled the pin from the alarm clock and put it on her ear, nodding and continuing the conversation. The magic alarm clock placed exclusively in the office was used when it was necessary to contact the office directly instead of the personal contact watch.

 

Sophia’s face was bright at first when she received the call. However, as time passed, she began to noticeably panic.

 

“…Pardon? So suddenly… Wait a minute, I’ll ask the Vice… Yes, that’s right. Team 3 doesn’t have a deputy.”

 

Sophia slowly began to cry. Birkin, who had been concentrating on her own work until then, finally checked on Sophia and spoke.

 

Pass on the call.

 

I-Is that fine?

 

That’s fine. Please tell them I asked you to change it.

 

Sophia, who stopped listening for a moment, conveyed her intention to Birkin by mouthing, then swallowed and opened her mouth again. The way she was telling the story seemed desperate.

 

“Yes, Deputy. I will replace it with Vice Redfield.”

 

Sophia approached Birkin’s seat and handed over the pin with a sullen expression on her face. Birkin took it familiarly and put it in his ear. And she said with a nonchalant face.

 

“I have received the call. This is Team 3 Vice Birkin Redfield.”

 

— Aah! We met yesterday, didn’t we? This is Team 2 Deputy Edward.

 

“Yes, Deputy Edward. Why did you contact me?”

 

— Well, what reason would there be to contact you, Vice?

 

Hearing the man’s condescending voice, Birkin realized that this task wouldn’t be easy. There were people who always mentioned their status. Even though they’re on different teams and rarely meet each other during work.

 

Birkin erased the laughter from her voice.

 

— That, well. I’m talking about the general work in our afternoons.

 

“Yes, starting today, our Team 3 were supposed to go in at 4 PM.”

 

Birkin, who could guess what was being said, pronounced ‘4 PM’ with force.

 

— Right. But then, Team 2 will be in charge of work for three hours… Team 3 has until 6 PM, so isn’t that two hours?

 

She slowly began to get a sense of what he was trying to say. Birkin refrained from answering this question.

 

— But we have a lot of paperwork… I mean. I wonder if it would be possible to extend the working hours of Team 3 a little more. How about coming around 3 PM?

 

“Aah, Deputy Edward. I know what you mean, but since Team 3 is a new team, we have only four people. Team 2 is definitely seven people, right? Among the Service Divisions, the most members.”

 

Birkin suppressed her anger and spoke like a human being. However, the answer that came back was shocking.

 

— Aren’t you a vice?

 

What does me being a vice have to do with having to do more work for your team?

 

…She could barely hold back what she wanted to say. Birkin responded, remembering that her opponent was of a higher rank than her.

 

“Yes, I’m Vice Birkin Redfield.”

 

— Goodness. How stupid of me. What am I going to talk about with a vice, who’s only been here for two days… Anyway, I guess that’s it. Starting today, please participate in general consultation work at 3 PM.

 

Do you want to press me with your position?

 

Birkin keenly realized what direction the other person wanted. So this time, instead of answering meekly, she spoke in a more stern tone.

 

“I apologize, Deputy Edward, but I understand that the distribution of consulting work requires approval from Chief Ad. If you would like to discuss future work hours, please submit a document with Chief Ad’s approval.”

 

— W-What?! Hey, what are you saying now…!

 

“Oh, my. I just received a designated consultation. I’ll just disconnect now. Have a good day.”

 

Have a nice day, by all means.

 

Birkin smiled softly and put the pin back in the alarm clock. Then Sophia clapped from the side. Docson also followed Sophia and started clapping excessively.

 

“…Why are you clapping?”

 

“Crazy. I think I’ll have a crush on you, Vice!”

 

“Awe—some. You’re so cool.”

 

Sophia and Docson raised Birkin by putting their thumbs up. Birkin then answered, “Hmm,” with a dazed look.

 

“What did I… do?”

 

“You solved what would have been a useless task for us!”

 

“That’s because I’m you all’s gunner.”

 

Birkin shrugged her shoulders as if it were a given. In fact, she didn’t understand Sophia and Docson’s reactions at all.

 

The Service Division at the headquarters had a total of seven teams. There wasn’t a hierarchy in the team, but if you were stupid, you could quickly end up in charge of a troublesome task.

 

Even the deputy, whom she had worked with during Team 1, tended to react complacently to the fact that he didn’t want to work, so Birkin as a vice had to coordinate the work with the remaining six teams.

 

Birkin said with a grin.

 

“I’m good at dog fighting.”

 

With Sophia and Docson looking at him with impressed faces, Birkin picked up her outerwear draped over his chair. She glanced down at her watch and saw that the notification was still up.

 

Birkin didn’t deal with Deputy Edward by lying. Because there were actually designation inquiries.

 

“Vice, where are you going?”

 

“Special inquiry. I’ll be back after lunch, everyone, work hard and eat lunch on time!”

 

***

 

For designated inquiries here, unlike the headquarters, a consultation room was set up on the third floor.

 

Birkin checked her clothes while looking at the polished glass window. The dark blue suit she wore today fit just as stylishly as Chief Ad.

 

It’s worth spending a lot of money on.

 

It was the suit she bought when she worked at the headquarters. Since it was a popular style in the capital, it might work differently here, but it suited her well, so she was confident that she would be able to make a good impression regardless of the trend.

 

Birkin stands in front of the designated counseling room. She knocked on the door.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

After entering, Birkin walked inside with a greeting introducing herself. Most customers who make designated inquiries don’t stand up just because someone comes in, so it wasn’t strange that the other person stayed still.

 

That was when she turned towards the direction where she could see the face of the man sitting inside. Birkin paused for a moment.

 

“…Sir Liam Moore?”

 

“Yeah, Birkin.”

 

Well-groomed gray hair, shining gold eyes. It was definitely Liam Moore, to whom she gave away a week’s worth of mana yesterday and then parted ways.

 

Birkin let out a sigh of bewilderment and spoke without even sitting down.

 

“This is… a place where we deal with customers with designated inquiries.”

 

“That’s right, I came as a customer.”

 

“…Sir Liam, aren’t these business hours?”

 

She knew that the Item Development Division’s commute times were arbitrary, but it wasn’t all that bad. It was now 11 AM, and it was time for everyone else to barely come to their senses and work while anxiously waiting for lunch.

 

Liam sat down and looked up at Birkin with a deadpan expression.

 

“Break time.”

 

“…When do you start work?”

 

“I’m doing it. You wanna see it?”

 

Liam rummaged through his pockets and held out his hand, saying it was fine if it was Birkin. Like the Planning Division, the Item Development Division kept all of its work confidential.

 

“It’s not that I’m curious. What brought you here?”

 

Birkin tried to hold back her rising irritation and asked kindly. In any case, he was the party who applied for the designated inquiry.

 

“To replenish mana.”

 

“I’m sure I must have filled you with a week’s worth of mana yesterday?”

 

“Today, not for me”

 

Liam’s conversation style was quite simple and short. Still, if you listen carefully, you will find that he’s the type of person who speaks clearly about his business, so the conversation wasn’t very difficult.

 

Birkin, relieved that he had come to fill up the mana of an item today, sat down.

 

“Then show me the item.”

 

The document she brought included a list of items that Liam probably wrote, but she didn’t bother to check. Since she knows that face anyway, it would be fine to proceed verbally. It was time to quietly wait for Liam.

 

Tap, tap.

 

Liam moved his index finger across the table and tapped it a few times. That was when he was looking at it with his puzzled eyes.

 

“…This.”

 

“Ah, it’s a magic alarm clock. You bought it privately…?”

 

“This too.”

 

“There are two items that you requested…?”

 

“This, this, this.”

 

Birkin, who had been patiently opening her mouth, eventually closed her mouth. Every time Liam’s hand went under the table, all kinds of items in the world popped out.

 

She regretted why she hadn’t noticed the large trunk at Liam’s feet as soon as she entered.

 

“…Forty-six in total.”

 

The small table between Liam and Birkin was full. No, the items were piled up to the point of building a tower. Among them, there were some that Birkin knew, and there were also items that she had never seen before.

 

There weren’t even any cheap items to be seen. Each item was extremely expensive, so not only did it have to be handled with care, but each item consumed a lot of mana. The more expensive the item, the more mana it can store.

 

“Are you going to charge all of this?”

 

“Mmhm.”

 

“All at once?”

 

“Mmhm.”

 

“…Then please just wait a moment. I think it would be more efficient to go to the Service Division and bring in other Magic Tower members as well.”

 

“No.”

 

Liam shook his head and refused. He didn’t need any other Magic Tower members. All he needed was Birkin.

 

“Why on earth.”

 

“You told me not to contact you personally?”

 

— Wise Magic Tower Life TIP! —

Depending on the type of item (in fact, depending on the price), the amount of mana that can be stored and the period during which it can be used vary. If the mana efficiency is level 1, it’s very expensive!