Sir Mage, You Said We Would Only Hold Hands! Chapter 4 - Mad Dog

 

“Hey, newbie. Have you ever seen a strange-looking man at headquarters?”

 

“A strange… looking man?”

 

To think that it was such an ambiguous impression.

 

Moreover, unlike the Deepdale branch here, the employees of the headquarters exceeded several thousand. Right now, in the Service Division alone, there were a total of seven teams at the headquarters.

 

Moreover, that wasn’t what Birkin was curious about right now. What matters to her is why on earth she was assigned to the Item Development Division.

 

“Well, more than that, is this really the Item Development Division?”

 

“Why do you keep asking the same thing? Tsk, this time’s new hire is really stupid.”

 

Item Development Division.

 

In this place where the magic engineers leading the current empire gathered, the word ‘stupid’ was one of the harshest insults. Because it was Birkin, there was no way she wouldn’t have known that

 

She was a smart talent who often came out on top during her time at the Academy, but that was only possible at a meager academy. In this place where so-called geniuses gathered, she couldn’t even bring up her name.

 

Birkin swallowed her saliva and looked around, eventually bending down towards the chief.

 

“Um, I’m sorry, but something seems wrong. I’ll go down to the hall and ask the question.”

 

“What? Is there anything strange about it?”

 

“I will just contact the headquarters and come back. Please wait a moment.”

 

She had to find out what on earth was going on. She has been working in the Service Division for eight years, and they say she’s in the Item Development Division?

 

Birkin returned to the magic moving box she came from before the Item Development Division could catch her. As she approached, the moving box opened its mouth as if waiting for her.

 

It was then.

 

Another magic moving box arrived next to the moving box Birkin came in. Someone has just arrived at the Item Development Division.

 

But Birkin didn’t wait for that person to get off and quickly boarded her own moving box. At the same time, a person got off the moving box next to her.

 

Birkin’s red hair and the man’s gray hair passed by.

 

Whoosh…

 

The magic moving box recognized that Birkin was on board and the door closed. She looked through the gap at the back of the gray-haired man.

 

“Chief Willem, the mad dog is back!”

 

“W-What?! Liam…! Why are you…”

 

The appearance of the man caused an uproar throughout the Item Development Division. That was all Birkin knew. This was because the door of this copper box was closed and she could no longer see the outside scenery.

 

He seemed to be a fairly important person. Seeing the people in the Item Development Division, famous for their arrogance, being so agitated.

 

Of course, none of that mattered to Birkin at the moment. What is important to her now is why she was assigned to the Item Development Division and not the Service Division.

 

Hence, the appearance of that man wasn’t important.

 

…She didn’t think it would be important. Until then.

 

***

 

“Liam…! Why are you here?!”

 

Liam Moore.

 

Is there a person in the Magic Tower who doesn’t know that name?

 

Although one might not know the face because one was stuck in such a remote corner, one couldn’t not know the name.

 

Because Liam Moore was the only archmage in the Empire.

 

“Y-You definitely went to the headquarters, didn’t you…? Huh? I heard you were going to be away for a while?”

 

It’s already been more than two weeks since Liam left for headquarters. His reason was because of a business trip, but at least the people in the Item Development Division knew that wasn’t the reason.

 

That mad dog has run chasing someone again.

 

The people in the Item Development Division were just relieved that it wasn’t them, and they never told Liam to stop and come back.

 

“Are you sure you’ve come back completely…?”

 

“Mmhm.”

 

Liam half-heartedly nodded his head in response to Chief Willem’s painful question. In response to that answer, Chief Willem looked like his world had collapsed.

 

“Why on earth! Already!”

 

“C-Chief, is your blood pressure okay?”

 

As Chief Willem’s face turned bright red, the researchers around him showed concern one by one. This is because Chief Willem’s blood pressure rises to dangerous levels every time he gets involved with Liam.

 

However, Liam, the cause of the blood pressure, muttered without even looking at Chief Willem.

 

“I heard she went here.”

 

“What? Who? Who came here?”

 

“Birkin, Redfield.”

 

A small whisper.

 

Liam muttered that name, which only had a few letters, over and over again. As if he was trying to completely cook it in his mouth.

 

Just by reciting the name, it felt like the sweet mana was tickling his nose. At that moment, a full, empty breath burst out of Liam’s mouth.

 

Her real scent was like soap, but her mana was sweeter than anyone else’s.

 

Mana has no scent. What Liam found sweet was just his fantasy.

 

But it’s strange. Even the scent of Birkin Redfield’s soap felt sweet to Liam.

 

Liam lazily closed his eyes and opened them, then looked intently at Chief Willem standing in front of him. Bewilderment was evident on his face.

 

“Who is Birkin Redfield? Hoho… I have no idea.”

 

What was certain was that Chief Willem had no talent for acting. The moment he heard the name Birkin Redfield, there was one person who passed by like lightning.

 

So, a little while ago, there was a beautiful newcomer with red hair.

 

“Ah, yes! Nice to meet you. Assigned from headquarters, I’m Birkin Redfield…”

 

Apparently, the newcomer introduced himself as Birkin Redfield. Liam Moore wasn’t in the wrong place.

 

It came here by tracking the scent in search of its prey. A hunting dog that never lets go of its prey once bitten couldn’t have made a mistake this time.

 

“Hmm, it seems like that person isn’t here. I-Isn’t that so…?”

 

“O-Of course! We really don’t know….”

 

The people in the Item Development Division quickly noticed Chief Willem’s performance and started following him. First of all, when it comes to anything related to Liam Moore, everyone takes a close look.

 

Liam showed no reaction to people’s awkward acting.

 

Instead, he just looked at the floor with his eyes down. His thick, long eyelashes left a beautiful shadow on Liam’s face.

 

“The smell of soap.”

 

“What? Soap? Did someone go to the bathroom?”

 

Chief Willem looked around in confusion at the word ‘soap’ given to him. He even buried his nose in his arm and sniffed it.

 

However, he hadn’t even showered, so there was no way he could smell soap. Yet, there is no way that this office filled with old antiques and chemical materials would smell like soap…

 

At that moment, Liam laughed.

 

He lowered his eyes and stayed still, but when he closed them and opened them, his golden eyes were suddenly looking at Chief Willem. The corners of Liam’s lips turned up with a smirk.

 

“Why are you lying?”

 

She had been here.

 

It was a moment when Chief Willem’s only two remaining  strains of hair stood up.

 

Everyone was making noises and following each other to fool Liam. However, as soon as the word ‘lie’ came out of Liam’s mouth, the surroundings became extremely quiet like dead mice.

 

At that time, everyone thought the same thing.

 

The mad dog smelled it.

 

As the atmosphere became cold, it was Chief Willem’s responsibility to resolve the situation. He said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

 

“S-She… did come… but it’s really for just a moment. Hm? Just a moment! We don’t even know where she went!”

 

Are all archmages like that? Will everyone have abilities that transcend the human body, like elves or the legendary werewolves?

 

However, it couldn’t be confirmed. Of all the humans Chief Willem knew, Liam was the only archmage.

 

The only archmage responded to Willem’s plea-like words like this:

 

“I will be back.”

 

A refreshing remark.

 

Since everyone was deceiving him with one mind and one intention, Willem tried to turn a blind eye and pretend not to notice even if the mess was immediately made. For some reason, the mad dog passed by so indifferently. For that alone, Willem was grateful that he hadn’t lived in vain.

 

By then everyone had moved out of their seats, clearing the way for Liam to leave. Of course, the direction was towards the magic moving box he came in.

 

It was then. A loud notification rang from the watch Chief Willem was wearing.

 

Chief Willem desperately tried to block out the sound, yet he couldn’t even block out the blue bell floating around his wrist. As he was watching, he glanced at the notification.

 

[Dear Willem. It’s me, Gendal. About the new recruit I decided to send there…] 

 

After all, the content was also related to the current situation. Willem thought for a long time about whether he should tell Liam this or not. It was none other than Liam who made him stop worrying.

 

“Whether it’s an excuse or an alibi, be prepared.”

 

He immediately came to his senses when I was told to prepare an excuse or alibi. The excuses and alibis he mentioned were about the ‘lies’ he told Liam a while ago.

 

After all, there’s no way a mad dog can just let them get away with it.

 

Chief Willem didn’t hesitate any longer. He caught him with a word as he tried to head to the moving box.

 

“L-Look, Liam. Are you going to look for Birkin Redfield?”

 

When he brought up Birkin Redfield’s name, Liam also stopped in his tracks as if he had been waiting. So, this was the price for ‘lying’.

 

In the end, Chief Willem sold information on Birkin Redfield, whom he had seen for the first time today.

 

Society is like that. You had to do anything to survive.

 

— Wise Magic Tower Life TIP! —

The magic moving box moves by consuming the mover’s mana. Therefore, the moving box isn’t available to the public!