A New Job – Part 02
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Translator: Kell
“Every single time they enter the kingdom, we have to explain that being a witch here is legal,” Albus went on. “Fanatical followers of the Church cause problems every other day. And the Church is split in two, north and south! The future’s looking grim.”
“We’ll just have to be patient,” the priest said. “The best way is for the Mages to gradually blend in with their surroundings, starting with Wenias. And their leader, the Chief Mage, must serve as a role model for them. For the record, you have once given an awful impression to the Church officials. Please keep in mind that it will take an extraordinary amount of effort to make the Church accept Mages in the future.”
“Argh! I want the mine to collapse once more and ban all witch haters from entering the kingdom!” Albus threw both arms and legs on the bed.
Despite her behavior, she wore a look befitting of an intelligent Mage when she was in front of her subordinates. A child’s growth is nothing to make light of.
“It is going to be somewhat rough for the next hundred years or so,” Zero said, seemingly enjoying the change.
The priest let his shoulders sag. There was a change in him as well. The metal rings that tied the staff to his fingers were gone.
With the drastic change in doctrine to accept witches, there was a major reformation within the Church. For starters, the organization called Dea Ignis was dissolved, and its members, former criminals on death row, were granted pardons commensurate with the work they had done. Some had their death sentences reduced to imprisonment, with the number of days they spent working as Dea Ignis subtracted from their time to be served. Most were acquitted. However, those who were judged to be dangerous if released, like the Gravedigger, were placed under surveillance.
As far as I knew, the only person who had been given a job as a priest after retiring from Dea Ignis was the guy in front of us, Secrecy. He was only falsely accused, in the first place.
“Speaking of demons, have you decided how to deal with the Director?” I asked. “He’s still technically a demon.”
There was a heated discussion as to what to do with the demon-possessed guy. He couldn’t stay in any Church facility since he was a demon. He could not enter Wenias either because of Albus’s powerful warding. Right now he was staying at an inn near the tunnel, accompanied by Barcel.
“We have,” the priest answered. “He’ll be director of the Forbidden Library.”
“What? So no changes?”
“Yes. However, the Forbidden Library will be treated differently from now on. It will be the Church’s—”
“Church and witches,” Albus corrected.
The priest cleared his throat. “It will be a general library that collects books written by the Church and witches. The Director, a bookworm, will manage the vast collection.”
“I’m sure he’ll be overjoyed.”
“Not just overjoyed. He’s itching to get back to the Forbidden Library as soon as possible. He’s already working to increase the collection.”
“What about the librarian?” Zero asked.
The priest looked perplexed. “Librarian?”
“The Mage from the Forbidden Library. The one with the eyes that see the world.”
“Oh, Madia? She will remain in Wenias.”
“Really? Why?”
“She wants to study Sorcery,” Albus replied.
It was Albus who spent the most time with Madia. While we were heading toward Knox Cathedral, Madia was with Albus the whole time.
“She didn’t enter into a contract with the Director on her own will, so she feels conflicted. She says she wants to learn more about Sorcery and use Magic properly. Someone who has the ability to see everywhere is also valuable for the kingdom. If the Director senses anything unusual, she’s the one who can immediately contact him.”
“So the Director’s heading back to the library alone? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“We’re not that stupid,” the priest said. “Captain Gemma’s attendant has been assigned to assist the Director.”
“The underling?! Why?”
“He looked after the Director for a bit. Maybe he grew on him.”
“That demon tried to take his beloved adopted daughter as a mate.”
“So he almost became the Director’s stepfather.”
Bro. Are you serious right now?
“In line with that,” the priest continued, ignoring my bafflement, “several members of the Knights of Magic will be guarding the library, so they will have company.”
The Knights of Magic—an organization formed by combining the Knights Templar and Magic Corps. Witches and the Church were separate entities. As a unified armed force to protect both, the Magic Corps led by Amnil and Gouda, and the Knights Templar led by Commander Eudwright, were combined to form a new army. There was a lengthy discussion as to the new organization’s name. After submitting nearly a hundred names for consideration, it went down to a final vote, in which the Knights of Magic won. Nothing beats simplicity, I suppose.
“Above all, many witches have expressed their desire to reside in the Forbidden Library. They might even surpass its previous population.”
“Why would they want to live there?”
“For the books, of course,” Zero answered.
“I guess it makes sense, since it’s a library.”
“I have told you before. Until now, books written by witches from all over the world have been impossible to read unless you visit their respective lairs.”
Back when I just met Zero, she told me that witches holed up in their lairs would not share information with other witches. That’s why they couldn’t prosper.
“Yeah, I remember. If a solitary witch dies in her lair, all her knowledge is gone. There’s no point in writing a book if their lair can’t be found.”
“Yes. So much knowledge has disappeared. But what if the Director were to find those books and add them to the Forbidden Library’s collection? The Forbidden Library would become an extremely important place for witches to gain unknown knowledge.”
“Riiight.”
It felt like everything was falling into place.
Lily and her parents would be staying with the governor of Ideaverna, so they shouldn’t have to worry about starving in the future.
North of Wenias, witches and the Church shared equal power, which should mean less discrimination. Down south, the Church still had a strong influence, and the negative opinions against witches and Beastfallen would not go away that easily. I just had to hope that in a hundred years, things would work out.
“So,” the priest said. “What are you two going to do? You might get a whole country if you wanted it.”
“A country?” Zero gave her deepest frown. “Why should I govern a country? I do not want that kind of trouble.”
“Same here,” I agreed. “I don’t really want anything.”
“So there’s nothing you need or want to do?”
“No,” Zero and I said at the same time.
Albus bolted upright. “Really?” She sounded serious.
“What is it?” I asked cautiously.
“Really, really? You don’t have any plans? Like you don’t want to do anything?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Yay! Here you go, then!” Albus reached into her pocket, pulled out a rolled-up letter, and gave it to me and Zero.
“What’s this?”
“A job.” She gave a smirk.
“A job, huh?”
“You know there’s a shortage of people everywhere because of this whole mess. But if you two had plans, I thought I’d respect that and keep quiet. Now if you have nothing else to do, I might as well ask you to work. Oh, that’s both a notice and an appointment letter. Just show it to whoever’s in charge and they’ll give you the specifics.”
“You’re like a spider’s web waiting for a bug! Why do you gotta be so quick about work now?”
“Now? I always work quick!”
“I don’t know about that.” I skimmed the document. Ugh, big words. I can’t read them. All I could read was village and restoration.
“Ah, thank goodness. Finding another person suitable for the job would have been a huge pain.”
“I didn’t say yes yet.”
“No, you’ll take it,” the priest interjected. Apparently he knew what the job entailed.
“Let us hear it, then.” I sat up straight, putting on an air of importance.
“The number of refugees entering Wenias had exceeded a hundred thousand. Unfortunately, there is no land to house them, no food to feed them, and no work to put them to. So we decided to create new communities—villages, in other words—in various places to create jobs. Our first objective is to restore the houses and other structures in abandoned villages and make them habitable.”
“In simple terms?”
“There are too many refugees, so we’re rebuilding villages to toss them into.”
Gotta hand it to him. That was much easier to understand.
“So, where are we supposed to build a new village?”
“Anywhere outside of Wenias would be fine. Somewhere south, I suppose. Maybe start with your hometown.”
Zero and I exchanged glances.
Return to that village then restore it for refugees?
“That sounds like a real pain in the ass.” I frowned.
“It won’t be easy.” The priest nodded gravely.
“What do we do, Witch?”
“Hmm, let us see.” Zero pondered it carefully, wearing a sour look. “If there is a tavern there that serves good food, I do not mind going there.” She flashed a grin.
I looked at Albus. “So, what about payment for the work?”
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