[There are several conditions necessary for a mage's workshop.]
[First, it must be a place thoroughly separated from living quarters.]
[Second, it must be a space devoted solely to magic.]
[Third, arrange objects for magic and fill the interior with ether. This process requires at least one week.]
[Fourth, the last and most important condition. Never install windows through which the interior can be seen. If there are already windows, cover them all completely.]
“Hmm.”
Ian sat in his officetel chair and looked over the grimoire's contents.
“So renting a room wasn't the be-all and end-all.”
The conditions were more demanding than he'd thought. He'd already known it needed to be separated from living space, but all sorts of additional requirements were tacked on as well. It seemed he would be unable to use the workshop for the time being.
More importantly, “objects for magic.”
Ian let out a low hum and took out the alchemy materials and finished products he'd stowed in his bag, placing them on the table.
The cube-shaped materials he'd gathered from the Monkey's Dream were nearly depleted now. He'd managed to obtain a few spectral bodies of ghosts while wandering around the officetel, but the quantity wasn't all that great. If he kept repeating magic and alchemy, they would run out in no time.
Yet buying materials from the Cartel was prohibitively expensive. The money in his account right now was only a little over thirty million won. It was true that buying materials costing several hundred thousand won each indiscriminately would be a burden.
*Won't some cluster of anomalies appear nearby?*
He knew it was best not to run into such things, but he couldn't help hoping for it inwardly.
It seemed his head had already been replaced with that of a mage.
Ian gave a bitter smile and stacked the finished products neatly in the officetel's storage cabinet.
He hung the enchanted coat on a clothes hanger, then arranged the reverse-aiming rounds and sound-eating flames. In addition, just in case, he placed several primate-slaying knives that he'd remade nearby.
*But isn't the name “primate-slaying knife” itself really weird? If you stab a primate with a knife, it dies anyway.*
After such a pointless thought, he closed the grimoire and set it on the table. Sitting on the sofa, he took out his phone and wrote a post on the community.
[Title: Secured a room and converting it into a workshop]
[OP]
I've grabbed an officetel and am converting it into a workshop.
If anyone already has a workshop, please give me some tips.
Not long after posting, comments poured in.
[Comments]
\-TamingMaster: ? You got a room already? Are you a gold spoon?
└SevereMagicAddict: Looks like he solved a lot of requests. He was definitely not a gold spoon.
└OP: Yes sir.
\-DeepSeaDevil: To make the workshop in the most optimal form for you, you first need to create an environment with a nature that suits your magic. For example, if you practice doll magic, it's good to have lots of dolls in the room.
└(Three-line summary lol)
└DeepSeaDevil: Wasn't talking to you.
“Creating an environment matching its nature, huh…”
Ian understood why there had been so many objects related to necromancy in Iseo's workshop.
It seemed that even objects deeply associated with the occult, not necessarily magical items, helped in creating the environment.
However, unlike necromancy which had a clear nature, alchemy didn't really have any occult objects. The Philosopher's Stone was the only possibility, but there was no way to obtain it. Since it was the alchemy of the outer gods, things like brewing equipment, flasks, or beakers probably wouldn't help much either.
“It can't be helped.”
The conclusion after his deliberation was to simply leave it. Since there were no suitable means, it seemed best to leave it as is and create the environment later.
Item production had proceeded smoothly in Iseo's workshop too. There was no need to rush and force the environment creation.
With that thought, Ian checked the clock.
It had just become midnight. Outside the window was dark, and the moon hung at the highest point in the sky.
It was about time to head to the convenience store for work. It felt rather strange, like he was leading a double life.
*I need to quit quickly.*
He couldn't be tied to the convenience store forever. For smooth fund procurement and living, he needed to focus more on the extraordinary rather than the ordinary. Until his life stabilized, that was the right thing to do. It was about time to switch to freelancing.
Ian drew all the curtains in his officetel and went out wearing a padded jacket. Just then, a security ghost walking the hallway spotted him and bowed.
As he headed for the elevator, a ghost that had been waiting pressed the first floor button firmly and vanished. Ian went down to the first floor, caught a taxi, and set off for the convenience store.
He arrived at the convenience store shortly after. Upon entering, he saw the manager on duty. Ian immediately bowed to her.
“It's been a while, Manager.”
“Ah, is that you, Ian?”
The young convenience store manager wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked at him. Perhaps she had been organizing inventory until just now; items were lined up neatly on the display shelves.
“Haven't seen your face in a while. Have you been well?”
“I've been well. But why are you working my previous shift, Manager? Where's the part-timer?”
“They quit. Said they suddenly didn't feel like working.”
She let out a deep sigh and handed Ian the store vest she'd been wearing. Ian took the vest and took off his padded jacket.
“Why?”
“Who knows. Said they were going on a journey of self-discovery and just left. So I'm covering for now.”
“Hmm… then could you perhaps find a new part-timer for my shift too?”
At Ian's question, the manager's body stiffened. She creaked her neck and stared at Ian.
“…Why?”
“I got a job. So I don't think I can keep working part-time.”
It wasn't exactly wrong. Since he had changed jobs from an ordinary person to a mage, it was no different from having successfully gotten employed.
“…I see? Congratulations.”
The manager smiled ambiguously and patted Ian's shoulder. Then she let out a deep sigh.
“But you can keep working until I find a replacement, right? It won't take long.”
“Yes. It's fine at least until this year.”
“Then that's fine. Sigh… I'll have to write a hiring post as soon as I get home. Anyway, congratulations on your new job. I hope everything goes well.”
“Thank you.”
Ian bowed, and after the manager paid for a bottle of soju, she left the convenience store.
The convenience store at dawn was quiet as always. Hazy moonlight was falling outside the window, and late pedestrians wandered under the street lamps. Ian gazed outside quietly for a moment, then began working.
*
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Ian hadn't encountered any anomalies while working at the convenience store for over a week. Not just at the convenience store, but also on the way home or in daily life, he hadn't encountered any mysteries.
Of course, that was the normal state of affairs. If mysteries could be encountered so easily, the world's population would have been halved long ago. A proper society couldn't have been built.
However, Ian was not an ordinary person but a mage. He had a higher chance of getting entangled with mysteries than others, and that had been the case until now… but recently things had been very quiet.
He'd thought Santa might appear on Christmas, but the childlike innocence he'd entertained for the first time in ages was thoroughly betrayed. It seemed Santa skipped mages.
Anyway, with that, Ian's long part-time job was finally coming to an end. On the very day a new hire was found for his shift, he immediately quit and ate with the convenience store manager. It was a sort of farewell dinner.
After the meal, the two parted ways after chatting at a nearby cafe. Ian smoked a cigarette in a nearby smoking area and looked up at the clear sky.
“…Phew.”
With this, being tied down by part-time jobs or other work was over. Since he had worked there for quite a long time, he felt somewhat strange, but he soon shook it off cleanly.
Quitting was something he would have had to do anyway upon finding employment. He simply thought it had come a bit sooner.
Ian put out his cigarette in the ashtray, went outside, and walked down the street.
Two days had already passed since the new year began. He had sent New Year's greetings early to those he was close with, and the workshop construction was also nearing completion. In another day or two, the workshop would be finished.
Then the short break he'd taken after finishing the amusement park request would come to an end too.
It was about time to return to work.
He had already decided which requests to handle. As soon as he got home, Ian opened the Cartel app and checked the request he'd looked at earlier.
[Abandoned Library Investigation]
[No information has been obtained from the Cartel. We have only discovered that ordinary people are strictly prohibited from entry, and that it is a place which permits access only to mages and espers. Therefore, rather than consuming the valuable human resources of Cartel-affiliated mages and espers, we wish to investigate the place using money instead.]
[Objective: Record the library's safety rules and information.]
[Reward: Base 100 million KRW. Additional reward of 10 million per rule or piece of information.]
A request with a reward in the hundred millions. And substantial additional rewards on top of that.
Rather than being proportionally difficult, it was more accurate to say that the labor costs of mages and espers were quite high.
Their disposition, which he had realized through his encounters so far, was geared toward profit and money rather than morality. So no matter how high the difficulty, if ordinary people were also able to enter, the Cartel didn't seem to value the reward that highly. The amusement park was a prime example.
On the other hand, ordinary people couldn't enter the library through official routes at all, and the internal environment was completely unknown.
They had to send in precious personnel like mages or espers to obtain the rules. They had no choice but to set a reward enticing enough for them. Otherwise, no one would want to go.
Honestly, this was a good thing for Ian. If they were going to give more money, it was something to welcome; there was no reason to refuse.
And no matter how he looked at it, it was a much easier request than the amusement park. He thought perhaps he wouldn't get entangled in a place more difficult than that for a while.
Of course, that didn't mean he would let his guard down. Mysteries weren't beings to be taken lightly.
That was also why he planned to accept the request after the workshop was completed. It was far better to move after making items that could ensure maximum safety.
Even if his confidence had grown, he had no intention of rushing in headfirst like a moth to a flame. If he died doing that, it was no different from a natural death.
It was right to make the minimum necessary preparations before doing anything.
That stance wouldn't change going forward.
*
After studying Korean for a week at the Vatican, Cecilia finally set foot on the unfamiliar soil of Asia. Thanks to sleeping deeply during the long flight, her body felt refreshed, but she still needed more time to adapt to the time difference.
“….”
She dragged her suitcase filled with all kinds of firearms, weapons, holy water, knives, and clothes out of the airport. Since it was a specially processed suitcase, there was no mishap of being caught at security.
“…Ugh, it's cold.”
The Korean winter was as cold and biting as its notorious reputation. Cecilia covered half her face with a scarf, checked a note written in Italian, and pouted.
*Find the nearest cathedral from the airport… I suppose anywhere with a cross will do.*
Thinking so, she grasped her cross necklace in her hand and quietly began searching for holy energy.
That was how she found churches, including cathedrals, near the airport.
And the moment she realized how overwhelming the number was, bewilderment settled on her face.
*Why, why are there so many churches and cathedrals…?*
The land of the Republic of Korea, where there were far more churches than convenience stores, had become a labyrinth for her, who had lived her entire life only in the Vatican.
“…Kkying.”
Cecilia wanted to cry.