ARML Side Story 4-1 🍒

Side Story 4-1

After the Saint returned and the temple became completely stable,

there was no more chance of black magic erupting, and the royal family had lost some of its former influence.

Thanks to that, the world was peaceful.

But even today, the officials of the Magic Knights Division were having the worst time imaginable…

“Rejected.”

“…!”

The rookie who had just joined the palace this year flinched silently.

Their colleagues listening from behind shot them pitying looks but quickly closed their mouths, knowing their turn would come soon.

‘How many times has this been rejected already?!’

The nobles among the new recruits—who had never been scolded even once during their academy days—screamed inwardly.

It was all because of Seamus Finley!

The rookies swallowed their frustration and stole glances.

Why did someone like that have to be stuck in such a humble office?

Why waste a face that’s so striking, yet worn in a way that seems almost tragic?

Why make our lives so miserable?

Still, their annoyance was somewhat muted by that beautiful face.

‘…But he really is infuriatingly handsome.’

Seamus Finley had his slightly long purple hair loosely tied back.

Everything else about him was perfectly in formal uniform, but the skull piercing and bracelet artifacts drew all attention.

Completely different from a typical bureaucrat, he looked just a little like a troublemaker!

And yet, he was the youngest team leader and even a Magic Tower holder.

[He’s seriously amazing!]

It was no wonder the rookies were so enthusiastic.

For the same reason, competition for this year’s ‘Magic Division External Cooperation Team’ was insanely high!

“…I asked you to summarize the annual performance of all magic-related organizations in the empire.”

Every time Seamus opened his mouth, the rookies’ dreams and hopes were shattered.

“Yes! We gathered the data and compiled it—!”

“We’ve funded six organizations in total, but counting the projects under them, how many are there altogether?”

“Uh… that is…”

His dark eyes gleamed sharply.

It was like staring down the Grim Reaper.

“Four hundred ninety-five projects in total, and you expect the summary to be this simple?”

“W-we simplified it because it’s a compilation—”

“One place here still has the project name from last year?”

“…!”

“Didn’t you compare it with last year’s report?”

The repeated use of similar project names revealed clear traces of laziness from the organization.

But the official who submitted the report hadn’t noticed and stammered.

“Ah, I… didn’t think of that—”

“Why not?”

Exactly…?

The rookie clamped their mouth shut. This was purely a failure of mental capacity.

“And the reports that reach me have typos. Did you not think to use spell-check magic?”

Thud.

The chaotic report fell sadly onto the desk.

Seamus looked at the rookie coolly, the pressure so intense it was frightening enough to appear in dreams.

“So, what will you do next?”

“I’ll fix it by this afternoon.”

“By afternoon… you mean from 1 PM to 7 PM?”

“…I’ll finish by 3 PM.”

“Good. Next person.”

And so, without realizing it, Seamus earned a nickname:

“Question Mark Reaper,” Seamus Finley.

After everyone had been thoroughly shaken down,

“Ugh… I’m definitely not leaving early today.”

“Me too… me too.”

Everyone groaned in the break room.

At that moment, officials from the neighboring team shuffled in, looking exhausted.

“Ugh… I feel like I’m dying…”

“You got grilled too?”

The team under Seamus asked weakly.

They didn’t say it aloud, but everyone understood perfectly: “By your superior, Yuriana Crosswell?”

Yuriana Crosswell was the head of the Magic Security Team under the Magic Knights Division.

At first, everyone had been surprised by her breathtaking beauty.

[Wow… is she even human?]

[She’s the same batch as Team Leader Finley.]

[What on earth happened in batch 218?]

She always smiled kindly, even though the Magic Security Team was supposed to be a tough field.

And everyone forgot one thing: never trust first impressions in the workplace.

Yuriana Crosswell was just as intimidating as the Question Mark Reaper.

[It’s okay. Mistakes can happen.]

[I-I’m sorry…]

[It’s fine. But we can’t make the same mistake twice, right? People’s lives are at stake.]

Hearing her speak, it seemed like she was gentle…

She said all the right things…

[Do you want to go through it all with me from the beginning? Should we read the safety manual together?]

[Huh? F-from the beginning?]

[Yes! We’ll figure out what needs improving together!]

The safety manual was over a thousand pages. It could be used as a weapon to give someone a headache.

And astonishingly, Yuriana could recite the entire manual by heart.

[I’ll write the reports for you. Watch and learn how it’s done.]

Having a superior next to you because of their work, unable to leave, was incredibly stressful.

Her kindness felt more like a bee sting than a hug.

Thanks to this, the Magic Knights Division had both the Question Mark Reaper and the gentle Reaper.

And on top of that, the overall workload was already high!

“Ah, if that’s the case, I should have applied for temple work instead.”

A rookie joked in the relaxed moment.

“The temple administrative recruitment was open before the palace recruitment.”

Since the miraculous Saint returned, the temple’s reputation had grown every day.

Above all, it guaranteed leaving on time!

No calls after work unless there’s an emergency!

Stories of the great working environment spread quietly.

“It must be because the higher-ups like it.”

“Exactly!”

Everyone also knew that even the emperor couldn’t resist in front of the Saint.

‘Ultimate power!’

Some secretly thought about leaving to prepare for exams.

Just then, someone who had been silent about the Saint turned pale and spoke.

They were a senior by one batch.

“No. Don’t. Temple work… it could be dangerous.”

“Why?”

“This is what I heard from senior officials.”

The senior swallowed hard.

“The Saint… was the one who first suggested the workshops.”

The room went silent.

…Workshops?

“Ugh, no!”

Some jumped from their chairs and stumbled over them.

“T-the HR…!”

“HR only executed it. The idea came from them.”

“…!”

“And the bomb shots batch 218 drank?”

Everyone flinched at the words bomb shots.

All of them had been forced to drink it during rookie training and various company events.

Delicious at first, but the next-day hangover was a devilish punishment.

Since hangovers aren’t illnesses, they still had to come to work groaning.

“And apparently, it was spread by the Saint herself…”

The officials fell silent again.

How had the God’s messenger created such a devilish drink?

“What on earth happened in batch 218?”

A trembling rookie asked, leaving some words unsaid—but everyone understood.

How had batch 218…

Produced three monsters?

“Haah… let’s get to work.”

Everyone folded their fleeting dreams of quitting and got up.

But in their hearts, they judged the other team:

‘No matter how tough it gets, our team is better than theirs.’

Caught up in work, they forgot that both teams were equally dreaded.

Still, Seamus’ team had one thought:

‘Ah, I just want to know one weakness of our boss!’

Even if it was just a human flaw, it would be some comfort to endure the scolding…

‘Ah, but we’ll probably never know.’

Yet the chance to find out came sooner than expected.

It was the end of the year—start of the season for company parties.