Chapter 13: Fill the Mana
“What the hell is this nonsense?”
Barkin furrowed her brow in confusion. He had explicitly told her not to contact him directly—he used a designated inquiry form—and yet here she was with forty-six items, insisting he charge their mana. Barkin agonized over what to say in response to such extravagantly absurd demands.
Forty-six items—that itself was ridiculous.
How long would it even take to charge them one by one? How much mana would it suck up? Barkin absentmindedly rifled through the pile of items covering the table.
Suddenly, the table was so full that one item tumbled off. Barkin quickly reached out to catch it mid-fall.
It was the “Staff of Kalyan,” a magical staff.
Just that single item was worth nearly her monthly salary. The Kalyan Collection was a highly coveted series among low-circle-level mages, incredibly rare and expensive.
Scanning the other items, she saw “Kalyan’s Cloak,” “Kalyan’s Monocle,” and even “Leo’s Mithril Shield,” a knight-only item. Knight gear was notoriously costly.
“I don’t think I can do all of this…”
“Tomorrow, too,” the man responded without hesitation.
“No, even by tomorrow it’s too much.”
“Then come every day.”
Barkin’s stomach tightened. What was he expecting of her? She was baffled.
Forty-six items? Suddenly she felt déjà vu. This had happened before.
Some aristocratic young gentleman—no, calling him a gentleman was too generous—had heard of her reputation and come the next day with dozens of items demanding she charge them all.
Within the tower staff-customer relationship, there was no obligation to obey such orders. Barkin had refused and the man had thrown a fit.
Seeing Liam Moore now reminded her of that arrogant noble. She swallowed hard against the surge of resentment.
“I can’t do it.”
Calmly, with all the items before her, Barkin spoke. If he was trying to bully her, she wouldn’t oblige with a polite smile.
After all, she hadn’t yet earned a bad reputation in Deepdale. Barkin actually felt relieved he was her first difficult customer.
“Why not?”
“It’s just too many. If you need all these items charged at once, you should hire someone privately. I don’t exclusively take requests from Mr. Liam.”
“Then just today.”
Liam immediately handed her one of the items—impatiently—as if waiting for her to accept.
He offered the “Leo’s Mithril Shield.” Barkin sighed inwardly—this was the one she dreaded the most. It had only tier‑5 mana efficiency, but enormous mana capacity, meaning it would take forever.
Still, she couldn’t refuse it.
She placed her hand on the shield. Liam watched her insistently, so she turned her gaze away, and began charging mana quickly, without small talk.
About twenty minutes later:
“It’s done.”
“Already?”
Yes—just now.
Barkin kept her reply brief and stood up, gathering her paperwork. Liam surged to follow her, sensing something amiss—he could see her expression was grim.
“You still have time remaining. Take your time leaving—I’ll go first.”
“I’ll come tomorrow, too.”
“Okay.”
Barkin’s reply was icy. She exited the consultation room. Liam, like an eager puppy, trailed just behind her.
Barkin glanced at him and said, “Aren’t you taking your trunk?”
“What do you mean…”
“Your trunk.”
He finally noticed the open trunk lying beside his seat, contents visible. She didn’t care about the items—so she left without another look.
Liam was left outside, blinking in dismay. Once her footsteps faded, he lashed out in frustration—kicking the trunk. It banged against the wall; items spilled out, some breaking on impact.
“Useless…”
Liam sighed, brushed back his gray hair—his mood unlike the calm man he usually was.
Later back at the office:
“Vice Barkin, you’re back?”
“Yes. Did everyone have a good meal?”
Without another word, she dove into paperwork. To finish it before normal consultation hours started, she had no time to spare.
Her focus silenced Sophia and Daxson—they quietly sat, not wanting to distract her.
After a while, Herrian spoke up:
“Uh… Redfield Vice, general consultation time has begun.”
“Oh! Rut, thanks. Everyone, let’s get started.”
They all moved promptly. Barkin’s body ached from dealing with Liam since the morning followed by paperwork. She stretched and rose from her seat.
Leading the group down to the first floor consultation rooms, she stepped into the near-empty Room 2. The team that worked there yesterday to train newcomers looked unusually sullen today, whispering among themselves.
Noticing the tension, Barkin raised an eyebrow. She told her team to take over and approached the deputy of Room 2, Edward.
“Deputy Edward?”
“Oh, so you really showed up at 4?”
“Yes, 4 PM is the official shift time, Deputy Edward.”
He smirked as if scoffing at her punctuality.
She suppressed the urge to retort. It wouldn’t raise her standing. “Anyway, thank you. Our team 3 will handle it now.”
“Fine, Vice. But a woman this forceful…”
Edward stomped away, followed by his surly team.
After they left, Daxson asked worriedly, “Are you alright? I’m worried Deputy Edward might be upset with you…”
“Daxson…”
“Yes? Four?”
Barkin shrugged as she draped her coat where Edward had hung his. “If I go in there meekly, they’ll just treat me like nothing. No worries—their departure won’t damage us.”
“Oh! No—It’s not about work damage. I just worry he might hate you.”
Barkin smiled at Daxson. He looked so earnestly like a beloved youngest child. “Does everyone have to like me? It’s okay if some people don’t.”
She remembered in the academy, she learned to stay unbothered by disliking peers: “They don’t like me? Fine—they don’t. I don’t care.”
She didn’t want job stress from office politics.
General consultations were even busier than yesterday. Since team 2 had left, her team handled all the cases.
“Customer, this item…”
“Look, I don’t care. Just fix it.”
Watching her team scramble, Barkin sighed and planned to request reinforcements from Chief Add.
Sophia and Daxson were adapting fast. Herrian, however…
“That’s difficult. You’d need to pay extra…”
“Again?! I’m paying again?!”
“You need to complete payment before using the service.”
The customer slammed the table. Other patrons turned to watch Herrian’s station.
Barkin intervened:
“What’s going on?”
“Who are you?”
“I’m the manager here. This is my colleague, she’s new. Sir, what seems to be the problem?”
She offered a professional smile and took over, putting an arm around Herrian and sitting down, gently pushing Herrian to her side.
The customer accused Herrian of denying a claimed year-long warranty.
Barkin calmly checked the item, smiled, and said:
“The mana reservoir seems to be acting up. Could you please wait a moment?”
“See! I told you it’s broken!”
Barkin stood, holding the item, and walked to the partitioned area. Herrian followed, protesting:
“There was nothing wrong with it…”
“Rut.”
“Yes?”
Barkin set the item on a table and commanded Herrian:
“Fully recharge it, then tell the customer it’s been repaired in ten minutes.”
“Huh?”
“Do I have to say it again?”
“No…” Herrian gulped.
Barkin’s insistence was firm. The problem was simply low mana, not a malfunction—everyone knew that. The customer just needed an excuse for free service. If they didn’t help him, he wouldn’t leave; that would be far more disruptive. Barkin wanted to protect Herrian saying “you don’t need to go that far.”
She left to continue managing the consultations. At that moment, her wrist buzzed—an alert from Chief Add.
In her experience, a message from your superior at this hour rarely brings good news. Barkin’s brow tightened.
