Four years after Thio entered the Air Defense, Caroline received this letter:

“Dear Caroline,

I am once again doubting the purpose of ranking Mages.

As you know, last year I got promoted to Scholar rank because I helped complete a particularly hairy mission. Skipping the Master rank all together was less loathsome because that time the Prince gave me a medal for my efforts. If royalty says you’ve done well, you can’t really argue, you know?

But this time! THIS TIME! Was I doing anything amazing to get promoted? NO. I was promoted via committee! Without any knowledge it was happening!

I just want to cry.

In what world am I on par with an Archmage? I am not! I am very much not on par with an Archmage!

Well, you might think I’m whining about a good thing. But you’d understand if you met an Archmage. In the entire Empire, we only have twenty Archmages. And there’s a reason for that. They have practically transcended the mortal realm in terms of magical power. I’ve never been around an Archmage that didn’t give me goosebumps.

Does anyone get goosebumps when they stand around me? NO.

Well, of course I asked about why they thought I’d be a good fit for an Archmage. Do you know what they said? “Your spell casting ability is the best in the Air Defense.” While that’s absolutely true, there seems to be a grave misunderstanding going around about my ability to combine spells somehow equaling Archmage power levels. It’s not the same thing!

My dearest Caroline, pray for me. Pray for the country. If I’m called upon to fight the same monsters Archmages typically fight, we’re doomed. DOOMED.

I’m petitioning the Committee to get my rank reduced tomorrow.

Truly,

Thio”

———

“Dear Thio,

Congratulations on getting promoted! Even if you’re complaining, I can’t help being happy people are acknowledging your skills. You’re a great person and a great Mage and knowing other people think so too really warms my heart.

Not to steal your thunder, but I’m finally out of the Skilled Level and into the Expert Level within the Guild. You remember me talking about clearing out that nest of giant spiders in my last letter? I didn’t know, but I guess they were actually spider demons.

I know what you’re thinking. Usually the military is called in for Demon exterminating. If we’d known they were demons, we’d have definitely called you guys in, I swear! But they were mis-classed by the Requester! I guess the Requester didn’t see the spiders, just the nest and had assumed it was giant spiders. And none of the people in my party had ever fought spider demons before, so they didn’t recognize them for what they were.

The Guildmaster was really upset about the whole thing, since Demons are super dangerous. My entire team was yelled at. Apparently we should have had some inkling they weren’t normal giant spiders when they started talking to us and throwing magical curses around. Well, fair enough, but I’m not from this country and my fellow party members are all muscle-heads. We don’t question problems, we beat them into submission. It’s practically the party motto.

I still got my membership level increased despite the lecture. The Guildmaster might have been angry, but a job well done is a job well done! That’s why I like him!

Honestly, you should accept the Archmage promotion, now that I think about it some more. Even if you’re not “Archmage powerful”, you’re still pretty strong. And you’re smart and clever. Whatever you lack in raw power, you can make up for with brain power!

Truly,

Caroline”

———

“Dear Caroline,

I’m speechless. In horror.

What are you thinking fighting a spider demon! No wonder the Guildmaster was angry! There is a very clear difference between a giant spider and a spider demon. The most important difference being the demons have a human torso!

I’m not sure which worries me more: that you charged ahead despite being highly outclassed, or that you’re observation skills are so poor that you didn’t think to question WHY the spider had a human body coming out of it.

It’s a miracle you survived. Did you go to Church and thank God? Because you should. I’m pretty sure there was divine protection involved to keep you alive.

Ah, I’m going to try not to think about this anymore. I’m worried. I’m so very worried. It’s giving me a headache.

Let’s move on.

Congrats on your Guild Level increase. I guess the both of us are “influential people” now, huh? Weren’t we just nobodies four years ago? How the times have changed…

Concerning the Archmage promotion. I still have it.

When I went to hand in my petition the following day, I learned that I’d been moved from the LDF Battalion to the Research Institute. I’m now an Archmage Alchemist.

Why does that matter? Well, Alchemists don’t fight on the front line generally (thank God). They’re Researchers (as indicated by the Institutes name) and focus mostly on creating new spells. This includes combining spells in new ways that increase their effectiveness.

A perfect fit for me, don’t you think so?

I thought Archmages were all about raw power but I guess I was wrong. When I went to the Institute, I discovered there was already an Archmage there. He’s not like the other Archmages I’ve met, who are power houses. He’s normal. Well, normal in mana retention. (He’s strange as a person.)

He told me that of the 20 Archmages, 10 are “Warrior” classes. Since I was in the LDF, a combat Battalion, all I’d ever been exposed to was Warrior Archmages. The other 10 Archmages are split as follows: 2 in the Research Institute, 5 in Flight Defense, and 3 in the Medical Section.

I feel stupid for misunderstanding.

Furthermore, it turns out I should have been put in the Institute when I was promoted to Senior rank. Someone goofed up and I was put into the LDF instead. It wasn’t until last year anyone realized I was in the wrong section, but by then the Battalion was use to having me around and fought the transfer.

I mean, I’m flattered that I was so loved by my superiors. Truly.

But I have to wonder…

Is Air Defense run by monkeys?

Truly,

Thio

PS: Have you ever seen a monkey? We have a zoo here—a place where they gather exotic animals—and there were monkeys. They were loud and disorganized. It reminded me of work.

PPS: I’ve increased the money I’m sending you to reflect my new salary.”

——

Three months after the above letters were exchanged, Thio was told to take a vacation. It was not a request, it was an order. The Research Institute wasn’t like the Battalion, who always urgently needed people for the next mission. Their schedule was structured and far more laid back. Regular weekends off, Holidays off, and even annual family picnics were considered normal.

Thio had no idea what to do with all that extra time, so he pretended like it didn’t exist. His coworkers realized something was amiss when he came to the family picnic. Firstly, he came alone, not even bringing a friend. Second, instead of participating, he volunteered to run the entire event itself (ie, he worked). He was so busy they couldn’t even find time to small talk with him. While the Institute was filled with weirdos, they’d never met anyone so obsessed with work as Thio.

Thus, he was kicked out and told to go have some fun.

The truth was, Thio had never had a vacation. Since he started working at the tender age of 12 years old until now, he’d never taken more than a day off at a time. After all, if he didn’t work, he didn’t eat. So ingrained was that mentality that when suddenly faced with a long string of weeks off (not just days), he started to panic.

His first idea was to clean. He was renting a small house near the edge of the city. It took him two days to deep clean the entire house. Next, he repaired and improved anything he could find. This took him two more days.

On the fifth day, he went to the bank. He hadn’t actually looked at his finances over the last four years. He knew exactly how much he needed to live on, so everything else was extra. And of the extra, he had the bank automatically split it and send it to Caroline.

It shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did, that he was a wealthy man. Not only did his promotions keep pouring more money into his coffers, he was given sizable bonuses for his long work hours with the Battalion. Since keeping ones wealth in hard cash was never wise, he concluded he needed to invest in some way. After some thought, he decided it was time to buy a house.

It took two days for him to find a house and another two days to negotiate the price. He bought a slightly run-down neglected three story house that was in the nicer part of the city. This was done on purpose, as cleaning and repairing a home of that particular size would keep him busy for at least a week.

He was disappointed when it only took him three and a half days.