Becoming a Mage of the Special Unit in Another World

Chapter 1 – Mondays Are Shit

“You’re a genius.”

An old man said to a child.

As the child beamed, the old man went on to declare.

“…As far as common knowledge goes.”

Soon, a finger was pointed at him.

The child swallowed hard and shivered, both at the look on his face and the finger.

“Now, what do you mean, common knowledge, Master? I know the mot out of anyone, and I can make the best spells.”

Hearing his pupil’s desperate words, the Master looked sympathetic and pointed a raised finger toward the child’s chest.

“It’s… not here.”

“What?”

“Mana.”

“Oh, no, I do have mana, my mana circle is full of mana, look at this.”

I motioned to the Mana Circle, a vessel that could hold many things.

He opened her hand, and a butterfly of flame flew out.

Hwaak.

The Master spoke sternly, breaking the child’s magic with his hand.

“Lineal.”

The Master raised his hand to the top of Lineal’s head.

“Listen.”

Lineal’s eyes shifted uneasily.

“You must not use magic for the rest of your life.”

“…Why? Everyone uses magic, why can’t I? They say you’re a fool if you can’t use magic, so iI am a fool?”

Tears welled up deep and wide in Lineal’s round, large eyes.

“I can use magic, Master, and you know it…”

Lineal said desperately, clutching the hem of his robe.

“I am afraid, Lineal, the mana has turned against you. Your Mana Circle will not grow.”

The Master squeezed Lineal’s hand.

“And so… all that knowledge you possess is nothing but trivial.”

The look in his eyes was a mixture of pity and sympathy, and Lineal turned away and slammed the door.

It couldn’t be.

The child became a boy.

The boy became a man.

The man became an old man, and Lineal realized what his teacher had said.

The Mana Circle should have grown, but he hadn’t grown at all.

It was as if he didn’t know how to grow, and the mana he’d created as a child had stagnated.

This strange situation, which some would call a disease and others a curse, drove Lineal to misery.

But Lineal hadn’t abandoned the mantra that had been taught to him, starting with his childhood teacher.

Lineal’s hands shook as he drew out the intricate formula.

“…I’ve got it.”

It had taken him a lifetime to create, a magic formula that utilized what others would call trivial.

The only magic I could use with this mana as small as my fist.

It was the magic that would grow this damned circle that hadn’t grown in a lifetime.

“I’ve done it!”

The old Lineal’s eyes widened, and he cried out so loudly that the world seemed to leave him.

He looked like he was going to die at any moment.

“Finally!”

Everyone pointed fingers and criticized him, asking why he was doing something so useless.

“Finally!”

Later, even his family turned their backs on him.

But he had to do it.

No, this was it.

Someone called it a curse, this fact that the Mana Circle won’t. A curse is imprinted on the soul, and the soul is carried over to the next life.

So if he couldn’t break this curse in this life, he would inevitably suffer in the next.

He had no choice but to do something so that his next birth would not be as painful as this one.

“In my next life…”

Lineal made a small wish that he couldn’t fulfill in this life.

“Please, in my next life…”

Hot tears rolled down his cheeks.

Just like everyone else.

May the mana circle grow so that he can use magic just like everyone else.

Lineal cried out like a child and used the magic he had spent his life practicing.

A light as bright as sunshine enveloped Lineal.

Lineal closed his eyes silently as he felt the path grow, the path he had hoped for.

Not knowing where this magic would end.

* * * *

Ting-ting.

The sound of his cell phone ringing made him open his eyes.

He stretched out his hand and groped for the table.

Grabbing the phone as it rattled to itself, he opened his eyes and looked at the screen.

Six in the morning.

Monday.

‘Let’s not do this. Be human.’

Monday.

No matter how many times he saw it, the shitty day of the week remained true, he told himself.

‘…Damn.’

Today was another day at work.

He washed his face dry and thought to himself.

‘Damn this world, damn it all.’

Quietly, he wrapped the blanket around himself again and curled up.

His body sagged slightly, and soon he shuddered at the sound of the ringing.

Ting-ting.

He opened his eyes again, quietly, as the sound of his cell phone changed.

A female voice said.

“…Yes.”

Sunal suddenly felt nervous at the words of his team leader, Edina Ross.

“…I don’t remember what happened, Team Leader.”

“…Wait a minute.”

Sunal blinked his eyes slowly, like a turtle, and looked at his phone, his movements slow.

Twenty-one days.

‘What? Another day…’

Sunal jumped out of his seat.

‘Yeah. One of those stupid complaints came in, didn’t it?’

He flipped his hair back and couldn’t stop his brow from furrowing.

It was Friday, and he didn’t know what time it was, but a complainant had come in.

Sunal closed his eyes and thought to himself.

Who’s crying?

Who the hell is crying?

He was used to hearing the angry centaur’s words.

Most of the complainants were always angry.

But the centaur’s kicks were very dangerous.

She’s crying near the apartment, and her hair is moving like a snake, and she looks like Medusa, and she’s crying! What? She’s angry! She’s screaming! It’s so loud!

We should call the police.

Sunal was thinking that at the time, but then the centaur spoke up.

I called the police! I called the police, and they said they couldn’t do anything. They measured the noise, and they couldn’t arrest because it didn’t meet the threshold! I’m freaking out, I swear, I haven’t slept in days!

He’d just finished reading a book that outlined the characteristics of the centaur race.

How did he get so lucky?

Of course, there was plenty of information on other races besides centaurs.

It was a mix of papers and resources he’d found, the standard dictionary of “what is a race,” and his own experiences and observations.

It could be subjective, it could be his own thoughts mixed in with the existing material, or it could be parts of existing books.

Anyway, he didn’t realize how many asterisks there were in that material.

Education, corrections… Anyway, the police are supposed to collect taxes.

I thought taxes should be celebrated.

It’s the best thing to have money to play with.

Anyway, they told me to go this way… The special division for counseling and resolving complaints. Yeah, this is it. What did they say, that they solve conflicts and problems between different races?

‘…Damn.’

Sunal scrunched up his face at the grievance that was slowly coming to mind.

“But why?”

The question was soon answered.

But at the same time, it was resolved.

“…It’s not true, is it? Please tell me it’s not true. The police can’t be this diligent.”

“Why?”

Sunal complained with a pout. Damn cops, all work and no sleep.

“Damn it!”

.

“Uh, no. Isn’t it cloudy enough to say ‘damn’?”

Sunal looked outside.

It was cloudy. Like it was going to rain any minute.

He was already in a bad mood because he had a shitty dream.

Lineal.

Didn’t the Master mention that name in the dream?

Lineal Frau.

That was his name before he was reincarnated.

The corners of Sunal’s mouth twitched for a moment.

The magic he’d spent his life praying for had worked. 

“Ah. You do it, and take my luck.”

“…Yes?”

Sunal paused with his hand on the door handle.

He frowned.

Edina’s smirk was visible.

“No. Special allowance and all that…”

Ding.

Ding.

Sunal ran a hand through his long hair as the broken sound spread across his phone.

“I don’t want to work, special allowance or not.”

Sunal stuck his forehead against the door and stepped out.

He mimed snapping his fingers twice as the television turned on, and the coffee maker moved.

As he flopped down on the couch, listening to the alarm on his phone, the sun appeared in the cloudy sky.

“…Ms. Someone was arrested for using magic on the side of a road with a lot of traffic. She didn’t even have a wizard’s ID card issued by the Mage Association, but she wanted to show people the magic of fluttering petals to give them a sense of spring even in the fall.”

“…Shit.”

Sunal revealed a cold smile at the news.

‘She’s going to jail for that. When is the real Wizard’s Association going to break up?’

It’s a felony and illegal in this reborn world to use magic without a wizard’s license issued by the Wizards’ Association.

There were only two situations where magic was allowed in this country.

One was for wizards who belonged to the Wizards’ Association.

The other was government officials.

Sunal stretched out his hand, and the cup of coffee flew up and landed in his grasp.

‘I was reincarnated to be a wizard.’

The Wizards’ Association rejected him because his magic was different, so what could he do?

No choice but to become a civil servant.

‘At the time, I thought that if I became a high-ranking official, I could clean up all the corruption in the Wizarding Society, or at least sweep it under the rug with gratitude.’

He’d been reincarnated with memories of my previous life, and he thought it would be a small thing to punish the Wizards’ Association for acting like an old man on the back foot, let alone a kingdom or a country.

‘But the reality is, I have to go to work.’

“…Ha.”

Sunal took a sip of his coffee and then blew out a breath.

‘If only the world had ended.’

He checked his texts from Edina and closed his eyes for a moment, turning on his favorite music.

I hate Mondays. I hate Tuesdays. I hate Wednesdays. I hate going to work. ♬

* * * *

Special Division for Resolving Interethnic Complaints.

Department 1.

Sunal.

Sunal’s official ID card rattled around his neck as he stepped out of the taxi.

His platinum hair glistened in the sunlight as if in defiance of the world.

He looked up at the sky and sighed, like he was about to do the last thing he wanted to do in the world.

He rummaged in my crossbody bag from home and put on his sunglasses.

‣Medusa – Eye contact results in paralysis or, in very rare cases, turning to stone.

Recalling the memorized document, he tipped up his magical sunglasses to ward off the power of Medusa’s race.

‣Grievance to be resolved – Appease Medusa.

With the complaint in his head, Sunal walked to the apartment complex.

The atmosphere was tense, and the police had arrived first.

‘Fast, fast.’

Sunal said with a capitalist-colored smile, pushing his way through the crowd to the officers controlling them.

“Excuse me, I’m Sunal, the complainant who came with your cooperation.”

Sunal flashed his government ID.

“Let me see.”

Sunal raised one eyebrow at the cop’s angular stare.

There was no trick. Normally, he’d look at the ID and let it slide.

‘Is he new?’

Seeing the cop checking his ID, Sunal dug into his bag and pulled out his sunglasses.

“Sunglasses, you forgot, you too.”

Neither of the officers controlling the crowd were wearing sunglasses.

One was a Lizardman, the other a werewolf, because their nails looked unusually sharp.

“It’s okay, we have it under control.”

Sunal smirked at that answer and pointed a light finger elsewhere.

There, the other Medusan races were watching the events unfold.

‣Fiercely protective.

Sunal recalled the words in her head, the most curious of the Medusa races’ information.

It was likely that he would be swept up in the aura and become aroused.

“It means get along, so keep writing, just in case, you know? It’s paralyzing and painful at the same time.”

Beep.

Sunal stepped inside, leaving behind the stony faces of the cops as his official ID was confirmed.

“…Calm down.”

“We got a report, we’re just here to check, so calm down.”

Sunal looked at the cops trying to calm the Medusa, who had no idea where her protective glasses had gone, and the cop who had fallen to the floor, paralyzed from trying to calm her.

There were no protective glasses on the cop’s face.

I wonder if the rules are for dogs these days. Medusas got a lot of power.

“Ahhh!”

The snakes in her hair squirmed at the sound.

“Why are you looking at me like that? No, don’t look at me! I didn’t do this because I wanted to!”

Medusa’s eyes sparkled like electric lights.

‘…You’re too excited?’

Sunal looked at the over-excited officers.

With so many races living together, it was difficult to understand each other.

Because it was difficult, the people who accepted this situation were different.

The cops who were most excited about their colleagues falling were obviously of the goblin race, who valued their own much more.

‘Excitement is not helpful in many situations.’

Sunal rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small pouch, which hadn’t even noticed his presence.

He took a handful from the pouch, spread his fingers, and blew on it.

The wind rose with the Mana Circle and poured down on everyone.

It was a powder that had a calming effect.

Sunal counted to himself three seconds.

3.

2.

1.

“Hello, I’m Sunal, from the Interethnic Grievance Resolution Unit.”

Sunal walked up to the Medusa, introducing himself to the now calmer situation.

He still looked like a student.

In his apartment, there was no reason for the Medusa race to be suddenly excited.

And why would she be crying?

Sunal pulled a pair of sunglasses out of his bag and slipped them on.

There was much to complain about, but there was still more that could be done with conversation.

“There’s something about the design of the protective glasses that’s embarrassing to wear, isn’t there?”

“…I hate them.”

The edusa sobbed for a moment, then nodded.

The sparkle in her eyes faded as her excitement subsided.

“I know, I don’t like it either, and every wizard makes different ones.”

The power of Medusa’s race had to be suppressed before it could harm others.

It takes magical power to suppress that power, but the formulas they use are complex, and the glasses are thick and clunky to accommodate them.

Sunal picked up the shattered protective glasses on the floor.

[Explore].

His eyes burned red as he flicked the glasses and used magic.

I could see the magic formula etched into the glasses. It was an intricate pattern.

First of all, the base of the magic used by the Mage Association was always a circle.

It was filled with rectangular shapes, snakelike coils, rhombuses, right-angled symbols, and other unidentifiable things.

I interpreted the circle to mean, “Mana.”

No wonder the mana was so strangely heavy.

The gaps between the sigils were full of mana, but they were all just decoration.

But here, magic was recognized the more colorful the symbol, the better.

‘Tacky.’

Sunal clicked his tongue inwardly.

He was using a method that had been discarded as inefficient two centuries ago, even when he was Lineal.

The glasses would be thick, clunky, and, of course, it was obvious how they would look on a child in puberty.

This is the second time he had gotten this complaint.

“What do you like?”

Sunal asked, throwing the glasses away, and the Medusa blinked.

He carried several pairs of glasses.

“You know that protective eyewear is mandatory for your kind, Medusa, and you’re in trouble if you go around without them, so take your pick.”

Sunal lowered his sunglasses slightly after he finished speaking.

‘…I can handle it, if only for a little while.’

Sunal’s orange-tinged eyes gave off a faint glow.

He had heard there are many ways to inspire trust.

One of them was to demonstrate it on the spot.

“See, I’m a great wizard, so don’t worry, just pick a pair of glasses and I’ll enchant them for you.”

“…That’s going to work?”

“Yes.”

“And those glasses… it took me a long time, I don’t know, weeks.”

That’s right, you’ve got the pattern stuck.

“I’m good. Oh, and how about these? They’re pretty, aren’t they?”

“Yes… It’s pretty.”

The edusa’s eyes lost their sparkle as if she’d been on a rampage for days, and when she looked at the frames of the glasses Sunal held, they were filled with a dullness that made her really look as if she’d been on a rampage for days.

“I was… teased at school… because I had the ugliest glasses, and they were expensive, so my mom got me a cheap pair.”

Medusa’s hands were careful as she picked out her glasses.

“You can pick three.”

Sunal smiled, remembering Edina.

“Three? But the protective glasses are…”

“The rules on protective glasses aren’t strict, they just make sure you don’t paralyze when you look at someone, that’s all. If you get in trouble, come see me.”

Sunal waved his government ID with assurance, and his hands got busy picking out glasses.

With glasses in hand, the Medusa smiled broadly and held them out silently.

Magic was not a matter of who could dig and draw the symbols more elaborately than those on the shattered glasses, but rather a sentence puzzle, using words that Mana knew in combination.

It also meant that mana had to be captured by communicating with words, not by forcing it to stay with elaborate symbols.

After all, the strongest mages were those who knew the most words and had the most mana to write them.

He knew more words than any other wizard here, that was for sure.

The glasses were enchanted.

[Paralysis and petrification won’t affect others].

The quick, concise strokes of his hands had both Medusa and the officers momentarily mesmerized.

It was as smooth as a conductor’s.

Medusa blinked as Sunal pointed to her glasses.

“Already? It’s only been a few seconds.”

“Are you sure it works?”

The cop looked at Sunal in disbelief.

“This is magic.”

Sunal’s voice was confident, and he turned his attention to the Medusa.

“It’s okay, trust me.”

At Sunal’s urging, Medusa gingerly put on her glasses.

Sunal removed the glasses and looked at the Medusa. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, then slowly opened them.

“See? I’m fine.”

The Medusa’s eyes widened in disbelief, then she smiled.

“You look good.”

“…Really?”

Medusa asked, the officers hiding their surprise at Sunal’s magic and praising her.

“It’s really good.”

“You look good.”

Medusa smiled broadly and bowed her head in regret.

“…I’m sorry.”

As she realized what she’d done, a different fear rose up.

The police.

“It’s okay, don’t be afraid of those cops, they’ll just talk to you for a bit and then let you go. …Oh, I’ll come with you.”

The corner of Sunal’s mouth twitched up as he remembered something.

It was almost sweet.

* * *

“…Sunal-san?”

“Yes.”

Sunal looked at Edina with indifferent eyes.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the extra allowance I claimed with the report. It’s just a small increase in the cost of the glasses. You’ll have to pay it along with the special allowance, sir.”

It happened on the job, so of course I should claim it.

“Oh, and you’ll have to pay me for the extra two hours there. You’ve already heard from them, right? It’s been taken care of.”

One corner of Sunal’s mouth turned up as Edina’s usually cheerful smile faded.

Today was Monday.

No wonder his anger was higher than on any other day, since he was moving faster than his usual rush hour.