Episode 6:
Undercover Job Part (2)
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Although she acted like she could do anything, when the question came, she was speechless.
No one had ever asked her what she was good at before. She had always been the top student at the academy.
She had always worked hard to do even the things she wasn’t good at — just to somehow get close to him.
But now, after graduating with nothing to show for it, all that effort had become useless.
The one who had made her go through all that? Him.
> “What am I good at…?”
He wasn’t really looking for just anyone.
He wanted someone who could truly assist him — someone with actual skills.
> “What should I say to impress him…?”
Temia’s eyes darted around in panic.
Still, she couldn’t show she was nervous.
Even if she was deep in enemy territory now, it was better to stay quiet than to speak carelessly.
But seeing her hesitate, the man narrowed his eyes.
With a sharp tone, he stabbed at her confidence.
> “Don’t tell me… you’ve got nothing?”
Snapping out of it, Temia quickly replied, afraid he might kick her out.
> “No! I can do anything you ask. I’ll do it well!”
The man sighed, then brought over a few bottles and tools from a shelf, placing them on the table.
> “Alright then, let’s try this. There are three different liquid samples here. Use seven, thirteen, and thirty-four drops from each, in order from the weakest to the strongest. Make five bottles like that. If the liquid turns red, you’ve succeeded.”
> “But… they all look the same. How can I tell which one is weaker?”
> “That’s part of your test. A real assistant should figure that out. Don’t feel confident? Oh — and if you mix them wrong, it’ll fail.”
It was clearly a test — an excuse to kick out someone suspicious who insisted on being hired despite having no experience.
He looked bored and uninterested, his eyes staring into empty space.
But watching that cold attitude only made Temia more determined.
She hadn’t come all this way just to fail.
She had devoted this life to removing him from Kaili’s story.
She remembered her bleeding hand from hitting the old carriage earlier.
Getting into a fight with street thugs and riding alone in a shabby wagon wasn’t even the hardest part of her journey.
> “I’ve come this far… I won’t quit now.”
She took a deep breath and started examining the liquids carefully.
The room was silent as she focused. Neither of them cared about the silence.
> “One, two, three, four…”
Slowly, the liquid in the bottle turned red.
There was only one bottle left.
She tried to stay calm even though her heart was pounding.
> “Yes… this is a real success…!”
She dropped the last drop into the final bottle, confident she had succeeded.
The red color spread clearly through the bottle — proof of success.
But then—
> “Huh? Wait, why is this…?”
Before she could even finish the thought, the liquid bubbled up and overflowed.
PING!
A loud sound rang out and black smoke burst into the air.
Coughing, Temia waved her hand, trying to see through the thick smoke. Her mind went blank in shock.
> “No way… Did I fail?! I followed the instructions exactly!”
As the smoke cleared, she saw the magician looking at her with widened eyes.
> “This is what you call ‘being confident’? I’ve never seen such a dramatic result before. Amazing…”
> “W-Wait! This can’t be right! I really did everything correctly!”
Panicked, she shouted, ignoring even the burned ends of her own hair.
If she failed now, she’d never be allowed near him again.
Suddenly, his eyes began to sparkle with interest.
The slow change was like watching a star light up.
Temia stared at him, distracted, even though she knew she shouldn’t be.
This expression was completely different from his usual coldness. It felt unfamiliar.
He smiled lightly and finally spoke.
> “Hmm… So this is what ‘I can do anything’ looks like?”
Even after seeing that disaster?
He didn’t finish his sentence, but Temia somehow felt she understood.
He began examining the bottles she had made.
He looked just like a professor at the academy evaluating a student, and that made her nervous again.
> “You succeeded with four bottles. At the start, you asked how to tell the concentrations apart, remember?”
> “Yes. I thought the stronger the liquid, the more force it would have. I saw some glass beads on the table and dropped them in each one first. The bead floated more in the stronger ones.”
> “Huh. That’s clever. Most people don’t even try to think that far. They just randomly mix things and hope it works.”
His expression was unreadable — maybe pleased, maybe mocking.
Temia, feeling anxious again, quickly added,
> “Still, four bottles worked! So could you please hire me? Like I said, I do have some background. I’m from the Royal Academy. I can’t show you my diploma right now, but—”
She hadn’t even received her diploma before she ran away.
She regretted not waiting for graduation.
She knew that people usually needed ID or proof of skills to get a job.
But she had even used a fake name and a fake background to avoid being traced.
> “If I get rejected now, what else can I do? Should I kneel and beg?”
She was desperate.
Trying to look good in front of her worst enemy — it was something she had never imagined.
Meanwhile, the man simply stared at her calmly, as if thinking.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he spoke.
> “Alright. I was planning to hire you if even one bottle succeeded. You’re smarter than I expected. You’ve got a good head.”
> “Wait! Just one bottle?! You never said that!”
> “Didn’t matter. As long as you got results, it’s fine.”
He looked closely at the failed bottle, then placed it back on the table.
The reason for the explosion was probably some leftover powder inside the bottle that hadn’t been cleaned properly.
> ‘Guess I’ll have to make sure this girl does her job thoroughly.’
He rubbed the hardened powder off the outside of the bottle with his finger.
In truth, all five bottles had succeeded — the failure wasn’t her fault.
But he didn’t plan to tell her that.
She seemed confident enough already — bringing up her academy degree and all.
He tapped his fingers on the table and gave a crooked smile.
> “So, no need to brag about the academy anymore. That place is full of fools. Doesn’t look impressive to me.”
What came next was shocking.
A rude insult.
Temia frowned and spoke firmly.
> “I think you misunderstood something.”
But the man just stood up and replied smoothly.
> “I heard you just fine. I meant, you don’t have to brag about being from the academy. Anyone with enough money can get in. It’s obvious ”.
