Chapter 1. Customer, Customer!
“No! I bought this and it broke as soon as I got home!”
“Sir, it’s been more than a month since you purchased the item. Unfortunately, returns are not possible at this point.”
“What’s the use of a car if it doesn’t keep warm?! This isn’t a malfunction, what is it then?”
“Sir, that feature is only available in the paid version. You would need to make an additional payment…”
All items in the world are powered by mana. Whether cooking or cleaning, everyone uses items that come from the Magic Tower.
Therefore, the Magic Tower is considered the ‘highest authority.’
However, buying an item doesn’t mean the transaction is over. Now, there’s something called ‘after-sales service,’ and there are those responsible for handling it.
That’s where the Magic Tower’s ‘Service Department’ comes in.
“Pay more again?! How expensive is this already, and you want me to pay more? You thieves!”
A customer, sitting across a table from a staff member, began to shout angrily. The employee was a new recruit who had been with the Magic Tower for less than a month.
As the woman started to tear up, the old man seemed to seize the opportunity, pounding the table with his fist.
If this continued, the customer would take advantage of her. It was a fact known to everyone working in the Service Department.
“Burkin! Are you busy?”
“Yes, of course I’m busy. I have several reports due today.”
“Sigh… I really want to stop asking you for favors, but…”
“Then you don’t have to.”
Burkin quietly lowered her head and thought that to herself. But she couldn’t honestly say that to her superior. When she didn’t respond, her boss continued despite her silent attitude.
“Remember that troublemaker who came last time? He came again today. Look at our new recruit crying over there! If this keeps up, she’ll be eaten alive!”
“Ah, yes. I see.”
“Don’t just talk about it, okay? It’d be nice if you could help.”
Sigh.
A deep sigh escaped Burkin.
Handling customers directly was the job of the new recruits, not someone with five years of experience like herself. But she understood why her boss was insisting.
The new recruit was quite young and pretty.
In other words, unlike the jaded and tough Burkin, the new recruit had an innocent charm that seemed to ignite her boss’s protective instincts. The logic being: Such tasks are more suited for someone like you, not for our young and innocent new recruit.
“Eh? Burkin, please just once. You’re the expert at this kind of thing.”
“Alright, I’ll go. You finish what you’re doing.”
Burkin finally stood up, putting down the parchment she was working on.
As the fairly tall Burkin approached the table, the troublesome customer had no choice but to look up at her.
“What is this? Is this your superior? Young lady, listen to me!”
“Sir…”
“Young lady”? Despite working at the Magic Tower, the customer was treating her like a neighborhood girl, which was clearly not normal. Burkin hid her displeasure and started speaking in the polite, smooth tone typical of customer service.
“You purchased a refrigerated item from our Magic Tower branch, didn’t you?”
“…Oh, yeah, I did.”
“If you purchase the paid version, there’s a special service event for your previously bought refrigerated item. Would you like me to explain it to you?”
In a standoff with a customer, the most important thing is not to lose your composure, especially your ‘smile.’ You must show that you respect the other person, signaling that you expect the same in return.
Having not dealt with regular customer service for a while after becoming a Vice, Burkin put on a wide smile, and the customer reluctantly nodded.
“Well… Go ahead.”
“If you need a heating function, you will actually need to purchase the paid version. I believe you were informed about this beforehand, but it seems you may have missed the feature description due to the many details. We should have been more careful at our Magic Tower… I apologize for the oversight. But if you purchase the paid version, we can offer free mana charging benefits for the refrigerated item you bought previously.”
“Mana charging…?”
Burkin’s smooth explanation continued. The angry customer eventually left with a satisfied expression after purchasing the paid version.
The new recruit, who had been staring blankly, snapped back to reality only after the customer had left. She had been standing properly until the customer departed, watching Burkin’s back.
“B, Vice! I’m sorry…”
Burkin, who had been facing away, turned around to look at the new recruit.
The smile on her face, which had seemed like a picture, had completely disappeared.
Burkin adjusted her wrinkled shirt collar and glanced at the new recruit who was speaking to her.
“You don’t need to apologize. I wasn’t doing it for the apology anyway.”
“Y-Yes!”
“But you can say ‘thank you.’”
“Th-Thank you…”
The recruit’s shoulders slumped slightly.
It wasn’t her fault. It was the old-fashioned, prejudiced staff at the Magic Tower who believed that newbies should learn everything the hard way. Burkin patted her on the back as if to comfort her.
“Next time that customer comes, tell them I was the one who dealt with them.”
“Eh?”
“Chances are they’ll come back because they didn’t like something. Just tell them I’m the one who handled it, since Aily wasn’t the one. I’m busy and often not around.”
The new recruit, Aily, understood the meaning a bit too late.
Essentially, Burkin would take responsibility, and if the same situation happened again, it would be her fault.
Aily’s mouth hung open slightly. Meanwhile, Burkin had already returned to her seat to continue her work. As she watched Burkin’s retreating figure, the new recruit’s cheeks turned bright red.
The world is divided into two types of people: those who have mana and those who don’t.
Mana is the most powerful driving force that keeps the world moving. And those who use mana for magic are called ‘wizards,’ while those who use it to create magical items are called ‘magical engineers.’
However, Burkin did not belong to either of these professions.
She spent her student years at the magical academy in the capital, but she never became a wizard or a magical engineer. Despite hearing that becoming a wizard or magical engineer would bring great wealth, she still struggled with massive student loans for attending the academy.
To become a wizard, one needed talent in magic, and to become a magical engineer, one had to be brilliant enough to be called a genius.
Magic? Talent? Genius? Not at all.
Burkin, while drinking from a paper cup, accidentally crumpled it without realizing. She had entered the academy without fear because she knew mana existed within her, but that was the end of it.
Burkin only had abundant mana, but no talent for magic. They said you had to use the mana in your body to perform magic, but no matter how hard she tried, her mana didn’t budge.
So, she ended up working in the Service Department of the Magic Tower.
“Burkin, wasn’t today’s designated request something else?”
“Just the usual stuff.”
“Hey, you’re famous around here. Mana supply expert, Burkin Redfield!”
The Service Department not only handles after-sales for items, but it also has other duties. One of them is supplying mana to items that are short on mana, and Burkin was particularly exceptional in this regard.
Her mana surpassed that of an ordinary wizard.
It was comparable to high-level wizards. While others would need an hour to fill up an item with mana, Burkin could fill it in just 10 minutes.
Because of her speed, she had a decent number of regular customers. This was also the reason she had been promoted to Vice after only three years.
“So what if it’s been 5 years since I became Vice?”
“Hmm, has it really been 5 years already? You should have been promoted to Deputy by now… You’re not bad at your job.”
Deputy was the position just above Vice, and Burkin had been hearing “this year will be your promotion year” for five years.
The reason she hadn’t been promoted to Deputy was obvious.
The Magic Tower itself operated based on ‘magic,’ so at least a 1st Circle Wizard had to be recognized to be given proper respect. Even a 1st Circle Wizard only had the ability to use their own mana, which was a basic level that anyone who learned magic could reach.
Except, of course, for Burkin.
When she first entered the academy, she was a promising newcomer, expected to become a grand wizard. But she had no talent for magic. She had even been given the shameful nickname “Mana Barrel.”
“Burkin, Chief Kendall called for you. I heard he’s been eyeing that new recruit lately? The pretty one. Do you really want to do that at your age?”
“Well, the new recruit will handle it. Chief Kendall has always been like that.”
Burkin couldn’t even enjoy her lunch break and had to head to where her superior, Chief Kendall, called her. As soon as she opened the door to the smoking area, a strong cigarette smell hit her.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Did you call for me?”
“Burkin, you know there’s going to be a staff shuffle at the end of this month, right?”
Of course I know. I’m not that clueless.
She held back the urge to respond sarcastically. She knew well that getting in Chief Kendall’s good books was crucial for her career progression.
“You’ve been working for eight years now, right? I think it’s time for you to become a Deputy.”
“I still have a lot to learn from you, Chief.”
“Oh, come on. You’re so humble. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I’m considering you for the Deputy position.”
Burkin lowered her head at a 45-degree angle to avoid seeming too smug, and a smile slipped onto her face. It seemed like all those rare items she’d gifted Chief Kendall every year were finally paying off.
Burkin quickly hid her smile and blinked as though she hadn’t heard anything.
“Me? Really…”
“You’ve done a great job. The tower staff all knows that. So, just keep that in mind and go. I’m not much of a smoker anyway.”
Chief Kendall’s shiny bald head sparkled today, probably from the lighting, but that didn’t matter. Deputy, promotion!
Click.
As Burkin left the smoking room, she couldn’t help but clench her fist in excitement. Then, she heard a beep and instinctively looked down at her wrist.
She had received a notification on her schedule management magic item, a clock that all Magic Tower members had. The bell-shaped icon near her wrist indicated a designated request.
Normally, she’d frown at such interruptions, but today was different. Despite only having five minutes left in her break, she happily headed toward the second floor where the private consultation rooms were.
“Ah, Burkin! Sorry, I know it’s lunch break, but we have a designated request. You know, only the high-ranking officials make those requests… And they said they don’t have much time.”
“The lunch break is almost over, anyway. Is it Room 4?”
“Yeah, go on in!”
New recruits usually handle commoners in the public consultation rooms on the first floor, but those at the Vice level get their own private consultation rooms. Room 4, where Burkin typically worked, had become famous for handling urgent matters.
Knock knock.
Before entering, Burkin knocked at regular intervals on the door handle. Although she was a commoner, her manners often made people mistake her for a noble.
“Excuse me, I’m the designated Vice.”
Once inside, a tall man with broad shoulders sat silently. His striking gray hair was hard to miss, and he suddenly looked up at Burkin without answering.
He’s handsome.
Burkin took a moment to evaluate his face from an objective point of view, then sat across from him with a forced smile.
“…Soap.”
“Pardon?”
“…”
Soap?
His voice was husky, and she couldn’t make sense of what he muttered. When she looked up, he was staring at her as if he hadn’t spoken at all.
He’s probably just acting normal.
Burkin’s interest faded, and she averted her gaze from him, thinking that it would only take 10 minutes to finish this with her mana. The man began reading the parchment with the details of his request.
Let’s see, an item that needs mana…
“…Me?”
Burkin, who had been working in the Service Department for eight years, had seen it all. Yet, she couldn’t help but mutter the words on the parchment aloud.
She had no talent for magic, but she was an exceptional person in everything else. She had never missed first place in any subject except magic. And yet, she couldn’t understand that one word. She looked up at the man again.
So… you want me to charge you?
💬 Wise Magic Tower Life TIP!
The hierarchy of the Magic Tower is divided as follows: Intern (Intern) – General Tower Member (Employee) – Vice (Assistant) – Deputy (Manager) – Chief (Department Head).
