Chapter 26: Job Interview (2)
“The highest score so far is 2,000 points. Since there are two tied, we will measure again.”
Several interviewers appeared and began installing additional components onto the measuring device.
“Yuri Ivanov, Betty Barosi, please come up.”
Diesel and Betty moved their feet again.
At some point, the auditorium became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward the two elves standing on the stage.
“Everyone staring like that is making me a little embarrassed, you know?”
“…….”
“This really makes it feel like a duel.”
A duel.
That wasn’t wrong.
After all, this was a situation where scores were being lined up to see who was higher.
“We will re-measure starting with Yuri Ivanov.”
At the interviewer’s words, I approached the machine and looked inside.
What I saw was an interior that looked as if it had been swept by a lightning storm.
How had they failed to notice someone this skilled?
Betty Barosi’s name had definitely not been on the list of persons of interest that Sis had sent.
“Begin.”
At the interviewer’s signal, Diesel once again put his hand into the machine.
Looking at the magic formulas engraved inside, the maximum value had been increased all the way to 20,000.
‘Hmm…….’
Getting a high score on the mana measurement test didn’t automatically mean passing.
This test served more like a cutoff line for the full-scale interviews that would follow.
Even so, the score wasn’t meaningless.
Every number measured in this interview hall today would be reflected somewhere without exception.
‘I was planning to take it easy, but…….’
[Please project your mana.]
At the mechanical guidance, Diesel drew up his strength.
Mana refined far more cleanly than before flowed into the machine.
After finishing that brief but powerful projection, the machine that sensed the mana made a shrrrk sound as the number plate moved.
“5,000, 6,000, 7,000……. 10,000……?”
The interviewer who was checking the machine behind Diesel read the numbers while struggling to keep his expression in check.
‘Hmm……. Did I overdo it?’
Then the final number appeared on the plate.
[18,560 points!]
“Y, Yuri Ivanov. 18,560 points……!”
“What……? How much……?”
“T, that’s impossible…….”
Sighs of disbelief poured out from all around the auditorium.
“Wow……. Yuri, you’re really amazing. Is it because you’re a double? That’s a completely overwhelming number.”
Betty looked at Diesel with a face full of genuine admiration.
“Next. Betty Barosi, please proceed with the measurement.”
“Hehe. I’m a little nervous.”
This time, she stood in front of the machine.
She gently closed her eyes and began to draw up her mana.
‘…….’
Soon, the number plate spun with a loud noise.
When the numbers once again shot past 5,000 and climbed all the way to 10,000, the interviewer wore an expression of disbelief.
And shortly after, the score displayed on the machine was—
[18,481 points!]
A number just slightly lower than Diesel’s.
But the difference wasn’t even a hundred points.
“Oh man, I lost. That’s such a shame!”
Betty showed a regretful smile.
Watching her, I couldn’t rejoice and instead had no choice but to secretly frown.
‘This elf…… at the end, she did it on purpose…….’
Just now, she had forcibly shut down the flow of mana that she had been releasing as naturally as flowing water.
Deliberately, so that the difference would be extremely small.
“Betty Barosi, 18,481 points……. As a result of the measurement, Yuri Ivanov is confirmed as first place.”
Rather, that fact made it clear just how skilled the mage named Betty Barosi was.
It meant she had mana control precise enough to make that possible.
“We will now announce the list of successful candidates. Those whose names are called should move to the cafeteria, eat, and then wait for the next test. Calling names! Yuri Ivanov! Betty Barosi! Kang Da-hee! Mitchell Dafri……!”
‘So the ones who fail don’t even get fed and are just sent home.’
What a cruel world.
“I used up some strength, so I’m hungry……. Yuri! Let’s hurry up and go eat!”
Betty walked off into the distance, flashing a bright smile at Diesel.
“Hurry up! Today’s menu is seaweed soup and stir-fried sausages!”
“How do you even know that…….”
“I saw it on the way up earlier!”
‘……Just what kind of elf is she?’
A wide cafeteria filled with refreshing sunlight.
Diesel looked at the food placed in front of him.
Although it was plated on a stainless steel tray in an unappetizing-looking presentation, the contents were excellent.
It had been so long since I’d eaten a proper meal.
More precisely, a meal made with proper ‘ingredients.’
In this world, natural food ingredients were absurdly expensive compared to the past.
That was understandable, since all of Earth’s nature had been wrecked by environmental pollution.
In particular, the seas, into which all kinds of harmful substances flowed, no longer harbored life that humans could eat.
That was why most people lived on cheap synthetic foods churned out by factories.
‘Mm……. This is good.’
Sausages stir-fried in a tangy sauce and salty seaweed soup.
Even compared to memories from the past, it wasn’t a bad taste.
Was this meant to show the power of a Megacorporation, or was this simply the standard in the corporate sector?
“Phew……! The food here is really delicious!”
Betty, who had already neatly emptied her tray, patted her stomach.
Then she looked around the cafeteria and asked,
“But you know, isn’t it kind of cruel that they only pick two people out of all these?”
“That’s just how interviews are.”
“I guess you don’t really have anything to worry about, Yuri. With skills like yours, passing is basically guaranteed.”
“No. Nobody knows that.”
“Is that so? Yeah. That might be true. Maybe they already decided who they’re going to pass up there anyway…….”
Betty lifted her head and looked up at the ceiling.
“Eh? That looks like CCTV, right? Right? Ah, there’s one there too! And there too!”
“…….”
CCTV cameras were something you could see everywhere you went on the streets, so what was so fascinating that she started eagerly searching for them?
As Betty kept glancing around like that, she bumped her head into someone who had approached nearby.
“Just how many of these are there……. Ouch.”
When she turned around, Kang Da-hee, whom we had seen earlier in the auditorium, was looking down at Betty.
Naturally, she wasn’t alone, but accompanied by several followers.
“Oh! Hi? Your name is…… Kang Da-hee, right? Nice to meet you!”
Contrary to Betty’s pure welcome, the first words Kang Da-hee threw out were extremely rude.
“What are you people?”
“Huh?”
Then the followers around her started chattering.
“Yeah. What are you guys? Did you bribe the interviewer through the elf order or something?”
“The elf order? What are you talking about?”
When Betty made a face that clearly showed she had no idea what they were saying, the followers began whispering among themselves.
“It’s a famous story. The rumor that elves band together and cover for each other.”
“That’s not a rumor, it’s a fact.”
At their words, Betty replied with an innocent expression.
“We’re not like that though?”
“Not like that? There’s already talk among the applicants that there must be predetermined picks.”
‘That’s probably something you’re spreading yourselves.’
During the meal, I had been watching Kang Da-hee’s group spread throughout the cafeteria, whispering things here and there.
“It doesn’t make sense. How could numbers like that come out?”
“Yeah. Our Da-hee was in the high 1,000s, but those were almost close to 20,000.”
As the followers’ expressions grew more serious, they eventually came to a conclusion among themselves.
“There’s no way that wasn’t manipulation.”
“If they were going to do it, they should’ve had some restraint.”
“…….”
“So, where are you from?”
Kang Da-hee asked, looking far more confident than before.
“It’s obviously not Yeonhui Magic University. Anam Magic University? Or JAIMT?”
“Us?”
Then Betty smiled brightly and said,
“I met Yuri for the first time here today.”
“How can you lie so shamelessly…….”
“It’s true. Right, Yuri?”
At Betty’s question, I sighed inwardly.
‘Ha……. This is troublesome in more ways than one.’
If this were some back alley, a full-body shock massage with lightning magic would’ve been enough to resolve this simple conflict.
But this was the upper district, where such primitive methods didn’t work.
“Say it. Why can’t you answer?”
As Kang Da-hee pressed me, I was choosing my words when—
Suddenly, Betty stepped forward.
“But you know.”
“……?”
“Even if we told you our affiliation, would you really stop suspecting us?”
“What are you—.”
‘Oh…….’
For Betty to step in here wasn’t a loss for me at all.
It meant the attitude scores of the two most threatening competitors in this interview would drop.
“You want me and Yuri to drop out here, don’t you? Or you’re trying to mess with us mentally for the upcoming tests. Isn’t that right?”
At Betty’s bold words, the followers beside her started chattering.
“W, what are you talking about? We just don’t want to be treated unfairly!”
“Yeah. How are we supposed to know whether you really bribed the interviewer or not?”
“Ah! Then there is one way!”
Betty clapped her hands and said cheerfully.
“I can just show my skills directly right here. So you can believe it. Right?”
Then she stood up from her seat and took an action that was anything but cheerful.
“W, what are you doing?”
Crackling electric sparks began to rise around Betty’s body.
“I’m a mage affiliated with the Brain Dragon Magic Tower.”
‘A Magic Tower?’
Unlike magic universities, which you could enter by passing exams, Magic Towers weren’t open to just anyone.
Only a very small number of individuals who had proven their abilities, or those chosen from birth, were allowed to enter.
Moreover, the Brain Dragon Magic Tower was the most renowned among lightning-type Magic Towers in the world.
“What……. You were from a Magic Tower?”
However, this place was a fierce battlefield where the top elites gathered.
And it was an interview hall for entering a Megacorporation.
As such, having the Brain Dragon Magic Tower on one’s résumé wasn’t particularly special.
“Those kids who hole up in a tower and never take a single step outside?”
“No wonder she seems totally clueless about how the world works.”
Remarks born from the superiority complex of magic university graduates went back and forth.
But at the next words Betty spoke, the smug expressions on the followers’ faces changed.
“My name is Betty Barosi. I’m the daughter of Calodel Barosi, the Master of the Brain Dragon Magic Tower.”
“…….”
“W, what……?”
At the word ‘Master,’ everyone’s expressions faltered.
“T, the Magic Tower Master’s daughter……?”
“The Brain Dragon Magic Tower Master had a daughter?”
“I didn’t even know the Master there was an elf…….”
“My dad isn’t very famous. He’s always shut up in the tower doing research.”
Just how little information was out there that even the Little Sister didn’t know?
It was easy to imagine just how closed-off a place a Magic Tower was.
“H, how are we supposed to believe that?”
In the end, a question full of doubt burst out.
“Magic Towers are like dens cut off from the outside world! Even if you made it up, how would anyone know?”
“Yeah! Aren’t you just spouting nonsense right now? Do you have proof?”
At their words, Betty nodded.
“Proof! Right! I was going to show you anyway. Watch closely.”
Then, with a short incantation, she formed a spell in her hand.
“This is a magic passed down only to upper disciples of our Magic Tower.”
“……!”
“The name is ‘Sphere of the Brain Dragon.’”
‘Oh…….’
Even elite mages who had experienced countless spells were seeing this magic for the first time.
A spell the Brain Dragon Magic Tower had kept hidden in secrecy.
‘This is an unexpected gain.’
The wildly scattering sparks gathered together, beginning to coalesce into a high-output lightning-type spell.
Into a single round sphere, where countless bolts of lightning constantly writhed.
“W, what are you doing right now……!”
“What’s wrong? You asked for proof, so I’m showing you.”
Betty smiled brightly as usual, but the blue light leaking from the magic gave off a chilling feeling.
“Don’t tell me you can’t even trust the power of this spell? If that’s the case, want to get hit just a little? For the record, it’ll hurt a bit. Ah, maybe a bit more than just a bit.”
“A, are you insane?”
“Interviewer……! Interviewer……!”
With the unexpected appearance of the Magic Tower Master’s daughter, the once peaceful cafeteria instantly turned into chaos.