Chapter 194

Chapter 194

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 194Once all the work was finished, a red glow slowly began rising beyond the ridge.

“...

The sun's already coming up.”

Morning had arrived while we were moving the mana stones and collecting and examining the newly obtained materials.

I was sipping mix coffee I'd found in the corner of a warehouse to chase away my fatigue when.

“Young Master. Everything has been organized.”

Han Seo-jun reported, apparently having worked so hard that he hadn't even noticed the soot smeared across his normally neat face.

“...

Really? What about the teams staying behind?”

“Yes. Alpha and Gamma will first secure the surroundings and then establish a camp.”

Mines that produced mana stones were extremely rare even worldwide.

Abandoning a place like this would be absurd.

“Got it. I'll explain it separately to Father and the Consiglière, so tell them to endure for a little while. Ah, did you give them a satellite phone?”

“Yes. We've arranged to contact them every thirty minutes.”

“Sounds good. Shall we start heading back?”

After stretching and finishing the rest of my coffee, I went to find the spatial mages who had been waiting beforehand.

Thanks to the report we'd sent in advance by phone, the spatial mages had already crossed over here and were waiting.

When I approached them, they bowed to me.

“Will you be returning?”

“Yeah. I feel bad for Ji-yoon, but today I'm going to sleep properly.”

I'm sleepy too.

Even now my eyes felt so tired that I was confident I'd fall asleep immediately if I lay down on a bed.

At that, the mage nodded as though understanding.

“Hahaha

- Indeed, Young Master, you're still at the age where you grow simply by sleeping. I'll prepare immediately. Would only those returning to the estate please step onto the circle?”

Just as he said, I stepped onto the circle drawn on the ground together with the other unit members.

“We've already fixed the coordinates on both sides, so the recoil shouldn't be too severe. Then, everyone, good work.”

“You're the ones who'll have to work a little longer.”

The activation sequence for spatial magic had now become completely familiar.

Purple mana covered the surroundings, followed by a brief flash.

“...

Damn it. Didn't you say the recoil wouldn't be too severe?”

As I grimaced at the recoil of spatial magic that I still couldn't get used to, I saw Father and the Consiglière, who had come out to meet us.

“Father? Godfather?”

“Eugeeeene!!”

The moment our eyes met, the Consiglière rushed toward me and pulled me into a tight embrace.

“Well done! You're truly the treasure of our Family! You're the best! Wahaha! Wahahahaha!”

A hug from the Consiglière.

As I stood there dazed at the intense welcome I'd received for the first time in my life, Father chuckled.

“He's been like this ever since you said you'd found a mana stone mine. It's not as though we're short on money, so I don't know why he's so delighted.”

“Don Calione! What are you saying? The more money there is, the better, and if there's even more, that's even better, isn't it? Hahahahaha!”

He probably reacted like this because he also handled the Family's asset management.

I'd expected something like this back in Australia, but I hadn't thought he'd be this happy.

Who would've thought I'd be pampered like this at my age?

“G-Godfather. It's getting a little hard to breathe.”

“Hm? Ah, sorry. Right, right. You've worked hard, so you should rest properly.”

At last, I was released.

“Ah, just as you said, we're currently selecting the people to send to Australia. We were already running short on warehouses to keep the trash you recently caught and the criminals from the Foreigner Area, so now that you've even found them jobs, they'll surely be happy. They'll have more freedom there than here, where they can't do anything. Wahahaha!”

I'd wondered who they were going to take to Australia, but I never imagined they'd use the bastards we'd captured.

As I always thought, the Consiglière really was...

“That's an amazing idea.”

A genius without a doubt.

They'd surely prefer Australia, with its vast plains, deserts, and trees, over simply waiting to die in a warehouse.

And with regular exercise, they'd even get thorough health management!

Hmm.

What an incredibly humane measure.

Calione, a socially responsible company establishing an employment system for criminals.

This might actually be more of an opportunity than I thought...?

“Consiglière. Eugene should get some sleep soon, so let's send him in first. My son has worked hard, and now... shouldn't we be the ones to handle the aftermath?”

“Indeed. Right, right. I won't hold you any longer. Go inside and get some proper rest.”

Looking at the two of them still smiling, I bowed deeply.

“Then I'll head inside first.”

“Yes. We'll handle the distribution of rewards for today's work tomorrow. The others will probably want to rest properly for now as well....Right?”

At Father's question, the unit members' voices came from behind me.

“““We thank the Don for his consideration!”””

It seemed the others were just as tired.

Dragging my exhausted body into the estate, I saw an unexpected person standing there.

“Mmm... Big Brooo...”

A little girl rubbed her eyes while hugging a teddy bear almost as large as herself.

“Ji-yoon. You weren't sleeping?”

Korea was two hours behind Australia, so it should've been the middle of the night here.

Ji-yoon had been waiting for me.

“It was noisy outside... so I thought Big Bro was coming... yawn.”

Still apparently sleepy, Ji-yoon mumbled and let out a yawn.

A little sister coming out to greet her older brother arriving home at dawn.

“Thanks. You must be sleepy, so hurry inside and sleep.”

“Okaaay...”

This felt really nice in its own way.

I had a feeling I'd sleep even better than usual today.

______________

The moment I opened my eyes, I checked the time on the bedside clock.

2 p.m.

A wake-up time I normally couldn't even dream of.

“...

I slept in really late.”

I sluggishly climbed out of bed and stood up while rubbing my dry face.

After taking a quick shower and stepping outside, my eyes met Alessia's, who was standing in front of the door.

“...

What are you doing?”

“The Consiglière ordered that no one disturb the Young Master's sleep, so I was guarding the front.”

“What?”

I stood there dumbfounded for a moment at her incomprehensible answer.

Then the situation gradually began to make sense.

“The Consiglière stationed you here so nobody would wake me up?”

“Yes.”

“And told the other servants to silence their footsteps when passing by?”

“Yes.”

“Wow...”

Even for me, being looked after this much felt burdensome.

“By the way, what about Ji-yoon? It's Sunday, so her tutors shouldn't be coming today.”

Come to think of it, there was something strange.

Alessia was currently Ji-yoon's assigned maid.

Yet she was here.

“Ah, she went to visit a friend's house.”

“...

A friend?”

“Yes. Elder Kwak Chun-sik's granddaughter, Miss Yeon-ah. She said she was going to play at her house, so she left early this morning together with the Don. The Don said he also had something to discuss with Mr. Kwak Chun-sik.”

The Elder and Father?

Hmm, I can smell an event...

Well.

They'll tell me later.

“And the Consiglière instructed me to tell you to visit his study once you woke up. I believe you could go there right now...”

It wasn't difficult to guess why Godfather was calling me.

It was probably because of what happened in Australia.

“Then I'll go right now. Thanks, Alessia.”

At my thanks, Alessia bowed and walked off somewhere else.

Leaving her behind, I also began walking to visit the Consiglière, who was probably suffering beneath a mountain of documents by now.

The area around the Consiglière's study was still extremely quiet.

Perhaps even the birds outside the window knew that they weren't supposed to make noise around here, because instead of chirping, they focused solely on preening their feathers.

“Godfather. It's Eugene.”

After a light knock, a quiet voice came from inside.

-Yes. Come in.

I pulled down the handle and pushed the door open, only to be met with a sight different from what I'd expected.

Documents piled on the desk?

The same.

The neatly organized study despite that?

The same.

The Consiglière smiling brightly?

Something was strange.

“Um... Godfather? Did something good happen?”

“Something good? Of course. An enormous source of income that we never even imagined has rolled straight into Calione's arms. Here, here, do you see that?”

With that, Godfather stood and placed a hand on my shoulder.

At the end of his finger was a huge pile of documents stacked on the right side of the desk.

“Those are the matters I processed during the night. And beside them. You see those documents too, don't you?”

A stack of documents only about two finger joints high, far smaller than the completed pile.

“Those are the documents I'll finish by the end of today. Do you know how this became possible?”

Since I obviously had no way of knowing, I shook my head.

He grabbed both my shoulders and spoke.

“‘Mana stones.’ Thanks to the mana stones you brought back this time, things that had been stalled started resolving one after another. Naturally formed mana stones are quite valuable materials, after all.”...

If that was the reason, then it made sense that his workload had decreased.

At that moment, I thought I caught sight of a familiar word on Godfather's desk.

“That, did you just sign that document too?”

“Hm? Ahh, that one? Yes. Normally I would've rejected that invoice and told them not to be ridiculous... but our Family's capital is not merely sufficient but overflowing, so I thought investing this much would be acceptable.”

“May I take a look?”

“Of course.”

When I picked up the document from the desk, its contents became readable.

“An investment request for the Academy café... Cielo notturno(Cielo notturno)

? The applicant is... Ratte?”

Why is her paperwork here?

As I stared at the document in confusion, Godfather smiled as though amused.”

Apparently the skills of the children she recently hired have been steadily improving, so she wants to raise their hourly wages. Normally I would've rejected it... but then I realized it's your business too, so I approved it.”

The children she recently hired must be those guys.

“Looks like she submitted it as paperwork because she thought she'd get scolded if she asked verbally first.”

“What does it matter? Ratte wouldn't lie, and more importantly...”─We're actually picking up quite a lot of interesting information there.

Saying that, Godfather dropped back into his chair with a satisfied smile.

“Interesting... information?”

“Yes. But it wouldn't be any fun to start talking business the moment you wake up, so first I should give you the reward I mentioned at dawn, shouldn't I?”

Saying that, the Consiglière leaned down, lifted something from beneath the desk, and placed it on top.

“Here. This is the reward I prepared. It is something I used in the past... but among the things I currently have on hand, I couldn't think of anything more suitable for you than this.”

Slide.

The box was pushed toward me.

“Go ahead and check it.”

At his words, I swallowed and slowly reached toward the box.

An item once used by none other than Dominic Adanvanto, the ‘Shadow in the Dark,’ the ‘Consiglière of Calione.’

When I slowly opened the box, a single pitch-black ring inside caught my eye.[A new item has been discovered!][Name: Ring of Abyssal Flame][Rank: Unique][Type: Ring][Description: A ring forged in Black Flame

within the Abyss. When equipped, three times per day, Black Flame can be generated at a visible location.【Skills】[1. Abyss: This ring was created in the Abyss. Stats increase while in darkness.][2. Black Flame: Adds Dark attribute damage to flames.][3. Light Devourer: The more light Black Flame absorbs, the more fiercely it burns. The flames can be extinguished by the user's will.]

“...”

Holy moly.