Time passed, and passed again.
"Ugh, my head. Ahh, it's too bright. My head, shoulders, arms, knees... everything is aching like hell. What day is it, anyway?"
At long last... truly, at long last, I had finally poked my face out into the world again.
Stepping out of the shop and breathing in the fresh air felt refreshing.
Above me, the intense midday sun poured down.
Thanks to that, the darkness attribute within me felt as if it were screaming in agony, thrashing around like crazy.
Ugh, I'm a child of darkness...
"Still, it's way too bright."
I felt like this occasionally back when I was a student at the Clock Tower.
I wondered if becoming a Dead Apostle—a vampire—meant feeling like this every single day.
Come to think of it, aside from the blood-drinking, they weren't all that different from magi.
Maybe that's why so many magi try to switch careers and become Dead Apostles.
The drawbacks are minimal, while the benefits are immense.
"No, no. This isn't good. My head isn't sorting itself out at all. Prime numbers. Right, what I need right now is to count prime numbers. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11... Prime numbers are lonely numbers, divisible only by one and themselves. They give me courage. Not that I actually need courage right now, though."
My mouth kept rambling on its own.
As expected, my mind was still a complete mess, spinning round and round, so I took a deep breath and tried to soothe my exhausted body.
Leaving that aside, the sight of me under the sunlight was no different from a destitute castaway—the very picture of a beggar.
Just how many days had I been holed up inside?
It was the same pointless self-reproach I always made, but even I had to admit this was a bit much.
"Ugh, it can't be helped. Yeah, any other magus would've been the same. Anyone who's ever experienced JoJo for the first time, or binged through the 'Big Three' would understand what I mean. For people like us, pulling all-nighters is an unavoidable fate. I'm not the one at fault. The fault lies with this world, which is packed with absurdly entertaining nonsense."
What a petty excuse, through and through.
But at least this time, it was justified.
Because I had finally gotten my hands on the material I'd longed for so desperately: a 'Divine Body'.
Well, it was only a few drops of blood and a few strands of hair.
But for me, until recently, that alone was more than enough to be grateful for.
A fragment of a god's body is an enormously valuable magical material.
And now, I could keep receiving a fixed amount of it over a set period of time.
Thanks to that, I could finally proceed with various experiments that had been stuck in the theoretical stage.
Once I became absorbed in the work, I simply couldn't leave the workshop.
The result was this beggar's appearance.
"First, I need to wash up. Then eat something delicious, take a long nap, and after that, I'll bury myself back in the workshop. Once I do, the good ideas will start pouring in again."
In short, this was just a brief breather.
The research I was working on wasn't finished yet.
Rather, it had been going well until I hit a snag, so I had stepped out for a moment to clear my head.
After resting a bit, I planned to head back down to the workshop.
Which was why this meeting was nothing but deeply unpleasant.
[Would you mind if I borrowed a moment of your time?]
"Who... are you?"
I had just stepped back inside the shop to get my wallet.
Standing in front of the entrance to the secret passage, which I hadn't yet managed to close, was a pitch-black, shadow-like entity. It stood there with all the confidence of someone who owned the place.
Yes, inside territory that clearly belonged to someone else.
My mood soured instantly.
This gloomy, filthy feeling...
How should I vent this so that I can feel satisfied with the result?
[My apologies for the late introduction. My name is Phels. I am a mere errand runner working under the old god, Ouranos.]
"Ouranos? The one from the Guild?"
At the shadow's words, my irritation was replaced by genuine surprise, and I couldn't hide my expression.
My dazed mind snapped awake.
That was because, as far as most people knew—myself included—the Guild did not have its own armed retainers who had received Falna.
That was why it was called the 'Guild' and not the 'Ouranos Familia'.
But this shadow in front of me was clearly...
Could it be some kind of outside mercenary?
This seemed worth testing.
"That's a hard story to believe. What exactly am I supposed to see that would make me trust your word?"
[Hans Christian Andersen. Age 31. Born in Orario, an orphan. Taken in by the goddess Hestia and lived with her until the age of ten. That same year, he ran away and went missing. Then, about two years ago, he suddenly returned to the city and opened his current magic shop. In the process, he evaded the taxes he was supposed to report and pay to the Guild through various means. Three years ago, he was suspected of being connected to the Hermes Familia, who were caught using similar methods to evade taxes. The mastermind is presumed to be the god Hermes. Any further questions?]
"...Damn that Hermes bastard. He said there was no way I'd get caught."
Hermes, you useless god of a bastard.
Give me back the consultation fee I paid you, you scammer!
What the hell can that guy even do besides peeping on people!
[There is no need to feel so wronged. We only managed to uncover those details by chance after a great deal of effort.]
"Haa, so? What brings a high-and-mighty civil servant to a filthy dump like this?"
[Oh dear. It seems you are quite upset.]
"Anyone would be if they were about to get hit with unexpected out-of-pocket expenses. Whether the payment is fair or not is irrelevant."
[Well, that is only natural.]
The shadow gave a single nod at my answer.
Then, it spoke again in a subtle, suggestive tone.
[In that sense, I would like to propose a deal.]
"Hm? A deal?"
What is it trying to pull?
I pricked up my ears and listened carefully to her.
[To put it simply, I wish to entrust you with a request. As for the reward, I believe the complete erasure of the records I mentioned earlier should be sufficient.]
"I'm saying this as the one who hasn't paid, but that's probably not a small amount of money we're talking about."
What kind of troublesome job was it trying to dump on me?
Suspicion and laziness flared up within me simultaneously.
However, I couldn't simply ignore the offer.
The shadow then conveyed the details of the request in a calm voice.
By the way.
For something with 'no vocal cords,' she has a pretty nice voice. I wonder if she'd volunteer to climb onto my operating table for a bit?
[It is a fairly urgent matter. An abnormality has occurred in the Dungeon on the 24th Floor. I would like you to go there briefly.]
"So the request is to identify the cause of the abnormality and resolve it? Hm, I'm not really feeling it. I'm exhausted right now, and it sounds like a hassle."
[I have already secured combat personnel separately. You only need to assist with the investigation. We haven't fully grasped the situation yet, but as a mage, your knowledge is highly valued. I sincerely hope you will lend us that precious expertise.]
After hearing her explanation, I finished calculating the situation in my head.
Mm, this was pretty... unappealing.
Yep, thinking about it again, I still didn't want to do it.
Why?
Because it was a hassle, obviously.
[If necessary, I am willing to pay additional compensation depending on the quality of your results.]
Seeing my lukewarm reaction, the shadow tried once more to persuade me.
But I still wasn't inclined.
More than anything, I was too tired and needed my rest!
"Well, I mean, I do like having more money. But my heart just isn't responding to this, so..."
[Then pay all of your overdue taxes. By law, three times the original amount. The deadline, of course, is right now.]
Ah, so that's how you want to play it, you cheapskate.
I glanced around the shop and started calculating again.
If I handed over all those useless failures and a few decent magic items, could we negotiate a different deal?
"C-could I pay in kind?"
[I will accept nothing except magic stones.]
Reality was cold, and the law was harsh.
As expected, a bad law is just evil.
The law can go jump in a lake.
"Tch, for a civil servant, you're awfully petty. Fine, I'm going!"
In the end, I was the one at a disadvantage, so I decided to bow my head for now.
This humiliation of my laziness—I'll definitely pay it back someday.
[I appreciate your understanding and cooperation.]
"Haa, this is seriously such a pain."
Damn Guild. May the Holy Grail curse them.
And so, I stopped the research I'd been working on and, without a single moment of rest, grabbed a few protective tools, left the shop, and headed down toward the Dungeon.
Once the flow is broken like this, it's bound to become a bigger headache later on.
Well, I already knew there was nothing to be done about it...
Haa, as expected, I'm the most pitiful magus in the world.
So unlucky~