Salko was very hospitable. It was the complete opposite of his usual demeanor at the academy, where he would frown and refuse to interact with the students from the Blue Dragon Tower.

"Are you trying not to borrow money from your family?" Salko asked.

"That's right," Yi-Han replied.

"Wardanaz, you are a true noble."

Although Salko meant it as a compliment, it didn't sound like one to Yi-Han.

'If I could borrow money from my family, I wouldn't be doing this, you fool,' he thought.

For Yi-Han, who was trying to raise funds separately and make a profit, the family name wasn't of much help. If it wasn't something necessary for his studies, he wouldn't receive support, and if he asked them to find him a lucrative job, they would likely react with, "Huh? Why would you want such a job?"

"By the way, Salko, don't you work at the guild? Shyles seemed busy," Yi-Han asked.

"Unlike the transportation guild, our stonemason guild has an off-season," Salko explained.

"I see. So you took advantage of the time to find another job."

"That's right."

Yi-Han and Salko exchanged glances. It was a sense of kinship that only those obsessed with work could feel.

"Come, Wardanaz. I'll explain how it works," Salko said as he turned around, and his gang members chimed in.

"Wait a moment, Tutanta," one of them said.

"What is it?" Salko asked.

"I need to pay back the silver coins owed to Wardanaz."

"Me too."

"Me too..."

"..."

Salko looked at his friends in disbelief. Just how much had these guys begged from Wardanaz without him knowing?

Sitting on a chair, opening a box, and detecting the amount of mana in the materials inside the box. If the amount or quality of mana differed from the original material, or if there were any other issues, that material would be excluded.

It wasn't a particularly difficult task. It was just a tedious job that required persistence and patience.

"This could be quite a good training, don't you think, Gainando? It's also great for developing the ability to distinguish materials," Yi-Han said.

"..."

Gainando thought his friend had gone crazy. So instead of answering, when Yi-Han briefly left his seat at Salko's request for help, Gainando desperately whispered to his other friends.

"He's crazy! I think Yi-Han has gone mad! He's enjoying this!"

"Huh? Isn't it pretty decent?" Yonaire said as she tossed a material into the box.

From Yonaire's perspective, who wanted to run a few businesses on her own later, there was nothing wrong with collecting silver coins like this.

"...What about you guys?!" Gainando asked.

"What? We should be grateful to work so easily and get paid that much," Nillia said, dumbfounded by Gainando's question.

When she was in the northern mountains, even if she chased and caught a beast for three days, she would only get a few imperial copper coins after dividing the spoils among the hunters. But in this warehouse, she could earn silver coins just by sitting for a few hours and sorting materials.

'This is why you should become a mage,' she thought, considering the conditions to be good enough.

"I agree. It's a pity that we won't be able to receive any more silver coins once we finish organizing here," Ratford said.

"That's right. I'm also very disappointed about that," Nillia nodded repeatedly.

It was a shame that such a good job would end after doing it once.

"But it can't be helped, right? There's no way such a good job would continue," Ratford said.

"You're right. They're probably paying us well because it's an urgent task," Nillia agreed.

"You... You've all gone crazy... Dargard! Dargard!" Gainando called out to his last remaining friend, Asan.

However, Asan replied with a serious expression, "This is a good opportunity."

"...Have you gone mad too?! Why are you like this! Come to your senses! Why are you doing this too?!"

Gainando didn't know, but Asan had already been persuaded.

-Asan, think about it. If you earn silver coins with your own strength? How would your older brother and sister think of you?-

-Indeed... If I give them a gift with the silver coins I earned on my own, even if they are my older siblings, they will have no choice but to acknowledge me.-

-...I wasn't telling you to give them a gift, but anyway, that's the point.-

"Gainando, how long are you going to rely on your family's power?" Asan asked.

"What are you talking about! My family's power is my power!" Gainando shouted, jumping up and down.

While Gainando was making a fuss, Yi-Han returned to his seat. He looked at Gainando and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Just... Just a little exercise."

"I see. Let's sit down again."

"Okay..."

Gainando's resistance ended in vain. He sat down again and started organizing.

'Sob, sob. I want to go home,' he thought.

When they came out of the warehouse, the sun was already setting, and the evening glow was approaching. Magic lamps began to light up one by one on the city's streets in front of the warehouse. They could also see night owls getting dressed in their outfits.

"Thank you very much for your hard work, mages," the company employees said, expressing their sincere gratitude and bowing their heads.

No matter how they looked at it, even when students who seemed to be from noble families came, they were worried, thinking, 'Will it be okay? What if they make a fuss because they don't want to do such a tedious job?' However, the students completed the work surprisingly quickly and accurately.

They wanted to call them again when there was work next time.

'But if we do that, it would be rude,' they thought.

If they tried to ask the children of noble families, "Can we call you again if there's work next time?" they might get a response like, "Oh, sure, come visit the mansion, but you won't be able to leave with your limbs intact."

"Excuse me..." Yi-Han said.

"?"

"If there's a job like this next time, please contact me," Yi-Han whispered, slipping a precious silver coin into the employee's hand.

The employee was shocked by Yi-Han's skilled networking, which was more adept than a worker who had been working for over a decade.

'Who on earth is this person...!?'

Yi-Han winked and turned around.

'It seems to have gone well,' he thought.

In this era, connections were important when it came to finding a job. If you received a high evaluation from a place you worked at once, you could get a job again when there was an opening, or you might receive a job offer from a related place.

"Good job, everyone. Gainando, shall we go buy some toys?" Yi-Han asked, looking at Gainando.

While everyone else was stretching, Gainando was staring intently at his pouch of silver coins, which caught Yi-Han's attention.

He wondered if Gainando would go back to the mansion and tell his mother, "Sob, sob, Yi-Han made me sweat healthily."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Gainando shouted. Yi-Han was slightly taken aback by Gainando's unusual outburst.

"No, didn't you want to buy toys? Do you prefer cards?"

Gainando's eyes widened as he hugged the pouch of silver coins tightly to his chest. He looked like he would immediately swing his staff at anyone who tried to touch the pouch.

"I earned this silver... I can't just spend it like that! I'll put it in the deepest vault in my room!"

"...O-Okay, do that."

Yi-Han was surprised by Gainando's reaction but nodded.

Isn't it a good thing anyway?

Asan tried to put his hand on Gainando's shoulder to praise him. However, Gainando growled and tried to bite him.

Smack!

"Hey, you crazy bastard!! What are you doing!"

"I told you not to come near me! I'll bite anyone who comes close to my silver coins!"

"..."

Yi-Han exchanged glances with Yonaire.

"Did we bring him along for nothing?"

"Ah, no... But he's still a bit better..."

'I think I did my best to this extent.'

At the Wardanaz family's mansion, Yi-Han was lost in thought as he organized his notes on paper.

He had asked his friends from the Black Tortoise Tower, "Since I've treated you, let's work together if there's a decent job," and he had asked everyone he met, "If there's a job, let's do it together."

To this extent, all the available jobs should come to him.

"Young Master Yi-Han, have you returned?" Arlong knocked on the door of the study. Yi-Han signaled for him to enter.

"If it's alright with you, I was wondering if you'd like to have a sparring match after a long time," Arlong said.

"Sure, that would be great. Thank you, Sir Knight," Yi-Han replied.

"You've been going out frequently these days. Are you sure you don't need any help? Please let me know if there's anything," Arlong offered.

"Hmm."

Yi-Han paused for a moment. Then he asked, "Do you happen to know of any short-term jobs where I can earn a lot of silver coins as a magic academy student and a mage?"

"Pardon?"

Arlong was taken aback. He asked again, "I apologize, but... why do you need such a thing? If there's anything you need for magic, we can support you as much as..."

Yi-Han nodded as if he had expected this. "Let's go clash swords."

"???"

Arlong was still confused and followed Yi-Han.

In the training yard of the mansion, Arlong drew his sword. Usually, he had the face of a kind old knight, but the moment he drew his sword, a huge rock revealed its presence.

Yi-Han also drew his sword. Although there was no chance of winning against Arlong, a knight who held the title of Master, given only to the most renowned swordsmen in the empire, by clashing swords...

'Let's make the most of what I've learned,' Yi-Han thought.

There were mainly two things Yi-Han had learned about swordsmanship at Einroguard.

One was the technique of infusing mana into the sword.

...To be precise, that technique involved maintaining a stable flow of mana inside the sword, even in the heat of a chaotic battle, merging the sword and the body into one. Yi-Han’s approach was more crude, just forcefully releasing and wasting mana, but it was still technically infusing the sword.

And the other was the principle of absorption.

By altering the nature of the mana infused into the sword, swordsmanship could become as versatile as magic.

"Then, I shall begin," Arlong said.

And an hour later.

Thud-

Yi-Han collapsed on the training yard floor, having lost his wooden sword. His mana was still overflowing, but his physical strength was exhausted.

Arlong wiped his sweat and exclaimed in admiration, "That was excellent."

"It doesn't seem... that great," Yi-Han said, enduring the aching pain throughout his body. However, Arlong was serious.

"I didn't expect you to be able to infuse mana to that extent in such a short time. It's a level that ordinary swordsmen usually have to train for decades to reach. Perhaps you are as talented in the utilization of mana as you are in magic. But I have a question..."

"What is it?" Yi-Han asked.

"Did you use any special method when utilizing mana? The power..."

Arlong asked, spreading his aching palm. If he hadn't protected himself with mana, the sword wielded by the young master in front of him would have turned his hand into a bloody mess.

As his mentor in swordsmanship, he had to stop Yi-Han if the enlightenment he gained was a method that harmed his body, even if it was good to gain insights on his own.

"Ah, that... So..."

Yi-Han hesitated, trying his best not to sound like a madman.

"..."

Arlong's expression turned into one of disbelief after hearing the whole story.

"So... you're not infusing mana into the sword, circulating it, and maintaining it... but just releasing it?"

"Well, I don't usually do that, only when necessary."

"..."

Arlong pondered whether he should stop this or not. Other swordsmen would spit blood from mana exhaustion after swinging once or twice, but Yi-Han had ample mana, so he said it was fine...

"I have faced countless swordsmen in the empire and experienced all sorts of secret techniques and extraordinary methods, but I have never encountered a swordsman who uses a method like the one you just described, Young Master Yi-Han."

"Is it that rare?"

Yi-Han was slightly discouraged. He thought there would be at least one or two...

"For now, it's alright, but please be careful. No wonder the sword keeps... Ah, there's one more thing I'd like to ask."

"Go ahead."

"Earlier, you clearly changed the nature of mana... Wasn't it an absorption sword? Where did you learn the absorption sword technique?"

"Ah, I once competed against a swordsman from the Engge family."

Arlong was surprised.

"Are you saying a swordsman from the Engge family taught you their family's sword technique? Why on earth would they do that?"

"No, they didn't teach me. After clashing swords, some time passed, and I became able to change the nature. So I've been trying to make use of it since then."

"..."

Arlong almost collapsed.