Chapter 146: Work Until Death

As soon as the academy work ended and all urgent matters were finished, people who had been waiting began to swarm in.

Leading the charge were Polling and Esty, along with five more administrative officers classified as senior.

“……W-What is this?”

They weren’t aura users, nor did they possess mana.

But the killing intent (?) and spirit they exuded surpassed even the famous Iron Fist.

‘……I’ve put them through a lot, haven’t I?’

To become senior administrative officers, these people had endured plenty of Rayrn’s “care.”

Rayrn had always emphasized that talents who come into your fold should be worked to the bone.

For martial vassals like Gazeina and Hoden, it was enough to train like mad. That was actually easier.

But administrative officers were different.

Rayrn was never a good boss.

They had been relentlessly ground down under Rayrn.

He wouldn’t leave things as they were, nor would he allow inefficiency!

“This isn’t it! Redo it with a new format!”

“This is inefficient. Don’t you have any other ideas?”

“Fine. I’ll come up with a new method. Use that.”

Erasing everything they had done so far! With only a few writing and calculation techniques left.

They were pushed and driven like mad.

Many of the administrative masters created that way were stationed at Ophern Castle, but…

“……It’s hell.”

“Huff.”

Polling and Esty, known as Rayrn’s vassals, along with the similarly trained (?) administrative officers, were assigned to wherever Rayrn was.

“You need coordination to get work done.”

From Rayrn’s father, Earl Opern, it was an act of goodwill for his son.

For the administrative officers, it was nothing short of malice.

Was building a new castle easy? On top of that, just as Rayrn was settling in, he left to explore a dungeon.

Creating, coordinating, and operating a new castle fell to the remaining administrative officers!

Before leaving, the meticulous Rayrn prepared something to relieve their fatigue.

“I have a gift for you. This will wash away a day’s fatigue.”

“What is it?”

“A potion mixed with my special fatigue recovery medicine. Ah, don’t worry. No side effects.”

He even went so far as to gift them a special recovery potion.

It was a medicine that made all fatigue vanish the moment you drank it, even if you felt like you were about to die.

‘Since it’s a potion, it’s not overkill. Originally it was for the Iron Fist, but if used properly, what’s the harm?’

It could even treat minor injuries, so curing the physical fatigue of administrative officers was easy.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Damn it!”

“I want to be in pain. I’d rather be sick and rest.”

They couldn’t use fatigue as an excuse to collapse (?) or get sick.

Since mental fatigue didn’t go away, many let out screams.

You’d think the administrative office wouldn’t run like this, but…

“Kuh… Is it over?”

“No, there’s more.”

“……Damn it.”

The senior administrative officers Rayrn had selected had a different depth to their work.

Though their minds screamed to quit, their bodies automatically carried out the tasks.

Compared to when the castle was first built, the work was easier, and they even managed to increase speed.

“Gulp.”

“Still… still… we won’t just take it lying down.”

“What are you planning?”

“Hehe, there are many of us!”

While maintaining their work speed, they prepared means to make Rayrn suffer.

“No matter how talented we are, there are things we can’t do.”

“Like what?”

“Matters outside our authority!”

They say even scams must be carried out by the clever.

Those with the best minds in this world harbored genuine malice.

Until Rayrn returned from the dungeon!

“Hehe… hehehe!”

“We’ve been waiting.”

“We’ve been piling it up every day.”

And now the result stood before Rayrn. With an aura so strong even Rayrn stepped back momentarily!

“……What is it?”

Without answering, they opened the dimensional pouches they carried.

With the Enchant Magic Tower branch here, it wasn’t strange for administrative officers to have dimensional pouches.

In this place where money flowed, several thousand gold could be spent for work efficiency.

The problem was that efficiency…

……Huh?

Was being directed at Rayrn, who had asked for efficient work!

Swish. Immediately.

Every time the administrative officers reached into their dimensional pouches, massive piles of documents poured out.

The piles soon covered Rayrn’s desk and even scattered beneath it, tossed and stacked.

“Hehe… I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

“Hehehe”

The administrative officers, looking half-mindless as zombies, had bright expressions.

They looked so happy—as if filled with such joy and delight!

“What’s this?”

“These are the documents for your primary review.”

“So there’s a secondary set?”

“How many sets do you think there are?”

“……Ah, damn.”

Should I go back to the dungeon?

The documents were piled so high he actually considered it.

***

But would Rayrn just take it lying down?

‘They underestimated me.’

In Murim, there were mental arts that allowed two actions at once.

As Jegal Hyeon, he had learned numerous martial arts, but he never touched such mental arts.

Without needing to learn a fast-moving martial art, Rayrn’s inherent abilities were already swift.

That went without saying now. With both martial arts and magic, being slow would be stranger.

“……Wind. Haste.”

Rayrn immediately used magic as he received the documents.

He increased his speed and used the wind force inherent in his body to boost vitality.

“Crazy!”

“……Hah…”

In this space full of administrative officers, only Rayrn’s speed increased. Time also accelerated naturally!

Pretending to organize the documents, he raised his power.

Without another word.

Swiish…

He began reviewing the documents.

At some point, momentum built, and his speed became insane!

As if riding a flow and rhythm!

He handled the documents like mad.

A speed that surprised even the senior administrative officers who thought they were the fastest!

Documents requiring review were reviewed in an instant.

For those needing his approval…

Thud.

His thick seal stamped without pause.

“Heh heh.”

From the administrative officers’ perspective, everything they had piled up over months was being erased in an instant! Their preparations were rendered meaningless by his speed!

Without another word, as if he had multiple hands, Rayrn reviewed like mad.

‘Do you think I’d just take it?’

He wasn’t the type to fall into the trap (?) the administrative officers had set.

‘They took me for a fool. Hmph… since I’ve built up my abilities, it’s time to make them suffer again. They’ve had it too easy lately.’

If anyone could see Rayrn’s thoughts, they’d wonder if he had any conscience.

Rustle. Rustle.

He finished the documents in an instant, as if by magic.

“Here!”

“Look at this one too!”

As if in competition, the administrative officers pulled documents from their dimensional pouches, and he processed them without rest.

How many days passed?

“……Is, is it less than half left?”

“Should we run?”

“But what’s this atmosphere? It feels like killing intent.”

Even while drinking the fatigue recovery medicine prepared for the administrative officers himself, Rayrn didn’t stop.

By the time ten days had passed, Rayrn finally had a little leeway.

“I can see the end.”

The insane flood of documents was finally showing its tail end.

With relaxed eyes, Rayrn glanced at the administrative officers.

“……Hmm.”

“……What is it?”

The administrative officers had settled in next to Rayrn and were processing documents alongside him.

When Rayrn’s gaze fell on them, they subtly turned their heads away. But Rayrn stubbornly kept looking at them.

Then—

Tap.

“Done! It’s over! Finally!”

As if liberated, he finished the last document with an air of celebration.

‘……With that much ability, didn’t he not need us at all?’

‘We prepared so hard…’

The speed made their efforts feel meaningless (?).

Ten days!

They had expected to struggle for several months, so they were dumbfounded!

But before they could recover, Rayrn was already looking at them with a demonic expression.

“Hehe, you know what?”

“W-What is it? What are you trying to say with that smile since earlier?”

Sensing danger, Polling…

“……You’ve worked hard. Then we’ll be going.”

Tried to escape first.

Vwoom—

“Wait. Where do you think you’re going? Hold!”

Rayrn even used magic to block Polling’s escape.

There was no escape!

“Do you know what the privilege of a superior is?”

Shake shake.

They shook their heads desperately—they didn’t want to know.

‘There shouldn’t be any more work.’

‘We’ve finished all the urgent stuff. What else does he want?’

They knew all too well how Rayrn usually treated his talents.

Call it talent, but in reality, it was slavery.

Right now, besides knights and the Iron Fist, he even had administrative officers and mages as slaves.

He was driving them mad even at this moment!

To others, he was a revered genius, but to them, he was practically a demon incarnate.

They had suffered enough.

‘Still, there can’t be anything left to do!’

But Rayrn was more sinister than they thought.

With a truly terrifying smile, he easily satisfied their curiosity.

“You can create work where there is none. You can even revise work already done. You know?”

“……Surely not…”

“I didn’t just review the documents. Get it?”

He didn’t wait for an answer.

Flip. Flip.

He simply pulled out a few documents from his personal dimensional pouch.

“Thin, right? Hehe. Know why they’re thin?”

“Why?”

“Because our senior administrative officers need to make them thick. Hehe.”

Though thin, the content was substantial.

– Machinery Development Plan

– Merchant Academy Expansion Plan

– Administrative Efficiency Reconsideration Plan

There were countless issues that would only be resolved after performing an insane amount of work.

If a shark knows only hunger until death, then for the administrative officers here, there was only work until death!

“Come on, what are you waiting for? Pick one.”

“……Gulp.”

“Now, now, let’s start working. As a commemoration of my return, I’ll throw lots of work at you!”

To them, Rayrn was truly a demon.

But even he…

“You were here!”

“It’s urgent!”

Could not have predicted the sudden visit of two people.

New tasks could arise at any time, even outside of administration.