Clothbound Magic Circle – Part 1
Work again today.
After spending so many days on Skill Orb regeneration, I barely had any time for myself.
Since the Orb experiments can’t continue without Mossan, I decided to leave that aside for now.
Today, I finally want to examine that cloth I picked up the other day.
But first—
I still haven’t heard from Mossan since he drank the Orb‑water yesterday.
I should at least check if he’s alive…
My apartment is “eco‑friendly,” so we don’t have doorbells.
I stood in front of Mossan’s door and knocked.
Tap tap.
……
No answer.
He’s not collapsed in there, right…?
Or… gigantic?
Or… mutated?
I raised my hand to knock again—
and the door suddenly opened.
Standing there wasn’t the usual bottle‑bottom‑glasses Mossan.
It was a man with long hair—white and black mixed together—
and a scruffy beard that made him look like a cave-dwelling hermit.
…Who?
“Hei‑chan.”
The voice was unmistakably Mossan’s.
“M‑Mossan?”
The face was different, but the voice was the same.
My brain refused to process it.
He looked like he wanted to explain, but I was already running late for work.
“Sorry, Mossan. I don’t have time. I’ll ask you everything when I get back!”
“…Alright. Before you go—can I have the water we saved from the failed Orb experiments?”
I hurried back to my room, grabbed a PET bottle of the stored Orb‑water from the fridge, and handed it to him.
“Is one bottle enough?”
“Yeah. That should be plenty.”
We parted ways, and I headed toward the office to check today’s assignment.
As I walked in, the clerk, Mayuri Mimori, called out to me.
“Tōdō-san, the director wants to see you.”
…Did I do something wrong?
I nervously entered the director’s office.
“Tōdō-kun, good morning! Sorry to call you in right after you arrived.”
Normally he’s all “Hurry up and get to work!”
But today he looked unusually cheerful.
“It’s about the magic stone you submitted last week. I’d like to ask you a few things.”
Ah—
the magic stone I found in the hidden spot at Marui.
“Was it something dangerous?”
“No, no. Quite the opposite. Apparently it was an extremely valuable stone. We’ve received a request to know exactly where you found it.”
Seriously…
I told him I picked it up along the way and dodged the question.
“Got it. Anyway, it seems the stone was so valuable that the government bought it from headquarters for a high price. They said you’ll get a bonus this month.”
I left the director’s office and headed to my assigned worksite for the day.
Ahh, so that’s why he’s in a good mood.
…Man, I was thinking of going into the dungeon on my days off to collect more stones,
but I should probably stop.
If they’re that valuable, I’ll definitely get caught.
And there’s nowhere I could sell them safely anyway.
Well… whatever.
I left the director’s office and headed to my assigned worksite for the day.
