ALL NOVEL Chapter 8
Imperial Public Affairs Building.
“I am Johan Harsen, set to take the Archmage exam. I’ll be joining the next scouting mission. I look forward to working with you all.”
As Johan entered, bowing politely after passing through the training ground, the officers preparing for the dungeon scouting mission were left speechless.
‘Insane.’
‘What’s this, a saint?’
‘How can someone look like that?’
His face, perfectly sculpted, exuded a graceful and tranquil impression, as if he were a creation of a master artist.
His deep and delicate eyes resembled the shimmering surface of a clear lake, holding an ethereal yet sharp sensation, as if containing untold stories.
It was impossible to tear one’s gaze away. He almost didn’t look like he belonged to the same race.
“What’s everyone doing? Aren’t you going to greet me?”
As the group froze, a hulking man with bulging muscles approached Johan with a hearty smile.
“Welcome, Archmage Harsen. Can I call you Johan?”
“That’s fine. I prefer it when you’re so informal.”
“Haha! So we can understand each other.”
The muscular man extended his large hand. Johan shook it without a flicker of emotion.
“I’m Tersis Galectico, the second son of the Galectico Marquis family, and Deputy Head of the Second Public Affairs Officer. Let’s get along, Johan.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Satisfied with Johan’s sincere greeting, Tersis glanced around at the still-frozen others and spoke.
“Well then, let’s exchange greetings. I have documents to get signed.”
“Yes, Deputy Head!”
“Oh, Johan. The Head is at the palace, so you’ll greet him at the welcome party later.”
“Understood.”
With a hearty laugh, Tersis exited the building.
After a while, more officers approached to greet Johan.
“Hello there, nice to meet you. I’m Kassar.”
“Uh, Archmage Harsen? Welcome!”
“Welcome!”
While there was a somewhat awkward feeling from the aura that said Johan was someone you shouldn’t approach, members of the Second Public Affairs Officer welcomed him nonetheless.
“I’m grateful for the warm welcome. Thank you.”
Just then, a knight stepped forward and placed his arm around Johan’s shoulder.
“Haha! Don’t be shy. You’re already on a first-name basis with Deputy Head Tersis. You can call me Merdin.”
“Just Johan will do for me.”
As Johan exchanged greetings with the officers, a red-haired woman approached him and smiled warmly.
“Hello, Archmage Harsen. Can I call you Johan too?”
“…”
Johan’s expression hardened at the sight of her. It wasn’t unpleasant to have a stranger approach without hesitation.
‘Violet Ratalen.’
She was someone to be cautious of in the future, ranking around fifth on his list of individuals to guard against.
‘I didn’t expect to meet her here.’
The eldest daughter of the Ratalen Marquis family, and a woman infatuated with Kasys Lenokhnen.
She was a nuisance, constantly bothering Kasys, who liked Fransia but didn’t pay her any attention.
“Nice to meet you. You can call me Johan.”
“With a face as handsome as yours, your personality matches well too.”
Violet giggled.
“How about we have a meal together? Any time works for me.”
She tilted her head slightly, glancing up at Johan. Her red hair cascaded down to her shoulders.
“A meal… you say?”
“Yes. I’d like to have a glass of wine together.”
Her sly, fox-like smile radiated an alluring vibe. However, Johan’s gaze didn’t waver at all.
“…If you invite me, I’ll go.”
“Oh my, I didn’t expect you’d accept.”
Violet covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled again. Johan felt a sense of discomfort, yet he couldn’t outright refuse the invitation.
Even if she was a first-class archmage, lower in rank than he, he couldn’t underestimate her connections within the public affairs.
‘It’s just socializing.’
If he rejected her outright, he’d risk a bad first impression. It would probably be better to indulge her a bit at first and then decline later.
Ah, it wasn’t about making a good impression on her. He was just concerned about how others might perceive him.
“Well then, good to have your help?”
“I look forward to working with you too.”
Violet flashed a meaningful smile and lightly stroked Johan’s shoulder. Her touch was rather suggestive.
“…”
Johan subtly turned his gaze to watch her walking away.
‘She’s part of the Second Public Affairs Officer? I thought she’d joined the First Public Affairs Officer, where Kasys was, based on rumors circulating in social circles.’
Her reason for joining the public affairs wasn’t some noble cause or a desire to protect the empire. It was simply because she wanted to get closer to Kasys.
‘Looks like things haven’t gone as planned for her.’
To enter the First Public Affairs Officer, which could be considered the empire’s main force, one needed a recommendation from the royal family.
That’s also why Crown Prince Fedelian led the Second Public Affairs Officer.
‘Looks like things are going to get pretty annoying after this scouting mission.’
The day the First and Second Public Affairs Officers would meet was during the dungeon scouting mission. It was then that Kasys would surely take an interest in Fransia upon seeing her.
Then, Violet would surely try to make some frivolous advances.
‘There’s no way to block this in advance.’
It wouldn’t be possible to just exclude Fransia from the scouting mission, and it was impossible to hide her while bringing her along.
It might work initially, but eventually, it would be discovered.
Of course, there’s a possibility that a male protagonist like Kasys wouldn’t fall for Fransia.
With Johan Harsen as an additional variable, the future might change.
But Johan didn’t believe that was very likely.
‘The first reason he liked Fransia was her beautiful appearance.’
The second reason was likely because she was a flower that didn’t easily bend, igniting the male protagonists’ competitive spirits.
Typically, interest would wane, but these lunatics didn’t back down easily.
‘…Let’s think about this issue later. For now, I need to greet everyone.’
While Johan continued exchanging greetings with other officers, a woman stood frozen in shock, watching his back.
‘Johan? What was that just now?’
It was Fransia.
She couldn’t brush off Ratalen’s first-class magician’s casual advance.
Of course, it was understandable. Since it was her first day at work, she needed to make a good first impression.
But…
‘Eww…!’
The idea of her man being touched by another woman was intolerable.
‘I need to talk about this later.’
She definitely needed to lay down the law about not getting too close to other women.
Of course, she didn’t think Johan would leave her for someone else.
The problem was…
‘What if other women act like me?’
The issue was with the women. What if they, like her, offered Johan drinks and slyly led him to their rooms?
A drunken Johan would be extremely dangerous. His judgment would be compromised.
After all, even when they spent their first night together, a little temptation had caused him to lose himself completely, so she couldn’t guarantee that wouldn’t happen again.
‘Moreover, Johan has a low tolerance for alcohol.’
Just one glass of wine was enough to get him drunk. At the party that day, he had collapsed after just four glasses.
It would be great if she could just prevent him from drinking, but with a welcome party for the new archmage planned, that would be impossible.
Johan wouldn’t be able to refuse drinks from his seniors. This was part of social life, and Fransia wouldn’t be there to protect him.
As things went on, the information about his low tolerance for alcohol would get out, and other women could make use of it like she did.
‘That’s when I need to be most careful.’
I can’t be the mother who lets her child run off into danger. Fransia steeled herself, determined to ward off the other fox-like women.
Meanwhile…
As Johan was deep in the greeting, his keen senses picked up on a chill.
A cold sensation ran down his spine, making every hair stand on end.
‘…What’s this?’
Johan quickly glanced around. He spotted Fransia looking at him from behind.
The source of the chill was her.
‘…It must be because I greeted Violet Ratalen so cheerfully.’
Johan, who had to be sharp since he was young, quickly recognized the reason.
‘Well, Fransia should understand that this much is just part of socializing.’
At that moment, as Fransia’s eyes met Johan’s, she nodded once and rolled her eyes toward the door, indicating the exit of the Public Affairs building.
‘Looks like she has something to say.’
Johan smiled and spoke to the officers.
“Oh, I just remembered something I left outside. I’ll step out for a moment.”
“Ah… Okay…?”
Johan smiled once more and exited the building.
“Wow…”
The woman who had greeted him earlier, first-class magician Ludbekia, unconsciously dropped her jaw.
‘He’s really handsome.’
*
Behind the Imperial Public Affairs Building.
Fransia checked to make sure no one was around and immediately buried her face in Johan’s chest.
“…Fransia?”
Johan was taken aback by her sudden closeness, but he masked it well.
Fransia looked up at him and smiled awkwardly.
“Ah, haha. It’s been a while. I wanted to meet just the two of us.”
“Ah.”
If that was the case, he understood. After all, it had been a month since they last met. Johan smiled and gently patted Fransia on the head.
“Have you been well for the past month?”
“Not at all…”
Fransia buried her face back into Johan’s chest, sighing.
“Really… so many irritating things happened. I was sad not being able to see you.”
“Haha.”
Johan smirked. Her childlike demeanor was just too cute.
“But you came back so quickly, didn’t you?”
“True. Honestly, I still can’t believe it. How did you master Archmage Magic in just a month?”
“I worked hard to see you again.”
He continued, “I need to be recognized by the Duke as well.”
If he could achieve at least minimum feats during this scouting exam, everything would go smoothly.
He wouldn’t just miss the chance to be with Fransia; he might even lose his life.
“Johan, you’ll be able to pass the exam smoothly. Because it’s you, not just anyone.”
“I appreciate your faith in me. I’ll do my best to meet your expectations.”
“Hehe, sounds good.”
As Johan and Fransia gazed at each other, they instinctively shut their eyes. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted them.
“Uh.”
Both turned instinctively toward the sound and found a man who was holding a cigarette.
“Ahem, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop or anything. I often come here to smoke… Oh, damn. Why is there a branch here?”
The man began to ramble on, clearly feeling out of place.
“Uh, I’ll keep your secret. I’m not the kind of guy who blabs, right? Oh, and I also have a fiancé I plan to propose to after the next scouting mission. Haha, I’ll admit I’m a bit hotheaded.”
Despite his excuses, Fransia and Johan were left speechless.
“Well, I’ll take my leave now. Haha! I can smoke elsewhere. Enjoy your sweet love!”
With silent footsteps, the man quickly vanished.
“Looks like we’ve been caught.”
Fransia’s expression darkened. Johan shrugged.
“It’s not exactly a secret, is it? No problem.”
But in reality, it was full of issues. If Crown Prince Fedelian learned of this, Johan wouldn’t get off easily.
Yet he wasn’t afraid. How could they possibly take measures against a new archmage in their public affairs? Even the Crown Prince would have to think hard before acting against him.
‘They’ll probably just mess around a bit.’
With the Archmage Magic and the Book of Calamities in his possession, he felt fearless. Unless a master-level knight targeted him, nothing would deter him.
Fransia made a pout as she apologized.
“…I’m sorry for being spoiled.”
“You can’t help it when you haven’t seen someone for so long.”
Johan didn’t mind at all. In fact, he pulled Fransia closer and gently patted her head, just to comfort her.
“By the way, didn’t you have something you wanted to say?”
“Uh, how did you know?”
“I could see it in your eyes earlier; you had something on your mind.”
“Ah.”
Fransia blushed and shyly averted her gaze.
“Um, soon the members of the Second Public Affairs Officer will gather to throw a welcome party for you.”
She stiffened her expression and added.
“You have to be careful with alcohol then. If the other female officers find out about your low tolerance… they might try to target you just like me—”
“Target me?”
“No, no! Hahaha! Just a slip of the tongue, I didn’t mean it! Um… Anyway, just be careful with alcohol, okay?”
Johan felt a moment of confusion at Fransia’s words but didn’t press further. She was obviously flustered and had the potential to make mistakes.
“I’ll… be careful with the alcohol.”
“Even if the Deputy Head insists you take a shot, you mustn’t, alright?”
“I know.”
Johan smiled brightly. It seemed like that was enough to put Fransia at ease.
“Great! I have lots more to say, but I’ll save it for later.”
“Good choice. We have plenty of time.”
As Johan and Fransia smiled at each other, their gazes brightened with joy, and they returned to the building.
That night, a welcome party was held for Johan at the Second Imperial Public Affairs Officer.
…While the female officers of the Second Public Affairs Officer quietly set their sights on him.