'How is that possible?'
'Does she have no concept of money?'
'That's impossible! even a three-year-old child can understand the meaning of coins. Unless one is a savage raised deep in the mountains, or some brute who only robs instead of ever paying, no one could be entirely without desire for money.'
'And yet… this Lady, so elegant and beautiful, is nothing like such people at all.'
"But… but it's still possible…" Winton gritted his teeth. Seeing Aura's like this, the chances of him instigating the new director to seek personal gain were slim. So he had no choice but to fight for his own interests as much as possible.
"But if we do it this way, then…"
"This way, then what?"
"Then we won't receive salary bonuses from the headquarters of the Magic Association. If we remit part of the donation, all members of the branch will get a raise. My Lady needn't worry about inspections. This is legal. By securing such a large donation for headquarters, even if you leave Hohenburg, your salary will double rather than decrease."
As the branch's finance officer for so many years, Winton naturally knew how to adapt. He had methods for greedy superiors, and different methods for upright ones.
This kind of rule-abiding, aboveboard "kickback" from headquarters—he refused to believe anyone could turn it down!
"My salary will increase?"
Aura tilted her head, puzzled.
'Salary? What's that? Did I ever have such a thing?'
"My lady, this is completely legal. It's just extra money you'll receive every month. Even if headquarters investigates, they'll find nothing wrong—no, in fact, this is what headquarters itself pays you as performance bonuses."
Unlike the greed gleaming in Winton's eyes, or the eager anticipation from the surrounding association members at the thought of everyone's salaries rising, Aura's eyes were blank.
'Huh? My salary? I've never even seen that thing before!'
She swept her gaze across the expectant faces of these humans, and suddenly a playful urge welled up—
Her lips curved into a wicked smile.
Then she lashed out at Winton with a scathing rebuke:
"You, as the finance officer of this association, can't you show a shred of dedication!"
Winton froze, eyes widening.
"Our branch of the Magic Association was founded to select magical talent for Kribi, to advance humanity's future, and to wage the great struggle against the demons!"
"How can you think only of yourselves?"
Then Aura cast her anguished gaze around the hall, her voice heavy with disappointment:
"Most of you were raised here in Hohenburg, educated with the taxes of your kin and neighbors. After finishing your studies, why do you think only of yourselves? Why don't you long for Hohenburg to prosper? Why don't you wish for Hohenburg to grow strong?"
She slammed her palm against the table. "This entire sum will be poured into the construction of Hohenburg's magic academy—none of you will touch a single coin!"
A chorus of mutters rose—resentful, doubtful. Aura could almost taste their discontent, and it thrilled her. She leaned forward, her tone suddenly softer.
"Don't make such sour faces. I know what you're thinking—'since I don't belong to Hohenburg's salary system, it's easy for me to preach without pain.'"
Aura flung her arm out, puffing out her chest and said proudly
"My past salary and all my future salary—I'll donate it all, every last coin, into Hohenburg's funds for school construction!"
She pulled out her identification badge and tossed it to Winton, letting him fetch it from headquarters himself.
Sure enough, once Aura set such an example, the hostile glares of the onlooking mages vanished instantly, replaced by shock and disbelief.
Seeing their faces slowly turn into gratitude, Aura's heart filled with delight.
Demons loved to toy with humans.
And demons with emotions loved it even more.
"You people must learn from me. Always keep humanity's magical cause close to your heart—"
Aura lowered her head, placing her hand over her chest in a mocking gesture of sincerity.
Then she proudly tilted her chin up and strode away.
As for that identification badge—Winton could do as he liked with it.
She was a demon, captured by a great mage and dragged to Kribi as a prisoner. She had never been entitled to any salary in the first place.
Take it, keep it, whatever. If Aura ever lost even a single coin to it, then she, Aura the Guillotine, would march straight to the demon king's castle and cut him down herself.
------------------
The carriage clattered along.
Crossing the mountain road, it rolled toward the distant grand city.
As the branch's treasurer, Winton had this opportunity to report to Kribi every six months.
By chance, Aura's appointment had aligned with the schedule.
Just days earlier, Aura had decided to withhold the Graf's donation to the Continental Magic Association and use it for the Hohenburg branch. Today, Winton brought with him the renovation request for the academy.
Oh, and of course, Aura's identification badge—that was the credential needed to collect her salary.
Upon entering Kribi, Winton made no other stops in the city. He headed straight to the reception office of headquarters.
After waiting in line at the desk designated for branch reports, his turn came quickly.
Winton placed the documents detailing the Graf's donation to Hohenburg and the projected renovation costs on the counter. The clerk examined them, stamped the papers, and they immediately glowed. The writing disappeared, then reappeared a minute later—this time with a bold red seal of approval.
"That was fast?"
Not only Winton, but even the clerk seemed surprised. She remembered Hohenburg well, since reports from that city were frequent given its proximity to Kribi.
If her memory was correct, wasn't that place infamous for corruption?
Branch members colluding with local nobles and merchants, misusing funds, and yet every Director sent there had failed to find evidence. With the city ringed by mountains and inconvenient to reach, headquarters rarely interfered.
That was why requests from Hohenburg were always handled with extreme caution—especially ones involving large sums for construction, which were easily exploited.
Normally, inspectors would first be sent to verify the actual condition of the buildings.
But this time, headquarters had approved instantly, as if they had only glanced at the applicant's name before agreeing.
"Absurd…" the clerk thought to herself. But it wasn't her duty to question, so she simply returned the approved document to Winton.
"Next…"
"One more thing."
Winton interrupted, pulling out a badge from his pocket and placing it on the counter.
"I'd like to withdraw all the salary linked to this."
"Of course, one moment."
The clerk placed the badge into a small cylinder. A magical light flashed, and a record floated out from the densely packed shelves behind her.
She skimmed it—then her face shifted at once.
"What is it? Empty?" Winton asked, suspicion gnawing.
When he'd first heard Aura so breezily donate all her salary, he had already felt uneasy. Could it be that she didn't actually have much to donate? Perhaps her daily expenses had never come from her wages, but from her family… that would explain her indifference to money.
"It's not empty," the clerk said, shaking her head with a troubled expression. "But you probably can't carry it all. This is the accumulated salary of a first-class mage… over ten years' worth."
"So many years, never withdrawn?"
"Let me check… Ah, in the first few months after her credential was issued, someone did withdraw a little. But each time, instead of taking money out, penalties were applied because of infractions in the association—so she ended up paying into the account, leaving it negative. After that, no one withdrew again, though her post remained active."
"Not withdrawing her pay—then why keep the position? She can't have volunteered to work for free over ten years!"
"Eh, it's not exactly salary. Her past position has been blacked out and erased—so what she's receiving now is more like retirement pension. As for leaving it untouched, that's normal. High-ranking mage often wander the borders of nations for years without returning inland. They don't rely on headquarters' pay—it's just a nominal tie to the Association."
"How much can I withdraw?"
"Wait, correction. This badge is unusual—it permits a one-time full withdrawal… Shall I convert it all into gold bars?"
Headquarters maintained a reserve of gold for large transactions.
The clerk handed him a chest, heavy with gold.
Winton took it blankly.
He pocketed Aura's badge, embraced the chest with both arms, and carried it to a bench in the hall.
Opening it, he carefully counted the gold bars, estimating their weight and value.
His heart pounded in shock.
"This… this equals nearly a three times of Graf Byron's donation…"
"Lady Aura, you…"
Winton shut the chest of gold and tilted his head back for a long moment.
Though an old man, his eyes welled up. His voice trembled:
"You truly… you truly didn't spend a single coin. Not a single coin!"
"You gave it all away…"