“Damn it!”

Raine slammed his fist on the desk in his room and downed a drink in one gulp.

In the dimly lit room, illuminated only by his homemade indirect lighting, his ragged reflection appeared in the window.

“Raine... aren't you drinking too much? You’ll ruin your health,” the black cat in the room said as it jumped onto Raine’s lap, where he was sitting on a chair.

“Helen, what did I do? Why do I always have to be resented?” Raine muttered.

He had just been doing his job normally.

Despite that, he was removed from the team making the military's airship.

This effectively meant he had been taken off the path to promotion.

“You did nothing wrong, Raine… Most likely, August pulled some strings,” Helen replied.

August was the second son of a great noble family who was vying for a spot on the military airship team.

His family background was impeccable, but as an alchemist, Raine was far superior.

In terms of qualifications, Raine was a Third-Class National Alchemist, while August was stuck at Fifth-Class.

So there shouldn’t have been any competition.

Raine was the obvious choice.

And yet...

“He resented me and used pressure... Damn it!” Raine exclaimed, pouring more alcohol into the open glass and chugging it again.

“Raine… please, enough already,” Helen pleaded as she climbed up Raine's body and settled on his shoulder. Raine gently petted Helen.

“It was the same in my past life... I was resented and killed back then, too,” Raine reflected.

He remembered his past life.

He was born and raised in a country called Japan.

He was smart, graduated from Japan's top university, got a job at a major company, and kept getting promoted.

But just like in this life, he lost in a promotion battle, and the opponent's resentment led to his death, stabbed by a colleague within the company.

He still had dreams about that moment and could never forget the gleaming knife and the dull eyes of his colleague.

“I know that... The one who harbors a grudge is in the wrong,” Helen agreed.

Yes, that was true.

But to avoid repeating the mistakes of his past life, Raine had studied magic in addition to alchemy, preparing for any contingency.

Yet now, it was the power of nobility he was up against.

What a joke!

“There’s always something other than skill that gets in the way! Damn useless fools!” Raine ranted.

In his past life, he hadn’t come from a wealthy family.

That’s why he had worked twice as hard, always winning with effort and talent.

In this life, he was also an orphan and lived a life of extreme poverty.

But even so, he had kept winning.

And yet, to be crushed by the incompetence of a noble born into a good family...

“Helen, what am I doing wrong? Where did I fail?” Raine asked.

“You did nothing wrong, Raine. You haven’t failed. It’s the other side that’s the problem,” Helen reassured him.

Raine pondered this, stroking his familiar, Helen, who was both cute and wise but seemed to only offer praise.

“Be honest. If this is a failure, I need to learn from it and move on,” Raine insisted.

Anyone could complain, but turning this into a lesson for the future was what mattered most.

“Well, but...” Helen hesitated.

“Say it,” Raine urged.

“...Raine, you’re smart, and as an alchemist, combined with the knowledge from your past life, you’re undoubtedly the best alchemist in the country. Moreover, your magical power is high, and your skill in magic is remarkable. You’re the only one in this country’s long history to achieve Third-Class National Alchemist and Fifth-Class National Mage qualifications at the young age of 22,” Helen said.

“That’s to be expected,” Raine replied.

“I’m different from the mediocre fools around here. I have talent and should be a leader,” Raine declared.

He had graduated at the top of his class from the country’s best magic academy and achieved the qualification of a National Alchemist at the youngest age in history.

He was indeed an elite, a man whose future was assured.

“And that’s where the problem lies… Raine, you naturally look down on others and have no sense of cooperation. You’re hard on yourself, but also harsh on others. It’s no wonder you’re resented, and it’s no surprise you lost the promotion battle. I don’t mind since I’m just a cat, but you should try being a bit more gentle with others, like how you always are with me,” Helen said plainly.

Raine was taken aback. “So that’s what you’ve been thinking...”

He had no retort.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Come on… just try being nicer to people, like how you always pet me,” Helen suggested.

“You’re cute,” Raine said, petting her.

Helen was a familiar he had contracted with as a child.

She didn’t do anything in particular, but her mere presence calmed his heart.

“People can be cute too,” Helen argued.

“They’re not cute. Humans are ugly. Strip away the surface, and all you find are desires and a will to trample others,” Raine retorted.

Helen fell silent, glancing at the window that now resembled a mirror.

In it, a demon possessed by ambition stared back.

“Damn it! I know! I know already... that demon is me, right? Ugly, with nothing but ambition on my mind… It’s no wonder I’m resented,” Raine confessed.

A man who could never be friends with anyone.

Especially as a colleague, he was the worst.

Everyone probably thought so.

“Raine, it's true you've been removed from the airship team, but that doesn't mean you're completely off the path to promotion. There are other ways. Reflect properly and start considering others from now on. If you keep going like this, you’ll end up alone forever,” Helen warned.

Raine didn’t mind being single, but he understood that continuing as he was would be problematic.

After failing twice, he finally got it.

“Considering others, huh... How do I do that?” Raine wondered.

“Are you a tragic monster?” Helen asked.

Raine, confused, realized he didn’t know… he didn’t understand kindness.

“Fine... I’ll give it a try,” Raine conceded.

“I’ll help you. A little cat who specializes in being loved and completely understands the human heart will teach you,” Helen offered.

It was sad that a cat understood the human heart better than he did.

The next day, despite a pounding headache from a hangover, Raine drank a homemade potion to cure it and headed to his workplace, the Alchemists' Guild Headquarters.

Upon entering the headquarters building, he moved towards the stairs to go up to his atelier on the third floor.

“Mr. Siegvald, may I have a moment?”

As Raine was walking, a black-haired woman at the front desk called out to him.

“What is it?”

“Raine, this is Lesson One. Polite language is important,” Helen whispered from her perch on his shoulder.

“Y-yeah, I know,” Raine replied, trying to compose himself as he approached the front desk.

“Greetings are important too,” Helen added.

Alright, alright.

“Good morning. What can I do for you?” Raine said, making an effort to greet and speak politely, just as Helen had instructed.

“Huh? Oh, yes… The Chief wants to see you… but, what happened?” the woman at the front desk asked, visibly surprised.

“What do you mean, what happened?”

“Well, you’ve never greeted me before,” she pointed out.

Really? Was that the case? Raine had been working here for three years...

“Yesterday, my pet cat said, ‘You’re being unpleasant,’ so I thought, surely that can’t be right, can it?” Raine said casually.

Upon hearing this, the woman at the reception desk said nothing and maintained a straight face.

“Raine, surely you understand by now?” Helen prompted gently.

Yeah… it was pretty clear he was disliked…

“What exactly did I do wrong?” Raine asked Helen in a low voice.

“You ignore greetings, look down on others, and above all, you still don’t even know my name, do you?” the receptionist answered instead of Helen.

Wait… why was she answering?

“...”

After all, why should he bother remembering the name of the receptionist?

No, he understood. That was precisely the problem.

“Sigh… The Chief is calling for you. Please proceed to the Chief's office immediately,” the receptionist said, pointing towards the stairs, prompting Raine to trudge along.

“Isn’t it too late already?” Raine muttered to himself.

It seemed he was more disliked than he had imagined.

“It's okay... Raine, you have me by your side!” Helen reassured him.

Wasn’t Helen’s spirit broken by all this?

Ascending the stairs, Raine reached the Chief's office on the fifth floor and knocked on the door.

“This is Raine Alexander.”

“Enter.”

A female voice called out from inside, so Raine opened the door and stepped in. He saw a black-haired woman leaning on her desk.

“Good morning, Chief,” Raine greeted.

“Ah, good morning,” she replied.

“I was told to come here from the reception. What’s the matter?” Raine asked.

“What’s the matter, indeed... You seem pretty carefree, considering you were just removed from the military airship construction team,” the Chief commented.

Carefree? Not at all. Raine was still deeply hurt by it. But there were more pressing matters.

“I suppose I lacked the necessary skills,” Raine said humbly.

“That’s right. You’re incompetent,” she stated bluntly.

Ouch.

“I apologize for not meeting your expectations,” Raine said, bowing his head despite feeling wounded. After all, it was the Chief who had recommended him.

“Sigh… Are you aware that August pulled some strings?” she asked.

“I suspected as much. That man’s pride is unmatched,” Raine replied.

“Indeed... Well, these things happen, and I would like to say that you should move on to the next opportunity… but,” she trailed off.

Huh?

“What’s the matter?” Raine asked.

“It seems August holds quite a grudge against you. I tried to place you in other teams since you became free, but all of them rejected you,” she explained.

What?

“All of them?” Raine asked in disbelief.

How many teams did she think were in the headquarters? Easily over a hundred.

“Yes, August applied pressure,” she said.

“I see...” Raine muttered.

Would he really go that far? That guy...

“But, Raine… sure, his family is powerful and can exert pressure. However, if one wants to push back against such pressure, it can be done. This is the headquarters of the National Alchemists, after all.”

Raine understood… he knew that as well.

“It just means that I wasn’t worth the effort required to push back,” he said quietly.

“You’re smart. Truly smart. So let me be blunt. Yes, that’s exactly it,” the Chief responded.

Raine already knew this.

“It all came down to my lack of ability… I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused.”

“Indeed. I held you in high regard. You’ve been outstanding since childhood, always thinking of things no one else would and making them possible. I thought your ambition, which could even be called greed for improvement, was commendable. Out of all my disciples, none surpass you,” the Chief admitted.

Raine, who was an orphan, had been discovered and mentored by the Chief during his childhood.

That’s how an orphan of humble origins like Raine could attend the royal capital’s magic academy and work here.

All of this was thanks to the Chief’s recommendations.

“You’re too generous in your assessment,” Raine replied.

“Not at all. It’s impressive that someone with a third-class national qualification managed to get turned away from over a hundred teams. You’ve certainly done a great job of disgracing me,” the Chief said with a wry smile.

“I apologize,” Raine muttered.

He couldn’t think of anything to say in return.

The Chief had taught him alchemy and magic, had recommended him, and even acted as his guarantor for scholarships—his mentor and benefactor.

“Sigh… I should have taught you the ways of being a decent human before magic and alchemy. But it’s too late for that now,” the Chief lamented.

Ah, so it really was no good after all…

“I truly apologize,” Raine said.

“Enough, you fool. Here, this is your next assignment,” the Chief said, pulling out a piece of paper and placing it on the desk. Raine stepped forward and picked up the paper.

He began to read the orders written on it.

I see… a transfer to the town of Reet…

“Raine, where is Reet?” Helen asked as she peered at the orders alongside Raine.

“It’s a town in the south,” Raine replied.

Raine knew all the names of the towns in this country.

That’s why he understood the implication of this transfer order.

“It’s a good town. Peaceful, close to the sea… though it’s quite far from here,” the Chief explained while lighting a cigarette.

“Why there?” Raine asked.

“They said they’re short on alchemists.”

“I see...” Raine muttered.

“I’ll cover your travel expenses, so you can use an airship if you want,” the Chief added.

That was a relief. The move would cost quite a bit due to the distance.

“For how long?” Raine inquired.

“Is it written there?” the Chief asked.

“No… it isn’t,” Raine noted.

It was blank.

“Well, that’s how it is… Start over from scratch, you foolish disciple,” the Chief said, waving him off dismissively.

“Thank you. Excuse me,” Raine said, bowing his head before leaving the office. He descended the stairs and headed towards his own atelier.

---

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