Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 58

Dear Teacher,

Thank you so much for sending a letter first.

I was hesitant because I thought my last letter was awful.

It’s true that I was trying to distance myself from you. However, I only wanted to stop relying on you financially, and I never meant to cut off the emotional connection.

To be honest, I was very disappointed that you didn’t come to my graduation ceremony. Would it be an excuse if I said that it was a time when I was experiencing very intense mood swings?

Please say yes. I really want to write to you again.

Instead, I’ll set new rules to follow between you and me. Please don’t send me anything anymore, okay?

From now on, the only thing I can receive from you is letters. But I can send you gifts little by little.

It doesn’t make sense? I can’t help it, though.

Anyway, I feel so much better because you sent me a letter.

The day you sent the letter was my first day at the Ministry of Magic. It’s obvious, but I was very, very tired.

But I felt better as soon as I saw your letter. To be honest, I think I cried a little.

I thought there was nothing I could do since I’m a newbie, but that’s not the case. I realized it’s a place where you have to do things even if you feel unprepared.

I’m sitting next to a person named Danny Marlon, and Munia Tran is sitting in front of me.

Everyone is so kind and teaches me well, but the work is chaotic because the previous person suddenly took a leave of absence. Fortunately, they organized the handover items before leaving.

Is it normal for everyone to go through awkward and difficult times like this in the beginning?

I’m exhausted when I get back. I keep learning new things, but I don’t have time to get used to them. I miss my friends. I also miss the beautiful forest trails of the Academy.

But I know I have to get used to it, so I won’t whine anymore.

How have you been, Teacher? I’m very, very curious about your daily life.

Putting this letter in Hornir [presumably a magical means of delivery],

Falling asleep right away,

From Vanessa Rose.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

“Ah, Vanessa.”

Munia Tran stretched her neck from across the room and called Vanessa. When Vanessa looked up in surprise, she smiled awkwardly and said,

“An illegal immigrant wizard was caught. He was caught as a bonus while the Ministry of Justice was investigating a crime, and he was transferred to our department. For some reason, the Minister said he would go in person. I think it would be good for you to go with him.”

Everyone poked their heads out and whispered with pitiful eyes.

“The Minister… is a bit strict….”

“But well, it’s good to learn that way when you first start….”

“How common is it for a Minister to move in person! It’s a very good opportunity.”

Someone tried to find the good points.

Vanessa put down the documents she was looking at and stood up. Anyway, it was something to be grateful for since they were doing her job for her.

“Should I go to the Minister’s office?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, he’s not a bad person.”

Vanessa nodded and headed to the Minister of Magic’s office one floor above.

Minister Tellios always had a sullen expression. He looked like he couldn’t stand the tediousness of the job, but considering that, he always pursued merciless accuracy.

“Once we receive the person from the Ministry of Justice, we can deport them right away.”

“Is there no need to investigate the reason separately?”

“Is there a need to do that? He’s an illegal immigrant. He didn’t come from the friendly country of Vitola either. It’s a waste of time. There’s no need to go that far when we’re busy.”

Vanessa nodded awkwardly in front of the sullen Minister.

Following Tellios at a quick pace, they soon arrived at the Ministry of Justice on the second floor.

Like any department, the inside was a mess of documents. However, there was a more refined atmosphere.

“Ah, welcome.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s over there. We’ve completed a simple investigation.”

The woman handed the documents to Tellios, but Tellios immediately passed them to Vanessa.

“Read it.”

Vanessa read the documents as she walked. Tellios gave her a very short time and asked with a sullen expression.

“Summary?”

“A wizard from the Arbas Islands who smuggled himself in to make a living. The reason he was caught by the Ministry of Justice is because he was involved with a criminal organization in Friva, but he claims he was not involved. He has a family dependent below.”

“You read the key points well. Involved in a criminal organization. If he had a family, he should have gone through the formal entry procedures. How foolish.”

Vanessa swallowed her words. Friva is a very powerful country on the continent, and it is unlikely that a poor and unskilled wizard could easily enter legally.

But it was a crime, so she had nothing to say in front of the Minister.

“Deportation becomes very simple. There’s no need to be humane.”

“The crime he’s involved in is a bit unique.”

A Ministry of Justice official, who had been watching Vanessa with interest, opened his mouth.

“You’re a newbie at the Ministry of Magic, right? Yes, we also thought it was a bit unique. He was collecting the corpses of magical beasts.”

“What did he say was the reason?”

“He said he collected them because the corpses of magical beasts are bad for the land when they rot. But considering that, he was dissecting them very delicately and collecting them by parts.”

Vanessa rummaged through the documents again. The types of magical beast parts collected by the illegal immigrant wizard were listed.

Numerous names of magical beasts passed by, and what remained in her eyes was ‘Bellop’s eyeball.’

In the past, when she went on a field trip to the Special Forces, they were the eyeballs attached to the torso of a cow. They paralyzed Hisop, the lieutenant of the Special Forces.

Vanessa tilted her head for a moment.

“May I have a conversation with him? There’s something strange about it.”

“Yes, we’ll hand him over to you anyway. But well, he doesn’t open his mouth. It’s deportation anyway.”

“That criminal organization is….”

“Almost all of them have been caught already. Sometimes there are scammers who go around saying that having some of the corpses of magical beasts makes you safe from magical beasts, and these guys were the ones who systematically spread the rumors.”

“Isn’t it pathetic? Believing in such things.” The Ministry of Justice official laughed heartily. Vanessa gave an ambiguous smile.

Tellios watched Vanessa check the documents for a while and then nodded.

The Minister said he would send Vanessa the necessary document forms and disappeared, telling her to come to him if she didn’t know anything.

“I think he liked the way you handled things.”

“I’m so glad. I was sweating bullets inside.”

Vanessa was led to a place where a wizard with disheveled hair was curled up in a corner. His wrists were chained to prevent the flow of magic.

“Hello.”

“….”

The wizard rolled his eyes, looked at Vanessa, and then turned his gaze back to the floor.

“I’m Vanessa Rose from the Ministry of Magic. May I ask you something?”

The wizard muttered a few words in Edirnean [the local language]. It was something similar to swearing. But Vanessa didn’t bat an eye.

“I can speak Edirnean too. Why did you collect these?”

“Because I have to make money. You wouldn’t know, people like you.”

The wizard gave a short answer. Vanessa nodded.

“I see. Did they say they would buy this at a high price?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“You went into dangerous areas and scraped up the corpses of magical beasts without even knowing the reason?”

The wizard laughed again, making a dispirited sound.

“I told you I had to make money. I’m an illegal immigrant, so I had to do whatever I could.”

“Well. Considering that, you’ve collected quite a lot of unique parts. Even ones that are hard to collect.”

Bellop’s eyeball, Goth’s horn, Narotutu’s tail….

As Vanessa pointed out the items one by one, the wizard tore at his tangled, dirty hair.

“I’m interested in Chimeras [magical creatures made from combining different animals]. So I know a little bit, and there are many things that are helpful in making Chimeras. Even the eyeballs rot easily, so it must have taken a lot of effort. Were there more people you were trading with?”

“….”

At this point, Vanessa decided to try something similar to intimidation. This person probably doesn’t even know that Vanessa is a newbie, so she’ll just throw it out there.

“I’m in charge of investigating and deporting illegal immigrant wizards. As you know, it’s just a matter of stamping a document. However, there are stages of deportation. Being involved in a criminal organization is a completely different matter.”

The wizard raised his head at Vanessa’s soft voice.

“…So?”

“If it was unavoidable for the sake of making a living, you might be able to go to another country other than Friva later. Originally, those documents are all about that one line.”

“You don’t know. I’m already….”

Vanessa knelt on one knee and made eye contact with the wizard.

“You seem to be good at Edirnean, and you have a family to take care of. You might be able to go to another country humanely. You probably have some money set aside while doing this work.”

“……”

“I really want to add that one line for you. Even if I get scolded a little.”

The wizard kept rolling his eyes. Vanessa waited calmly.

Quite a long time passed in silence. The dirty wizard mumbled and opened his mouth.

“Okay. But keep this a secret from ‘them’.”

Vanessa nodded. The wizard slowly opened his mouth.

The story the wizard told was quite interesting. The wizard’s name was Tara, and she had a child to take care of.

She could do anything for her child.

But there weren’t many jobs given to illegal immigrants. Even if there were, they were trashy jobs that barely made ends meet.

Tara became anxious when her child started to go hungry. That’s when someone approached her.

“At first, it was those scammers who were involved. They just told me to cut off the fins or tail hairs of magical beasts that weren’t even a big deal.”

“I see. I’ve definitely heard those rumors. That having the fur of a magical beast makes you safe, or something like that.”

“Anxious people want to rely on something. That helped quite a bit.”

The child could at least eat one meal a day. Her stomach didn’t swell up from lack of food.

“As I crawled into that place every day, I got used to it. I went deeper and deeper. To bring back more.”

“To the forbidden area where there are many magical beasts.”

“Yes. But I thought that if I went deeper, I might not be able to get out.”

Because there’s an abyss there. Tara said quietly.

“Then one day, they approached me.”

“Who are they?”

“They are them. I don’t know who those people are. But they must have wanted to make a Chimera. Just like you said, the items they wanted were accurate.”

“It must have been dangerous.”

“Yes. So I refused at first.”

When Tara refused, they showed her money. Yellow gold poured out of their pockets.

“They said that some items could be scraped from freshly dead corpses. So I did that. If I was prepared to die, my child could eat three meals a day instead of one.”

“Sometimes I could even buy her snacks. That’s why I did it,” Tara said weakly.

“Friva is a very good country. But there is no country as cold to outsiders as this one. I guess it’s because it’s a good country.”

“Thank you for being honest. I’ll keep my promise.”

Tara stared intently at Vanessa’s eyes. Her blue eyes looked honest. So, without realizing it, her mouth opened.

“There’s a rumor.”

“What?”

“When a sleeping magical beast wakes up, a better world will open.”

Vanessa frowned. Tara closed her eyes again and curled up.

A sleeping magical beast? A magical beast put to sleep by the Night Bandalloo [a creature known for inducing sleep]?

Vanessa moved her lips, covered the curled-up wizard with a small blanket, and left the room.