When Melinda appeared here, Caius had an inkling that she was a high-ranking official from the Hydis Magic Academy.

  So he immediately put on a smile and shook hands with her. "So you're the Headmistress! My apologies—I was being rude earlier."

  It was clear that Caius's earlier sweet-talking had left a good impression on Melinda. After all, Hilda's beauty was widely acknowledged. For a woman of her age to be mistaken as Hilda's older sister was high praise—and Melinda was indeed quite attractive.

  "Hehe, not at all," Melinda chuckled warmly before continuing, "Please, have a seat, Mr. Caius. I came here specifically for you."

  "For me?" Caius feigned surprise as he settled onto the sofa.

  Hilda poured him a cup of tea.

  Melinda nodded with a smile. "You secured a development zone for our academy, which is of great importance to Hydis. So I came here to reach out through Guild President Hilda and express our gratitude."

  "Oh, that!" Caius adopted an expression of sudden realization before grinning. "No need for thanks. As a member of Hydis, it was only natural for me to do so."

  "Mr. Caius, hearing you say that fills me with admiration."

  "From what I understand, you are only an external dispatch personnel of Hydis. Yet your contributions to the academy, as well as your sense of duty as a member, surpass those of many within Hydis itself," Melinda said earnestly.

  "Therefore, the academy has decided to grant you an honorary external privilege—an exceptional appointment to the [Hydis Special-Class Dispatch Seat]."

  Though he had no idea what that meant, Caius still put on an expression of pleasant surprise. "Really? That’s such an honor! Thank you so much!"

  "The gratitude should be ours," Melinda replied with a smile.

  In truth, Caius knew this was just the academy's way of acknowledging his value. Melinda’s visit served two purposes: first, to gauge Caius’s attitude, and second, since Caius had established a good relationship with the City Lord, Hydis saw it necessary to strengthen ties with him as well.

  The academy had already been briefed on yesterday’s events. Someone of Caius’s caliber was not someone Hydis would let slip away—they would secure him with benefits and privileges.

  The conversation between Melinda and Caius continued for a while, mostly consisting of mutual flattery.

  Caius praised Hydis as an outstanding institution and expressed how much he admired it.

  Meanwhile, Melinda commended Caius’s personal capabilities and character.

  In short, the exchange was pleasant, the discussion smooth, and Hydis had granted Caius some rather impressive privileges.

  Through their chat, Caius learned that this so-called [Special-Class Dispatch Seat] was not on the same level as a regular [Dispatched Personnel].

  To put it simply, it was akin to the difference between an ordinary instructor and an academic dean.

  In other words, Caius now had the authority to assign tasks to other dispatched personnel—effectively becoming the superior for most of them.

  He could directly accept most of the academy’s missions and delegate them to others. If the academy allocated 10,000 gold for a task, Caius could assign it for 8,000 gold.

  Without lifting a finger, he’d pocket 2,000 gold.

  The profit from a single task might not seem like much, but what about a hundred? A thousand? Or even more?

  This was a cushy position indeed!

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  Moreover, the Special-Class Dispatch Seat came with real authority within Hydis, primarily concerning diplomacy with affiliated academies or organizations.

  Across the entire Hydis, there were only six such seats. Caius was the seventh!

  And he was the first to obtain the seat immediately after becoming a dispatched personnel!

  This spoke volumes about how highly Hydis regarded him.

  With this seat, Caius was essentially integrated into the academy’s administrative system, with significant room for advancement. The next step up would place him among the academy’s senior management.

  At that point, even Holan would have to address him as "Dean."

  Of course, Caius had no real interest in titles or authority. What intrigued him was simply how much this position could benefit his mercenary work.

  If promotion meant giving up his mercenary status, he’d choose being a mercenary over any lofty title without hesitation.

  On the surface, however, Caius played the part perfectly—enthusiastic and cooperative. Melinda’s gaze as she looked at him was one of deep satisfaction.

  After about half an hour of conversation, Melinda’s task was complete, and she took her leave.

  Once she was gone, Caius shed his formal demeanor and reverted to his usual laid-back mercenary self, sprawling across the sofa with an exaggerated sigh that made Britney’s eye twitch.

  "Ugh, what a hassle…" Caius muttered.

  "You’re complaining even after getting such a prestigious seat?" Hilda sat down beside him on the sofa, smiling as she refilled the plate of snacks that Kiki had already devoured.

  Now the little catgirl could feast again.

  "Managing all those dispatched personnel is gonna be a pain," Caius grumbled.

  "Each Special-Class Dispatch Seat oversees a hundred dispatched personnel—that’s not even a lot," Hilda pointed out seriously. "Besides, this position is practically on par with my role as Student Council President, except with way fewer responsibilities."

  "Hilda, don’t let him fool you. He’s actually bragging," Britney interjected with a sigh.

  Hilda blinked, then turned to Caius—only to see a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Who, me? Never~"

  It dawned on Hilda then—this guy was totally showing off!

  Dispatched personnel hardly needed managing. Most were mercenaries and adventurers who could regulate themselves under the academy’s rules.

  All Caius had to do was assign tasks. He could even set up an automatic commission deduction system within the academy’s Magitech network and rake in profits every month without lifting a finger.

  Unless the academy issued special assignments, Caius wouldn’t even need to complete the mandatory monthly missions required of regular dispatched personnel.

  This position was beyond cushy—it was downright luxurious!

  Hilda’s cheeks puffed up in a pout. "And here I was, about to teach you how to manage it all. Now I don’t feel like helping you anymore!"

  "Aw, come on! I was counting on the brilliant and capable Guild President to lighten my burden," Caius said hastily.

  At that, Hilda covered her mouth with a soft chuckle. "You don’t even have a burden to begin with."

  "Who says? For example, I’m not entirely sure how to use this academy Magitech badge. Care to show me?" Caius pulled out the badge Melinda had just given him—a higher-tier version compared to the standard issue.

  These badges were miniature Magitech devices with varying levels of functionality.

  Caius had only just submitted his application to become a dispatched personnel and hadn’t even received a regular badge yet. Now, Melinda had handed him a superior one.

  All it took was channeling a bit of magic power to operate it—no spellcasting required.

  Even a Bronze-rank could wield a powerful Magitech device as long as they had magic power and knew how to use it.

  Figuring out the badge’s functions wouldn’t have been hard, but Caius deliberately played ignorant—he wanted Hilda to teach him.

  This would make her feel needed.

  He had already demonstrated exceptional competence in front of Hilda, which could leave the Little Swan feeling overshadowed.

  As a genius, such a blow to her pride might subconsciously make her feel inferior to Caius.

  That was why, back when Caius called her "dumb," she had retorted that he was "too smart."

  The Little Swan wasn’t afraid of challenges. If Caius was stronger, she’d strive to catch up—it motivated her.

  But sometimes, such motivation wasn’t entirely positive.

  If Hilda grew increasingly fixated on surpassing him, her competitive spirit might steer her away from the realm of simple friendship.

  So, at the right moments, Caius had to feign weakness.

  Like now.

  Frowning at the Magitech badge in his hands, he mumbled, "This little thing looks complicated. How does it work again?"

  Watching him fumble "clumsily," Hilda’s heart swelled with amusement.

  So the big guy did have things he didn’t understand!

  She scooted closer, taking the badge from him and launching into an explanation. "First, press this blue gem—it activates the embedded Magic Array sequence."

  "Then press the red one, and the magic projection will appear."

  "Ohhh," Caius nodded sagely at the glowing interface before asking, "What does [Switch] do?"

  "That changes the Magic Array sequence. Press it, and you can toggle between three projection panels: Academy, Personal, and Public."

  "The Academy panel includes the campus map, building functions, department responsibilities, mission listings, and so on. This is where you’ll accept or assign tasks later."

  "The Personal panel displays your own details—your position, contribution points, friend list, etc."

  "As for Public, it connects to other academies’ Magitech systems or public chat channels. You have to do it like this…"

  Hilda explained everything in detail while Caius listened attentively—though his gaze kept drifting to her profile.

  She really is stunning…