2428 Price of Progress (Part 4)

On top of that, with Lith gone the senior Constables had no qualms about dropping their scut work on Kamila. It forced her to leave her desk and slowed down the progress of her own cases.

While she navigated the maze of various offices and departments like the new guy she was, her pile of papers grew in size while those of her colleagues shrank. Walking so much made her both angry and hungry.

The only silver lining was that no one could mess with her desk. Upon her return, she would find no nasty present nor could people exploit her absence to slip their most thorny cases in her pile.

Everyone assumed that at least one of the Demons literally shadowed her, but that still left two of them in an unknown position. Also, War had never left its position, emitting bone-chilling shrieks as warning whenever someone dared to approach.

"I'm back. How did work go?" Lith asked.

"Peachy." Kamila lied through her teeth.

There was nothing that whining could achieve aside from making her pass for a tattle tale and Lith going nuclear. Both of them would make her life at work worse than it already was.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can make it for lunch." She waved at the to-do pile. "I'm out of practice and have fallen behind my schedule. You go home and have a nice meal. I'll fix something for myself from the break room."

At those words, many Constables groaned. Even without being victims of mobbing, they were in her same situation and the idea of a cold meal consumed over their desks made their day bleak.

"I knew that something like this would happen so I took the liberty to go to the kitchens and prepare you something myself." Lith took several packages out of as many doggy bags out of his briefcase.

A delicious smell spread throughout the room as he set a tray in front of her and unwrapped the first of three pastrami sandwiches, each one as long as her forearm.

The fourth was a basket filled with steaming French fries.

"I love you so much!" She walked around the desk to hug him as her stomach roared. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. Did you bring…"

"Salt and mayonnaise? Yes." The former was available to the public, the latter was something Lith prepared fresh with a snap of his fingers and a bit of chore magic.

"Please, marry me." She gave him a sweet kiss, uncaring for the hateful gazes of her colleagues and the rules against public displays of affection.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a married man already and my wife is very jealous." He chuckled.

"She sounds like a lucky woman." Kamila offered him a chair before going back to her seat and wolfing down the first sandwich.

Lith took out what looked like a smoothie from his briefcase and sipped it slowly.

"Why don't you take one?" She asked.

"Those are one for you, one for Elysia, and the last in case either of you wants seconds." Lith said with a warm smile.

"Aren't you hungry?" She had mustard and sauce all over her mouth but her worried expression made her lovely to his eyes.

"I sure am, but do you have any idea how much food is needed to sate me? Without my dimensional amulet, a highly dense nutrients potion is the best I can have."

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry. I'm so used to seeing you eat for ten that I forgot that your stomach is bigger than mine. You must be starving. Don't worry about me and go home." Kamila said.

"And leave you alone? No way. You look like someone who needs company as much as she needs food." Lith dipped a fry in the mayonnaise and fed her.

"You are right. I need company but you need to eat." She stood up and started packing the important documents in her briefcase. "I don't care about a little scolding from my boss.

"This stuff can wait for a couple of hours. It should be enough to go back home and prepare a serving big enough for you. I can't keep stuffing my face like a fool while you suffer for my sake."

Kamila had applied Solus' magic lessons to both improve her cooking skills and prepare servings big enough for Lith. They could have gone to a restaurant, but she wanted him to enjoy his meal, not to look at the bill like a death notice.

"What about a compromise?" Lith unwrapped one of the sandwiches and took a bite. "Maybe it won't make me full but it's still something. You suffered so much to get your job back and I don't want to ruin it for you from the first day."

"Okay, but as soon as I can afford a break, I'll take you to the canteen and you'll have a proper lunch. I don't care if they have to restock."

After the rush hour, the army canteen would be empty, reducing the time for the meal to a minimum, and even though there would be a limited assortment of food Lith wouldn't have to worry about the price. Two birds with one stone.

"Deal." Lith nodded while Kamila sat back and resumed her meal.

The scene drew a lot of envy, but even more shocked disbelief. Everyone in there considered Lith a bloodthirsty inhuman monster. An oath breaker who had exploited the Kingdom's crisis to have his crimes pardoned.

As for Kamila, she had the reputation of a ruthless social climber and a gold digger who had betted on the right horse. She had allegedly enticed Lith with her charms and used him like the tool he was.

What they saw, however, didn't fit with those beliefs one bit.

Kamila had worked hard without receiving nor asking a preferential treatment while aside from the glaring, Lith had done nothing but protect the person he loved. Surprise and envy walked arm in arm through the office as the firm prejudices of the Constables cracked.

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully until it was time to close the office and go back home.

"I can't believe I met a real Magus today." Constable Liefnen, a wiry man in his mid-thirties said. "Tomorrow I'm going to muster the courage to introduce myself. Verhen doesn't look like the monster the rumors make."

"I can't believe that Yehval gets to go home with him whereas unless I go to a bar, the paperwork I'm bringing home is all the company I'll have." Constable Tornio, a constable in her early thirties replied with a grumble.

"Don't tell me that you're envious? I mean, Magus or not he's still a beast." Liefnen bared his teeth in what he thought was the impression of a feral creature.

"With those looks, I'd gladly adopt one." She looked at her colleague like he was insane. "Also, have you seen how Verhen treated her? In my experience, only princesses get that kind of attention and only by paying good coins for it.

"I'll tell you what, tomorrow I'm going to walk to Yehval's desk and ask her to teach me her secret."