CHAPTER 403: Volunteering
On Lunday I got up early since I had my 'volunteer' work to do. I tried not to wake Helena but it was hard, since we had been cuddling. Our third year room was slightly larger than our previous one, however we still had two single beds since the rooms were not designed for couples. On the bright side, neither of us took up that much space and I liked cuddling, so we were fine sharing a smaller bed.
Helena woke up as I left the bed and it got me a morning kiss. Then, to my surprise, my girlfriend got up as well. She joined me for breakfast and judging by her smile she was plotting something.
It was 08:00 when I met the city representative who would show me my job. The man was dressed in simple brown pants and a grey shirt and he wore decent boots. He was middle aged and looked somewhat bored as I met him and the entrance to the academy. My tier threes all decided to accompany me, except for Yoru, Kasai and Ivy. The cats looked after my friends while I was away to ensure their safety.
"Morning, sir. Koyuki reporting for duty!" I greeted the man.
"Huh, you seem a lot more motivated than our usual volunteers. I am Brian and I will be your supervisor." The man said, then he studied my undead. "So, the headless goblin is an undead and I have been informed there would be some but… are all of those really undead? And who is Helena?"
"Uh, Helena?" I asked.
"I am here!" I heard Helena shout and saw her jog towards us. Yoru was following her.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I volunteered, of course." She replied.
Brian shook his head. "Never seen an actual volunteer. So you girls know what this work entails?"
"No sir!" I replied.
"Mhm, so the city has a lot of infrastructure that needs to be maintained. Our water comes from rain, which we collect, the Jinso and in some cases magic. Now the Jinso doesn't have the cleanest water which means it runs through some basic purification runes. Those need to be refilled with mana, which is one of your jobs. Then there are the sewers, everyone's favourite. This is where academy students are especially helpful since we sometimes get monsters down there, or criminals. Your job is partially to patrol them, to top of any of the runes down there and to clear any possible blockages." He explained.
"Sir, what sort of runes are inside the sewers?" I asked.
"The sewers flow back into the river but we can't just dump all the waste in there. That means we have a purification system which uses earth and water magic to separate the waste and then fire to burn it. Further, the sewer canals themselves have some minor enchantments to keep the water flowing where we want it to." He explained. "The city employs mages for this but we always like to save some money with volunteers. And normal mages need an escort, in case a monster wanders in there, which further increases the cost. I will show you around today but once you understand the job I expect you to be able to work without supervision."
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"That is quite trusting of you." Hatsumi noted.
Brian shrugged. "If a 'volunteer' shirks their duty there will be consequences. I am not sure if it can get expelled from the academy but the headmaster won't be pleased."
"I suspect that if you can't be trusted to follow such simple orders the military has no use for you. It might be a further test for troublemakers to see if they obey." Kaito mused.
Brian shrugged. "Not really my concern, or my problem. Any more questions? No? Then follow me."
As we followed the man I looked at Helena. "Why are you here?"
"You think I would let you walk alone into the sewers on your birthday?" She asked.
"I mean, I am not alone…" I gestured towards all of my undead. "But, thanks!" It did make me feel a lot better having her with me. Somehow her presence just brightened up the day. As I looked into her smiling face some more I grabbed her, and gave her a long kiss.
"Ahem."
I blushed as I realised Brian was staring at us. He didn't say anything else though and we started walking again.
"Thanks for being here." I told Helena again.
"I would walk through far worse things than a sewer for you." Helena replied.
It didn't take long until we reached the entrance into the sewers. Brian lifted a metal grate and revealed a ladder descending into the tunnels. I looked at Garm. "Are you going to fit in there? And a ladder might be a problem…"
"Don't worry, a lot of this is just fluff." Garm's left head replied, while the right head studied the hole. "It might be a bit of a squeeze though.
"There are bigger entrances near the river, where you can walk through a normal door." Brian said. "But I am not going there right now, if he can't fit he has to stay here."
"I could break the ssstone." Kyan offered.
Brian frowned. "What? Who said that?"
"I have an undead snake with me." I replied. "Kyan, we can't damage the entrance."
"You definitely can't damage the entrance!" Brian said.
We descended first while Garm waited on top, then he squeezed himself through the hole. His fur did make him look bigger than he was but it was a tight squeeze. Thankfully he managed to get through and then just dropped down.
Brian had a magical lamp attached to his belt, which emanated a soft blue light. We also had Kaito's frostfire which helped illuminate the area, but aside from Helena and Brian everyone had decent night vision anyway. "If you are down here by yourself you can rent a lamp, or use your magic." Brian said.
I nodded, then looked around. The sewer canals themselves were made from stone and had the sewage running in the centre with a small walkway on both sides.
"This is how most tunnels look, although some might have a path only on one side. There are bridges now and then but you can also jump to the other side." Brian said.
The sewage 'river' was maybe 1,5 metres wide while the walkways themselves were about 1 metre wide. Garm didn't look too comfortable inside the tight space and while he could stand on the walkways turning around might be a challenge.
"I think we will be leaving through a river exit." I mused.
"Up to you, now let's get going." Brian said and led us a little further until we saw some glowing runes on the side of the sewer canal. "This is a basic flow enchantment, it mostly glows to be easier to spot and its only purpose is to make sure the sewage keeps flowing." He paused, then looked at us. "I am surprised none of you has mentioned the smell."
"It's not too bad compared to a corpse." I said. "Of course, I alchemically treat them to ensure my zombies don't smell too badly but at first you have to work with a corpse."
"Don't forget the battlefields themselves. If you are surrounded by a lot of dead it reeks." Helena added.
"Nothing compares to the crime that some living call perfume." Garm stated.
Brian just looked at us. "Oooook. Moving one, place your hand here and channel mana into it."
I did have a class about the basics of enchanting last year but I had never really used much magical equipment. Sure, I knew that our showers were heated with magic, or that most lights were magical at the academy but somehow this was exciting, despite the location. I placed my hand on the runes and guided my mana into them. Surprisingly they were almost immediately full. "Is this right? They barely took any mana?"
Brian studied it. "I am no mage but it looks right to me. As I said, basic runes, they don't take too much and maybe they weren't that empty. Anyway, fuelling those is your main task and clearing anything that stops the flow, be that debris or monsters. Now let me show you how to navigate around here and where the spots are you need to check."