“3 years.” Aurelius said in complete depression, sinking into his seat with tired eyes.

  “I mean, the research that you’ve carried forward has certainly been helpful.” Seraphine started, nodding at the papers strewn over the coffee table.

  “I’d say we’re almost 60% done with our research into our objectives. And I think you have what it takes to at least run away from a Royal Knight.” She continued, eyeing Sage Yeltz from the corner of her eyes.

  The three of them were outfitting Sage Yeltz’s office, in the early processes of becoming overhauled as a makeshift laboratory.

  In a mere 7 days from the beginning of the loop, there were racks of test tubes, and a large furnace already installed in the office, courtesy of teleportation.

  Seraphine looked around this view carefully as she considered her next words.

  “And from what I hear, what’s important is that you’ve finally made progress in creating a portal to view the asteroid.” She said, lowering her voice.

  Aurelius looked into the girl’s eyes in irritation.

  He had found that telling her this particular piece of information was necessary. If he didn’t, he found that Seraphine would find him at the end of every loop to inquire.

  Hiding it had left a sour taste in his mouth the first few times that he had indeed hidden the information, and certainly it was useful research for his predicament…

  Except for a critical issue.

  “My progress? You mean what came to me after shoveling money into a fiery pit of lunacy? Do I look like I’m made of money? Even if I’m in a loop, I need to care about my money! It would be useless if my finances are limited after each reset!” Aurelius protested, nursing the accountant’s headache.

  Over the last 26 loops, Aurelius had fallen into a repetitive, depressing routine.

  He had slaved away under Sage Yeltz, training his magic, carrying her blueprints, and researching on the issue of the loop boundaries.

  The issue was that he had not been allowed to take much breaks in between these loops! Sage Yeltz had become a force of nature in his life, descending on him immediately following his resets thanks to the tracking clause of his contract.

  And he couldn’t even complain to the ethics department or the human resources department about the absolutely monstrous and unfair treatment that he was getting.

  After all, he wasn’t eligible to exactly invoke the mandatory annual leave as an intern, and one that would have been in the Commission for what was basically a month at maximum.

  His spending had become a little more… wild recently, with him purchasing a lot more stupid things for both research and leisure.

  He had lost to the hedonistic urge and spent his own money on food rather than finding ways to bleed Tiberius’s wallet, and started to enjoy more luxurious items like potions for himself.

  “Portal research is expensive, sure, and you’re getting only superficial help from Mr. Thune at the Academy for his help. But at the same time, you are in a loop, Aurelius. I’m surprised you haven’t found ways to make money consistently yet.” Seraphine commented critically, tilting her head in judgement.

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  “...I mean, I have tried betting on horses a couple times…” Aurelius sighed, burying his head in his palms as he spoke.

  “Gambling? Didn’t you get caught by the bookies?” Seraphine replied questioningly.

  “OF COURSE I DID.” Aurelius replied furiously, shaking his fists at the way that those bookies smelt out his ‘mage-ness’ and harassed him.

  In his 9th loop, he had memorised the cards at a casino, to cheat his way into some wealth in a bid to find a way to fund himself. But it had ended up with his ass out in the streets, naked and completely afraid.

  The word ‘magic’ was absolutely abhorred by gamblers, given the fact that a majority of cheating in these places came from mages, or through magical artifacts.

  And sadly, it turned out that horses were the same. He had even almost gotten himself killed by a certain ill-tempered bookie when he won himself 1000 gold coins on an underdog bet…

  Even with the existence of expensive anti-magic barriers at gambling houses, these trashy establishments were absolutely hell-bent on keeping their profits.

  He had even gotten reported and almost been imprisoned because of a report from that damn bookie in that particular loop! Sage Yeltz was… very irritated by the development.

  “Don’t you know that most mages gamble through a proxy?” Seraphine asked, looking at Aurelius strangely.

  “...The legal gambling houses use a verification slip for winnings over 450 gold coins. And even if you get past the entrances for the illegal ones, you’ll just get killed if you get caught. It’s just not worth it.” Aurelius replied dejectedly.

  “Kill you?” Seraphine replied in horror.

  “Do those criminals do that kind of thing? What era do they think we live in? We live in the age of modernity, not some barbaric backwater mediaeval shithole!” Seraphine asked in concern.

  “Shouldn’t you report this for the Royal Knights to handle?” She continued, frowning at the idea of criminals running around like that in the city.

  “Oh wow, sure, like these places can be shut down by the likes of them.” Aurelius scoffed.

  “First of all, every single one of the illegal gambling establishments exist in the outskirts of the city bordering the wilderness.” Aurelius replied with a knowing nod.

  “You need to walk more than an hour from the nearest Royal Underground station for the closest ones. And they’re moving constantly! These places are usually impromptu boxing rings, or monster-fights, and you need someone to inform you about the next locations for them!”

  “And they also use anti-divination charms, which makes it inconvenient for the Commission to look for them.” Aurelius declared, glancing at the indifferent sage working on her equipment.

  “Lastly, these places are actually a whole lot more strict about the winnings. They make you sign a verification slip the moment you set foot at the entrance!” He finished.

  “It seems that you’re quite knowledgeable about this… Who did you hear all this from?” Seraphine asked, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

  “Of course it was Mr. Tona.” Aurelius replied, shrugging his shoulders.

  He had managed to finally get closer to Mr. Tona a few loops back, where he had finally met the threshold expectations that he held of him.

  And in doing so, Mr. Tona had become much friendlier with him.

  He had heard more about the man’s time in the Commission in the process, and when the subject of gambling had come up, he had quite a bit to say about the topic.

  “Oh, yes. I remember when I used to go undercover to break up those illegal gambling rings in my youth. I even know of a few still going on in the city from my informants!” He had said.

  However, he had flatly rejected the idea of helping Aurelius make money by gambling at these illegal dens.

  “You’ll just die.”, was his response, and he had gone on to elaborate on his words in gruesome detail…

  “...Do you know what the 2 oldest industries in the world are?” Seraphine asked after a short pause, as she chewed on Aurelius’s words of wisdom.

  “Prostitution and gambling.” Aurelius replied blandly, recalling this particularly un-fun fact from one of his history books.

  “What’re you trying to suggest? I should whore myself out to some wealthy men?” He asked with raised eyebrows, scoffing at this thought.

  “Why is it that you thought of wealthy men first? You do know that women also hire prostitutes, right?” Seraphine shot back with a questioning look.

  Aurelius’s mouth went ajar slightly at the insinuation, and his cheeks burned red.

  “I-What the hell are you thinking?! We both know that wealthy men hire more prostitutes!” Aurelius replied, fumbling with his words in fluster.

  “I assure you that I am as straight as a dragon’s tail!” He continued desperately.

  “Uhhuh, we all know that tails are meant to swing in all directions.” Seraphine replied, an amused scoff accompanying her words.

  “But, no. I don’t expect you to enter such an enticing industry.”

  Seraphine leaned closer to Aurelius, smiling evilly at her next words.

  “There is a third, more lucrative way to make money.”

  “You could be a bounty hunter.”