Abandoned in the mountains, I was adopted by a lizard ~I mastered magic and surpassed my parents, but I didn't know they were legendary ancient dragons~ - Chapter 51 & 52

Chapter 51   The New Intern

After returning the elderly man to the church, I began researching internships at Zelgius Marine Insurance. I discovered that an internship was starting in just a month. The entry deadline was tomorrow—close call.

With no time to waste, I used a printing spell to fill out all the necessary details instantly and mailed it immediately. The results of the initial document screening would be announced through the school in three days, with interviews starting two days after that. I hope I get accepted.

◇

Five days later.

Having passed the document screening, I was scheduled for an interview.

My interview was in the afternoon, so after an early lunch, I headed to the company headquarters on the Great Seitan Cloud. At the reception, I showed my student ID and was guided to the interview room. Upon knocking, I heard a voice say, “Come in,” so I opened the door and entered.

Inside the room was a middle-aged man.

“Nice to meet you. I am Hicero, the president of Zergius Marine Insurance,” he introduced himself with just a few words.

…The president? For a short-term internship selection?

As I stood there confused, President Hicero continued.

“Before we proceed with the usual interview, I have one question. What product did you propose to the Tridia Trading Company?”

Why bring that up? Well, since it’s a completely different industry and Tridia didn’t impose any confidentiality about competitors, I didn’t mind answering the question.

“Umami seasoning and a magic power amplifier,” I replied.

“I see. I don’t know about the latter, but it seems you are indeed the right person,” President Hicero said, looking satisfied.

What is this about?

“Why that specific question?” I asked.

“Think of it as a password,” he said.

“A password?”

“To determine if you are really the extraordinary Hadar that everyone talks about, or just a pretender trying to get into the internship. I had to verify it with something only the real Hadar would know.”

President Hicero explained the purpose behind his question.

“An extraordinary person? And are there really people trying to impersonate me for an internship?”

I mean, it’s a good way to verify my identity. Not many people know about the umami seasoning development—mainly just the people from Tridia Trading Company, Jasmine, and those in Buono Village.

Still, why does the president know about it?

“How do you know about the umami seasoning?” I asked.

“Tridia Trading Company is one of our major clients. It came up in a business meeting,” he replied.

So that’s the connection with Tridia Trading Company. That’s reassuring.

As I was pondering this, President Hicero continued.

“Given this, I would like you to undertake a special internship instead of the usual one.”

A special internship? What does that entail?

Seeing my confusion, President Hicero took out a thick stack of papers and placed them on the desk. The cover read, “Zelgius Marine Insurance Business Plan.”

“I want you to read our company’s business plan, identify areas for improvement, and implement some initiatives. Naturally, the compensation will be significantly higher than a standard internship, depending on the results.”

The internship described by the president was quite an undertaking, offering considerable responsibility.

“There’s no deadline. You don’t have to follow the usual internship schedule that starts in three weeks. You can start today or even two months from now. It’s all up to you.”

“Okay…”

“That concludes the interview. I’ll be in the president’s office all day, so feel free to ask me anything. On other days, please make an appointment first. No one else is using this room today, so you can stay here as long as you need.”

The interview ended without a proper interview, leaving me puzzled.

“Isn’t this the interview room?” I asked.

“Everyone else is being interviewed in a room one floor below. I’m not the interviewer for them.”

I was relieved to hear that.

“See you later.”

With that, President Hicero returned to his office.

This isn’t just an internship; it’s more like consulting. Well, I should at least read the materials. I started flipping through the pages.

Let’s see… The first thing to look at is last year’s sales breakdown. Maritime insurance accounts for just under 10%, and horse and carriage insurance makes up just under 90%.

Despite being called a marine insurance company, most of their insurance deals with land transportation. But that makes sense. The primary destination across the sea is the Inferno Continent, where people rarely go.

There’s not much room for improvement here.

The remaining 5% is fire insurance for buildings. Speaking of fire insurance, it reminds me of the request from five days ago. It’s quite important, but why isn’t it performing well?

Curious, I flipped to the relevant pages and found the answer.

The high insurance premiums are the issue.

While there’s potential demand, the premiums need to be high to cover the risk and payout amounts, discouraging people from signing up. To address this, they established the subsidiary ZM Fire Services to reduce fire damage and lower premiums, but it hasn’t been effective.

During that recent request, the ZM firefighters arrived quite late. By the time they started putting out the fire, how much of the house remained? It was like trying to put out a fire with a glass of water.

But now I think I know what I need to do during this internship.

I need to “revamp the firefighting system by introducing magic tools.”

By enabling faster fire extinguishing, the expected damage costs will decrease, allowing for more affordable insurance plans. This will increase the proportion of fire insurance in overall sales and significantly boost total sales.

◇◇◇

Chapter 52   Fire extinguishing magic tool

I’ve solidified my idea, so I’m heading to the president’s office to report.

“President.”

“Oh, Hadar-kun. What’s up?”

“I’ve come to report on a new business idea that I’ve come up with.”

“Already? That’s fast…”

When I explained the reason for visiting the president’s office, President Hicero’s expression seemed to mix anticipation with perplexity.

“What kind of idea is it?”

“It’s about fire prevention equipment. If ZM Fire introduces a device that can minimize damage to houses, it might lower insurance premiums.”

“I see… you’ve noticed that. Indeed, ZM Fire isn’t exactly on a smooth trajectory… and the root of the problem hasn’t been found yet.”

After hearing the idea’s contents and giving a concise answer, the president looked troubled.

“I think adjusting the course of that subsidiary will be quite difficult… Do you have a good chance of success?”

“Yes. I have a magic tool in mind that could break through the situation.”

“I see. Well, if you say so, Hadar-kun, I’d like you to tackle it.”

Even though I’m just the originator, strangely enough, the plan went through smoothly.

It’s quite appreciated, but…

“How can we assist?”

“For now, I’ll make a physical prototype of the device and bring it. After that, if you could use it for demonstration experiments.”

“What do you need to make it?”

“Making it is easy, so you don’t need to do anything. Just pay a success fee based on its performance after it’s finished.”

“Is that sufficient…? Well, it’s helpful for our company.”

Having wrapped up the conversation, I left the president’s office and returned to the room that had been reserved for me.

Now, let’s start making the magical tools.

First, I took out five Gigant Phoenix-class magic stones from my storage magic. These were collected through the diving magical tools and the floating magical tools attached to Francois.

Using one of them, I first made a familiar magical tool: a floating magical tool. This is to monitor the entire city and quickly detect any fires.

Then, with the remaining four magic stones, I made fire extinguishing magical tools. By engraving magic circles and attaching some parts made with alchemy magic, I completed four units of magical tools in just a few dozen minutes.

These magical tools look like turrets or attached helicopters. However, what they shoot from the turrets are not bullets, of course.

—It’s a high-output liquid nitrogen.

The name of this magical tool is N2 Blast. It’s a fully automatic fire extinguishing device that was major in ancient civilizations.

At maximum output, using all four units together can counteract the minimum power of a dragon’s breath. Except for some major natural disasters, there should be no flames this can’t extinguish.

Of course, normally, it won’t be used at such power. Even if it can extinguish fires instantly, if the force of the liquid nitrogen blast is too strong and blows away the houses, it would be a complete waste. Normally, a limiter will be attached to operate it with a power that the houses can withstand, using liquid nitrogen to extinguish fires.

It also has a decent movement speed, and in this capital city, it can cross from one end to the other in about five minutes. Since I’ve made four of them, if they are placed separately, the floating magical tool should detect a fire, and the N2 Blast should arrive and extinguish it in a few minutes.

With such a quick response, the damage to houses from fires would be limited to just one room getting scorched. As a result, the insurance payouts would be a fraction of what they used to be, potentially even one-tenth.

Now that it’s completed, I should show it to the president right away. If it’s used even once at an actual fire site, its effectiveness will surely satisfy them.

Thinking about all this, I walk back to the president’s office. When I knock, a voice says “Come in,” so I open the door.

“Oh… Hadar. What’s up this time?”

“It’s completed, so I came to show it to you.”

“The plan for the magic tool creation? Let’s see it.”

When I answered his question, he misunderstood in an unexpected way.

“No… the magic tool itself is complete.”

I quickly corrected him. Upon hearing this, the president’s eyes changed.

“…What!? You mean it’s already done!?”