A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 114 Establishing the Valuwana High School

Caron was not a grammar school graduate or a professional writer. There were two reasons why he was able to frequent the court in his youth: first, Caron inherited his father's watchmaking skills; second, His Majesty Charles XVI was obsessed with watchmaking.

But he also inherited his father's strong sense of justice, a negative quality in the palace—His Majesty disliked those who exposed the shared glittering palace and the den of iniquity. Fortunately, Caron was thoughtful enough not to speak bluntly, but instead used his pen to express the youthful indignation and sharpness of his character, turning them into plays.

Caron met and befriended the director of the theater company at the palace. The director discovered that this young craftsman also had a talent for writing and offered earnest advice and guidance. After several revisions, the play "Edmund and Catherine" was staged and was indeed a great success.

However, the troupe leader's words "clockmaker" still stung him. The more this proud young man despised the palace, the more ashamed he felt of being a "clockmaker" in the palace, a life almost like that of Charles XVI's courtier.

Valen was responsible for introducing the guests he brought, while the troupe leader introduced the playwright, composer, and actors.

What surprised Rorschach was that the actress playing Catherine was a "bard," just as nobles possessed the skill of inducing etheric resonance in groups, "bards" could also move audiences with their songs and performances, even if the effect was very weak. Enhanced spells are often categorized under enchanting and illusion magic.

As the Archmage, Kano made some polite remarks first: "Your performance was brilliant, and the script and music were impeccable!" However, based on Rorschach's understanding of his mentor, he rarely went to the opera. Apart from research and dining, he preferred playing cards in most social situations.

The troupe leader was surprised when Caron chimed in: "The magician is a very important character. If it weren't for Mr. Necker and the troupe leader's suggestions, the first draft of the script would have had Catherine rallying and leading all those in the port who had been hurt by the nobles and opposed his rule to unite, storm the castle, and rescue Edmund when the nobles returned to the dungeon to execute the male protagonist."

"That would be too intense, wouldn't it? In order to get on stage and let as many audience members as possible see this excellent opera, we need to be a little gentler." The company director has a wealth of experience in striking the right balance, far surpassing any naive young man.

Valen agreed: "Good for you. The priest and the chief guard in the box had some interesting expressions today, but they couldn't say anything."

Caron nodded: "Yes, thank you for the guidance, Master and Treasurer. The addition of the mage and the church's teleportation magic to escape prison is a good idea. However, sometimes I can't help but wonder, if we follow the original script and the mage character is still there, which side should the mage be on to achieve both a realistic and dramatic effect?"

As he said this, Caron stared intently at Pascal. Oh, in his mind, "Thor" was a more familiar name, "Sleepyhead" Thor, one of the core members of the underground club.

Pascal didn't answer, but a young man in purple robes spoke up: "I like the lawyer's questioning in Act III, questioning who defeated whom. According to your play's setting, isn't the old sorcerer a wise man? A wise man naturally stands with the victor."

Finally, Cano smiled and corrected the young librettist's mistake: "Perhaps we don't need to be so serious about opera, but I happen to be an expert in this area, and I must point it out:"

It's impossible for the male protagonist to learn teleportation magic in such a short time; he'd need to be at least an intermediate-level mage to master it. It would be more reasonable to have the mage give him a scroll instead. Oh, and it would need to be charged.

"But this is a stage, this is a comedy, the audience needs miracles and surprises," Caron argued, subconsciously not considering the possibility that Edmund could learn magic.

"Yes, yes, you write the miracles on stage, we just need to perform them in reality." The Archmage ended his conversation with the playwright, Charon.

In the evening, the dinner party became more like a ceremony, with the Chief Guard and priests appearing again, in addition to the others from Kano and the Tower of Stars.

Rorschach surveyed the entire hall and spotted familiar faces: Monsieur Pierre and his wife, his nephew Antoine, and the Count of Granour and his family. There were many others, all possessing the same air as Pierre, whose very presence suggested they were seasoned figures in the business world.

These business owners were all major donors. In their presence, Varang announced the fundraising results for today's performance, the donations from various trading companies, and declared that the next five performances would be benefit shows, with ticket sales proceeds the same as today.

"The 57,200 lang raised so far, as well as subsequent donations and ticket sales, will all be used for the education cause of the Kingdom of Saint Valois! The most important of these is to establish the Valois Higher Normal School! To the Kingdom, to His Majesty!" Originally, the toast should have started with a toast to the gods, but now that there were many mages and business owners from the Magic Guild, Valois skipped it in front of the priest.

The priest didn't seem to mind; everyone raised their glasses and then applauded enthusiastically.

It seems my proposal is really progressing! Luo Xia felt honored and, unusually, he genuinely applauded in this setting.

"Look at you showing off." Cano said dismissively, rolling his eyes at Rorschach and taking a sip of purple sparkling water—the drinks at this dinner party were also provided by "Hercules".

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Valen announced the school's plans, including the fact that His Highness the Prince had sold his mansion in the city at a low price, which was "negligible compared to the market price," according to his own words; as well as the curriculum and the composition of the teaching staff.

"The Church will send outstanding priests from the monastery to teach grammar, history, philosophy, astronomy, and natural history," Monsignor Joseph promised the donors in his address. Originally it was "theology," but at Deplesi's insistence and instruction, the priests said "philosophy."

Even so, the church's promise to teach "astronomy" clearly offended Cano, who countered in his address: "As everyone knows, the Tower of Stars is unparalleled in its expertise in astronomy, and we will send senior apprentices and young teachers to teach at the High Masters in rotation, bringing arithmetic, geometry, and simple alchemy courses that do not involve magic."

When the topic turned to senior apprentices and young teachers, Cano's eyes swept over Pascal and Rorschach, suggesting that "young teachers" were "moved wherever needed" in both of Rorschach's worlds.

Most surprisingly, the chief guard also went on stage and said a few words. His language was somewhat vulgar compared to the previous three, but the core message was that His Majesty would grant the school courses in engineering and physical education.

Amidst thunderous applause, the allocation of the first batch of enrollment places at Valentio will be announced after the entire benefit performance concludes.

Just like today's performance, tickets for both theaters and schools can be distributed based on the amount of money paid. This is also the issue that all the business owners sitting here are most concerned about.

As he left, Varen beckoned two men, one carrying a large box and the other a tripod. Once set up, Rorschach immediately recognized it as a primitive camera: behind the lens was a large, square black box.

The last part of today's event was a group photo of all the bosses present. However, neither the magistrates, priests, nor the chief guard participated in the photo; only Varang stood in the very center.

"The latest breakthrough from the Alchemy Department is the ability to record images on silver-plated copper plates," Snow said proudly, knowing that industrializing this technology would be another source of income.

"Was the whole process very long?" Rorschach remembered that early cameras required very long exposure times.

"How did you know? It'll probably take about 15 minutes. We were originally going to use a frame to hold them in place, but with so many people for a group photo, I had to do it myself." Snow looked at Rorschach with some surprise, then shouted to the bosses, "Gentlemen, are you ready?"

After receiving confirmation, he began casting the spell—[Group Human Freeze Spell]!

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The little black fish has its share of flaws and highlights, but overall it's quite entertaining! Sorry for the late update.

(End of this chapter)