A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 173 Law is also Law

Bungee jumping can indeed relieve stress, and what he just saw was definitely not a jump. Luo Xia composed himself and followed the sorceress Ou Yeni into her office, where another gargoyle swayed and brought over tea.

"Thanks."

The gargoyle could also speak, in an extremely shrill, hoarse voice: "You're welcome."

"You're quite polite to the puppet," Elizabeth chuckled, covering her mouth.

Rorschach explained his purpose, stating that he wanted to build a personal mage tower within the Kingdom of Bain and asked if the Arcane Tower could provide assistance, as promised by the guild.

"It depends on what type you want. If Master Rorschach intends to live a solitary life in the mountains, we are happy to support you. However, if you want to take on apprentices, we need to be more cautious."

"As is customary, if a mage leaves the Arcane Tower and is good enough, we are willing to support him or her in building their own tower, but they must be recruited by us and apprentices must be assigned to them. Not only that, we also need to assess these towers."

This is equivalent to a research lab affiliated with the Tower of Mystic Arts. If that were all, why would Rorschach be here to suffer when he could be comfortably staying in the research building in the capital?

"What if I don't accept this format?"

"We can provide supplies and a team to build your mage tower, giving it protective magic arrays, a tower spirit with rudimentary intelligence, and assistance in negotiating with local lords and governing bodies. All of this will cost money, but you should know that in Bain, no matter how much money you offer, this is the only place that sells magic-related supplies and services."

"Great, money isn't the problem, the problem is I don't have that much money right now." Rorschach's words nearly choked her. Elizabeth wiped her mouth: "How much money do you have right now?"

Is this a test of one's own resources? "My mentor, Archmage Kano, is willing to support me, and I myself have some disposable funds."

"If Master Kano is willing to provide you with support, I believe it is possible to build a medium-sized tower. 50,000 Golden Eagles is a reasonable price, which can be paid off in installments, but there will be interest. If you have collateral, we can introduce you to a bank loan."

No, is this a magic tower or a sales office? Rorschach initially thought that his disposable assets were around 100,000 gold francs, which is equivalent to 60,000 gold eagle coins. If he sold Hercules' stock, he could pay for it all at once. Now that he realizes it, it seems like he's buying a house.

"Can I make a down payment and then take out a loan?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

"I have the ability to pay in full at once, but right now I'd rather make an investment, so I don't have the money 'now'." Rorschach mentioned his plan to partner with Valuwana merchants and the Baldorom Chamber of Commerce to build a factory, as well as the setbacks he encountered in the glass guild.

But Elizabeth shook her head: "It seems that Mage Rorschach is not aware of the rules of the game here."

The three pillars within Bain are the Brewing Guild, the Wool Guild, and the Dyeing and Textile Guild. However, looking at the entire Duma Alliance, the four strongest guilds are the Bar Association, the Banking Association, the Stonemasons Brotherhood, and the Logistics Guild. The first three guilds are all under the control of the Arcane Tower.

Well, law is law, so mages should learn law, no problem! No wonder they can provide services like construction, loans, and negotiating with lords; it's all their own business.

The truth is that all three industries need highly skilled personnel, but the long apprenticeship system of the Tower of Arcane Arts makes it impossible for these people to continue their studies, thus supplying a large number of talents to the legal, financial, and civil engineering industries. The reason behind this is truly heartwarming.

"Do you know Master Granor? What connection does the Valuwana stonemasons' brotherhood have with this place?"

"The Stonemasons' Brotherhood is a society that arose alongside the magic guilds. It worships the Creator and advocates mutual assistance among its members. According to research, it originated in Istani and now has five major guilds that operate in parallel with each other."

"The Stonemasons' Brotherhood here is more like a literal construction guild, but as far as I know, there are also members inside the Arcane Tower. Most of the craftsmen are in the outer ring, while the inner ring has a separate organization. The leader of the outer ring is called the guild master, and the leader of the inner ring is called the 'Lord'."

That sounds really dark. Rorschach suddenly realized that Granor was the "Chairman," so could the Brotherhood's "Lord" within the Holy Kingdom be someone else entirely?

Finally, Elizabeth concluded, "So what I'm trying to say is that we won't actively change the current situation, nor will we hinder your plans, Rorschach. Good luck."

Although no agreement was reached, the appearance of an "academic visit" still had to be maintained. The contact between Kano and the Arcane Tower was somewhat hasty; Rorschach first gave a brief tour and dined at the restaurant on the fiftieth floor of the Arcane Tower.

"I apologize in advance. I don't understand table manners. When I was a child, I preferred riding horses in the mountains to ladylike classes." Ou Yeni took off her wide-brimmed hat, revealing her waterfall-like long hair, which cascaded down her shoulders and back in waves. Her hair color was exactly the same as Bart's fiancée's.

"No one here cares about this, beautiful lady." Damn it, why did he have to use the Valuwana accent instead of being self-respecting?

"I hope the food here is as authentic as your manners." The female mage smiled, accompanied by several other teachers from the Tower of Mystic Arts. Lunch was a meal prepared in the Holy Kingdom.

In the afternoon, Rorschach was invited to give a lecture in the auditorium of the Arcane Tower. When he communicated with Kano, the master reminded Rorschach to be prepared. Thus, the lecture entitled "The Relationship between Evocation Spells and the Thermal Motion of Matter" began.

Upon hearing that it was a speech by a "fifth-tier mage under the age of eighteen," the apprentices immediately occupied the auditorium, leaving even the mages to stand at the back to listen. There was no other reason for this; the Tower of Arcane Arts hadn't seen a formal mage under the age of twenty for over thirty years, and now both of them were standing on the stage.

Moreover, since Rorschach was a mid-level mage, the apprentices were even more curious about his physical structure.

Therefore, magic has certain similarities in intervening in the kinetic energy of microscopic particles and interfering with the kinetic energy of macroscopic objects.

"However, how spells like the [Freezing Ray] work—whether they consume or neutralize kinetic energy, or whether it's magically transformed into another form—requires further investigation."

There was thunderous applause.

"These are just my personal opinions. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

Silence reigned.

Eyes wide open.

Ou Yeni continued to speak, defusing the awkwardness: "The Evocation system is indeed an area that most apprentices and mages in the Arcane Tower have not explored in depth. Thank you, Mage Rorschach, for broadening our horizons; it has been very inspiring."

The second round of applause was followed by a second silence.

Let's lighten the mood. Luo Xia cleared his throat: "No one has any questions, so I'll ask you. Okay, you're the one."

Rorschach pointed to a round-faced boy with freckles: "Valuwa has a kind of bread that's about this thick and this long. How many can you eat on an empty stomach?" Rorschach gestured with his hand to indicate the size of a Valuwa bread that could be used for melee combat.

The boy thought about it seriously for a moment: "Five."

"Wow, you've got a big eater." Rorschach dropped the bombshell: "Wrong answer. You weren't on an empty stomach after the first bite. Thank you, apprentice."

Finally, applause and laughter erupted.

The next day, the apprentice who had been called on excitedly relayed the Valois joke to the classmates who hadn't attended the lecture: "How many loaves of bread this size could you eat on an empty stomach?"

The female student considered for a moment: "Two... what's wrong?" She noticed that the other person's expression had become dejected.

"That's not right, you should have answered five like I did!"

(End of this chapter)