Starting with the defeated female knight

Browsing through the various devices around them, they subconsciously began to ponder.

......

At the same time, on the other side.

While the nobles were pondering this, a group of 'piglets' brought by the Stuart family also entered Dawn City with the caravan.

They were magicians whom Green had previously asked Elise to collect privately for him—magicians who had become academic slaves because they couldn't afford the exorbitant tuition fees.

Frankly speaking, even now, they are not sure if the recruitment materials in their hands are genuine.

Even more unknown is what exactly is hidden in this city that seems so eerie.

Under prolonged oppression, they even lost the ambition that belonged to those who sought knowledge. When they saw those strange things in Dawn City, their first thought was not how they worked, but to quickly look away, afraid of being suspected of stealing patented knowledge and incurring reprimands and beatings.

They're finished.

Even if they are unwilling to admit it, they all know this clearly.

This risky outing was less about taking a gamble or having any expectations for the future, and more about them not wanting to die there.

To die in a place where one is enslaved in life and dismantled for research after death, a place where even the soul is oppressed and cannot find peace.

Yes, where in this world is there any place for researchers anymore?

The Materials Contents Association couldn't find anything about them, and the people who came to them were nobles. Not only were they treated like pigs during transport, but throughout the entire journey, no one else mentioned anything related to magic, and it seemed like no one even knew their identities...

Even so, they did not attempt to escape.

Perhaps a sliver of hope remained, or perhaps their souls had already died within the association.

But whether they were dead or still had a glimmer of hope, upon seeing the black-robed man who came to fetch them, they were all as dead as could be.

"Hmm, this batch of materials looks pretty good."

As he spoke, the man in black robes pointed to a pile of goods behind him, some of which looked ominous.

"This is the payment that you and Miss Iris agreed on. You can just take it."

"As for you..."

He looked at the group of piglets who had been tricked into coming and gave them a cold, mocking smile.

"Come with me."

“I’ll take you to the place of those so-called ‘magicians’.”

"Oh, and remember to stick close to me, or I won't be responsible if anything happens."

After counting the number of people, the man in the black robe turned around and muttered to himself.

"Why are you still taking in monks? All this explosions every day are scaring the children..."

Then, as he walked, he would occasionally look back at the mages to make sure they hadn't fallen behind or anything else.

After all, he was in charge of dealing with mages, and he knew how much trouble these people could cause. He also admitted that he had some prejudice against mages—anyone would have a problem with someone who gets blown up every few days and then has to help clean up the mess.

As for the consequences, it's because the place where those bastards were researching could explode anywhere.

The only thing that can be guaranteed to be absolutely safe is the road he is leading them on, a road that Lord Green has explicitly stated is 'whoever blows up this place will be whipped with a spinning top for a month and will be prohibited from researching it.'

People nicknamed him "Forbidden Research Road".

Fortunately, for some reason, although they were also mages, this group of new mages seemed exceptionally well-behaved, which relieved the man in black robes and slightly changed his prejudice against mages.

Then, after arriving at the designated location, he walked to a building and gently knocked on the door.

boom--

But instead of the door opening, he was met with an explosion.

With his experience of being bombed, the man in black easily dodged to the side.

A moment later, a man who was 1.8 meters tall, with a bronze complexion, a full chest, and the marks left by the explosion on his body, emerged from behind the blown-open door. He was carrying a huge hammer that looked like it was not cheap.

"Alright, now we know that the condition for the reaction is vibration."

Muttering to himself, the man with the giant hammer stepped out of the blasted door and looked at the man in black robes.

"I know, I know, we'll pay for the repairs ourselves, and we'll compensate for the damage—but how did you know it was going to explode?"

"intuition."

The man in black robes sneered, then pointed to the people behind him.

"Also, I didn't come here to cause you trouble."

"These are the people the adults told you about before. I've brought them with me. You can deal with them yourselves."

"Oh?"

The man with the giant hammer raised an eyebrow, then walked towards the new mages, reached out and pinched one of their collarbones, his brows gradually furrowing.

Then, he simply put down the giant hammer, grabbed a person's shoulders with both hands, and lifted him up with a little force.

"How come there's only a few ounces of meat?"

The tone clearly indicated dissatisfaction.

That's definitely not satisfactory.

After all, let alone the current Dawn City mages, even when they were still in the investigation team, despite being known to be physically weak, they were much stronger than these academic slaves in front of them.

But this is normal. After all, they are people who barely have enough to eat and whose spirits are constantly being suppressed. On the way here, because of concealing their identities and the long journey, they were much thinner than when they were in the capital.

As a result, now, let alone those mages who can travel long distances, even the refugees taken in by Dawn City are no better than this.

How could this possibly satisfy the hammer-wielding man?

"Hmph, alright, it's good enough that we have people, and they're much more obedient than you guys."

The man in black robes gave a cold laugh, then turned around.

"Anyway, I've already brought the people here, and there are still 'materials' to deal with elsewhere. You can handle the rest yourselves."

"but......"

He turned his head and warned.

"You'd better be careful, lest someone get killed."

"of course."

The man with the giant hammer nodded, and after watching the man in black robes leave, he put down the chick in his hand and waved to them.

"Alright, stop standing there like idiots, come in first and we'll talk."

After following the hammer-wielding man into the building, the newly arrived mages saw what was inside.

A group of muscular men with well-developed physiques were scattered throughout various areas of the building.

Some were doing sit-ups, some were lifting weights, and others were doing squats and frog jumps.

The air was thick with the smell of hormones.

The new mages had no idea where they were. The only thing they were sure of was that this place could not possibly be a place for studying magic.

If I had to put it in words, it's closer to a place that's hard to describe.

But when they thought of that possibility, and that there couldn't be anything more terrifying than being an academic slave in the capital, fear returned to their eyes, even though their souls had already died.

Quack, no way!

They would rather die on the road or be academic slaves for life than be that kind of slave!

But they quickly changed their minds.

After the man with the giant hammer pushed open the white door, revealing the scene inside to them.

They instinctively held their breath, and suddenly felt that being a slave in some way wasn't so bad after all.

It was a laboratory.

The equipment was complete and the workmanship was excellent. The materials, which are rare even within the association, filled the containers and were all neatly arranged.

Inside, figures in white lab coats were bustling about, each conducting their own experiments without any restrictions. Although they were in a hurry, they all had smiles on their faces and their eyes were full of light.

They even discovered that in a corner of the laboratory, three figures were gathered there, excitedly discussing their latest findings in a loud voice, completely oblivious to whether the people around them could hear them. In fact, they were scolded for being too loud before they began to talk in hushed tones.

This was a scene they had never witnessed even when they were still living in that 'warm family'.

If, if we could conduct research in such a laboratory, then being some kind of slave seems...

It's not something that can't be considered.

Gulu.

There was a sound of swallowing.

Even the dead souls seemed to show signs of revival.

Seeing their reaction, the man with the giant hammer nodded in satisfaction, then clapped his hands, drawing the attention of everyone in the lab.

"Alright, everyone who can stop, please stop for a moment. We've got a new member."

"A newcomer? What newcomer?"

After those beings gathered around, the mages discovered that beneath those busy white coats, although not as robust as the giant hammer man, they were all muscular.

This puzzled them.

Strange, weren't those people doing research just now? They should be mages.

But this size...

After a brief exchange and introduction, the man with the giant hammer looked at them and told them that because they were new and their skill level was uncertain, they could only be responsible for some odd jobs.

If they perform well afterward, with approval from below (in the physical sense, underground), they can pursue the research they wish to conduct.

Very familiar lines.

But they actually felt a bit more relaxed.

Although it's still exploited, this place at least looks much better.

Moreover, after the introduction and understanding, they also found that these muscle mages were not as ferocious as they had imagined, and they did not seem to mind being listened to and studied.

That's enough for them.

only......

After the initial exchange, they noticed that the muscle mages made a gesture and then began to look around.

After confirming that the surrounding environment was safe, he quietly closed the door.

In an unsettling atmosphere, they huddled together and, under the watchful eyes of the new mages, stealthily pulled something out.

"Shh, don't speak, don't let Him hear."

The muscular man made a 'shh' gesture, then displayed the object to the newly arrived mages.

It was a painting depicting a daisy gently blooming by a stream, nestled in the embrace of tentacles surrounding it.

"Let me make this clear first, this is the biggest secret in our lab. Once you know it, you'll be on our side."

"Before any important research, or even when you have nothing else to do, it's best to pray to him. He really works."

The new mages: "...?"

After all that secrecy, all we showed them was this?

"Isn't this just a painting?"

Someone couldn't help but ask.

The muscular mages exchanged glances and shook their heads.

"No, you're new here and don't understand yet."

"Trust me, pray now, and your luck will get better and better."

Although as mages they didn't believe in things like luck, for the sake of the muscular men, they still bowed to the painting and, as instructed, made their wishes in their hearts.

They just want to be able to eat their fill, improve their health, and ideally, be able to take on some research, even if it's just a little bit—anything they want to research is fine...

After making their wishes, the muscle sorcerers carefully put away the scroll and hid it in a secret compartment.