ushernet Chapter 61
Chapter 61
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
w
Chapter 61: The City of Dreamers (1)
Unsurprisingly, the next agenda item was about the largest and most prominent department in the White Tower.
Lena White began her explanation, presenting data on sales and revenue for each city.
“...The total revenue for the potion department this month is 37 million Bels. Of that, treatments and vaccines for the Cadena Flu account for only 11%, and it is projected to drop into single digits starting next month.”
A collective sigh of relief swept through the conference room.
If the White Tower had failed to establish a foothold in the potion market, this month would have marked the end of their income stream.
“Make sure the formulas for Cadena Flu-related medicines are properly documented and stored. We need to be prepared for any future outbreaks.”
“Understood.”
“Are there any other issues?”
“...There’s been a flood of requests for additional mages to be assigned to potion manufacturing.”
“Hmm.”
Ordinarily, such requests could be resolved by reassigning idle mages to the department.
But in the struggling White Tower, there were no idle mages lounging around.
All mages of Level 4 and above were already assigned to various departments.
In other words, there were no available mages who could immediately be deployed.
“Can’t we resolve this by recruiting a large number of graduates from the Academy early next year?”
“Most Academy graduates are Level 3. To deploy them to any department, they need to be at least Level 4, so we’d have to wait at least one or two years. It’s hard to consider them ready-for-action resources.”
Her point was valid.
The potion department urgently needed Level 4 or higher mages.
Moreover, the White Tower was struggling to recruit high-quality mages, a problem worsening with each passing year.
The stigma of being a "fallen magic tower" was hard to shake.
“True. There should be some kind of merit to joining the White Tower, but right now, there isn’t.”
“Exactly. Just a few years ago, the prestige of being one of the ‘Four Great Magic Towers’ attracted many talented individuals...”
But as word spread about the tower’s hollow core, talented mages stopped coming.
The delivery department, too, was a significant reason many avoided the White Tower.
Instead of focusing on magic research, they were often sent out to make deliveries.
“...Level 4 mages who are ready for immediate deployment. Let’s brainstorm solutions for this.”
The Deputy Tower Master gave Lena White a nod before turning his attention to the delivery department.
“How is the delivery department faring these days?”
“Don’t even get me started.”
Level 6 mage Pedro X shook his head in dismay.
“We’re reaching our limit in placating the mages. They keep asking when their assignments will be changed.”
“The same issue there? This is getting serious.”
As Fidelina furrowed her elegant brows, Maxim tilted his head curiously.
“Wasn’t the delivery department usually quiet? Why the sudden uproar?”
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because of the potion department,”
Fidelina replied with a pout.
Until recently, the delivery department mages hadn’t caused much trouble.
The reason for their recent discontent was simple.
“Delivering goods or letters isn’t exactly easy. It’s physically and mentally taxing. Previously, Level 4 mages took turns handling deliveries... but since the potion department emerged, the roles became fixed.”
“Why not rotate mages between the potion and delivery departments regularly?”
“That was the original plan.”
The problem was that the potion department had grown explosively in a short period.
The potion department was now generating over 30 million Bels in monthly revenue.
This meant an ever-growing demand for potion production.
“The potion market is extremely sensitive to quality. It’s literally a matter of life and death.”
Reassigning skilled potion-making mages to delivery duties and entrusting potion-making to novices?
Unthinkable.
It would shatter the White Tower’s potion market share in no time.
“Of course, Oscar’s excellent work played a big role, but the timing of our market entry was also perfect. We can’t afford to squander this golden opportunity.”
At the same time, it wasn’t feasible to force indefinite sacrifices on the delivery department mages.
"...That’s true. Now that you mention it, hasn’t it already been three weeks since the training camp started?"
Three weeks.
In truth, there had never been a training camp conducted for so long within the magic tower rather than outside of it.
"What on earth are they doing at the campus?"
"No idea. How could we possibly know what’s going on in that guy’s head?"
That afternoon, as everyone’s curiosity grew, the protagonists of the rumors emerged from the 36th floor, completing their training camp.
* * *
Their posture was different.
It was a phrase often used to express awe toward knights who displayed skills far superior to their peers.
So, what would be the equivalent phrase for mages?
The answer was: “Their gaze is different.”
"...Hmm?"
Maxim and Fidelina, who had just stepped off the mana elevator to visit the Deputy Tower Master’s office, were startled.
The hallway was crowded with Oscar and the level-3 novice mages who had been training on the 36th floor.
‘So, they’re still just novices.’
‘Look at how quickly they showed up after we mentioned them during the meeting. How cute.’
Seeing the budding talents who would shoulder the future of the magic tower, the two elders couldn’t help but smile faintly.
But only for a moment—Maxim tilted his head as he noticed the leading mage.
‘Wait a moment, Damian’s gaze... has deepened?’
After a brief observation, he broke into a wide smile and offered his congratulations.
"Damian Proud, what an impressive achievement! Congratulations on becoming an intermediate mage."
"Thank you, Elder."
"And... huh?"
But the moment he turned to look at the child next to Damian, his head tilted again.
‘Benjamin Scott, this child’s gaze... has also deepened?’
Could this really be happening?
Smiling even more brightly, he grabbed Benjamin’s hands with both of his own.
"Well done! You’ve done so well! To think you, too, have become an intermediate mage!"
"Thank you. It’s all thanks to Instructor Oscar’s excellent teaching."
"Instructor?"
Not senior?
Before Maxim could voice that question, Fidelina suddenly let out a scream from behind.
"Eek!"
"What is it?"
"You, you... can’t you see the state the kids are in?"
"Of course I can. Especially Damian and Benjamin..."
It was only then, after glancing at the other children, that Maxim’s face grew increasingly rigid.
‘Cale, Sylvia, Tofre... even Amy?’
Every single one of them.
Not a single child was an exception.
All their gazes had deepened.
Just as he was struggling to make sense of this unbelievable situation, the door to the Deputy Tower Master’s office opened, and Hamel Grimwiz stepped out.
"Why is the hallway so noisy... No, why is everyone gathered here?"
"Greetings, Deputy Tower Master."
Oscar opened his mouth, followed by a chorus of 32 voices.
"Greetings, Deputy Tower Master!"
"..."
It felt a bit like looking at the mages of the Red Tower, who were known for their military-like discipline.
He had brought them to a training camp and turned them into soldiers.
With a slightly perplexed expression, the Deputy Tower Master listened as Oscar, both lecturer and training instructor, made his report.
"All 32 participants of the Reinterpretation of Basic Magic course have successfully advanced to level 4 and returned from the training camp."
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
w