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Chapter 61: The City of Drears (1)
Unsurprisingly, the next agenda item was about the largest and most prominent departnt in the White Tower.
Lena White began her explanation, presenting data on sales and revenue for each city.
“...The total revenue for the potion departnt this month is 37 million Bels. Of that, treatnts 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 inco stream.
“Make sure the formulas for Cadena Flu-related dicines are properly docunted 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 departnt.
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 departnts.
In other words, there were no available mages who could imdiately 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 departnt, 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 departnt 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 so kind of rit 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 departnt, 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 imdiate deploynt. Let’s brainstorm solutions for this.”
The Deputy Tower Master gave Lena White a nod before turning his attention to the delivery departnt.
“How is the delivery departnt faring these days?”
“Don’t even get 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 assignnts will be changed.”
“The sa issue there? This is getting serious.”
As Fidelina furrowed her elegant brows, Maxim tilted his head curiously.
“Wasn’t the delivery departnt usually quiet? Why the sudden uproar?”
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because of the potion departnt,”
Fidelina replied with a pout.
Until recently, the delivery departnt 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 ntally taxing. Previously, Level 4 mages took turns handling deliveries… but since the potion departnt erged, the roles beca fixed.”
“Why not rotate mages between the potion and delivery departnts regularly?”
“That was the original plan.”
The problem was that the potion departnt had grown explosively in a short period.
The potion departnt was now generating over 30 million Bels in monthly revenue.
This ant an ever-growing demand for potion production.
“The potion market is extrely 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 ti.
“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 sa ti, it wasn’t feasible to force indefinite sacrifices on the delivery departnt mages.
After all, they didn’t join the White Tower to spend their lives making deliveries.
“Sigh.”
“Haa.”
Faced with a problem that seed unsolvable, the room was filled with sighs.
Clap, clap!
The Deputy Tower Master clapped his hands, breaking the gloomy atmosphere.
“We’ll think further on the positions of both the potion and delivery departnts and co up with a solution that satisfies everyone. Also, let’s consider what rits the White Tower can offer to attract new mages.”
“rits, huh…”
The short-term goal of Academy graduates was clear: growth.
Specifically, becoming a Level 4 interdiate mage.
But that wasn’t sothing achievable through a curriculum alone.
As everyone pondered, Maxim broke the silence.
“Now that December is ending… that day is approaching, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
Everyone seed to share the sa thought, their expressions firm with determination.
Maxim turned to the head of the delivery departnt.
“Has the El Terra Church made their usual request this year?”
“Yes, they’ve offered an increased paynt of 5 million Bels compared to last year.”
Even with the potion departnt’s success, 5 million Bels was no small sum.
That amount was their fee for a single day of work.
Pedro X, the delivery departnt head, spoke solemnly.
“Everyone, prepare yourselves.”
December 25 was one of the Church’s commorative days: Christmas.
On that day, White Tower couriers donned red robes and delivered gifts to good children.
“Oh, and the Vince Territory made a special request this year.”
A special request from Vince Territory?
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Though the details weren’t fully disclosed, everyone seed to have a hunch.
“Is it a request for Oscar?”
“Yes. They said they wanted to express their gratitude for his efforts during the Cadena Flu crisis.”
“It’ll be a good experience for him. What do you think, Deputy Tower Master?”
After so thought, he nodded.
“There doesn’t seem to be any danger, so it should be fine. Let’s work closely with the El Terra Church to ensure this year’s Christmas goes smoothly. What’s the next agenda item?”
Fidelina cautiously opened her mouth.
“Other magic towers are starting to see Level 4 graduates among this year’s Academy class.”
“Hmm.”
This wasn’t sothing the Deputy Tower Master and elders could ignore.
But when it ca to growth, they refrained from exerting pressure.
Because this was the White Tower.
‘We still don’t even have a proper curriculum or textbook for beginner mages…’
The Deputy Tower Master and the elders were in positions where they couldn’t ignore such matters.
However, they had always tried not to show any signs of interference regarding growth.
Because this was the White Tower.
Over the past decade or so, they had made continuous efforts, but the results were lackluster, and attempts kept being abandoned.
This year, Oscar’s “Reinterpretation of Basic Magic” had been an unprecedented hit, but whether he would take on the sa lecture again next year was uncertain.
The Deputy Tower Master let out a deep sigh.
"How is this year’s class at our magic tower faring?"
"The most skilled one is Damian Proud, but even he is still at level 3. From what I see, his mana circuits have not yet fully stabilized."
Maxim's answer was followed by Fidelina.
"Even so, with Oscar personally taking charge of their education, isn’t there a chance a few of them might reach level 4 by the end of the training camp?"
"Of course, we know that guy has a natural talent for teaching others…"
Maxim shook his head skeptically.
"It’s about turning novice mages into interdiate ones. If it were as easy as churning out bread from a factory, the White Tower wouldn’t have struggled every year to recruit mages."
"…That’s true. Now that you ntion 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 erged 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 ntioned them during the eting. 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 mont—Maxim tilted his head as he noticed the leading mage.
‘Wait a mont, Damian’s gaze… has deepened?’
After a brief observation, he broke into a wide smile and offered his congratulations.
"Damian Proud, what an impressive achievent! Congratulations on becoming an interdiate mage."
"Thank you, Elder."
"And… huh?"
But the mont 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 beco an interdiate 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 Hal 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."
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