touchnovel Chapter 8 "If you won't do it, plenty of mages will!"
Chapter 8 "If you won't do it, plenty of mages will!"
In the town of Buffalo Horn, in front of the inn called "House of Passion," Fu Xiao and Grace walked into the inn.
"Oh? Welcome! Are you here for a stay or a meal...? Oh? Fu Xiao?"
A short girl with braided hair, healthy wheat-colored skin, and freckles on her face waved energetically at Fu Xiao.
Seeing Grace accompanying Fu Xiao, Trish couldn't help but frown... Wasn't Rias the person who came with her today?
"Hey! Tracy! The usual, two servings, one without any main course!"
Upon hearing this, Trish immediately nodded in understanding and quickly arranged seats for the two of them.
Seeing Fu Xiao's practiced manner, Grace couldn't help but ask curiously, "Are you a regular here? What's the usual?"
"Hehe, this is my way of surviving! This restaurant is owned by Trish's father, Uncle Haru, and locals get a 20% discount..."
"The vegetable soup set meal costs 20 copper coins per person and includes two large naan breads. Two vegetable soup sets would cost 40 copper coins, but with a 20% discount, it's 32 copper coins. One set meal includes two large naan breads, which is enough. If you return the two naan breads, you can save 2 copper coins! 30 copper coins is just right!"
Being meticulous about budgeting!
"Wow...so cheap!"
30 copper coins probably wouldn't even buy a cup of afternoon tea in the capital, so how could they possibly get a meal in Niujiao Town?
"Speaking of which... Mage, surely you don't have to be in such a predicament?" Fu Xiao asked with some curiosity, "You're an imperial mage dispatched by the Empire, aren't you?"
"Shouldn't mages hold a respectable position in the Lingxi Empire?"
"Hmph! That's all in the past!"
Grace waved her hand, a hint of bitterness in her eyes: "Since the Third Great War, various empires have started to frantically cultivate mages. The number of mages has exploded, leading to an overabundance of mages and a polarization of their status, which is naturally not as good as before."
Oh?
Fu Xiao nodded: "But as a mage dispatched by the empire, your status should be quite high, right? You certainly wouldn't be short of money!"
This can also be seen from Baron Andrew's respectful attitude towards Grace.
"Tch..." Grace gritted her teeth, "Just talking about it makes me angry!"
"Mages only have a higher social status in public; they do all the hard work, and... as mages, they have to pay a fixed amount to the Mage Guild every year!"
Mage...Association?
Fu Xiao blinked, somewhat puzzled by this unfamiliar term.
Grace then held up a finger: "After the Third All-Out War, all the empires began training mages. To regulate the management of mages within their empires, various countries jointly established Mage Associations. Every mage must register with a Mage Association in order to accept missions from the Adventurers' Guild as a mage!"
"Furthermore... in order to better manage mages, the upper echelons of the empire promulgated the 'Mage Regulation and Management Act,' which stipulated that only mages who have practiced under a guild for a full year can register with the Mage Association. Moreover, the Adventurers' Guild's commissioned tasks can only be accepted by mages registered under the guild. Most of the top guilds are formed by nobles of the capital city banding together, and the Adventurers' Guild's tasks are basically monopolized by the upper-level guilds."
"This means that ordinary mages have no way to get quests to support themselves and have to work as cheap labor in guilds first."
"Many newly graduated mages are even paid to work for these guilds, yet they don't receive the compensation they deserve! They are exploited for their labor while also having to pay their guild membership fees!"
"These expenses alone will cost at least five gold coins a year!!"
"Five gold coins?" Fu Xiao opened his mouth in surprise at this astronomical figure, realizing that he was indeed naive and had never seen anything like it.
That's enough for a family in Niujiao Town to live on meat every meal for a whole year.
Is it mandatory?
"Mages who aren't certified by the Mage Guild and aren't affiliated with a guild almost never receive any official commissions from the Adventurers' Guild! Of course, there are also people who conceal their status as mages and accept guild commissions as ordinary adventurers, and the Mage Guild has no way of knowing whether they used magic after accepting the commission." Grace continued to explain, "But... they've posted a bounty within the official Adventurers' Guild: ten gold coins for reporting unlicensed mages who illegally use magic! They might even face imprisonment."
Is this what they call...the power of the masses?
The reward for a single commission task might not even reach ten gold coins, right? No one can resist the temptation of such a bounty! There might even be many professional "magic" players!
"However, if it's a private commission, the Mage Association and guild probably can't manage it!"
"Exactly!" Fu Xiao nodded. "If we could have private commissions, this problem wouldn't exist!"
"Thump!" Grace slammed her fist on the table. "That's why the private commission business is so murky! Unless you have good resources yourself, the vast majority of private commissions are snatched up by so-called mage consulting guilds. These guilds aren't even full mages; they accept commissions and then recruit unregistered mages who can't afford the association's registration fees..."
"This results in those who post private commissions not receiving help from good monks, while the monks who accept commissions not receiving compensation for their labor!"
"As a result, even registered mages have gradually become cheap labor!!"
"Given the explosive growth in the number of mages after World War III, the most common comment I heard was..."
"If you won't do it, plenty of other monks will!"
Fu Xiao felt suffocated listening to this: "Then...as the dispatcher, you should also..."
"Sigh, that's why dispatching mages is such a tough job! There are so many dispatching mages, but the monthly salary is limited. They travel all over the Lingxi Empire year-round, and while they have to meet the annual quota for applying to the magic academy, they don't enjoy the benefits of civil servants in the capital. It's just that the job looks respectable!"
"Actually, I don't even have enough money for my drinks..."
A familiar word popped into Fu Xiao's mind, but he didn't say it aloud... Although he had never worked a regular job in his previous life, he had seen many such positions online...
This is terrible! In the original owner's memory, mages held a fairly high status, but unexpectedly...
Is the job market really that bad?
The Adventurers' Guild, the Mage Guild, and the other guilds... were like three mountains weighing down on the mages of the Lingxi Empire.
In that case...
Which has a brighter future: baking bread or becoming a mage?
It definitely sounds like the former!
Then why bother being a lowly mage?
Is it too late for me to start learning to make bread with Uncle Hank tomorrow?
What if Bruce graduates from the Imperial Magic Academy, takes a short trip, and then comes back to inherit Uncle Hank's bakery?
"Isn't there some profit to be made by sending mages abroad? It's so far from the capital, it's hard to supervise them, isn't it?" Fu Xiao continued to ask, it was clear that Baron Andrew still respected Grace.
As a local noble, although not as powerful as the big shots in the capital, he must be extremely wealthy. He should be able to get some benefits from them, right?
"Hehehe..."
Grace glanced at Fu Xiao, a helpless smile playing on her lips: "Your idea is dangerous, kid!!"
Fu Xiao stroked his chin thoughtfully, pondering how this restricted the mage...
This effectively tied powerful mages to the guilds established by these nobles, creating a monopoly that resulted in a stark contrast: the upper-class mages enjoyed the abundant resources of the guilds and adventurers' associations, while the lower-class mages without connections could only struggle in a terrible job market.
Many monks are forced to take on part-time jobs to make a living.
Grace sighed deeply. When she graduated from the Imperial Magic Academy, she was also full of enthusiasm and felt that she would achieve great things.
After reality taught her one harsh lesson after another, she stopped having so many illusions.
"The adult world is just that cruel!"
. . . . . .