Chapter 328: Chapter 325: The Behind-the-Scenes Boss Returns
In the Central Region of the Bayern Kingdom, the once-scenic town of Lansite was immersed in the pre-winter rush.
It had transformed from a primarily agricultural town into a new production hub bristling with smokestacks. A young man stepped off a public carriage that had come from the northern city of Wertzburg.
The young man wore the robes of a Magic Apprentice, a bookbag and Casting Materials slung over his shoulder, and a large cask of wine cradled in his arms. He walked straight into the "Fanta" food factory, the wrought-iron gates opening for him, granting him unimpeded passage.
"Andre, you’re back?" the guard greeted, though his eyes were fixed on the white wine Andre was holding. Andre smiled, used [Mage’s Hand] to offer the guard a cigarette, and then lit it for him with a simple Trick.
The guard took an ecstatic drag, as if a cigarette lit by Magic tasted that much better.
"Yeah, I’m on break, so I came back to visit." Cradling the cask, he walked to the employee dormitories. His parents weren’t there, so he left the specialty from Wertzburg and headed back out. Along the way, he ran into many factory employees, all of whom greeted the Apprentice warmly.
As outsiders from the Holy Kingdom, Andre and his family were not only accepted but also managed to quickly build a good rapport with the local long-time employees. There were two reasons for this:
First, Andre was from the Holy Kingdom. A single letter he carried was enough to have Mr. Hasse arrange jobs for his parents and even allocate three entire dormitory rooms to temporarily house his family. He was clearly someone with powerful connections. When he took that same letter to Wertzburg, he became the Town Mage’s Apprentice, which elevated him to someone with *super* powerful connections.
Second, Andre’s father had none of the arrogance one might expect from someone with such connections. He diligently performed his duties as a "Warehouse Safety Management Specialist" and was polite to everyone. In fact, to the young Andre, his father’s deferential posture sometimes seemed excessive.
"My dear Andre! We are outsiders here. If we offend someone, anyone could easily make trouble for us behind our backs. We’ve just arrived, and this is when rumors and gossip are at their worst."
"Andre, you’re an Apprentice now. You can hold your head high when you’re out and about. But if I don’t humble myself a little, someone is bound to cause trouble for our family. Right now, the only one we can rely on is Lord Rorschach, but he isn’t here. We’re on our own, so we can’t cause him any trouble."
His father had said similar things to him many times. Andre didn’t want to listen, but from that day on, he started carrying an extra pack of cigarettes in his pocket—a novelty item from across the ocean, sold only in major cities like Wertzburg and Munich.
In any case, the nearly one month since their arrival in the Bayern Kingdom had passed smoothly. Bart was an easygoing Mage, and because of his other identity, he didn’t actually spend much time in the tower studying Magic. Andre’s main duties at the Town Mage Tower were maintaining all the tower’s Magic Arrays and mixing simple Alchemy Potions.
Most importantly, Mage Bart had an ironclad rule of closing the tower for two days every ten-day period. This gave Andre a regular break, enough to make the apprentices at the Tower of Secret Techniques weep with envy.
Mages on the royal payroll were just built different.
Andre was now back on his break, but he wasn’t there to rest. Instead, he headed to the food factory’s core, most heavily fortified area: a building with reinforced walls and heavy defenses. What was produced inside wasn’t food for humans, but fuel for Magic—dulled Transmuting Dust.
"What’s the operational status?" Upon entering the building, Andre’s demeanor shifted abruptly. Facing the cylindrical machine, Mr. Andre, a former worker in the Tower of Stars’ Alchemy Department, was the undeniable expert. Unless Rorschach himself was present, all other employees were to obey his orders.
Andre took the logbook where a technician had recorded the parameters for the last ten-day period. He frowned and asked, "Why was there a shutdown the night before last?"
The technician pointed to the subsequent data. "The raw output volume before the shutdown exceeded the safety line. We suspect a fluctuation at the collection source." In other words, the Teleportation Array connected to the Star Realm Layer had suddenly spewed an excessive amount of Transmuting Dust. If this amount surpassed the processing limits of the subsequent stages, untreated Transmuting Dust could breach the system, causing catastrophic damage to the equipment and the entire facility.
Andre compared this data point with historical entries, flipping back through the pages of the logbook. He discovered that the raw output volume, while fluctuating, was on a slow, upward trend.
"According to the experience from the Tower of Stars, Transmuting Dust fluctuates with the lunar cycle and the changing seasons. The specific reasons involve the theory of celestial motion within astrology, and to be honest, I don’t understand it either."
This brought back some unpleasant memories for Andre. He had once assumed astrology was about Divination based on star signs. He never expected that at the Tower of Stars, it was more about building models from tens of thousands of data points spanning decades and using brute-force calculations to predict the movement of the stars—a true "astro-nomy."
It wasn’t crucial to understand the principles behind the phenomenon right now. First, he had to solve the problems it was causing:
"When the raw output volume exceeds the rated value—no, when it even shows an upward trend—you need to respond proactively. Either reduce the Magic Power input to the Teleportation Array or increase the input power for the Dulling process. Of course, you can also do both simultaneously."
"Blindly shutting down the machine doesn’t solve the problem. What if the output volume spikes far beyond the rated value when you restart it? Wouldn’t it just explode? Besides, we all know that startups and shutdowns are the most energy-intensive procedures. Frequent cycling seriously hurts efficiency."
"This isn’t just about turning valves! You have to think! Think!"
Andre was the youngest person there, but the authority in his voice easily commanded the room. The technicians either lowered their heads in agreement or became pensive, inspired by his words.
In truth, Andre was merely emulating the commanding presence of Master Snow, which he had absorbed through his time in the Alchemy Department. However, things in this building were the same as in the Alchemy Department: skill and ability were what mattered. Therefore, it was only natural for Andre to take charge, and no one questioned his authority.
The rules inside the door were different from the rules outside. Neither Andre nor his father was wrong.
The machine continued to hum, the irregular bursts of Transmuting Dust sending slight vibrations through the entire system. The machinery had been upgraded twice already, with the most recent one completed under Andre’s guidance shortly after he arrived. It was the equivalent of importing the advanced expertise of the Alchemy Department.
He gazed at the Collector, and a thought surfaced. ’There should be a way to establish a mathematical relationship between these three variables: raw output volume, Teleportation Array input power, and the Dulling mechanism’s input power. Then, I could use Magic or some other method to manifest that mathematical relationship in a physical form. That would achieve automatic control.’
He copied the data onto a sheet of scratch paper, sketching graphs and running calculations. After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh. ’My knowledge isn’t sufficient to develop this... If Teacher Rorschach were here, he could definitely make it happen.’
It’s only when you need knowledge that you regret not having enough. Now that Andre was taking the lead, he felt more keenly than ever how inadequate his studies in the Alchemy Department had been. He couldn’t even compare to a proper Apprentice from the Tower of Stars, let alone an Official Mage like Rorschach who participated in a Great Mage’s research.
"You want to build an automated control system? That’s a major topic, a massive undertaking."
"Automated... control... Teacher Rorschach, the name you came up with is very fitting." Andre’s gaze didn’t leave his notes as he simply nodded in agreement with Rorschach’s words.
Then it hit him. He had actually heard Rorschach’s voice!
Was it more of a pleasant surprise or a shock? Andre nearly leaped to his feet, his shout echoing throughout the control room. "Teacher Rorschach!"
"Sigh. Here, you should use my title, or call me Rorschach Mage." Another young man appeared out of thin air, but the shock he gave the other staff was even greater than Andre’s. Everyone knew Rorschach was Mr. Hasse’s boss, which made him the direct head of this department.
The most common horror story for any worker is having their boss appear behind them like a ghost to check on their work. What was truly terrifying was that their boss’s boss was a Mage who had actually used an Illusion Technique to conceal his presence and sneak in.
All eyes fell on the excited Andre. The door had been shut the whole time. It must have been this kid who brought the "unclean spirit" in with him!
"I just came to take a look. Please, carry on. Don’t let me disturb your work." Rorschach waved his hand, looking quite pleased.
