Chapter 457: Chapter 454: Recession
Apprentices have long suffered in the Tower of Secret Techniques!
No apprentice from any other academy or Mage Tower could possibly understand the bitter tears of an apprentice from the Tower of Secret Techniques. The long curriculum and easy path to delayed graduation were one thing, but the Tower also deliberately held them back from graduating.
It was downright sadistic.
Perhaps it was related to its extreme elitist philosophy, and how the name "Secret Technique" was thoroughly integrated into its teachings. First, it assumed that everyone who joined the Tower was a young genius. While it was true that anyone with Magic Talent would be considered a "chosen one" out in the world, the Tower demanded that all its apprentices meet the standards of a genius among Casters.
In the early stages, from ages six to fourteen, these apprentices were only exposed to grammar, debate and rhetoric, art, and mathematics—collectively known as the liberal arts, a tradition inherited from ancient times. They had to pass an examination after completing this stage to advance.
If a magically talented youth had completed their liberal arts education at another school and could pass the exam, the Tower of Secret Techniques would welcome them as well.
Up to this point, the curriculum was beyond reproach. Next, they obtained the status of official... apprentices, and began their studies in Alchemy, Magic Array Geometry, Mythological History, and Philosophy. Their not-yet-fully-developed brains were already being "poisoned" by things like *logos*.
The truly obsessed might wander the Tower’s halls, muttering things like "existence is everything, everything for existence." They were pretty much a lost cause at that point.
Those who managed to pass the second stage of study were all true, battle-tested geniuses! Only then would the professors select their favored students and pass on their Magic Skills with as few reservations as possible. That’s right—many apprentices only got the chance to learn real Magic after surviving the second stage, and even then, there was a prerequisite: they had to be valued by a professor.
It was certainly a way to select the best of the best, but what about the rest? Some saw the writing on the wall. After repeatedly failing the examinations or not being chosen by a professor, they simply entered the job market. After all, an apprentice who survived the first two stages was on par with a university student from Munich or Wertz. Others just wasted away, letting their youth slip by.
Allowing apprentices to form Mutual Aid Associations and study Zeroth Ring Tricks on their own during the second stage was the last shred of mercy the Tower of Secret Techniques offered.
If you graduated, you were an elite among Mages, guaranteed to reach at least the Middle Level. If you couldn’t, the Tower of Secret Techniques would let you stay for free until you were 28. After that, you were "gifted" to society as a new talent.
Rorschach didn’t get it. ’How could anyone tolerate this? Could the Core Magic passed down through the generations in the Tower of Secret Techniques be called the Great Art of PUA?’ He had only learned of this dark, hidden truth after his factories started taking in one disheartened apprentice after another.
They were now working under Andre, maintaining the ever-growing number of Collectors and other Magic Structures.
When Rorschach interviewed these "failures" about their experiences, one apprentice said shyly, "To be honest with you, sir, coming to the factory was... a last resort."
The Magic Guild within the Bayern Kingdom was the safety net for the Tower of Secret Techniques, offering a salary that could at least sustain a comfortable life. The apprentices who had joined back during the food factory days were the "non-recyclable trash" that even the Guild didn’t want.
Those from the Tower of Secret Techniques still had a bit of pride, after all. Rorschach could understand. In his previous life, when engineering grads said they were going to work in a factory, it was either with tears in their eyes or a sense of resigned self-deprecation. Manufacturing was truly hard and exhausting work. It was difficult for the folks back home to understand why a dignified Magic Apprentice would work in a factory. In their simple view of careers, shouldn’t the worst-case scenario at least be a desk job at the City Hall?
After Rorschach expressed his understanding, a straightforward young man spoke another blunt truth. "Actually, the apprentices and Mages from the Tower of Secret Techniques have some... reservations about you and Mage Bart. It’s not personal, it’s just that... well, the teaching standards at the Empire’s Magic Academies aren’t considered that high..."
’What the fuck,’ Rorschach thought. ’So you all think everyone from the Royal Magic Academy is a fraud, huh? Sure, a lot of my classmates tended to pick the simplest, lowest-ring Magic to scrape by on their qualification exams, but what’s wrong with getting recognized as a Mage by the Guild and the Empire sooner? What’s wrong with graduating quickly? And now, you can add another point: what’s wrong with the Spell Cloud?’
’Besides, when it comes to pedigree, I’ve burnished my credentials at the Tower of Stars—another one of the Thirteen Magic Towers!’
Times had changed. The various factories in the Special Zone expanded rapidly, and Rorschach was now rich. He planned to start chipping away at the foundation of the Tower of Secret Techniques with a pickaxe. The head of the pickaxe was named "Spell Cloud," and its handle was the simplest, most effective tool of all: money.
It might not have been possible before, but now the two sides were at a tipping point, where one’s gain was the other’s loss. It was time to extend a dark hand toward the Tower of Secret Techniques and rescue those miserable apprentices!
...
「Munich, Magic Guild Branch.」
Lucas hummed a tune as he read the newspaper. The paper was now filled with a lot of "strange-flavored" content, things that tiptoed right up to the edge of offending the Royal Family, as well as some industry news. The Kempson Steel Factory had added twelve new blast furnaces and imported the latest model of open-hearth furnaces from the Empire... The Lansite Sugar Exchange was now listed... A high-strength artificial fiber that could replace hemp had been introduced...
He gave it a casual scan. There was a lot of good news in the kingdom, and as a Guild insider, he knew it was all connected to one young man.
’I remember when Rorschach visited the Tower of Secret Techniques, merely as a Mage from the Tower of Stars, and I showed him the way. I wonder if Rorschach still remembers me? If only I had made more of an effort to befriend him back then...’
Were there regrets? If so, Lucas only entertained the possibility for a moment. He quickly decided that his life of drinking root tea and reading the paper was quite nice.
Another page was filled with advertisements, including a recruitment notice from the Special Zone specifically for apprentices or Mages from the Tower of Secret Techniques.
The compensation was decent, but would anyone actually go? Lucas chuckled and set the newspaper down. He opened a locket; inside was a miniature oil painting of his wife, her smile sweet, and another of his adorable daughter, the artist having taken some artistic liberties with the volume of the toddler’s hair. In the past year, he had gone from an apprentice sighing over his withdrawal from the Tower to a reliable husband and a happy father.
His humming continued. Today was payday. He tipped over his nameplate and walked toward the finance office.
"The door’s unlocked, come in. Oh, it’s Lucas." The woman in charge of finance was buried in a mountain of files and receipts, so busy that even with the help of Mage’s Hand, she couldn’t keep up. She cleverly used Secret Magic Marks to sort and process different types of documents, with the side effect that the room was filled with the blinking, multicolored glow of fluorescence.
"Yes, I’m here to collect this month’s salary."
"Alright." The finance officer got up to open the safe. An accountant was also present to record the transaction, and then they asked Lucas for his handprint.
The hand about to press down stopped.
"What’s wrong?"
"The amount is wrong." Lucas weighed the file folder in his hand. It was too light, too thin. When he opened it, he found only twelve Silver Coins clipped inside a kraft paper bag.
He counted it again in disbelief. "This is it? This isn’t even enough to pay my servant’s wages!" Good heavens, he couldn’t bear to imagine the roar of fury this paltry sum would provoke from his wife, followed by the sound of his child’s crying filling the entire house.
"Then you should dismiss some of your servants, Mr. Lucas." The finance officer didn’t even look up. "As a Beta Level employee of the Guild, this is your pay."
"No, no, no, we all know this is just the base salary. Where are my stipends? Look, I went out on three field assignments this month, and I was also dispatched to the telegraph company and Grove Bank..."
The finance officer pushed out another five Silver Coins and three copper coins. "Apologies, I forgot about the telegraph company. But the other projects... I’m afraid they didn’t earn any money. It’s the same for all employees."
The Guild in Bayern, unlike the one in Valois, didn’t have numerous subsidiary enterprises. The primary "cash cow" for the Tower of Secret Techniques and the Guild was the banking sector. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately for some—the mass bankruptcy of workshops had led to a sharp increase in the banks’ bad debts and a rapid contraction in business. The only ventures turning a profit were the telegraph company, a joint venture with Rorschach, and investments in the Special Zone.
And that money had to be prioritized to support the Tower of Secret Techniques.
"Also, Human Resources couldn’t find you earlier, so they asked me to inform you during payroll. Mr. Lucas, due to the decline in our messaging business, we no longer need so many people at the Guild. Next month, you will be placed in the ’talent pool.’ If you pass the assessment, you’ll be assigned long-term to the Bayern Telegraph Company. I’d advise you to start familiarizing yourself with the necessary Thunder Magic and Protective Magic, as well as the related knowledge."
"And if I don’t pass the assessment?"
"...Then you’ll need to start paying close attention to who’s hiring."
...Trembling all over, Lucas recalled the recruitment ad from the Special Zone. Now, he could no longer just laugh it off.
Comments