The Zeroth Order

Unlike the bustling cooking competition, the special engraving arena could only be described as deserted.

Part of the reason was its remote location, but more importantly, the hosts and judges for the special engraving competition were all Spellcasters.

The people of Demacia City still had a deeply negative view of mages.

In fact, the people of Demacia City weren't the only ones prejudiced against Spellcasters. When the Northern Wanderers swept across Demacia, most residents in the newly occupied areas had hardly been welcoming toward mages.

Elsewhere, people's hostility toward Spellcasters was mostly caused by propaganda and traditional beliefs, and would gradually ease with time. But Demacia Imperial Capital was different. Mages had genuinely caused considerable destruction there.

When Sylas escaped last time, he blew up the entire Nullstone Prison. Lux and Yin Nuo had even helped fan the flames, openly and behind the scenes, as a way to identify Magic Corruptors in advance.

The people of Demacia City had witnessed mages' destructive power firsthand. They didn't dare openly criticize the Spellcasters, but they kept as far away from them as possible.

At the Grand Plaza, some Spellcasters had proposed putting on a large-scale projection. But Lux worried that the public would reject it and ultimately vetoed the idea. Instead, they broadcast the announcements using amplification spells.

Over at the special engraving competition, the moment the host and judges, dressed as Spellcasters, appeared, the handful of spectators quickly drifted away in twos and threes. Even the contestants looked somewhat uneasy.

If they hadn't genuinely needed work, and worried about offending the new masters, they might not have been willing to compete in front of Spellcasters at all.

Who wouldn't be afraid?

But people had to eat. Even among the nobles, plenty were temperamental and difficult to deal with. If you wanted