Getting to Work

The three apprentices turned pale instantly, because they knew that eavesdropping on knowledge they hadn't paid for was a serious crime under the Alliance's laws.

Even eavesdropping on other mages' insights about spells is a criminal offense in the Alliance, and it's quite common the Alliance.

That's how they are; once they hear it's about promotion, they can't take their eyes off it, their minds filled with how to hear more. And now they've clearly broken a taboo.

But some might say at this point, didn't Fran say that herself?

Riding a horse right on the main road without keeping a low voice, doesn't he deserve to be heard?

But that's not how it works. Within the Alliance's system, if a mage didn't intend to share their knowledge with someone, then others who hear that knowledge can be considered guilty.

After all, you can simply move away and cover your ears; as long as you choose not to listen, nothing will happen.

Moreover, Fran is only a First Order Mage, and this isn't even the City of Apprentices; they are just apprentices themselves.

These apprentices were aware of the relevant cases, but they were, after all, just apprentices. However, with Fran's help, they passed the apprentice assessment in their first year, a speed that could be considered genius-level among all the apprentices.

That's why they lacked vigilance and didn't immediately become alert and cover their ears when they heard Fran and Elan talking.

Seeing the pale faces of the three apprentices behind him, Elan noticed the smile on Fran's face, who seemed completely unfazed. So he decided not to stand idly by.

Fran maintained her smile, glancing at them sideways. Kahn found Fran's smile somewhat eerie at that moment.

But he still forced himself to say:

"We are very sorry... Lai Rai, we did not mean it... We are willing to pay the price for this action..."

Kahn initially wanted to say that they didn't do it on purpose, but upon closer reflection, it seemed that no matter how you looked at it, they could be considered to have done it intentionally.

If they were to say that out loud, it would be tantamount to provocation, so Kahn immediately changed the subject, saying that they were willing to take responsibility for their mistakes.

Fran turned her gaze over, glanced at Kahn a few times, and slowly said:

"You don't need to worry. After all, we are still members of the same School, and I have also accepted my mentor's request to teach you."

These words relieved Kahn and the other two, and then Fran's voice rang out.

"However, you did make a mistake in this matter. No one likes an apprentice who eavesdrops..."

"Therefore, once you reach my experimental site, make up for this mistake with your labor."

"Of course, this kind of work is not something that can be finished with just a few simple movements."

"Are you willing to do this? Or...?"

After hearing Fran's words, the three of Kahn finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they still had many questions about the labor on the experimental site, since the Formal Mage had given them a way out, they decided to accept it.

"Of course we would."

The three of them spoke in unison, which made Fran nod with great satisfaction. Turning her head, Kahn realized that he was covered in sweat on his back.

Fran did all this because she knew the apprentices' attitudes toward the work they were about to do.

They wouldn't understand, wondering what the point of making this thing is, and even thinking that teaching ordinary people how to use it is absolutely unacceptable.

Fran will need to spend some time letting these apprentices know her attitude and motivating them.

Now, Fran's idea was impromptu, and it seems to be working quite well. If she lets these apprentices do the work, at least they'll have some motivation. As for the rest, we'll have to continue.

Fran turned her head and saw a cryptic smile on Elan's face. She knew that Elan must have seen through her intentions.

Elan lowered his voice, moving closer to Fran, and slowly said:

"You still need these apprentices to help you with some work later, right? Why are you treating them like this?"

Although Elan didn't know the specifics, Elan had taught apprentices of the Forge School, though many of them had now surpassed him in that area.

However, he still understood the key point: based on his understanding, Fran probably had a lot of tedious but not difficult tasks on her hands.

Although, according to Harbos, these three apprentices came to learn from Fran, since they're all with Fran now, it wouldn't be unreasonable to occasionally ask them to help out with some tasks.

Fran probably only gave the three apprentices a slight reprimand to make them more focused when they work in the future.

Fran smiled brightly upon hearing these words, and then slowly said:

"Yes, but I have a lot of work to do, so there's a lot of preparation work to be done."

Fran paused for a moment, then said to Elan:

"By the way, I'm short-handed up, so could you come and work here with me later?"

"Me?" Elan pointed to himself.

"Yes."

"Hmm... Alright, let's make this clear first, my Magic Artisan Arts are rather rusty, so it might not be very well done."

Elan was going crazy from the boring journey these past few days and wanted to do something, so when Fran invited him, he only thought about it briefly before agreeing.

"Don't worry, I won't ask you to make anything too complicated. What I lack right now is a lot of basic parts."

At this point, Elan had no idea what the extent of this 'mass' of basic components actually was.

However, Elan didn't care at the moment after hearing Fran say that. Surely Fran wouldn't ask him to make thousands of parts, would she? Fran probably wouldn't do that.

Then, as Fran and Elan chatted idly, they arrived at the Base Camp under construction. Upon arriving, Elan and the three apprentices were immediately taken aback.

"You did all of this, Fran?"

Elan watched as busy workers transported goods everywhere, and tall, round columns continuously emitted black smoke.

Meanwhile, the Base Camp was divided into several simple areas, where various complex yet somewhat familiar machines were constantly in motion.

Elan was amazed by the novelty of the place and also admired Fran for being able to make so much in such a short time.

The three apprentices, however, were terrified.

They had never been to Harbos's workshop and were unaware of the enormous machinery there. Although they knew it had great potential, their current research was focused on enhancing weapon performance.

Only after arriving at this Base Camp did they realize that all their previous research and ingenuity were utterly insignificant here.

And only now did they realize once again that a First Order Mage possessed such powerful abilities.

"Is this what First Order Mage is like?"

Kahn stared blankly at the scene before him, the machines running continuously, while the workers busily poured in the raw materials and then sealed the finished products.

As an apprentice who had already passed a Trial, he could easily tell that the raw materials for these things were originally just some Ore, black stones.

However, after various processing steps, this thing produced a variety of useful things, and through permutations and combinations, even better things were obtained.

The other two apprentices also turned their attention to other things deeper in the Base Camp, and these new uses excited them, their minds racing with ideas.

"Let's go, don't just stand here watching, you still have work to do."

Fran's voice brought them back to the present, and at the same time, after the initial excitement of seeing this place for the first time faded, a sense of unease inevitably arose in their hearts.

Because they didn't know what the monk in front of them wanted them to do.

Although they understood that the Forge School should not require their apprentices to do physical labor, they still couldn't help but feel a little nervous at this point.

"Elan, don't just stand there, come with me."

After seeing that Elan was still standing there in a daze, Fran had to call out again to bring Elan out of his shock.

He swallowed hard, then his peripheral vision caught sight of a factory on the edge of the Base Camp. He saw a worker placing metal into machinery, where it was then hammered and separated...

At the end of the production line, rows of brand-new, nail-like objects appeared, and workers were packing these parts into boxes.

This made Elan suddenly realize that his promise to Fran to make a lot of parts for her was probably not so simple.

After all, the speed of this production line alone is something he could never catch up to in his lifetime with his Arts as Magic Artisan. Although he has the Mental Power of Formal Mage, he doesn't have the confidence to forge suitable parts so quickly with his very unfamiliar Arts.

This made him somewhat regretful, but at the same time, it gave him a profound shock—could these things really be done this way?!

Fran clearly didn't give him time to be shocked, and directly pulled him through the busy figures of many workers to the house where Fran usually worked.

The house had already been cleared out so that everyone except Fran could put their feet down, but even so, the room was still filled with all sorts of machinery.

"I'll take care of those three; you don't need to worry about them."

As she spoke, Fran handed Elan a blueprint. It depicted a chain-like structure, which wasn't particularly complex, but it was certainly time-consuming to work with.

Elan stared blankly at the blueprints. He suddenly realized that Fran hadn't told him how many to make, so he quickly asked the question that concerned him.

"Wait, could you tell me exactly how many you want me to make?"

Fran turned her head and looked at him with a big smile.

"Make as much as you like, the more the better... Don't worry about running out of ingredients, I have plenty here."