Backing

Monica welcomed Fran in warmly and began to explain the current workings of Fran Wartime Provision Department.

"Our Wartime Provision Department is currently relegated to this airship, but even here, we've secured a decent position."

"Of course, once we find a foothold on the Lohan Archipelago, we will naturally move there."

"Until then, I'll just have to ask you to sit here."

Monica patted a set of slightly cramped table and chairs. Fran knew this wasn't directed at her, because...

"I sit right next to you. If you need anything, feel free to come find me."

Monica's seat wasn't in a compartment on the airship; that would be too extravagant, as there wasn't enough space on the airship.

Monica's space was only slightly wider than Fran's.

"Doesn't your assistant sit in this seat?" Fran looked curiously to the left of Monica's seat. Although it was very close to Monica's seat, there was a support pillar blocking the way.

If we're talking about the most convenient spot for Monica, it would definitely be Fran's current location. But her assistant Talia, isn't sitting there; instead, she's in that somewhat inconvenient spot.

"It's alright, this is just a special perk I give to newcomers. I think Talia will adapt."

Fran shifted slightly to the side, feeling that Monica was getting a little too close.

"Thank you for your kindness, Minister Monica." Fran couldn't even explain why Monica was treating her so well, because the ten gold bricks she received were the best reason.

"We don't have anything to do right now. We'll start making initial work arrangements after everyone arrives for the party tonight. You can stay here for now; the dorms will be arranged together tonight."

Talia explained the situation to Fran, and then she saw Monica rush outside after greeting her.

At this moment, some confused newcomers walked in, seemingly unsure of where to go.

Talia went to greet her and led her around for a minute before arranging everything. It seemed that Talia was very well prepared for this, while Fran had just been given a ten-minute explanation by Monica before she sat down.

Clearly, this was supposed to be Talia's job, and Monica might even have taken the time to come and give her some initial guidance.

"This minister is really annoying."

Fran raised an eyebrow. She could easily see what the minister was planning. If the minister hadn't seemed to be restraining himself and hadn't made any physical contact, she would have punched him long ago.

"The minister here seems to be showing me some favoritism, which is a good thing and will benefit my future actions."

She would then need to use the name of the Wartime Provision Department to do some things, and cultivating a good relationship with this minister would be a good choice.

The only problem is that the minister doesn't seem to care much about her gold bars; he's more interested in her as a person.

"Hello, friend, are you also a new member of this department?"

Fran turned her head in the direction of the voice and saw a well-dressed male mage wearing a close-fitting black coat that was shiny and wrinkle-free.

His posture was natural and straight, like those humanoid puppets with pre-set poses, with a faint smile on his face.

A young mage with connections, eager to climb the ranks in the Battle Mage Corps.

Furthermore, the other party isn't pursuing the path of meritorious service and promotion; it seems they want to make more connections with other mages and build a social circle.

The fact that they were able to reach the Wartime Provision Department shows that they had already accumulated a huge amount of power and social connections. For most mages, befriending such a mage would be a good choice.

Although Fran wasn't interested, she wasn't heartless either, and she was thinking about the magic she was researching.

She nodded simply to indicate that she was indeed a new member.

"My name is Remi. I used to work in the flight division of the Tower Battle Mage Corps, but I've left the flight unit and plan to move into the Logistics Department."

"The Tower Battle Mage Corps?" Fran was somewhat surprised, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Yes, the Tower Battle Mage Corps has been disbanded. Our corps leader at the time didn't follow the instructions of the Command Council and was considered to have ideological problems with the whole organization, so I was forced to transfer to another unit," Remi said with a smile.

This was the official reason for the disbandment of the Tower Battle Mage Corps. In fact, because this reason didn't sound very honorable, many bulletin boards and newspapers didn't publish this announcement at the time.

Remi might know the real reason for the disbandment, but that reason isn't something you can just blurt out. If he were to tell just anyone, Remi probably wouldn't have been able to get into the Wartime Provision Department.

What truly surprised Fran was this flying unit. Because the flying equipment required a large space to be placed, the flying unit had stayed in Crescent Bay before the incident, except for flying over White Dragon Port a few times.

Fran had never seen any of these air force members before, so naturally she wouldn't recognize Remi.

"Is there something you need from me?" Fran asked directly. This question sounded too distant in interpersonal communication, which was exactly the effect Fran wanted. She didn't want to interact too much with other mages.

Keep in mind that she's already at Tier 3, and even in the Alliance's Profile, Harbos probably adjusted her to Tier 2. Despite all that, Fran, under her current identity, has almost never attended any large banquets.

Just as Fran had predicted, Remi had actually come to invite her to a small party that evening. There weren't many people attending; besides the new members of the Wartime Provision Department, there were also new members from other departments.

"We new members have just joined the Logistics Department Logistics Department, and we're considered some of the more important members. It's time we got together."

"That way, if we encounter any difficulties at work in the future, we can overcome them together."

Remi spoke slowly.

"No need, I have my own things to do tonight." Fran refused directly. The difficulties she had to overcome were too great, and if she were to tell others, she was afraid that even these mages would not dare to listen.

Remi didn't insist, only saying that he could come to him if he changed his mind.

Fran then whiled away the day in her seat. As night was about to fall, a sound echoed throughout the airship.

"All personnel, please return to the airship immediately. The airship is about to depart."

Their airship was about to take off, but the process was nothing like the comfortable ride ' Lai ' had in the Legendary vehicle.

It's like riding an extremely fast elevator; aside from making some First Order Mage feel uncomfortable, there's nothing else to it.

As evening approached, the Wartime Provision Department held its first party. Remi and the other new members would only go to have dinner with the new members of other departments after the party.

Monica returned to her office early, glanced at the mages around her, and then looked at Fran and the other mages who had joined on their own initiative, as well as the combatants who had been assigned by the Command Council.

Her department originally had only sixteen people, but after the war, it has increased by ten, four of whom were directly sent by the Command Council.

"Everyone's here, so let me just say a few words."

"Since we weren't in a state of war before, and our department has only just been activated, we've had to increase our personnel, and our work also needs to be adjusted."

"Don't worry about you going to the Battlefield. That will be handled by our combatants and outsourced to members of the front-line units. There won't be many opportunities for us to actually go into battle."

"Now I will read out the assigned tasks, and then everyone will carry out their respective duties according to their job titles."

"Remi, you'll be in charge of allocating basic supplies in the warehouse. I'll have you contact the various departments to ensure our warehouse has sufficient supplies."

"... You're in charge of maintaining these supplies. Be careful, many of these supplies are delicate and require a comprehensive maintenance plan. While we allow for some wear and tear, it can't be too much..."

Monica's assignments were very targeted; anyone could tell at a glance that they were aimed at the new department members.

She delegated all the responsible and demanding tasks to these new members.

This was because there were simply too many new members in the department, plus those specially assigned by the Command Council, so Monica had to win over her old subordinates to maintain her control over the Wartime Provision Department.

"What is this for? I have no experience in maintaining these supplies. If I were to do this, it would take a lot of effort to complete the task. Isn't this taking up my personal time?"

A newly arrived mage complained that the task itself wasn't difficult, but for a novice like him to do it, there was absolutely no spare time, which was something many mages couldn't tolerate.

"Don't worry, brother, I'm in the same boat. I have no idea where to find these basic supplies..."

Remi sighed. Although these people had paid money and pulled strings to get in, Monica clearly knew to teach them a lesson first, to let them know that paying money didn't guarantee everything would be fine.

If they were to say now that they were not up to the task, Monica would argue that it was a pre-arranged task from above, and so on...

But if they bring some Gold Coin with them when they go to say it, that's a different story.

This is probably a way of pressuring them to pay more money.

"If only we had connections and backing, we wouldn't have to give money to that old woman," a newly recruited mage standing next to Remi said indignantly.

Although Monica looks very young, everyone knows that a Third Order Mage is at least seventy or eighty years old, so calling her an old woman is not an exaggeration.

This indignant monk was just being delusional. If they had powerful backers, they wouldn't need to come to this department at all; they would have gone to some important department to gain prestige long ago.

Other, less heavyweight backends are not so easy to use either.

"Fran, your task is to receive and follow up on the work orders sent up by the mages, and work in shifts with the other two people in the department. If you don't understand anything, you can ask the senior members of the department."

Fran's job was on a completely different level from others. Even when the Battlefield was at its most intense, her job wasn't very busy, and there were even people who could take turns guarding the area.

In fact, Monica had already laid out all the work on Fran's desk long ago, so Fran naturally chose the one she could handle.

As Remi looked at Fran's appearance, and how close Fran's workstation was to Monica's back then, everything was self-evident.

"Maintaining one's own backing is no easy feat." Remi blinked, his eyes devoid of sympathy or regret.

All that remained was hatred, hatred for himself for not even having the means to maintain his support system!