In August, life in the Thetis Academy was as peaceful as ever, but Sylutia heard some different news from the outside world.
"Food prices have risen very much now." Several classmates were talking while eating together.
"My home is in Flandre District, which is a relatively wealthy place, but there is still not enough food and many people are grabbing it." A student sighed.
"My dad said that he has stocked up 200 kilograms of grain, which is enough for five people in the family to eat for a while, but considering that it is now Flandre District difficult to buy grain, let me think of a way."
"According to statistics from the Alliance, this year's grain output is only 60% of previous years. Although many places have grain reserves, according to scholars' observations and calculations, it will be difficult for the output to return to last year's level in the next two years. The limit is to maintain about 80% of last year's output."
"This is not the most serious. This year is the eighth year of Gale Season, which means that in another four years, the most difficult Season of Sinking Fog will come."
"I haven't experienced Season of Sinking Fog yet, but I heard from the elders that it is a very depressing season. It is cloudy and foggy for more than 300 days a year, and there is insufficient light, which will greatly reduce food production."
"In order to prepare for Season of Sinking Fog, we usually stock up on food several years in advance, but this year's storm completely disrupted the plan."
"Actually, the current food reserves are still sufficient, but no matter what, everyone feels that they need to prepare in advance, so they are looting frantically, and people are starting to starve to death in some places."
"Ah, how could this happen?" A girl was puzzled.
"Even if production is reduced, the food reserves will be enough to last for several years.
"If you don't understand, just say so." A student raised his finger.
"If there are 100 people, each person needs to consume one piece of food to survive, and the food output in a cycle is 120
Do you think everyone can survive?"
"It seems like this."
"However, this is a normal situation. When you know that the output in the next few years will no longer be 120 copies, but 60 copies, what will you do? You will definitely buy in advance and hoard food, right?"
"Well, here comes the problem. 30 of them are rich and nobles. For the sake of future stability, each of them rushed to buy and hoard 3 portions of food, which is 90 portions of food. Now there are only 30 portions of food for the remaining 70 people. When they compete for this limited food, prices will inevitably rise sharply and there will be widespread famine."
"In fact, the reality is even worse. When 100 people face 90 pieces of food, frantic grabbing and fighting will occur, which will lead to the death of far more than 10% of people."
"That is to say, in actual scenarios, if the food gap is only 10%, it is likely that more than 30% of people will die of hunger."
At this point, most of the students present understood it.
"So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. The official attitude towards disaster relief is conservative. They will distribute limited amounts of food to those who are about to starve to death, but they will not rashly release large amounts of stored food for disaster relief."
"Actually, it's easy to understand. After all, Season of Sinking Fog is coming, and the situation may be even worse in the future. We must leave more food to cope with the future situation."
While chatting, the students finished their meal and then left. Sylutia, who was not far away and listened to the whole process, was thoughtful.
It seems that the situation of the Mage Alliance is still not optimistic.
It would be fine if everything was peaceful, and most people in the Mage Alliance would tend to maintain the current stable life. However, if famine is rampant and the entire society becomes turbulent, some radical factions and voices will slowly gain the upper hand, and it will be hard to say at that time.
Three days later, when Sylutia was looking through the life story of Melancholy at home, he heard a knock on the door.
She put away her books, walked down the stairs, opened the door, and saw the familiar senior Da Vinci.
"It's me again, Hedra." When he said this, the other party smiled.
"I have a task for you this time." He walked to the table in the living room familiarly and poured himself a cup of tea.
"The Alliance Mishir District has a vacant position in the eastern part of the country. It needs someone to fill it. It suits you very well, so Academy filled in your name."
"Is this considered Academy's internship or practice?" Sylutia is not a fool. After experiencing several such appointments, she also noticed that Academy seemed to be focusing on training her. The tasks assigned each time were critical and unusual.
"Of course, every third-year student and above will participate in actual training and practice. Don't you think this is a good way to achieve rapid growth?"
"Otherwise, like a normal job promotion, you have to work for four or five years each time. That would be a waste of time and life."
"I understand." Sylutia is not rejecting it at all. He is just curious about the direction Academy Fang wants to train himself in. Each time, the areas arranged are somewhat different.
"Since you understand, let me introduce you to the specific situation this time." He picked up the tea cup and smiled.
"First of all, you should have heard of the title of Tower Guard Mage, or Tower Guard Mage."
"The tower has many meanings in the Mage Alliance, just like Castle means to the kingdom. It is the cornerstone and core of the Alliance."
"Generally speaking, in every city, there is a central Mage tower. It has many functions and undertakes many tasks. The first is to monitor local safety, prevent the erosion of World of Shadows, prevent powerful Magic Creature from harming ordinary people, and deal with some powerful criminals and enemies who cause chaos."
"Secondly, it is also the most important local communication point. With the help of the equipment in the Mage tower, we can convey the Alliance official orders, communicate with World of Shadows, and report on the situation in various places, statistical data, etc."
"Finally, it is often the landmark building of the local Mage Guild, bringing together the local Mage to ensure that the area is under the Alliance's control and will not easily lead to rebellion, allowing local officials and nobles to remain loyal and reverent to the Alliance."
"In addition, when war breaks out, these Mage towers that occupy the commanding heights can often provide powerful fire support and gain excellent visual intelligence advantages. They can also activate a powerful barrier covering the city with the help of the magic circle and Fire Seed in the tower."
"Having said so much, you should understand how crucial the Mage tower is to the Alliance."
"There will be powerful mages sitting in the central wizard tower of every city. They often also serve as the president of the local wizard guild and are the most powerful wizard leaders in the city. We will call such people tower guardian wizards."
"In order to better manage the local Mage Guild and respond to various situations, a series of auxiliary positions will be set up around the tower guard Mage. These people are the deputies of the tower guard Mage. In many cases, they will also attend some occasions and preside over affairs on behalf of the tower guard Mage."
"The Mishir District you are going to this time is to assist the local master Mage Segna in guarding the tower as his deputy. He is the master of "Sculpting School", and he is very senior and has high prestige in the local area."
"He doesn't sound like a very easy person to get along with." Sylutia complained softly.
"Hahaha, indeed, Master Segna is famous for his bad temper and strict approach to work. Several of his previous deputies could not bear the pressure and resigned one after another." Da Vinci blew the tea cup.
"However, I believe you can handle it well and win the favor of the old man."
"Although he is a bit old-fashioned, he is actually a very pure person. He is proficient in carving skills and integrates them into the casting of large machinery. Because of his existence, Mishir District's Steam Locomotive industry has developed uniquely. From being mediocre thirty years ago, it has now become the fourth largest production area in the Alliance."
"You will see many new and interesting things there, I believe you will be interested and like it."
"By the way, I won't let you go there alone this time. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to go to an unfamiliar environment alone and start working."
"You can recruit twenty familiar members from the Inspection Department to go with you, and Academy will also arrange for twenty members to accompany you. Most of them are from peripheral organizations of "Mithril Clock" and are trustworthy."
"Come on, Hedra. If this is done well, Master Segna will retire in the future, and Mage will be the one guarding the tower of Mishir District."
"Huh?" The girl tilted her head, a little surprised.
"Me? But I'm only at the fourth level now."
"You don't really think you are ordinary, do you, Hedra." Da Vinci smiled.
"Not only did Mr. Halsen write a special letter to praise you, but not long ago, Master Ge Zhen, Master Wenersha, Master Heeden, and Master Ain all did something very special to you. Chang Gao's evaluation, now many people in the upper echelons of the Alliance know your name, but there is currently no suitable opportunity for you to meet those big shots." In fact, Academy's elders don't want Sylutia to step into that circle environment prematurely.
"When you come back this time, you can almost see me."
Big shot, she always felt that after meeting these masters, there would be a lot of trouble waiting for her. Sylutia shook her head slightly, indicating that she was not really looking forward to it.
However, Mishir District can indeed go and have a look. She also wants to know what the level and status of the Mage Alliance's industrial system is like. Asura District, who stayed there for a long time, and now Thetis District, are both research areas, and the industrial ratio is not high.
"I know, I will be ready." Sylutia nodded.
"When will we leave? Is there a time limit?" she asked Da Vinci after thinking about it.
"Just leave within this week."
In the next few days, Sylutia made good preparations. First, she packed up Black Rose Palace, locked the door, and then went to the Inspection Department to select two team members she was familiar with and transferred them to Mishir District with her.
According to Da Vinci, she will probably stay at Mishir District for more than a year to get familiar with the environment and work there. If she can take over the affairs well and gain recognition, Master Segna will give her the position of guarding the tower Mage next year or the year after.
That master is now over one hundred and twenty years old. According to Sculpting School's news, after leaving Mishir District, master Segna will return to the Academy, a subordinate of the school, where he will teach potential juniors, pass on his lifelong experience, and then live a more leisurely retirement life.
However, after all, Mishir District is a place where he has invested decades of energy and hard work. He did not want to give his position to Mage, who he did not like, so he kept applying to Alliance Council, hoping that more talented young people or juniors could be his deputy as a test to see if he could succeed him.
Before Sylutia, there had been five candidates, all of whom were talented elites from Fifth Order. Unfortunately, he was never satisfied, so these people stayed for three months at most and then left.
After reading the information, Xilu Tia did not have strong confidence in this mission, nor did she have a sense of mission that must be completed.
There is a generation gap between young people who were born five years apart, not to mention the old man and the young man who are almost a hundred years apart. And looking at this person's resume, it seems that the other person's character is particularly strong. He must follow his ideas and will without any mistakes or objections. It's no wonder that the previous predecessors ran away quickly.
The professors and teachers in the Academy still have too high expectations for her, maybe it's because she performed too well in the past few times.
The advantage is that she can indeed reach a very high position in order to adjust the contradiction between the two major forces in the future. The disadvantage is that too high expectations also mean that she will be given more difficult responsibilities. In this way, life will not be easy.
Various thoughts were still floating in my mind, and the familiar voice of Cheris came to my ears.
"Hedra-sama."
"Huh?" Sylutia looked up and found that Cheris was already standing in front of him with the entire team.
Including Cheris, there are a total of twenty elite Inspection Department, who she has worked with several times. She remembers the names and general resumes of each of them.
"This time I have to trouble you to go with me again." Sylutia explained the destination of this trip.
"However, compared to the stressful work on weekdays, it should be a lot easier to go to Mishir District this time.
"Yes, Lord Hedra!" Everyone stood at attention, their momentum was like a rainbow.
"You can relax a little and be gentle." Sylutia held her chin in thought, and then explained.
"We are not going to conduct a major investigation this time or arrest any bad guys. This will put a lot of pressure on the receptionists and will also make them think that I am here to forcefully interfere with the local environment."
"Understood, Lord Hedra." One of the members raised his hand and answered.
"What you mean is that we'd better not wear Inspection Department's uniforms, but put on other clothes that are convenient for movement. This will reduce their vigilance, and it will also make it easier for us to integrate into the local environment at any time and easily obtain information."
Well, we do need some information, but it doesn't seem like such a big battle is needed. Seeing that Sylutia didn't refute, several people at the scene immediately understood.
Sure enough, he is worthy of being our shining star of the Inspection Department, his thoughts are far-reaching and thoughtful.
So they disbanded in an emergency, and then gathered again after about ten minutes. This time they all put on more common clothes. Some looked like caravan guards, wearing blue and white chainmail shirts, some wore gold-rimmed glasses and held books and information, like elites of the chamber of commerce, and some carried medicines and surgical instruments, like accompanying doctors, etc.
Working in the Inspection Department, there are originally tasks such as cross-dressing and infiltration. They are very good at doing these tasks. After a while, this team became a staff and bodyguard group surrounding a certain chamber of commerce lady.
This way, she was indeed less aggressive and looked very low-key, which was in line with Sylutia's wishes. However, she always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't explain it.
Wait, it seems that in my current status, I am indeed the eldest lady of the Chamber of Commerce, but the Griffin Family clan is too small, and the caravan run by the nominal uncle, Alanfude, is also located in the far south of Meteor Lake.
Looking at it this way, without realizing it, she has left Meteor Lake for several years.
If you have the chance, go back this year or next year and have a look. By the way, you can also understand the situation of the Woodland Alliance. Otherwise, it will be three years and three years and you will not be able to go back, which will be bad.