As for the monks and priests of the Inquisition, in the hidden world, they could be called the enemies of wizards, or the tools of wizards. After all, judging from Vesalius, it was impossible for ordinary wizards to stand against werewolves, vampires, and priests. The reason they were willing to endure the oppression of those great families was most likely because only under their protection could they struggle through each day in peace.
Just as commoners in the surface world had to bear heavy taxes, yet also received the protection of their lord's armies.
Vesalius confirmed this. "Every wizard," he said, "along with their family, has a lord they serve. My father's teacher, for instance, served the Mancini family. Once my father was no longer an apprentice, he became the Mancinies' potion-maker, and what I inherited was precisely my father's position."
"They keep you like livestock."
"Indeed." Vesalius spoke as if he had given up. "Becoming a potion-maker requires an enormous initial investment. We need many herbs, precious metals, and materials that can only be obtained through magic. An ordinary wizard simply cannot become a potion-maker through his own efforts. That was why people said my father was fortunate, and many envied him. Me as well, of course."
"You said earlier that it was his teacher who recommended your father to the Mancini family," Louis said. "In the hidden world, is the tradition of masters and apprentices preserved only among potion-makers, or are there universities like those in the surface world as well?"
"Both exist, Your Majesty, but not universities—only ordinary elementary schools. Only rootless foreign wizards, or wizards too poor to afford tutors, send their children there. Forgive me for saying so, but the teachers there are merely mediocre people, lacking in responsibility. Rather than teaching their students, they