Mage? Spell Engineer!

Rorschach has been recuperating on Pastoral Avenue these past few days, eating and drinking Kano's brunch at the Starry Torch Tower every day.

Soft-cooked eggs atop bacon, which in turn lies on crispy bread that's been rubbed in a hot pan of butter and is now layered with baby leaf lettuce and white sauce.

Rorschach cut the layered meal into two with a knife. The bright egg yolk flowed from top to bottom and merged with the sauce, ensuring that each layer was covered with the rich flavor of lecithin and cholesterol. He tried to pick up all the layers on the plate with his knife and fork, but failed, and instead took the lead in eating the tender fried eggs and greasy bacon on the top.

"Teacher, didn't you say it's normal to wait for half a year for the publication process?" Rorschach was surprised to learn that his first paper "Investigating the Efficiency Limits of Thermodynamic Conversion and Heat Engines" was about to be published.

In ancient times, mages acquired knowledge and of course hid it all. Now mages hide it to a limited extent. Good things are stored in magic towers according to inheritance and faction, and some knowledge related to basic theory is published in books. . Since the rise of the printing industry, more and more books have been published at their own expense. Those that pass the review of the magic guild can also be included by the guild and have the opportunity to be published throughout the continent.

Kano said before Rorschach went to the secondary position that the archmage submitted his paper for review, and with Kano's reputation, the possibility of it being published was still high. But Rorschach didn't expect it to be so fast now. Less than three days before and after the secondary level, I "rested" for five days, and they managed to get it done within ten working days? Is there peer review? Did you really replicate all the experiments?

"Teacher, you are such a gift. It is very important for students to feel your energy in the magic guild!"

"What a mess. I haven't tried hard this time." Kano looked strange. He scooped up a ladle of soup, scooped out a few peas, hesitated for a moment and pushed the soup to Rorschach: "How can you write the paper so quickly? The publication was made possible by the efforts of the leading figure in the Masons' Guild, a subsidiary of the guild. Well, that old man Granol."

"Who?" Rorschach felt like he had heard this name before. But is there something fishy about putting in effort just because you’ve heard the name?

"Francois always remembers it, right? His father, the one who licked His Majesty the King's golden boots to create a lord."

"Why are our great kings involved again? What do they want to do?"

Kano grinned happily: "You, a member of the Empire, are still 'our majesty'! Do you want to know?"

"Think about it, how can anyone help me for no reason? I can't imagine what a high-level mage can do to me. Thank you for saving his son?"

Kano nodded: "If you want to know, just ask them! I received two invitations that need to be forwarded. One is to invite Master Rorschach to the Granor family dinner tonight, and the other is to the Kingdom Palace banquet tomorrow night. Seeing that you are so alive and kicking, I’ll agree to it if you don’t mind!”

"Students don't want to go."

"I also think these banquets are boring. Let's start writing reports on various matters related to the secondary plane tonight."

"But as a student from the Empire, I am still very curious about the banquet of the nobles and kings of the Holy Kingdom, so I asked the student to go and explore the thoughts of the great mage. Teacher, I am a little nervous to go to the banquet alone, for fear of being rude. Master Kano will also go, right?"

"Huh, guess what."

Viscount Granol, who left Rorschach confused, was in the palace. He and several other nobles gathered around a round table. This round table would be too short if it were used for eating. Everyone was slumped with their elbows resting on their thighs or knees. Only at the top of the round table was Finance Minister Necker with his legs crossed and leaning on his chair.

Although Necker was the most dashing, he lost the most. That's right, the owner of nearly half of the country, the governor, and the "right brain" of His Majesty the King were playing cards in the front room, with bright sunlight streaming in through the stained glass.

It was the first time for Granol to participate in such a card game. With the intelligence expected of an archmage, he carefully maintained his balance of winning and losing. Several other dukes, marquises and a prince all won big victories, almost dividing Necker's bargaining chips.

"The game is over, gentlemen." Necker threw out the last piece and said with a smile: "Valan, exchange the spoils for the gentlemen."

"No, no, no Necker, we are just having fun, wondering what to do with this." A grand duke was about to push the chips back to Necker's table, but he stopped him: "Sir, please take a look."

Valan brought a stack of papers. None of the nobles had seen such exquisite printing.

"Please allow me to introduce to you, your Lordships, the most exquisite printed matter at the moment." Necker held up a piece of paper, which had a profile portrait of the 16th Emperor, as well as various complicated patterns and a gilded number one printed on it: "I have this in my hand. The one with the largest face value can be exchanged for one gold coin, or twenty-four silver coins, according to its numbers.”

"It's just a trick of exchanging chips for chips!" The prince grabbed a handful of banknotes and rubbed them: "After leaving the palace, who can exchange it for a piece of bread?"

Necker still smiled: "What if you are willing to promote it in your own territories and governor-general areas? Starting from late late, it will be circulated to all the royal generals directly under your Majesty."

Everyone looked at each other, then slowly shook their heads: "Then let His Majesty and the Minister of Finance set an example first, and then we can follow His Majesty's footsteps and promote it!"

"Does the Prime Minister know about this?"

"Monsignor Du Plessis has agreed to the issuance plan. I know you have doubts, but I want to tell you that this year all His Majesty's bank creditors have agreed to pay half of this year's interest in banknotes in exchange for the limited right to issue banknotes."

The round table was silent as Granol flipped and played with his chips.

Necker calmly continued to add chips: "The most important and important point is that based on the reputation of me and the people I am loyal to, banknotes and gold coins must be exchanged in equal amounts."

"With all due respect, there is no one in this palace whose reputation is worth that of the entire kingdom! Reputation cannot be exchanged for gold!"

"That's right, so in the secondary plane, it has been named the Seriana Region by His Majesty." Necker deliberately nodded to Granol: "The Magic Guild was lucky enough to discover a gold mine."

Valang understood and handed over a velvet bag in cooperation. Lying inside was the gold nugget presented by the apprentice. Heavy amounts of raw gold are circulated among everyone.

Putting away the monocle, the prince asked Granol seriously: "Master, can you guarantee the reliability of the gold mines in the secondary plane?"

"Geologically speaking, one thing must lead to another. The appearance of this natural gold nugget is completely accidental, but as long as it appears nearby, there must be rich veins of minerals."

"Thank you for your analysis, but now we need to guarantee us in the name of the Magic Guild that the gold mine is real."

"Your Highness, the Magic Guild cannot make a guarantee!" Granol thought about the previous conversation with Necker and the title he was about to be promoted to, and gritted his teeth: "But I, on behalf of the seven lords of the Seriana plane, and the In the name of the high-ranking mage of the kingdom, the future earl, and the elder of the Stonemasons Guild, I would like to confirm to you that, yes, there is gold production in the territory directly under the king of Saliana's plane!"

The prince nodded and put the banknotes he had won into his inner pocket. Others followed suit, and Necker watched with satisfaction as the banknotes on the table were divided up.

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