Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 2: Necromancer's Experimental Recruitment

In Jackdaw Town, the midday sun was so scorching that pedestrians on the street took shelter under the eaves.

Reiner staggered down the street, occasionally letting out a violent cough that he couldn't suppress.

He used to have a relatively respectable job as a watchmaker, before he developed a strange illness.

Half a year ago, Reiner returned home in the freezing rain of late winter after being hired to repair a watch on someone's doorstep.

What followed was a chill and a high fever, followed by persistent coughing and convulsions.

This made him completely unable to calibrate and repair watches.

For most of the past six months, he relied on his daughter who worked as a waitress in a tavern and his son who worked as a cargo hauler at the dock to continuously deliver him food and the cold plague potion distributed by the church.

Reiner knew his illness would never be cured because he started to feel itchy and tingling in his lungs last month.

A week ago, he began to cough up blood intermittently, dark red, semi-coagulated blood.

Reiner decisively sold the complete set of watch repair tools that had been passed down in his family for three generations, so that he could buy his son a brand new two-wheeled cart and his daughter could have the white cotton dress she had longed for.

She could wear it to church mass every Sunday, Reiner envisioned.

Unfortunately, he could not save more money for them. Everything that could be sold had been sold, and he did not want to spend money to find a cemetery for himself or to ask a pastor to perform a final resting place for him.

Reiner had left a simple suicide note in the shack he rented. Now he just wanted to find a hidden bridge hole or alley, lie down quietly and wait for death to come.

I walked along the street in a daze, dragging my staggering steps, and subconsciously came to the square where I used to hang out.

"Magic...experiments, recruitment..."

Reiner was surprised to find that the notice posted on the town square was actually a temporary recruitment from a wizard.

From his limited knowledge, those arrogant spellcasters would hardly interact with any commoners. Only noble lords like the lord were qualified to drink with them at solemn occasions such as banquets.

Out of curiosity, Reiner begged the literate townspeople in the square to read the recruitment book to him.

It turned out to be the wizard Harvey who had just moved to the town half a year ago. He wanted to recruit a group of people from the civilian population to participate in his magic experiments. As long as they went for the interview, they would receive a reward of 5 silver coins regardless of whether they were selected or not.

Reiner suddenly felt happy. He heard that the necromancer would buy corpses for experiments. Maybe he could sell them for some money and leave some for the children.

Thinking of this, Reiner carefully tore off the recruitment notice and begged the donkey driver who was picking up work near the square to take him to Harvey's manor.

……

"Are you here for an interview?" Harvey asked calmly, looking at the sallow-faced middle-aged man sitting in the chair. "Do you know what kind of magic research I'm doing?"

Reiner rolled his throat with difficulty, suppressed a cough, and whispered: "My lord, you are a necromancer, I know it very well."

Harvey nodded and asked doubtfully, "You're not afraid of necromancers? You're not afraid of zombies or skeletons?"

"No, ahem... sir, there are several necromancers living in this town. Although they rarely go out,... no one is afraid of them. We all know that those rumors are not true." Reiner explained cautiously.

Indeed, since the establishment of the Spellcasters' Union a hundred years ago, the cold image of the mage community has been greatly improved, and the necromancers are no longer the cold-blooded wizards who are in league with the devil and are bloodthirsty as rumored.

In the eyes of common people, mages are no different from nobles. They are equally unattainable, but just more powerful and mysterious.

Thinking of this, Harvey slowed down his tone slightly and said patiently, "But you don't meet the requirements of my experiment. I'm sorry, but I will still pay your interview fee."

He was looking for someone who wasn't afraid of the Necromancer's reputation and who could operate the production line alongside the zombies in the workshop. While the middle-aged man before him met the primary recruitment requirements, his health looked completely unhealthy, almost dying.

"Sir, I know my body can no longer work, ahem, naturally it is of no use to your experiment..." Reiner was not surprised by the other party's refusal. He didn't come here for this job.

"But you are a necromancer, so corpses must be useful to you, right?" Reiner asked hopefully.

Harvey was a little confused. "Are you a corpse collector? I won't buy a body from an illegal source."

"No, sir, the body I'm selling is my own..." Reiner said with a wry smile. "As you can see, I'm... I'm dying. I just want to leave some money for my children..."

After saying these words with difficulty, Reiner began to cough violently. Even though he covered his mouth and nose tightly, Harvey could still see dark red blood seeping from between his fingers.

"You've caught the cold?" Harvey shook his head. The other person seemed to have obvious symptoms.

High fever, cough, chest pain, and hematemesis.

Harvey remembered this disease very clearly. In the world before he traveled through time, it was called tuberculosis. The only difference was that the cold plague was not contagious.

A dying man.

Harvey sighed secretly and said with some reluctance, "I am indeed short of experimental materials at the moment, but this method is too cruel. I don't think your family would have the heart to make this decision..."

"Sir, please rest assured. I can sign the contract. My body belongs to me, and no one else can make decisions for me." A flush of excitement appeared on Reiner's gray face.

Harvey closed his eyes and thought for a while, then slowly said, "Okay, I have another experiment that you might be able to do... but you must be completely willing and highly cooperative."

"However, I cannot guarantee the success rate of the experiment. If it fails, you will die immediately. Compared to your current condition, it will not be too painful."

Harvey paused, then took the initiative to address the point Reiner was most concerned about. "As for the reward, regardless of success or failure, I will pay your family ten times the purchase price of the body, 50 gold pounds..."

"I do! My lord, I do." Reiner was ecstatic. It was 50 gold pounds, a sum of money that he would have to save for years without eating or drinking and working diligently.

Not only was it enough for the kids to buy a cheap townhouse, but there was also some money left over for them to complete their own major life events.

……

Reiner cut his finger tremblingly and signed the experimental agreement with the effect of a magic contract with his blood. As promised, he received the huge one-time payment.

Harvey also thoughtfully summoned the Night Owl Messenger to help him deliver one of the agreements and the reward to his children.

A magic contract is a special form of contract with retroactive capabilities, mainly used to regulate contractual cooperation between spellcasters and ordinary people.

The Federation has a complete set of methods to review whether there are any violations. Whether it is a civilian or a spellcaster, the punishment for violating the contract is very severe.

Therefore, as long as the magic contract is signed voluntarily, there will be no situation of forcing civilians to participate in magical experiments. Harvey does not want to get into trouble of this level with the Federation.

After completing this series of formalities according to the procedures, Harvey clapped his hands in satisfaction and gently comforted the frail Reiner:

"It seems that your body no longer allows you to return home and say goodbye to your family. Just stay here with me. I can start the experiment tomorrow."

We can't let him torture himself anymore. Who knows if this poor patient with advanced tuberculosis can survive these two days.

The soul transfer experiment must begin as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)