Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 9: Bad News Before Winter Comes

Early in the morning, Pastor Doral walked out of the church door after presiding over the morning prayer.

"By the Lord, Reverend Doral, good morning."

The old pastor smiled lovingly at the townspeople who came to pray one after another, nodding and greeting them constantly.

I turned my head inadvertently and found a familiar figure walking slowly on the street outside the church, about to turn the corner.

It was the necromancer, Harvey Floyd, wearing a narrow-brimmed soft hat, a loose white cotton shirt and black dress trousers.

Next to him was a tall figure covered in a gray robe, wearing a hood and a mask on his face.

The old pastor frowned and was about to turn around and return to the church.

Another young pastor beside him also saw this scene, sneered and turned his head to say to Dorold.

"Heh, now even necromancers can walk around the streets openly in the daytime."

He raised his hand and pointed at the gray-robed figure following Harvey, and added angrily.

"You dare to bring a corpse puppet with you? Really..."

"That's no ordinary corpse. When have you ever seen a corpse over two meters tall?" Doral whispered. "That's probably a stitched corpse."

The young pastor was stunned when he heard this, staring at the two figures that disappeared around the corner and snorted coldly.

"What a blasphemy!"

……

As soon as he turned the corner, Reiner couldn't help but pinch the corner of his robe tightly, and said to Harvey stealthily with his head down.

"My Lord, how did I behave? Those priests didn't react at all."

Harvey loosened the collar of his shirt and chuckled softly, "They probably mistook you for a corpse. After all, it's unlikely that someone following a necromancer is alive."

He paused, then added, "But you still have to be careful not to speak in front of others, so that no one can discover that you have the same mental capacity as a living person."

Reiner followed with a small chuckle, "I understand, sir. When there are people around, I am quieter than the dead."

“The dead are not always quiet…”

Taking advantage of the early morning when there were few pedestrians on the street, the two chatted and laughed in low voices all the way until they arrived in front of a two-story gray brick house facing the street.

There are large metal signs hanging on the doors of the houses facing the street.

The Spellcasters' Union branch in Jackdaw Town.

Harvey has only been to Jackdaw Town twice since moving there more than half a year ago, and both times he came to the Federation branch to do some business.

The first time was when I just moved in and went through the necessary registration procedures. Due to my sensitive identity as a necromancer, I was given a lot of trouble and delays by the staff.

Later, I tried to buy some relatively discounted experimental materials and magic books through the Federation's channels, but was told that only spellcasters of intermediate level and above had this preferential privilege.

The reason I came here today is that the sales of the Philosopher's Stone are monopolized by the Federation, so if I want to buy it, I can only go through this channel.

On the other hand, he is actually taking Reiner out for a walk, allowing him to get in touch with the outside world and maintain his humanity and a stable soul.

Anyway, even if he couldn't buy cheap, high-quality magic stones, he could still get him a batch from Alayeh through Ash's connections.

As soon as I entered the branch building, a young clerk in a light black robe came forward and greeted me with a smile.

"Mr. Mage, please show your identification before entering the branch."

Harvey took out a button-sized silver badge from his shirt pocket, engraved with the skull symbol representing the identity of a necromancer.

The clerk took a glance, the corners of his formal smile stiffened for a moment, and then he glanced at Reiner who was following Harvey with a scrutinizing look.

"The necromancer's puppets are not allowed to enter the branch." The clerk turned around and left as soon as he finished speaking.

Harvey shook his head nonchalantly, signaled Reiner to wait at the door, and walked towards the counter in the branch lobby. "Hello, I'd like to purchase some Philosopher's Stones." Harvey pulled out a book of blank money orders and his identification badge.

Thanks to the emergence of financial institutions like banks in this world, Harvey no longer has to carry heavy gold and silver coins every time he makes a large transaction.

The clerk sitting at the front desk of the hall was a middle-aged man with a slightly bald head. He wore the emblem of the Federation on his chest and a pure black magic robe of the Federation. The cuffs were embroidered with silver rings representing the level of a junior spellcaster.

He raised his head from the pile of documents, smoothed up a strand of sparse hair that fell on the side of his ear, and draped it back on top of his head, as if it could provide perfect coverage.

"Philosopher's Stone? Elemental Stone or Charging Stone?" Mr. Slightly Bald asked coldly.

"Charging stone, preferably of intermediate quality." Harvey pushed the identity badge on the counter forward and replied with a smile.

The slightly bald man glanced sideways, then handed the badge back to Harvey without any reaction, his tone still cold.

"The branch still has 10 of them in stock, intermediate quality, 50 gold pounds each. There's no discount for junior mages."

Harvey was also stunned for a moment, but he quickly came to his senses, took the bill book, quickly filled in the payment amount, and then stamped his signature on it with the emblem.

Wei Tu took the bill of exchange, said "wait a moment" lightly, turned around and left the counter to pick up the goods.

Harvey leaned against the counter and looked around the branch hall, only to find that the entire first floor was empty. Not only was there only one receptionist at the entrance, but the only clerk at the counter was the slightly bald wizard.

"What's going on? Could it be that the Jackdaw Town branch has some urgent mission to go out?" Harvey muttered to himself in confusion.

As far as he knew, there were less than ten spellcasters living in the entire Jackdaw Town, and the Federation branch had only six staff members, including the intermediate wizard Burko who came for the inspection.

These six Federation staff members are all non-combat types and are research-based spellcasters, so it is unlikely that they will be assigned any tasks.

Just when Harvey was puzzled by himself, he heard the sound of someone coming down the wooden stairs on the second floor of the hall.

"Mr. Burko." Harvey greeted with a sincere smile.

Burko paused, subconsciously preparing to turn around and respond, but suddenly realized that it was Harvey who was calling him. He turned back quickly in embarrassment, picked up his suitcase and left quickly without saying a word.

"Strange, where is he going in such a hurry?" Harvey muttered in a low voice, but the returning bald wizard heard it.

"Burko is going to Grizzly Castle. He is the first spellcaster responsible for leading the evacuation." The slightly bald man's tone was still light as he handed the small box in his hand to Harvey.

Harvey took the box and opened it. Inside were ten crystal blue magic stones of intermediate quality neatly arranged in compartments.

"Evacuate? The Federation is going to withdraw the Jackdaw Town branch?"

"How could that be? I'm talking about the evacuation of all residents of Jackdaw Town this winter..."

Harvey nodded and was about to exchange a few more polite words with the bald man before leaving, when he suddenly felt that something seemed wrong.

He suddenly raised his head and asked dryly, "Excuse me, are you saying that the entire Jackdaw Town will be evacuated this winter?"

The slightly bald man shrugged helplessly. "It can't be helped. The fighting in the Evil Moon Mountains is intense, and most of the battle mages have been sent to the front lines. Jackdaw Town doesn't have the manpower to defend against the evil orcs who cross the border and plunder every winter."

As if he felt that he had talked too much, he raised his hand and pointed to the newspaper rack on one side of the hall.

"We posted the notice six months ago. Please wait until winter is over before returning to town."

Harvey walked quickly to the notice board next to the newspaper rack and took a quick glance, only to find that an evacuation notice had indeed been posted when he first moved to the town half a year ago.

I think the town’s notice board, the mayor’s office, and the security patrol have already announced it to all townspeople.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know this?" Harvey covered his face helplessly, but he had no reason to complain. After all, he had been living a secluded life since he moved here and hardly interacted with the outside world.

Reiner should have known, but Reiner probably thought Harvey knew too, so in the end only Harvey didn't know.

What Harvey is most worried about now is what will happen if he evacuates with the entire Jackdaw Town.

What should I do with the magic server that I just built at a huge cost?
If the evil orcs enter the town, they will not even spare the iron chamber pot under the groom's bed.

They have always been extremely short of metal weapons.

(End of this chapter)