I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 218 Right or Wrong
"Let's talk?" Robert looked at the black-haired boy and realized something.

Although it's unknown whether this guy is from one of the eight great families, he definitely has pure Netherian blood.

Although they did not personally experience the magnificent Archmage Empire thousands of years ago, every Harua person remembers these ancient legends: the floating city that looked down on the world, the brilliant and powerful magical era, the three gods of death that appeared at the same time, and even the first and most powerful magic lady died at the hands of the Archmage.

Although there are many darker versions of these rumors, such as the First Lady of Magic simply wanting to see what kind of tricks the most talented archmage, Karthus (now the Fool God), could pull; the Three Death Gods, although from the Nether era, having no connection to arcane magic; and the establishment of the floating city being due to the Lady of Magic's excessive favor towards mortals, etc.
But the facts are the facts, and their ancestors in Harua did indeed do these things!

Although the Netherians lived a life of wandering after the death of the goddess of magic, they only settled down after being accepted by the natives of Harua. Some of them even turned into barbarians who hated arcane magic in the original desert. But how could they forget the glory of their ancestors?
Having black or brown hair is considered one of the hallmarks of pure Netherian blood.

Even though a true Netherian doesn't necessarily have outstanding magical talent, there are plenty of people with this hair color who can't even perform tricks.

However, apprentices who actually come to the academy and have this bloodline will definitely receive better resources, and may even have an organization to rely on.

For example, Yarach Academy has organizations such as the "Pure-Blood Apprentices" and the "Revival of the Glory of the Netherworld" that are willing to accept such people.

Although this was a self-organized group of apprentices, according to the school's history recorded in the library, such as the Pureblood Apprentices' Association, which was probably established 600 years ago, Robert obviously did not believe that there were no people manipulating or backing them.

Robert's flaxen hair excluded him from such organizations, but they were a small circle that mostly kept to themselves and didn't have much contact with ordinary people like them.

However, the "pure" Nessers basically handed in their money early for this fundraising event, and almost no one participated in their demonstration this time.
Thinking of this, Robert looked at DuPont with some hostility, his tone somewhat stiff: "Can you represent the fathers of the council?"

"Of course I can't represent you, but you're really planning to meet with a congressman?" DuPont sipped his tea leisurely, his fire resistance making him completely unafraid of the scalding tea. "Just say what you want to say, and I might report your requests to them, though it's more likely I won't. If your requests are just minor issues, I don't mind solving them for you myself."

Hearing DuPont's frankness, the apprentices exchanged bewildered glances. The dwarf then sneered, "Then why should we talk to you? According to you, isn't this a complete waste of time?"

“You’re right. You think I might be wasting your time by stalling, but have you ever considered that in the eyes of those congressmen, you’re also wasting their time? And you’ve made such a big fuss that it’s going to be difficult to end things gracefully.”

DuPont glanced at the dwarf's nameplate and said, "Oh, your surname is Warhammer. Do you know Master Fireforge?"

"Uh, that's my great-uncle." The dwarf suddenly felt a little guilty upon hearing this: "You mean..."

“Ah, I’m somewhat acquainted with your great-uncle.” Dupont said, taking out his silver sword. The elegant oriental longsword captivated the apprentices, and the dwarf’s expression changed drastically: “This, this really does seem to be your great-uncle’s craftsmanship!”

“Ah, I’m getting off topic. I’m not here to chat with you about everyday things.” DuPont said, sheathing his longsword. “Because of your actions, you can imagine that tomorrow this incident will be reported throughout Faerûn, and even in the distant Eastern kingdoms. Your behavior has made them feel very disgraceful, and it might even shake Harua’s prestige.”

"You should know that large-scale magical item transactions in Harua usually involve receiving payment before shipping the goods, which is based on our strong reputation. But for a country in turmoil to want to receive payment before doing business, only a fool or a gambler would do that."

“Strictly speaking, your current behavior has already affected the stability of the country. It is only because the members of parliament are kind-hearted that they have not arrested and interrogated you.”

The apprentices felt a little guilty after hearing this. What this guy said did seem to make some sense, but Robert shook his head and said firmly, "You're talking about an uncertain result, but you haven't mentioned the cause. If it weren't for this sudden new policy in Parliament, how could we have been forced into such a predicament? We would be home resting by now!"

The four people breathed a sigh of relief, but DuPont shook his head, took out a lie detector ring and activated it, and at the same time took out an image crystal. After inputting magic power, the image inside contained the questions that the enthusiastic citizens had asked the crowd.

"You know about lie detector rings, right? Now I want everyone to have a public discussion: do you think what those ordinary people said earlier is true?"

Some hesitated, some seemed hesitant, some were uneasy, and some seemed uneasy. They looked at Robert, who thought carefully and then answered seriously: "I think there is some truth to what they said. They do live a very hard life. They think our lives are good and we should not pursue more."

"But the problem is they can't understand our difficulties. They don't know what it feels like to copy papers until your head aches and you're dizzy, let alone how much damage failing to graduate would do to us. So I think what they say does have some merit, but it's mostly unfounded accusations. DuPont, you said you're an apprentice, so you should understand the difficulties of an apprentice." "You're right. In fact, there was a time when I didn't even have a single gold coin in my pocket. I had to carefully budget my meals and rely on hunting undead creatures to earn deeds and bounties to survive."

DuPont's words surprised the apprentices. Robert clenched his fist: "Are you saying that if we don't have money, we shouldn't make a fuss, but instead do deed-related tasks to make money?"

"Of course not, this is just a memory of mine. In fact, I almost died on the spot several times, and I only survived by sheer luck."

DuPont smiled and put down his teacup: "The reason I gave that example was simply to say that you find these ordinary people's opinions very absurd, just like a deaf person who can't hear music thinks everyone else dancing is mentally ill. But have you ever considered that the congressmen also find it absurd or even laughable that you've staged such a large-scale protest because of this?"

At first, everyone was indignant, but after thinking about it carefully, they were all speechless.

Yes, there is a big gap between ordinary people and professionals, but the gap between professionals is even bigger.

For those archmages, crafting a rare magical item is not difficult at all. With just a certain amount of time and effort, they can earn thousands of gold coins in profit. The maximum amount of 500 gold coins that an apprentice pays is probably nothing to them.

“But we’re apprentices!” Dorothy spoke up this time. “If things continue like this, what will become of us?”

"Is it possible that no one is obligated to guarantee your future?" DuPont sighed slightly. "Every year there are apprentices who don't graduate. Some are even not allowed to pay for an extension. They can only return to society and rely on their own efforts."

In earlier times, before academies even existed, apprentices were the private property of their mentors, their lives and deaths entirely dependent on their master's whims. Now such things are forbidden, so we pride ourselves on being civilized, but is it possible that the essence of things has never actually changed?

"That's why we're protesting! Magic has been developing, spellcasting systems have been improving, and we should be working together towards a brighter future!" The divine-blooded girl stood up defiantly: "The yearning for and building of a better future, as well as the popularization of magic, are what the Magic Church has always emphasized. Such harsh laws should never have existed in the first place!"

"Magic is indeed evolving, and spellcasting systems are indeed progressing, but what does that have to do with society? And who gave you the illusion that we've progressed much more than in the Middle Ages?" DuPont shook his head slightly: "You don't think that tuition fees and student loans don't affect people, do you?"

"Not to mention that the advancement of professionals is already going against the grain. Perhaps you think that this new policy was a brilliant idea that some good-for-nothing came up with on a whim. But the emergence of a high-level professional requires talent, experience, money, and knowledge. How many people have been gradually forgotten along the way? And how many corpses have been left at his feet? Is such a person really a useless piece of trash who only causes trouble and accomplishes nothing?"

The others started sweating, but Dorothy kept staring intently at DuPont: "What you say may be true, and the parliament has operated according to this logic for thousands of years, but does that mean it's necessarily right? We need to correct our mistakes in order to make progress!"

“Right and wrong are merely personal perceptions. Unless you have the ability to change all of this, right and wrong often depend not on right or wrong, but on position.” DuPont said, pointing to the badge on his chest, the words “Northwest College” shining brightly above the badge.

"My Dean Lavoisier has always been a famous radical. He also started the only major war in the last hundred years, and the results he achieved surprised countless countries. It is said that he plundered the wealth accumulated by the Drow Elf Council and the ten great families over thousands of years, obtaining hundreds of millions or even tens of millions of gold coins. He once said in the council that the people there were all old stubborns and a bunch of good-for-nothing beasts."

"But now he's also supporting the new policies, even donating ten million gold coins to express his support for the new parliamentary policies." DuPont spread his arms wide as he said this: "That's ten million gold coins! I've been eyeing a high-level legendary item for only three hundred thousand. That amount of money could probably easily buy a small kingdom, but this representative of the reformists donated that money to lead the way in supporting the new policies. What do you think he's after?"

Robert's senior classmate sneered: "I've heard that in some countries, when they need money to build roads, they call on nobles and commoners to donate. As a result, the money donated by the nobles goes back into their pockets, while the money donated by the commoners is split 50/50. In the end, it's still a question whether the road can be built. I think this matter is probably similar."

DuPont couldn't help but laugh after hearing this: "You do have a sense of humor. Lavoisier dared to drive his mage tower alone to the Drow City to cause trouble. If such a prodigy wanted money, he could easily conquer a low-magic planet. Why would he care about money?"

He casually toyed with the parliamentary token in his hand: "If we follow your method, even Lavoisier is not a good person. Since this new policy has been passed, it is obvious that most members of parliament agree to it. So, are these people who agree to it also accomplices of the new policy?"

"If that's the case, then everyone in our council is a beast, not even a good person. Your impulsive decision to go is practically suicide! We mages don't do such stupid things. Leaving Harua and finding a way out in the Northern Federation isn't a bad idea. Why waste your precious youth living in this place full of idiots and good-for-nothings?"

(End of this chapter)