A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 253 Food Prohibition

Rorschach reminded the Ranger Falcon, "This matter could have been handled by our ambassador informing the church and the magic guild. Isn't that the ambassador's responsibility?"

Forest Falcon nodded: "That makes sense. The Imperial Ambassador's task is not just to discuss life with the enthusiastic Mrs. Valuwana at night."

Finally, the carriage stopped again, and Rorschach got off at the exact same spot where he got on.

"Did they take me in circles?" Rorschach asked uncertainly, "Is everything alright?"

"Take care." Falcon lowered the curtains, and the carriage, simple on the outside but luxurious on the inside, started and drove off to a place unknown to Luo Xia.

With the last drawing completed, Rorschach blew on the last bit of ink, hoping it would dry quickly.

During this period of calm, Rorschach used his vacation to copy many blueprints and excerpts from the Star Tower's collection of books.

We must leave the Holy Kingdom.

This is a signal sent to itself by the forest ranger falcon.

But now Rorschach didn't want to return to the Empire empty-handed. He was planning how to persuade Andrei's family to come with him to Bain. With him there, the establishment and operation of the new collectors would have a guaranteed workforce.

The members of the Alchemy Department will certainly not be easily poached by Rorschach, so Andre, a prospective apprentice with internship experience, is the best "cost-effective employee".

Leaving one's homeland is certainly not something everyone can accept, but Rorschach believes that the Golden Eagle Coin is more appealing than the increasingly devalued paper money of the Holy Kingdom.

What else can he take with him? Rorschach had a strong premonition that this time was different from before; after leaving Valuvana, he might not be able to return for a long time.

When Rorschach wanted to talk to Andre, he received a notification from Master Cano.

"You should not participate in the non-magical alternative technology experimental group for the time being." This was the order that the Archmage gave immediately after seeing Rorschach.

"Why?" Rorschach's first thought was that there was some other mission involved.

But Cano had other considerations. He threw out a newspaper, the headline of which read, "The Empire announces suspension of grain exports, several grain merchants in Valois go bankrupt."

"This year's harvest was poor, and with the Empire pulling this stunt, some people who like to overthink things think the Empire is targeting the Holy Kingdom. Your identity is a bit sensitive, so it's best to avoid contact with those rigid instructors for now."

Luo Xia only received the news a few days in advance. When Falcon told him, it was merely to remind Luo Xia that "this place is not safe to stay for long" and to send out a trivial signal on orders.

In fact, the Holy Kingdom was not entirely unaware of the ban. Powerful merchants could always obtain information from the empire's business partners and those who had connections with checkpoint administrators. Only grain merchants holding promissory notes and burdened with debts were truly devastated by the sudden ban.

Coupled with poor domestic harvests, lords and grain merchants are already gearing up to hoard this essential commodity.

Those who hoard grain know they are making ill-gotten gains, but since they have already made the decision to act like animals, wouldn't they be doing it all for nothing if they didn't make a huge profit?

As a result, bread prices in Valuvana continue to soar.

"Will the magic guild stockpile food?" Rorschach was a little curious about the magic tower and the guild's countermeasures.

"Perhaps, maybe the grain merchants under the guild, but I don't know much about them."

"Aren't you or the guild worried? Rumors are flying around the capital right now, all saying that the harvest is bad."

"So what for us?" Cano replied with complete indifference. "The kingdom has about 25 million people, and in previous years it could produce enough food to feed 30 million people, some of which was exported and used to feed livestock."

"If the harvest is bad this year, will everyone go hungry? Assuming there is only enough food for 20 million people this year, the answer is that about 10 million people will go hungry, and at most 500,000 of them will suffer misfortune."

"You, me, and all the monks will not be among those who go hungry. That's all I can guarantee."

"And now, my message is that Duplessi still hasn't convinced the king to issue a grain export restriction order, because the royal estates also need to make real money from Istani through grain."

The absolute number of mages is still small. Compared to the massive resources consumed by the magic guilds, the mages' spellcasting, and alchemy, food is not enough to give the chief of the Tower of Stars a headache.

After calmly stating the facts, Cano continued with the topic of his meeting with Rorschach: "Don't be idle after the lab is suspended. Go and coordinate with the Star-Robed Mage."

"We've received news from the outside world that a new wave of underground cult members and evil entities have infiltrated the Holy Kingdom. Since you, Rorschach, reported this to me, and since both the people and the objects are from your hometown, let's assist the guild's armed forces in the investigation."

"Yes. After completing this mission, I want to go to Byrne."

".good."

This was Rorschach's first time encountering armed mages. They were all dressed in dark blue mage robes with star patterns, their expressions were stern, and their movements were crisp and efficient.

However, Rorschach saw two familiar and identical figures: two gleaming metal cans.

"Hi?" Rorschach greeted the fully armored alchemist, and the two cans, with 100% synchronization, took three steps back in unison.

"You two know each other?"

"I'm quite familiar with the Alchemy Department," Rorschach said with a smile, extending his hand. "Rorschach, an intermediate-level mage."

The mage leading the Star Robe Squad was a short-haired woman. She removed her black gloves and shook them back: "Jane, you're in charge of this operation."

What Rorschach held was not a delicate hand, but the hand of a martial artist—lean, strong, and calloused. A closer look at their attire beneath their robes revealed that all members carried not only scrolls and potions, but also short pistols at their waists.

Captain Jane is a bit special; like the fully armored warriors, she carries a cold weapon—a short axe from the south of the kingdom.

"Do you need a gun?"

"No, I'm still more used to my cane." A pistol in the hands of an untrained person is just a bang; you'd be lucky if you didn't blow yourself up.

Rorschach raised his walking stick, but Captain Jane immediately recognized it as a magical item and stopped insisting.

It was still afternoon, which shouldn't have been the time for the Star Robe troops to set out, but everyone pulled their robes together to conceal their weapons and went out into the streets.

"After the last operation wiped out the so-called 'Rat King,' they returned to the Holy Mother Order and quieted down for a while. The last time those insects appeared was underground in the eastern suburbs. Unfortunately, it was completely controlled by the church, and we didn't get much information."

According to Planet, a member of the Star Robe team who participated in "Operation Rat Hunt," the Magic Tower analyzed the residual aura of Mother Earth.

Their monitoring of Valuana revealed that similar signs had been emerging in recent days and were showing a tendency to gather.

"How do you monitor the entire city?" Rorschach asked, a sense of unease creeping in.

Pavard skipped over Rorschach's question: "Technical issues? I don't know! Anyway, they're converging, and the center of that convergence is something you'd never guess!"

"St. Miller's Cathedral?"

"You are right, Master Rorschach." Power took out a map, which was marked with many green dots. They were like stars surrounding the moon, pointing straight towards the cathedral, and the closer they got, the denser they were.

(End of this chapter)