Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Why did you lose your life?" Charles hesitated for a moment, and after confirming that he hadn't misheard, he asked.

"Some people don't want your magic academy built," Spencer said calmly, looking at the group of goblins sitting under the shed.

It must be said that goblins are not exactly good students. Even with cave goblins loudly instructing them and red-eyed goblins patrolling around with clubs, many of them still find themselves daydreaming.

They mechanically followed the others in reciting the pronunciation, their eyes not on the blackboard at all, and even when they were looking at the blackboard, their pupils were completely out of focus.

But it doesn't matter. Xia Er knows that he can't make everyone become a high-level scholar, able to recognize a few words, and select some talented individuals from among them, or even prepare for the education of future goblins. That's enough.

"Who could it be? Some magicians? Or some sect?" Charles pressed. He had previously been just an ordinary person, with little interaction with magicians and a very limited number of magicians he knew.

Of course, since he became a goblin, he has had many more opportunities to interact with mage apprentices.

"It can't be called a sect," Spencer laughed when he saw several goblins distracted and being hit on the back with a club by Red Eyes. "It's probably the higher-ups in the magic world, or the largest organization. They wouldn't want you to build an academy."

"The largest organization?" Charles looked at Spencer suspiciously. To be the largest and highest-ranking mage organization, it must be—"You mean, the Sorcerer's Guild?"

"Yes, you're very smart," Spencer nodded. "It's them."

"Isn't they a loose alliance?"

"You even know this?" Spencer looked at Sharl with some surprise. How could a goblin know so much about the mage world? "Although they are a loose alliance, they still meet every now and then to exchange discoveries and world development trends."

"What does that have to do with this magic academy?"

“It’s very important,” Spencer said, walking slowly forward and gesturing for Charles to follow. “Those who can enter the Federation are all high-ranking archmages or high-ranking sorcerers. They are all apprenticed by their teachers or come from certain schools of thought. But if your academy is built up, there may be seeds with great magical talent in the future.”

As he spoke, he glanced at the group of goblins, shook his head slightly, as if he felt that his earlier statement that "individuals with magical talent have appeared among the goblins" was somewhat absurd. "In this way, when those seeds sprout and grow into towering trees, several people will appear in the Federation, all of whom will come from magic academies."

These words made Charles frown. He followed Spencer's gaze to the Dragon Claw Tree not far away, where several goblins were gathering leaves from the canopy. If Spencer's suggestion was true, and his academy continued to be developed, such a result was not impossible in the future, but...

"But you know," Charles thought for a moment and said, "many of the races in the forest probably don't have much magical talent, and their chances of developing into high-level archmages are extremely slim."

"That's right, but you can't say no." The lizardman lich grinned. "The high-ranking members of the Sorcerer's Guild understand, but..."

He held up a finger and shook it in front of Charles. "Those guys are thinking of nipping problems in the bud; they will definitely choose to nip danger in the bud."

"This..." Sharl stared at the lizardman's clenched fist, "Even if I just wanted to slightly change the goblin's living conditions..."

"That won't work either." Spencer grinned. "You know, a qualified high-level mage is also a scholar. They have some knowledge of history or basic biology. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Hmm." Charles squinted and nodded. The other party's meaning was very clear. Among this group of high-level archmages, there must be someone who could see that if the Goblin Magic Academy were allowed to develop in the future, it would inevitably encroach on their "living space". Just thinking about how a few goblins would appear in front of the party table one day would drive them crazy. Even if they were already dead, their arrogance would not fade away.

"So you should understand now," Spencer said, adjusting the crawling claw on his shoulder and leisurely walking forward.

This news made Charles fall into deep thought. He suddenly understood why, even after thousands of years, there were still very few magicians in the human kingdoms, and why there had been little development in their magic.

Moreover, there are many grammar academies on the mainland, whether they are royal grammar academies or literacy grammar academies run by churches, they can be found in almost every city, but I have never heard of a magic academy.

“Well,” he quickened his pace to catch up with Spencer, “if I build it secretly, by the time those guys find out, my magic academy might already be quite large.”

"Are you really sure?" Spencer looked down at Charles, a slight smirk playing on his lips, an expression that was both condescending and polite. "You probably don't know that the Sorcerer's Guild sometimes issues bounties, do you?"

"I hadn't noticed that."

"Those bounty posters are very difficult to obtain, but," Spencer paused for a few seconds, looked up at the distance as if recalling something, "the rewards are very generous."

"How lavish can it be?" Charles raised an eyebrow, somewhat curious.

"The successful can make a request to the Spell Union, and the high-ranking archmages will, depending on the specific circumstances, fulfill the request if it is not beyond their capabilities."

"In other words," Charles lowered his head and thought for a moment, "if a group of powerful guys rush into the forest, destroy my entire magic academy, and even kill all those mage apprentices, these high-ranking archmages can grant them one request, or rather, one wish."

"Yes." Spencer glanced at the goblin who was deep in thought and smiled.

Sharl understood the lizardman's explanation: as long as the Spell Union issued a bounty on the Goblin Magic Academy, they wouldn't even need to lift a finger; a group of high-ranking knights would simply rush into the forest.

"Indeed, eliminating the threat physically is much simpler." He shook his head self-deprecatingly, then his gaze fell on the lizardman lich walking ahead. He had originally wanted to invite the lich to stay and guide the future students, but it seemed that the lich did not want to get involved.

Moreover, if the other party leaves, Little Claw will definitely leave with him, which makes Xia Er somewhat anxious. Uncle Musa had already sent back a message that Golden Flower City had ordered a large number of healing potions, but now the Skeleton Warrior is "crippled". If "Director Claw" leaves as well, there will be no one to brew the potions.

According to Uncle Musa's intelligence, the third prince is summoning troops to "enter the capital to defend the king." The second prince's whereabouts are unknown, but the area around the capital is full of powerful nobles who support him. The two sides are likely to "ignite at the slightest provocation." Once war breaks out, all kinds of supplies will become scarce commodities, with healing potions being a major item.

Charles had no aversion to profiting from war; in fact, he hoped the two princes would fight freely so his healing potions could sell even better.

But if no one makes it, then this huge sum of money will just disappear.

"Mr. Spencer," Charles called out, catching up with him again. He didn't want this fortune to slip away like that. It wasn't just a few hundred or a few thousand gold coins; if the entire Kingdom of Fran descended into chaos, the shipment of healing potions would amount to at least tens of thousands of gold coins. "Aren't you really going to reconsider?"

"What are you thinking about?" Spencer tilted his head slightly, looking at the goblin.

"Help me build this city, build the magic academy." Charles spread his hands, his tone somewhat urgent. "Of course, if you really have concerns, you can let Little Paw stay..."

"Sure," Spencer nodded with a smile.

"Let Little Paw stay and help me, hmm?" Ciel started to speak before realizing the other's answer, "You mean, Little Paw..."

He looked at the lizardman lich in front of him with expectant eyes, even pricking up his two pointed ears, wanting to catch the other's answer as soon as possible.

"I mean, I can stay and help you build the magic academy." Spencer looked at the goblin with his hands behind his back, his "skinny" tail slowly flicking twice, and his black robes swayed with the movement of his tail, like a "knight-errant" standing in the wind.

"Why?" Charles blinked, somewhat puzzled. Was he really that valuable an investment? The other party's explanation had clearly indicated that the path to the magic academy was likely to be fraught with bloodshed.

"No reason, it's just that you remind me of some people." As he spoke, Spencer looked up at the sky, a slow smile playing on his lips. It seemed as if she had thought of something happy.

"Who is it?"

“Some people who are willing to teach me magic,” Spencer waved his hand. “You don’t think I can learn any advanced magic in the Abyss, do you?”

Hearing this, Xia Er pursed his lips. Indeed, in such an environment, cultivators were forced to jump into spacetime rifts to gamble on the extremely slim chance of survival, and they certainly wouldn't learn any profound spells.

"I learned all my magic in the Holy Kingdom," Spencer said, gazing at the square pyramids in the distance, his thoughts drifting back to a long time ago. "They didn't discriminate against me because I was a lizardman. They were even delighted with my talent in magic. I learned a lot of magic during that time, which laid a solid foundation for my future path in magic."

"The Holy Kingdom?" Sharl also looked into the distance. He remembered that he seemed to have heard the Naga mention that the high elves of the Holy Kingdom would pass on magic to other races.

“Yes, my teachers also lived during the Holy Kingdom era,” Spencer sighed softly, “but after I returned to this world, I found that learning magic was harder than climbing to heaven.”

"Is it the Spellcasting Association?" Charles asked tentatively.

“Yes,” the lizardman lich chuckled a few times, the sarcasm in his laughter making Sharl doubt that this was the laughter of such a polite lizardman. “They don’t want to see me learn magic, so they’re trying every possible way to stop me.”

"The bounty you just mentioned, is it about yourself?" Charles looked at the lizardman in front of him. He didn't ask the question aloud, but his mind was already full of suspicion.

"So, I swore back then," Spencer clenched his fist and waved it forcefully, "that if anyone ever wants to build a magic academy, whoever they are, I, Spencer, will go and help them out."

"Great!" Charles grinned, chuckling foolishly. He hadn't expected things to take such a positive turn, which filled him with immense happiness.

A powerful lich who can summon bone dragons, and even knows some arcane magic and basic evocation spells, will surely be able to guide the students of the magic academy in the future. In fact, Charles has already planned to appoint Spencer as the dean of the academy.

The only problem is that all the students in the academy shouldn't end up learning necromancy; that would be too bizarre.

"Don't get too excited yet," Spencer said, shaking his head with a smile as he saw Charles grinning from ear to ear, pouring cold water on the goblin's enthusiasm. "It's going to be very difficult for your people to learn magic. Your dream of a magic academy will probably fall short at the very first step."

"Don't worry," Charles said, his smile fading and his chest puffing out confidently. "I already have a plan."

"You have a way?" Spencer frowned, looking at the goblin in front of him suspiciously. "It's very difficult to give ordinary people the ability to learn magic."

"Yes, I know." Charles smiled confidently.

His smile startled the lizardman lich. Spencer looked at the goblin in front of him again, a deep solemnity appearing in his eyes, as if he were re-examining the goblin.

"You have greatly surprised me, heir to the Holy Kingdom."

…………

"Are you surprised?"

Afif put down his coffee cup and smiled at Vivian, who was sitting next to him.

"But Professor Afif..." Vivian asked hurriedly, but Afif interrupted her by raising his hand.

"Call me teacher, don't add Afif's name in front of it."

"Don't even think about it," Victor retorted loudly from the side. "It's already a favor of mine to let you be the child's teacher. Don't even dream of becoming her only teacher."

"You," Afif glanced at his "old rival" beside him, "what was I thinking when I agreed to let you live in my magic tower? Also, don't eat those pine nut cream cakes, those were gifts from those beauties."

"All I did was predict when those rich nobles would go to Perfume Lily Street," Victor scoffed, reaching for a small cake and not caring at all that his long beard was covered in cream.

"Teacher Afif, why is there no news about the Second Prince at all? What kind of magic was that teleportation portal?" Vivian ignored the two old men's bickering and asked directly.

“A strange kind of magic,” Afif ignored Victor and picked up the coffee cup on the table again. “This world is vast, and there are many kinds of magic. Even the two of us cannot say that we have seen all kinds of magic.”

"So," Vivian bit her lower lip, "where can I find out all the magic?"

"All magic," Afif chuckled, "probably only the legendary Tower of Babel?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Victor said, then reached for the cake again, but Afif was faster and pulled the plate away.

Their eyes met, but there was little hostility in them; instead, a hint of seriousness was evident.

"Then, Professor Afif," Vivian said, her head bowed, not seeing the two old men exchanging glances. She paused, remembering Uncle Musa's earlier question, "Can ordinary people learn magic?"

"Ordinary people?" Afif reached out, picked up a small cake, and leaned back on the sofa. "They do exist, but they're very rare."

"How difficult is it?" Vivian pressed.

Afif and Viktor exchanged a glance and chuckled a few times. "Like climbing to heaven, isn't it?"