Fanatics of the Magic Academy

Rose arrived at Mason's tent, and his high level of rationality made him notice the sound of turning pages inside.

Mason was reading when Rose called out from outside:

"Mr. Mason! I've come to see you!"

The sound of turning pages inside the tent stopped, and then Mason was seen peeking out from behind the tent flap.

Mason looked Rose up and down, then his gaze fell on the bag in Rose's hand.

His eyes lit up, and he smiled.

"Oh dear, you're already here, why did you bring fruit?"

As Mason spoke, he crawled out of the tent and took the bag from Rose's hand.

Then, Luo was invited to the track:

"Come in and have a seat."

Rose nodded and followed Mason into the tent.

Mason sat in the tent and then eagerly took out a piece of fruit from the bag and started eating it.

Mason said to Rose while munching on his food:

"Have you finished reading the book I gave you last time? If you have, give me back my notes. You have no idea how much effort I put into those notes!"

The book and notes are still in Rose's tent; Rose hasn't touched them at all.

One problem is that Rose had only borrowed the book and notes for two days.

Although a lot has happened in the past two days.

Rose said:

"I've only borrowed it for two days, and I haven't finished reading it yet."

Mason smiled smugly and said:

"I knew it! That book was difficult for you. If it weren't for my notes, you wouldn't have understood it at all!"

Although Rose hasn't even finished her studies yet, it doesn't stop her from effortlessly and skillfully responding to questions:

"Indeed, thank you for your notes, they were a great help."

"snort..."

Mason gave a smug hum and happily started munching on his fruit.

Subsequently, the Luo racetrack:

"Mr. Mason, I've come to you today because I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

Mason glanced at Rose and said:

"I knew it! Why did you come back to see me for no reason? Okay, what's up?"

Rose thought for a moment, carefully considered her words, and said:

"Mr. Mason, there's a little girl about my age whose father recently died, and her mother... well, she died too."

She is currently unable to take care of herself. What should I do?

Mason thought for a moment and asked:

"Is it also from a slum?"

"Yes, he's an illegal immigrant."

"Smuggled immigrants...?"

Mason frowned, thought for a moment, and said:

"They can join the social welfare system and be sent to orphanages to be adopted, but for unregistered individuals, the adoptive families will not be very good."

"I see..."

Rose frowned slightly, recalling the details of his conversation with Joel that day.

When Joel learned that Rose was an orphan, he even thought it was better for her to struggle to survive in the slums than to join the social welfare system.

Rose pressed on, asking:

"What exactly does 'bad' mean? What kind of situation is it that's 'bad'?"

Mason said:

"If it's a boy, staying in the slums is no different from being adopted, but if it's a girl, at least she can survive."

A bad feeling welled up in Rose's heart.

"The Magic Federation has relevant policies that allow for tax breaks for adopting children, in order to ensure the survival of children who have lost their parents in accidents."

"So there are families who specifically adopt children to get tax breaks, but the government subsidies are actually not enough to support even one child."

But if we let them go out to work, then they'll make a profit.

"So generally, unless a boy is exceptionally handsome, he will be sent to do illegal work, while the girls will be kept at home and raised to work on the streets."

Boys who work illegally usually die quickly, while girls, if lucky, can live to adulthood.

Mason said casually.

Rose remained silent.

Although he had expected this, he still asked:

"Isn't there a better solution?"

Mason frowned and asked:

What other solutions do you need?

Or do you have a trustworthy adult who is willing to simply raise a child and then foster her in that family?

If you really have it, then that's fine.

Then Mason looked directly into Rose's eyes and said:

"If you really had it, you wouldn't be talking to me in the slums."

In fact, as Mason said, Rose couldn't find such a person.

Rose then struggled, his voice pleading:

"Mr. Mason, do you know anyone willing to adopt? I can pay a fee."

Mr. Mason did not quite understand Rose's stubbornness:

"That little girl saved your life?"

"right."

"I see."

Mason tilted his head back and thought for a moment, then said:

"Most of the people I know live in slums. I can only tell you that you can raise them if you're willing to pay them, but it's not guaranteed they'll survive."

"Most of their own children are so malnourished that their teeth don't even grow in."

If you raise a child who isn't your own, even if you pay them, it's difficult to treat them equally.

"By your standards, you should look in the civilian area."

But in reality, it's pretty much the same in the working-class areas; discrimination and being called by the sir every day are also very common.

But at least your survival is guaranteed. If you're willing to spend the money, I can try to find you some.

"Isn't there any other solution?"

"uh-huh..."

Mason squeezed out a sound of affirmation through his nose.

Rose thought for a moment, then thanked Mason:

"Thank you, Mr. Mason. I'll think about it some more."

As he turned to leave, Mason called out to him:

"Hello!"

Rose turned around and looked at Mason with a puzzled expression.

Mason said:

"Why don't you think about yourself? Since she saved your life, why can't you raise her?"

Rose looked at Mason with some surprise.

We don't usually refer to two six-year-old children living together as "raising" or "nurturing".

Those few are called "dependent on each other for survival"!

Mason looked directly into Rose's eyes:

"By your standards, isn't the best person who is willing and able to raise her the best person you can be?

Don't look at me like that. Kenneth told me before he died that with your learning speed, you will soon reach the level of a normal 1st-ring mage.

In the Age of Gods, and in the early days of the Magic Federation, around 4 years ago, the concept of children did not exist.

At that time, a 5-year-old child could help with some small chores at home, and a 7 or 8-year-old child could take on some of the household chores.

At 12 years old, one is already a full-fledged laborer. In that society, there was not much difference between children and adults; the only difference was that children were not strong enough at the moment.

In this day and age, jobs that don't involve magic require increasingly higher levels of professionalism to survive and work in society.

Children's undeveloped brains and limited knowledge and experience are insufficient to handle this.

Surviving through manual labor requires exploiting every ounce of an adult's resources, a burden that children simply cannot bear.

As a result, children are unable to survive independently, distinguish right from wrong, or even be closely connected with their families, because there are far too many people in this society who abandon their children.

That's why the concept of children exists, and why they need to be protected and favored.

But you are different, Rose. You can distinguish right from wrong, survive independently, and with your strength, you can live well in society.

You've moved beyond the stage of being a child who needed protection.

If you're willing, you can absolutely take on the life of a child.

Rose remained silent for a moment; how could he not know?

However, his identity as a believer, coupled with his recent folly with a magician, makes him a figure of great danger.

He said:

"Thank you, I will consider it, Mr. Mason."

Rose then stepped out of the tent.