A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 85 The Viscount in the Slums

Serena walked out of the oppressive palace, where even though she was a princess, all that remained for her was pain.

From the time she could remember, she knew she was different from others.

Perhaps it was the fear the palace maids showed her, or perhaps it was the respectful attitude others had towards her.

No one dared to disobey her; even powerful figures from the Saint Realm greeted her with smiles. If a maid displeased her, that maid would disappear from her sight the next day.

As a child, she didn't know, but as she grew up, she realized that the maids hadn't disappeared; they had been disposed of.

She is the princess of the Mermaid Empire, and also a prisoner, imprisoned in a country full of hypocrisy.

"Your Highness, what troubles you?"

A merman walked towards Serena.

"Fessman! I've been waiting for you for so long!"

Fiesman was her childhood playmate and one of her few friends.

It was through him that Serena truly learned what the outside world was like.

"Your Highness, you didn't send anyone to inform me, otherwise how could I bear to keep you waiting?"

But I clearly remember sending someone.

Serena shook her head, not paying attention; she had more important things to discuss with Fessman.

Soon, she told Fessman about her mission to the Mage Alliance. Fessman didn't seem too emotional when he heard this, but he offered Serena a few words of comfort and then left, citing feeling unwell.

Serena watched as Fesman hurriedly left, somewhat puzzled as to why he was behaving so strangely.

Why else could it be? Of course, it's to betray you!

Mo'er, who was secretly observing, felt a sudden darkness engulf him. The thought that the future of the Mermaid Empire might be handed over to this naive princess filled him with gloom and made him feel that the future was uncertain.

"The princess still has a lot of room for improvement."

At this point, all Moore could do was offer a high-EQ comment before turning into water again and drifting away with the surrounding currents.

He needed to ensure that the matter did not get out of control, as it would affect the rise and fall of the Mermaid Empire.

Poor Princess Serena, she never had any freedom. The freedom she thought she had was nothing more than a huge cage woven from lies.

However, she is still lucky because she has a legendary father. Perhaps soon, her legendary father will go even further, and she will witness the birth of a legend.

Or perhaps it's the end.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Velisco.

"What a lousy place!"

Jiang Shuzhou sat in the carriage, the air around him filled with a stench. If he didn't know he was in Velisco, he would have thought he had arrived at the abyss.

Just today, the director, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, gave him another task, requiring him to oversee the slum redevelopment plan along with other arbitrators.

To be honest, before today, Jiang Shuzhou had no idea that there were slums in Verisco. Today, he finally saw it for himself.

The streets were filled with filthy, foul-smelling sewage, and piles of garbage surrounded the area. Ragged poor people huddled in shacks made of garbage.

"I knew that old Deng never came to me with anything good."

Jiang Shuzhou made a decision: once the time was up, he would immediately resign from his position as an arbitrator and never do it again.

No wonder someone was able to reserve this position for him; anyone with a bit of ability would want to be in this job.

He used to earn 150 gold coins a day, but now he can easily earn 300 gold coins by practicing potion making for just one hour.

This is no longer the time when he first arrived in Verisco and had only a few hundred gold coins in his pocket.

"My lord, please bear with it. This is how the slums are. I'll take care of this soon."

Hayes, who was standing next to him, said.

Ever since he made up his mind to become Jiang Shuzhou's follower, he changed his address for Jiang Shuzhou from "Master" to "Lord".

Jiang Shuzhou was initially a little unaccustomed to it, after all, he came from modern China, and the title "Lord" was still a bit too feudal.

Moreover, according to the traditional Chinese way of addressing people, Hayes should actually call Jiang Shuzhou his lord.

However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do; it's best not to try to be different here.

Although Jiang Shuzhou doesn't have a title yet, he will soon, and it's perfectly reasonable for him to be called "Lord".

"It's nothing, I was just marveling at the environment here."

Jiang Shuzhou shook his head. He didn't understand why they didn't reform it earlier or later, but instead reformed it just before the war.

Are they going to conscript these poor people to be cannon fodder?

Suppressing the dark thoughts in his mind, Jiang Shuzhou decided to focus on the work at hand.

First, there's material about slums.

Poverty, backwardness, filth, and madness are the main themes here, where countless evils are buried and the ugliness of human nature is revealed.

People here are willing to kill and commit arson for a bite to eat, and they are willing to become wild beasts for a place to shelter them from the wind and rain.

This is the outskirts of Verisco, once a lush forest, now a hunting ground teeming with wild beasts.

"Squeak, squeak."

The carriage made a creaking sound as the wood creaked against each other as Jiang Shuzhou and his group traveled through this desolate place.

"My lord, this is Viscount Alston Macmillan's temporary residence."

Hayes, who volunteered to get out of the carriage and clear the way, said from outside the carriage.

Lifting the curtain covering the carriage, Jiang Shuzhou peered out and indeed saw a large area of ​​tents and scattered firelight within them.

This is normal, since tents are made of cloth and don't allow for much light transmission.

Unlike other places, the garbage and filth commonly found in slums are almost nowhere to be seen here. The camp is filled with countless busy figures, moving between tents and relaying the Viscount's orders.

As Jiang Shuzhou arrived, a figure emerged from the middle tent; clearly, it was Viscount Alston Macmillan.

"Master, I am deeply honored by your presence. May I have the pleasure of joining you in your tent for a chat?"

He spoke in a refined and scholarly manner, which perfectly matched Jiang Shuzhou's stereotype of aristocrats.

In the Mage Alliance, the power of traditional nobles was greatly weakened, and even abolished at one point.

However, due to various reasons, the mages ultimately weighed the pros and cons and the aristocratic system was retained.

The main reason for this is probably that the monks were not good at governing the country, and all policies were based on their own preferences.

After all, that's the kind of person a mage is.

I've never lost in a battle of IQ, but I've never won in a battle of EQ.

They're fine with teaching magic, but getting them to rule a country is a different story.

In other words, the Mage Council is forced to convene only once a year, otherwise everyone will be able to see what a true offline monarch system looks like.

What does it mean to not attend court or meetings for more than a decade?

My Dharma Master can go decades without managing state affairs!

As for mortals? What do they have to do with me? Can they overthrow me?

This is why the political system of the Mage Alliance can be described as quite contradictory.

Firstly, the mages held the highest power, but in terms of specific governance, they relied on civil officials, mortals, and nobles. A considerable number of regions maintained aristocratic politics, while some highly urbanized areas were mainly handled by civil officials.

This might be what a semi-feudal, semi-democratic system looks like.

Of course, Jiang Shuzhou couldn't and didn't want to manage the heaven-defying political system, since it was still much better than the feudal theocratic state like the Alliance of Saints.

It is precisely based on this theory that Jiang Shuzhou, as a mage, actually has a much higher status than this viscount, which is why he personally came out to greet him.

"Please, Viscount Alston Macmillan. I hope you already have a plan for how to transform this area. Time is of the essence; we only have two days."