A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 49 Taking Office in the Dock District

"I did it! I did it!"

Jiang Shuzhou's voice came from the room of the Mage Guild, his tone filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Just now, Jiang Shuzhou, who woke up early, immediately entered the game. He was going to test the waters and see how difficult the Silver Flame Meditation Technique was.

The result was obvious: in just the first experiment, Jiang Shuzhou completed meditation and successfully entered a state of cultivation.

Unfortunately, he had other plans for today. As an arbitrator, Jiang Shuzhou also had to go to the dock area to maintain order.

However, although cultivation is somewhat unlikely, learning some theoretical knowledge and spells is still possible. After all, although the dock area is a bit noisy, many places are still well soundproofed.

He casually tossed the three spellbooks into his inventory, then threw away unnecessary items such as pointers, flintlock pistols, and bullets into the room.

He doesn't need these things anymore, and they wouldn't be worth much money if he sold them, so he might as well keep them in his room as souvenirs.

In memory of my heroic battle on the pirate ship.

After leaving the Mage Guild, Jiang Shuzhou hailed a carriage to go to the Arbitration Bureau. Even though it was only a few hundred meters away, he didn't want to walk there himself. The small amount of money he would spend on a taxi was not important to him. A day's wages were enough for Jiang Shuzhou to take hundreds of taxis.

Upon entering the office, Jiang Shuzhou found his official appointment letter already handed to him. From now on, he would bid farewell to his spacious office in the Arbitration Bureau and spend his days maintaining order in the dock area.

Is this possible? Jiang Shuzhou might indeed leave the large office, but it's unlikely he'll leave the office altogether.

Let's go, let's take over the dock area!

After receiving his uniform and some necessary spells, Jiang Shuzhou led his fifty henchmen straight to the dock area.

So people in the central area saw this scene.

A carriage was slowly moving along the road, surrounded by several guards with swords and spears hanging from their waists. In front, someone was clearing the way for Jiang Shuzhou to prevent traffic jams.

Jiang Shuzhou didn't know whether others were comfortable or not, but he was quite comfortable right now.

The people in the central area are all of extraordinary background and have seen much of the world. They know that this is an arbitrator who is going to manage a new place.

"Another new location is going to be brought under the jurisdiction of the arbitration bureau; this is the fourth time this month."

A nobleman muttered to himself.

"It looks like something big is about to happen."

Immediately, the nobleman left to prepare for the possible storm.

Although it was relatively slow, a carriage is a carriage after all, and in just ten minutes, Jiang Shuzhou and his group were out of the central area.

If there are still people in the central area who dare to look at Jiang Shuzhou, then there are hardly any people in other districts who dare to look at the convoy.

In short: one dares not speak loudly, lest one disturb the heavenly beings.

Wherever they went, there was complete silence. Even though the place was bustling with noise before Jiang Shuzhou arrived, it would fall silent the moment they saw Jiang Shuzhou's convoy.

And so, Jiang Shuzhou enjoyed a period of peace and quiet. He lay in the carriage and began reading "Basic Rune Literature." Previously, he had been troubled by a lack of theoretical knowledge, which prevented him from modifying spells.

Now that the opportunity has arisen, the research and modification of magic has naturally been put on the agenda.

Time flies when you're studying, and soon Jiang Shuzhou arrived at the dock area.

When you think of the dock area, who comes to mind?

That was, of course, foreman Qi Ke. This foreman, who was very adept at understanding human relationships, left a deep impression on Jiang Shuzhou. Now that he was in charge of managing the order in this area, he naturally needed the help of some local bullies.

With his high emotional intelligence, Qi Ke became Jiang Shuzhou's first choice. Everyone needs someone to lead the way, and in Jiang Shuzhou's view, Qi Ke was the perfect choice.

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.

Chik has been doing alright these days. As one of the few conscientious foremen, Chik rarely exploits his workers. However, recently the unloading work has increased several times over, and Chik has had to make his workers work overtime to complete the task.

Of course, wages have also increased significantly.

The more you do, the more you get paid; that's Chick's motto.

"Sir, something terrible has happened! A large group of people armed with knives and guns are coming this way!"

Chick, who was taking a break in his office, was startled by what he heard. What was going on? Had he offended anyone? Why was everyone making such a fuss?

"Don't panic, tell me where they are, I'll go check."

Chick remained calm, because panicking wouldn't help. With so many people around, if someone wanted to mess with him, he wouldn't be able to fight back at all.

Looking at the caravan in front of him, Chik was a little confused, but the people who got off the carriages seemed somewhat familiar to him.

Jiang Shuzhou lifted the curtain of the carriage and got off.

Upon seeing Jiang Shuzhou remove his hood, Qi Ke immediately recognized the mage who had left a deep impression on him, and he quickly ran over to him.

"Sir, do you remember me? I was the foreman that day, and you even asked me a few questions."

"That's right, I came here today because of you."

……

An hour later, Jiang Shuzhou sat comfortably in Qike's office, while Qike below had no complaints about this act of occupying his office.

It is my honor to be the mage's dog!

Maintaining order in the dock area doesn't require Jiang Shuzhou's personal involvement. As a leader, he only needs to make the decisions, and the rest will naturally be done for him.

Time always flies when you're focused on something, and before you know it, it's time to leave work.

Rubbing his dry eyes from studying for so long, Jiang Shuzhou looked at Qi Ke beside him. This guy had been standing there for ages; he really had perseverance and was a tough guy.

"Let's find somewhere to sit next time. I'll let you know if I need anything."

Jiang Shuzhou nodded to Qi Ke as a sign of approval, picked up his book, got up and left. He still needed to practice meditation tonight, so he wanted to get off work as early as possible.

"Sir, these are gifts from the merchants in the dock area."

The one who made the sound was not Qike, but Hais, a general under Jiang Shuzhou. He was a first-tier warrior with a weathered face and a stubble beard. He looked to be around thirty years old and was clearly an experienced veteran who was in charge of managing his more than fifty guards.

Professional matters should be handled by professionals. Jiang Shuzhou himself had no experience in leading troops, and in a world where personal power is paramount, he was not afraid of seizing power. Therefore, he naturally did not purge his subordinates to replace them with his own people, especially since he didn't have many of his own people anyway.

However, it seems that his subordinates are quite clever, knowing to offer him a pledge of allegiance.

"I only need a little bit, the rest can be shared among the brothers. Also, charge less next time, so as not to scare the merchants away."

Jiang Shuzhou casually grabbed a handful of gold coins from a bag, taking about 20 coins, and then threw the coins back into Hayes's hand.

Jiang Shuzhou couldn't refuse any gifts from his subordinates, otherwise they might have some bad thoughts.

For example, if Jiang Shuzhou hadn't accepted it this time, Hayes would likely have been targeted by his subordinates, since the fact that the boss wouldn't accept his gifts already indicated a lot.

Do you have a problem? Does this represent the boss's attitude?

So being a leader is really troublesome. Fortunately, it's a world where power belongs to oneself, so Jiang Shuzhou only needs to consider a few things and doesn't have to worry about being sidelined. Besides, his ambitions lie elsewhere.

In this kind of world, trying to navigate the ways of officialdom is useless. Only by striving to become a strong person can you become whatever official position you want.

Take Jiang Shuzhou for example. His ability to become an arbitrator has nothing to do with his character or professional skills; it's all thanks to his strength as a first-tier mage.

Furthermore, if he remains at the level of a first-tier mage, no matter what he does or what merits he achieves later, he can only serve as a minor arbitrator.

Therefore, Jiang Shuzhou only had a few requirements for his subordinates: one was that they should be easy to manage, and the other was that they should be able to handle the tasks assigned to them.

As for whether there was any corruption, abuse of power, or embezzlement involved?

Jiang Shuzhou didn't care. As long as he got things done, that was enough. He wasn't in charge of this kind of thing, and besides, even if he got arrested, it wouldn't affect him.

Masters are not subject to ordinary laws. They are only prosecuted for embezzlement, not bribery, and the amount embezzled must be enormous. However, this usually requires having one's own research projects.

With Jiang Shuzhou's current low-level skills, he is not qualified to join any project team, let alone manage finances.

After casually seeing Hayes off, Jiang Shuzhou hailed another carriage and headed home. He finished get off work two hours earlier than Hayes and the others.

Thank goodness I'm not from Shandong, otherwise I'd be driven crazy trying to become a monk.

Oh! Right, I can post it on the forum tonight!

If Shandong sees this, it's guaranteed to cause a huge uproar!