Chapter 1764: Gilded Department, A Minor Twist

"The next topic is regarding the Magic Restriction Treaty."

Iolum's words immediately drew the side-eyes of the people from the Seven Towers; this was different from the previously disclosed order of topics, and Sikumu in particular already had a hint of emotion in his gaze.

But Iolum acted as if he saw nothing at all and continued:

"The Northland Alliance recently established a 【Supermagic Event Assessment and Investigation Department】, headed by a high-level Mage from Evereska, who is, of course, also a venerable elder.

"Under the head, there is an 【Audit Committee】 composed of spellcasters with a certain reputation in the Northland. I had the honor of being nominated by Badijiaer and, having received the approval of the representatives of the Northland Alliance nations, I am also among them.

"All audit committee members will have several investigation teams under their names, responsible for investigation missions regarding Supermagic Events outside of their respective nations."

Having said this, Iolum paused slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone's varied expressions. "Perhaps some might say, what does this so-called investigation team have to do with us?

"What I want to say is that the work results of the investigation teams are directly related to Netheril's Supermagic quota. For details, you can look at the materials Haichenisi distributed. Haichenisi—"

"Yes, Chairman."

Haichenisi, in the gallery, stood up immediately, first personally handing a stack of documents to each Great Arcanist, and then casting a spell to distribute a copy to each senior Mage in the gallery.

Xia Duo opened the documents to look, and he noticed at the first moment that the materials specifically mentioned that although Cormanthyr also had Mages on the Audit Committee, they had no share in the investigation teams.

The workflow of this newly established department is that an Elf Main God Priest directly hired by the Alliance Headquarters is responsible for monitoring Supermagic Events in the Northland and recording them.

Afterward, an investigation team from a non-involved nation goes to investigate, and the Audit Committee decides whether to certify it as a Supermagic Event based on the investigation report.

In the materials regarding how to certify, there is a special note, the gist of which is that as long as a direct responsible party cannot be found, it is treated as if it never happened.

Taking as an example Xia Duo's previous use of Equation magic near Wolf God Mountain, which was monitored by Divine Magic, as long as the investigation team cannot confirm it was him casting the spell, even if the event occurred within his direct Territory or assumed territory range, it is not counted as his doing.

In other words, the future Magic Restriction Treaty will more likely restrict high-end Magic Facilities and equipment, rather than any single instance of Spellcasting, as a spellcaster can just run after doing a job, making it difficult to track.

Can one really expect a group of "second-generation mages" who might just be looking to gild their resumes in the Northland Alliance to track and investigate high-level Mages or Great Arcanists?

Of course, if there are a large number of witnesses who have not been cleared, or if the spell is cast in public, then there is undoubtedly no way to cover it up.

But Magic Facilities are very difficult to hide for a long time; even if the second-generation members of the investigation team aren't up to it, they have "parents" to offer advice, and this is very easy to determine.

Basically, seeing this, Xia Duo understood the nature of this so-called investigation team; it is mostly for private deals between nations—you record one less for me, and I record one less for you.

Iolum spoke gravely, saying it was directly related to Netheril's Supermagic quota, but with the most malicious Cormanthyr excluded from the investigation teams, this leaves a lot of room for imagination.

Of course, Xia Duo feels that Iolum might also genuinely want to use these Supermagic Event investigation teams to strive for more room for maneuver for Netheril.

Xia Duo roughly looked through the back of the documents, which were mainly about the workflow and benefits of the investigation teams. From his perspective, this could indeed be called a very good place for second-generations to gild their resumes.

The work is simple, the benefits are superior, and one can frequently go abroad and come into contact with all kinds of spellcasters, which helps broaden one's horizons.

If one wants to slack off, they can, and if one wants to strive hard, there is also room to perform.

If it weren't for the fact that Xia Duo is already considered to have "achieved success," he would have thought about going in to mix for a while.

Just as he was having daydreams while looking at the documents on the table, someone was already impatiently asking about the quotas: "Master Iolum, how many quotas does the investigation team under your name have in total?"

"There are 40 quotas in total. I can give one quota to each person present, and the rest will be placed with the Arcane Union. Those interested in this area can sign up on their own, and I will select suitable candidates from among them."

After Iolum finished speaking, Magena, who had just asked about the quotas, immediately spoke up again: "Master, can you give a few more quotas? I can understand Master's concerns, but this matter is closely related to us, and I am not at ease with only one quota."

With Magena leading the way, Braun also immediately followed up: "Master Iolum, the members of the investigation team need strong investigative capabilities. These people are mostly under the hands of us here, so why not allocate the quotas directly?"

There were quite a few people who had the same thoughts as Braun, including Xia Duo; he also felt that allocating quotas directly would be better. Where would Netheril have so many "rogue cultivators" now!

Any Mage who has "developed" normally belongs to various Mage Tower organizations, and one could even say they all have inextricable links with the Seven Towers.

Of course, allocating everything to the Great Arcanists is also inappropriate. Perhaps it would be more reasonable to divide half first, like the Supermagic quota, and leave half for free registration.

It's just that these quotas are really too few; one for each person takes up almost half.

Thinking about it this way, Iolum's allocation is not without reason.

Xia Duo figured it out, but others might not, or rather, they just didn't want to figure it out in their hearts. First Magena, then Braun, and later Huo Ke and Weide all expressed the need for more (guaranteed) quotas.

In the end, except for the three from the Seven Towers, Buluode, Xia Duo, and Bailun, everyone else, including Zhenna, questioned Iolum's allocation plan, especially since even Keluosi jumped out.

Seeing Keluosi also jump out, Xia Duo immediately realized that these people were probably not interested in the wine itself.

Iolum also thought of this, and his expression was a bit ugly. At this moment, he had already realized that he had probably given these people an opportunity by temporarily moving this topic to the front.

As for the three from the Seven Towers, Sikumu had the demeanor of watching a show, while Huo En and Haruisi realized that if the Seven Towers were unwilling to make concessions on the investigation team quotas, the subsequent sanctions against Keluosi would likely have twists and turns.

Thinking of this, the two could not help but look at Iolum with some resentment. Finally, the two looked at each other and saw the determination in each other's eyes, so Huo En immediately said:

"I renounce the one quota gifted by Master Iolum in my personal name, but still reserve the right for members of the Jilan Tower to sign up on their own."

Afterward, Haruisi also said something similar to Huo En.

This made it somewhat difficult for Sikumu to accept, but under these circumstances, unless he was willing to perform the discord within the Seven Towers in public, he had no choice but to renounce it as well.

Clearly, Sikumu was not stupid to that extent. He was seen with the expression of watching a show on his face instantly disappearing without a trace, and with a cold face, he announced the renunciation of that one fixed quota.

As for those who didn't come, Iolum hadn't allocated any to them from the start, so there was no question of renouncing or not.