Chapter 278: Apprentice Drain

Arriving outside the town, a market similar to last year's existed, but compared to the lively scene in the square, it was much quieter here. Of course, no matter how quiet it was, it was still a once-a-year market, so there were still quite a few people.

But the problem was—the Lion and Fire Circus was nowhere to be seen. Xia Duo walked around here and asked a peddler about a possible outcome.

"Did they stay in Konnifila City?" Xia Duo muttered softly.

In fact, he also knew that even if the Lion and Fire Circus had come this year, it was unlikely that Mu Yan would be there, and it might not even be possible to contact Mu Yan through the Lion and Fire Circus.

After all, Mu Yan had mentioned that time that he was only staying with the circus temporarily and would travel around afterward, with no fixed itinerary.

Failing to see Mu Yan, Xia Duo felt a little disappointed, but life never goes exactly as one wishes. He pulled himself together and returned to the Mage Tower.

The outside was indeed very lively, but that wasn't his liveliness. One day, he would host celebrations from his hometown—Mid-Autumn Festival, New Year, Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival—in Daxia Territory; that would be the liveliness that belonged to him.

……

Top floor of the Tower of Time, Lord's study.

Niya stood by the projection window, looking at the bustling, crowded scene in the square outside. From time to time, magic fireworks rose into the air, level with her line of sight.

"Inheritor Niya, there is still half an hour until the appointed time with Bishop Anbulier."

"I know." Niya withdrew her gaze from the window and sighed softly, "Sigh~ Father still didn't make it back in time after all!"

Returning to sit behind the desk, Niya had no heart to look at any documents or intelligence; at this moment, worry for her father occupied most of her thoughts.

She pushed the documents on the desk away with some irritation and asked casually, "Tower Spirit, how many new Apprentices were recruited this year?"

"Ten."

"What?!" Niya could hardly believe her ears, but the Tower Spirit's words could not be false, so she asked again, "How many came to the Mage Tower to participate in the assessment?"

She suspected that the assessment content this year was too difficult, resulting in a pass rate that was too low, leading to only ten people being accepted, but even in the worst years of the past, there were more than ten people!

"Ten."

A one-hundred-percent pass rate—this did align with the pass ratios of previous years; after all, those who could come to participate in the assessment were certainly smarter than the average person, otherwise, there would be no need to waste this time, energy, and most importantly, money.

The Tower of Time did not set a very high threshold for recruiting Apprentices; basically, anyone who was an adult could come, but whether they could successfully become a Mage Apprentice, or even an Official Mage, was hard to say.

With such a low threshold, logically speaking, it shouldn't be as few as ten people!

This was something Niya could not figure out, so she continued to order the Tower Spirit, "Bring me the archived files of those ten people!"

"Also, how many Apprentices had their contracts expire and chose to leave this year?"

The Apprentice contract lasted for a total of three years; once the contract expired, if one had not become a Mage Apprentice, they had to leave unconditionally, but once they became a Mage Apprentice, they could stay in the Mage Tower indefinitely.

In previous years, it was generally those who failed to become Mage Apprentices who left, as the Apprentice's salary was truly too low, and one even had to pay out of pocket to learn.

And those who became Mage Apprentices generally wanted to become Official Mages; they knew that once they left, they could almost be said to be cut off from the Magic Path. As long as there was any possibility, these people were unwilling to leave.

Niya instinctively felt that something bad had happened, but she couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was, so she subconsciously asked about the situation of the other Apprentices.

But the result the Tower Spirit told her was not so ideal, "Inheritor Niya, 72 Apprentices chose to leave this year."

"Impossible!" Niya subconsciously retorted. She knew that in the last three years, there hadn't been a single time where the number of new Apprentices exceeded 50; this definitely wasn't the batch from three years ago!

She immediately realized that many Apprentices who had originally wanted to stay in the Mage Tower had given up on the Magic Path.

In Niya's eyes, leaving the Mage Tower was equivalent to giving up on the Magic Path; there were no conditions as good as the Mage Tower outside!

At this time, the Tower Spirit had already transmitted the files of the ten new Apprentices this year, right on the desk in front of Niya, within reach.

Niya checked them one by one, "Bilin, from Savile Town."

"Stark, from Savile Town."

……

With a "slap," Niya slammed all the files onto the table. She had already realized where the problem lay, and without caring about anything else, Niya began to rummage through the bookshelf behind her.

That document was in a very conspicuous position and was not hard to find, as if someone had deliberately placed it there. Niya opened the document, and on it was a decree she had signed earlier—

"Specific Implementation Steps for Land Reclamation and Allotment for Official Residents of Savile Territory"

Niya still remembered the pride she felt when she signed this decree at the time. Her father hadn't said anything then, just taken this archived copy out separately and placed it on the bookshelf behind her.

Now it seemed that for Commoners, land might be more attractive than the ethereal Magic.

None of the ten newly recruited Apprentices were ordinary Commoners; those who could have Savile Town household registration were at least artisans, peddlers, or relatives of officers with some assets.

"Stupid!" Niya couldn't help but curse. What in this world could change one's destiny more than learning Magic! Even without checking, she could roughly infer that the vast majority of those Apprentices who left the Mage Tower must have come from ordinary families.

But why couldn't they just grit their teeth and persevere!

Niya rubbed her brow. They left easily, but she was the one with the headache. The consequences of the loss of Apprentices might not be visible in the short term, but in the long run, it meant the foundation of Official Mages was being shaken.

It was like this this year; who knows what it will be like next year!

But the decree could not be changed at will; doing so would not only lose her authority externally but would also make her lose face in front of her father!

Moreover, if she personally scrapped a decree she had signed, her father would be very disappointed, right! Ever since taking over the Territory, Niya had been striving to do her best, wanting to make her father proud of her.

"Inheritor Niya, there is still—10 minutes until the appointed time with Bishop Anbulier!"

"……"

Her father was away today, and she had to attend the daytime celebration activities on his behalf. In the evening, there was also an activity to distribute Holy Water to the residents. Niya could only temporarily put the matter of the Apprentices aside, change into a Mage Robe for the ceremony, and leave the Mage Tower.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, in the southern Daxia Territory.

Lord Aipusi was watching the suddenly rioting Magic Net within the Mythallar with a touch of madness. He knew the Mythallar was about to collapse, and the Plane Crystal was about to appear!

He had waited too long for this moment! "In the end, I still couldn't find the Plane Crystal before the Mythallar collapsed!" Aipusi sighed with great emotion.

Even in this collapsing Mythallar, he took out a bottle of Elf Fruit Wine with interest, not using a cup, and just drank directly from the bottle.

While drinking, he admired the scene of the Mythallar collapsing, and at the same time, recited in a near-delirious Elvish like an aria:

"What exquisite, what brilliant craftsmanship!"

"What a pity!"

Thanks to 【Huanglv Yuandao】 for the 100 tip, thanks to 【Zhen Bu Zhidao Jiao Sha Le】 for the 520 tip!! Thanks to everyone for your support!!

(End of chapter)