Chapter 699: Way Out, Obedience

Seeing this, Sain immediately began to complain, "My Lord, most of the Apprentices who can cast spells are already here with Keyaan, but he is simply unwilling to let them go, saying they are the backbone of the Army and that it would be a waste to send them into the Tower of Time to serve as handymen."

In his tone, he was extremely dismissive of Keyaan's "backbone" rhetoric; with Magic in existence, how much of a difference could a large number of ordinary people really make!

In Sain's heart, those Apprentices who left the Tower of Time were not much different from ordinary people; did one really expect them to fight like true Mages?

However, just as Sain finished speaking, Keyaan immediately retorted:

"Of course they are the backbone of the Army. It is too troublesome to train ordinary people from scratch to use Magic Scrolls, but these Apprentices are different. Not to mention their spellcasting ability, at the very least, every one of them can use a Magic Scroll—they are simply the most ideal candidates for junior officers!"

"The Territory's Army has only just recovered from the great war the year before last; if you pull these people away all at once, the foundation of the Army will fall apart! Since they are just going to be handymen, anyone can do it, so why must you pull them from the Army!"

After finishing, he looked at Xia Duo with full expectation, seemingly hoping that Xia Duo would change his mind.

And hearing this, Xia Duo also somewhat understood why the two had been tugging at each other at the door just moments ago.

Xia Duo did not know much about the career paths of Tower of Time Apprentices over the years, but he did know that Sami's younger brother had been farming peacefully at home after leaving the Tower of Time.

As for the others, they were likely continuing to live along their original life trajectories.

Due to the limitations of the era, if one could not become a Mage, there were truly very few opportunities for ordinary people to get ahead; the experience at the Tower of Time could not bring them any great opportunities.

Being able to join the Army and become a junior officer could already be considered a quite decent path.

The worst outcome was probably becoming an Adventurer. Having been exposed to Magic had increased those people's ambitions, but with only the abilities of a mediocre Apprentice, they had no way to have smooth sailing on the path of an Adventurer, and the ending would most likely be a tragedy.

However, now that Xia Duo had arrived, it was different; he brought brand-new opportunities, but there was a question of how to transition smoothly, which needed careful consideration.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo stopped the still-arguing Sain and Keyaan, "Stop arguing. Town Mayor Sain, I ask you, are all 34 people on the list here with Keyaan?"

Before Xia Duo's transformation, the Tower of Time would recruit new students every year with a fixed three-year contract, and at the same time, there would be a batch of Apprentices whose contracts had expired; if they felt they had no hope on the path of Magic, they would leave the Tower of Time.

The number of people leaving each year varied from several dozen to nearly a hundred, and thus, the number of Apprentices at the Tower of Time had always been maintained at around 300.

This year, because of Xia Duo's transformation, not only were there no Apprentices lost, but hundreds of New Apprentices were recruited; those 34 people were the number of Apprentices with spellcasting abilities from the two most recent batches of Apprentices to leave the Tower of Time as recorded by the Tower of Time.

As soon as Xia Duo finished asking, Keyaan answered first: "No, I don't have that many here. A few people were determined to become Adventurers, and I don't know their information now."

"Town Mayor Sain?" Xia Duo signaled for Sain to answer.

"My Lord, only three people went to become Adventurers. One of them is already dead, and the other two later joined a merchant guild to work as guards. If nothing unexpected happened, they should have returned to the Savile Territory from Konnifila City with their boss not long ago. The remaining 31 are all here with Keyaan."

"Since that is the case, Keyaan—"

Xia Duo looked at Keyaan and ordered in a tone that brooked no refusal, "Give me all 31 of them!"

"Yes!" Keyaan hesitated for a moment, but still agreed with difficulty.

Xia Duo saw the look of distress on Keyaan's face, but he did not care. Perhaps Keyaan felt that because Niya had returned, he had the confidence to bargain—how naive.

"Go call them over; I am taking them back to the Tower of Time right now!"

Once these words were out, Keyaan's expression became even uglier; he gave a low, vague response and left.

After Keyaan left, Sain spoke a few good words for him, "My Lord, Keyaan has spent his whole life in the Military Camp and attaches great importance to the Territory's Army; he does not intend to resist your orders."

"Rest assured, I do not blame him. That he can realize the advantages of the Tower of Time Apprentices and utilize them is a way of thinking that surpasses many people; I think highly of him."

This was indeed Xia Duo's true thought. After all, Keyaan was a follower of the old Lord, had distinguished merits, and high prestige; he was an old hand of the Savile Territory.

Of course, a little bit of a reprimand was also essential; the Army only needed to obey orders, and having one's own ideas was not a good thing.

Before long, Keyaan returned, and not alone; several squads of soldiers followed behind him and stopped outside the barracks.

Looking at the unhappy expressions of those former Apprentices, Xia Duo could not help but chuckle. Ignoring Keyaan, who had returned to report, he walked out of the barracks, stood in front of these 31 people, and announced loudly:

"Soldiers, congratulations on being conscripted! You are entering the Tower of Time again, but not as handymen, but as Magic Technicians!"

"Perhaps you do not understand the significance of this profession now, but this is your chance to come into contact with Magic again. In the future, you will certainly not regret it. I hope that in a few years, I can see a few Archmages emerge from among you!"

The cheering scene he had imagined would, of course, not appear so easily, but the expressions on the faces of these old Apprentices had loosened somewhat; after all, they still had some expectations for what coming into contact with Magic again meant.

Then, Xia Duo continued: "As the first batch of Magic Technicians, as long as you do not give up yourselves, I guarantee that every one of you will become a true Mage."

Forcing others had never been Xia Duo's style, especially with the rank and file; Xia Duo always had very long-lasting patience.

Perhaps there was a mistake in the communication process, and Magic Technician was understood by Town Mayor Sain, Keyaan, and the others as a handyman; now it was still necessary to explain it a little.

And upon hearing Xia Duo's guarantee, these old Apprentices finally began to be moved. They exchanged glances and finally said in unison: "We are willing to serve you, My Lord!"

"Very good!"

Xia Duo turned back and said to Sain: "Trouble Town Mayor Sain to take them to the Portal first; I will be there shortly!"

"Yes."

After Sain and those dozens of old Apprentices left, only Xia Duo and Keyaan remained in the area. Just as Keyaan was feeling anxious and worried about receiving some punishment, Xia Duo spoke:

"Keyaan, hmm, let's still call you General Keyaan. Magic Technicians are a fundamental grand plan of the Tower of Time and must not be obstructed by anyone. You did poorly in this matter!"

"My Lord—"

Keyaan was about to argue, but was interrupted by Xia Duo, "I will not say any more superfluous words. Starting next month, the Tower of Time will add a new duty service task to ensure that there are always Official Mages stationed at the Military Camp. These Mages will be under your command, and you can assign them official military positions according to your needs, including but not limited to frontline combat, training Spellcasters, etc."

"Really?!"

Keyaan was overjoyed. The role an Official Mage could play was far greater than that of dozens of mediocre Apprentices, not to mention that Xia Duo also agreed to train Spellcasters in the Army; this was simply—

Like a dream!

However, soon, Keyaan became a bit anxious again, "But My Lord, can those Mage Lords obey my orders?"

"You don't need to worry about this; the Tower of Time will naturally be responsible for restraining them. I think Bote is a very good choice for the first duty service Mage!"

"This, I—"

Keyaan was somewhat speechless. Bote was his son, and the two had not seen each other for some time. He did not know what Xia Duo meant by this arrangement, but he did indeed want to see his son.

"Alright, that is all. I have things to do over there, so I am leaving."

Before leaving, Xia Duo gave one more Sacred Proverbs of the Lord of Radiance to Keyaan—

Do not doubt the decisions of the superior, only then can the Order Force grow; as long as there is obedience, there will be no punishment.