Chapter 106 — The Support Team

In the eyes of ordinary people who could not wield mana, a rune master who could draw magic arrays was likewise a mysterious and powerful "Lord Mage." But in the eyes of true mages, rune masters were a grade beneath them—several grades beneath, even—"inferior goods," their status only a little above that of the "rune artisans" who could not cast spells at all. Rune masters could usually only assist accredited mages as retainers, helping the latter—alongside rune artisans—to craft magical artifacts or draw magic arrays. And because they themselves possessed no great magical skill, rune masters could not even use the arrays and implements they produced; their feeble mana and crude mana-control techniques were utterly insufficient to operate those complex magic formations.

This, then, was a profession that made wedding dresses for others to wear.

Hetty did not have the aloof, high-and-mighty mindset of most mages, nor did she look down on the rune masters whom mainstream mages regarded as "magical servants." But she could tell at a glance that this rune master called "Jenny Perot" was in truth a nominal mid-rank spellcaster stuffed into the group by the royal capital to make up the numbers. With such a person in the ranks, Francis II could be said to have observed the proper forms—and even gain a fine reputation for it if word got out.

That was precisely what dissatisfied Hetty most. Moreover, the spellcasters in this entire group numbered a mere two, with all the rest being mage apprentices or artisan apprentices. This made her regard the team sent from the royal capital as severely lacking in sincerity.

Hetty was not one who hid her expressions well, especially before Gao Yang, so the latter saw her displeasure at a glance. "What? Think a fourth-rank rune master is an insult to our intelligence?"

"The king has no sincerity," Hetty said bluntly. "Rebecca could probably outperform her with a bit of practice—this is plainly someone stuffed in to make up the numbers."

"This is probably not Francis II's own idea," Gao Yang waved a hand. "That king has to take my attitude into account, so his support for the Cecil frontier won't be watered down much. But he must withstand pressure from the other nobles of the royal capital, and those nobles hardly wish to see House Cecil rise quickly. In fact, more than half of them would probably be delighted if our former ruling house of the Southern March were to die quietly in the Dark Mountains. Under those circumstances, do you think they'd allow a lean, capable, and precious technical team to come here?"

Hetty's face turned very sour. "Those narrow, greedy nobles of the royal capital... House Cecil has never had the slightest intention of contesting any interest with them, yet they go to such lengths to sabotage us."

Gao Yang shook his head. "That is precisely the noble code of conduct. That you cannot accept it only shows that by their standards, you are not in fact a proper noble. Of course, neither am I."

"Then regarding this roster..."

"Accept it with a smile, of course—why not?" Gao Rong burst out laughing. "However you look at it, this is one hundred skilled people. Even a haphazardly cobbled-together bunch to make up the numbers is better than none. Surely these blacksmiths and carpenters know how to use a hammer and a saw? Besides, I want to meet this rune master called Jenny Perot. There's one line in her file that interests me a great deal."

"Which line?"

"Jenny Perot, mage rank: apprentice."