Chapter 191 — Santis Sade

Santis gaped blankly for a moment. It seemed this really was the first he'd heard of Gao Yang's literacy campaign for commoners, and he clearly found it very hard to comprehend. But just when Gao Yang thought this arcanist, who had finally caught on, was about to politely take his leave, the man suddenly nodded and asked, "Then, as a teacher at the night school, would you also pay the extra compensation mentioned in the recruitment notice?"

"You're willing?" Gao Yang was surprised. "Do you realize you'd be teaching a bunch of commoners who've only just learned a few characters and can't even count past a hundred?"

Santis smiled stiffly. "In the royal capital, I taught magical theory to the good-for-nothing sons of merchants. I don't think it will be too difficult... probably."

After confirming again and again that the arcanist truly intended to accept the job, Gao Yang couldn't help but laugh.

At last, a proper spellcaster was willing to teach at the night school. He had tried many times before to recruit mages from Tanzan Town or the Kant territory—even mage apprentices—to serve as night school teachers in his domain. But when they learned they would be facing a crowd of "lowborn wretches," every single one of them refused without exception. It seemed that in their minds, people of commoner or serf birth were inherently intellectually deficient, a different species from mages or nobles down to the structure of their brains. So they simply didn't believe they could teach commoners such profound knowledge, and they were utterly unwilling to take on the challenge.

They refused not merely out of pride, but because they had already decided they could not teach those "lowborn wretches"—and so they refused failure in advance.

But now a second-tier arcanist had come of his own accord to "apply," and though the process had been somewhat different from what he'd expected, this Mr. Santis Sade did seem genuinely willing to take on the work.

"Are you short of money?" Though pleased, Gao Yang couldn't resist asking, because he could tell the man had been moved by the monthly extra pay. "Mages shouldn't be short of money, should they?"

"Actually, mages are short of money too—especially those of commoner birth," Santis Sade said sheepishly. "I need to send money home. My family is still in the royal capital..."

Gao Yang raised an eyebrow. "You're of commoner birth?"

"Yes... My father was a cook in a noble household in the royal capital. My mother is an herbalist."

Commoners indeed—but the wealthy stratum of commoners, and quite well-placed at that. A family of that level could plausibly make a desperate push, sending their children to study magic in hopes of rising into high society. And someone like Santis, who had already obtained formal second-tier arcanist qualifications, had in fact already shed his commoner origins and was qualified to join the upper circles. Yet looking at him... you'd never guess it.

Gao Yang voiced his question, and Santis's expression grew even more awkward, tinged with a hint of shame. "I did obtain the qualifications of a second-tier arcanist, but I have an innate defect in my mana reserves. Each day... I can only cast three to five spells."

Gao Yang understood at once. So there was a defect after all—that was why he had fallen so low.

Santis's magical defect was similar to Rebecca's, but at the opposite extreme. Rebecca possessed tremendous spiritual power and mana reserves; she could hurl a hundred fireballs a day without feeling tired, but she could construct only a single spell model. Santis, by contrast, could construct multiple spell models and master the most profound and complex arcane spells, but his spiritual power and mana reserves were pitifully small...

Rebecca had her defect, but she was a noble—even after her family's decline, still a noble—so she could still live in a castle and enjoy a life more comfortable than any commoner's. But Santis was of commoner birth. When he had finally become a formal spellcaster, only to have an innate defect in his mana reserves discovered, he could only be cast aside by high society, while his family might also be mired in debt—debts of both obligation and money.

His joining the hundred-person aid delegation was probably partly for the subsidy the king provided.

Having figured all this out, Gao Yang finally had no more doubts about Santis's choice.

"Then allow me to welcome you as a proud member of the teaching staff," Gao You said, rising from behind his desk and nodding with a smile at the young mage before him. "As for the course you are to teach... it should not be limited to ordinary reading and arithmetic. I have other plans for you."

Santis hurriedly bowed. "Ah, yes, my lord."

Gao Yang: "Now, first things first—put down that button in your hand. You've been rubbing it so much it's about to grow a patina..."

Santis: "......"