Chapter 346 — Skilled Immigration

Though in Cecil's current arcane-industrial system a mage's personal casting rank was worth next to nothing, a higher mage rank meant not only greater talent but usually a certain proficiency in mathematics as well—and that was extremely useful!

Santís could not possibly have been ignorant of what the arcane industry required, so the people he brought must have been screened and vetted. To Cecil Territory, now so desperately in need of technical talent, this batch of mages and apprentices was nothing short of an enormous treasure!

Arranging a trip to the royal capital for Santís had indeed been the right move. Compared with the desolate, remote Southern Frontier, the heart of the kingdom—which Ansul had governed for seven hundred years—was bound to have far more abundant human resources. In that city, which possessed the kingdom's highest magical technology and gathered the Royal Mage Association, the Witches' Circle, the Magic Research Society, and dozens of other magical organizations great and small, low-tier mages and mage apprentices were hardly few in number...

"Santís has already established a base in the royal capital, operating openly under the name of long-term recruitment. As you instructed earlier, 'Witch' Jibril and 'Swiftfoot' Pierce will keep the base running after Santís leaves," Hetty continued. "So from now on, technical personnel should be sent over continuously. As Cecil Territory keeps developing, the flow of talent will only grow."

Gaoyang nodded as he listened, delighted and satisfied. When Hetty finished, he let out a relieved breath of deep contentment, then looked at his eldest granddaughter: "Next time, don't leave me hanging at the end of a sentence."

Hetty lowered her head with exaggerated gravity, her tone utterly serious: "As you command."

Gaoyang waved his hand repeatedly: "All right, all right. Keep this up and we'll have another Rebecca on our hands."

Across the table, Rebecca, who had been bending over her steak in fierce concentration, immediately looked up: "How am I involved in this?"

The girl had been waving her knife and fork at her food from beginning to end and had scarcely heard a single topic discussed at the table; only now, hearing her own name, did she reflexively lift her head and reply.

Gaoyang was in an excellent mood just then. Even Rebecca's befuddled expression struck him as cuter than usual, and he could not resist telling her, "Go back and get ready—your Arcane Technology Research Institute is about to get busy. Weren't you complaining before that every practical engineering project needs too many hands and there's never anyone available? Well, now you're in luck—you have at least a hundred apprentices to train. You'll have to turn those rune craftsmen, mechanism engineers, and rune masters into arcane technicians in the shortest time possible."

The hundred-odd craftsmen and scholars Santís had brought were indeed the talent the territory urgently needed, but adapting to and learning Cecil Territory's "technical requirements" was easier said than done. Beyond being indoctrinated in Cecil law, they would also have to study a great deal of basic craft knowledge and theoretical knowledge of the arcane industry; becoming arcane technicians from traditional craftsmen was only the first step toward becoming Cecil's technical personnel.

Fortunately, Rebecca had once led a bunch of "problem cases" with even worse foundations through a stumbling, crash-and-burn ordeal, and had hammered them all into skilled arcane technicians. So Gaoyang had not the slightest worry that this silly roe deer—who looked muddle-headed but was in truth extraordinarily gifted—would fail to lead a group that was smarter and more obedient.

The territory's Arcane Technology Research Institute had been completed a few days earlier; several large laboratories and hands-on workshops were ready and waiting. This was precisely the right time to train apprentice workers.

Of course, not everyone could be stuffed into the Arcane Technology Research Institute. Gaoyang also planned to select some suitable candidates from among the scholars and hand them to Santís to train, turning them into teachers for the General Academy.

And if there were rune masters with exceptional talent in the theoretical field, a batch of them should be sent to the Rune Research Institute as well.

Rebecca listened in a daze to what the Xuanmai Sect had to say, several drops of broth clinging unnoticed to the corner of her mouth, and when it finally sank in that she would soon have a great host at her command, the girl's excitement flared at once; she sprang to her feet on the spot and let out a cheer: "Whoa!"

And then she sent the fork in her hand flying up into the ceiling.

Gaoyang raised his head to look at the fork stuck in the ceiling, then lowered it to look at Hedy, whose face had already darkened.

He sighed. "Go on, hit her—but gently."