Chapter 469 — All Are Moving Forward

A burst of piping and drumming came from somewhere in the distance, bringing Mary, who had been hurrying along with her head down, to a stop.

She raised her head toward the sound and saw that it came from the town square.

The Harvest Festival was drawing near... the town would prepare celebrations for the occasion, and the mayor and the wealthy had doubtless already, as custom dictated, engaged bards and the "Black Mountain Men's" circus. Before the festival began, these bards and circus folk would start putting on scattered performances in the square, and these ten-odd days would be the liveliest time of the year here.

Mary's steps grew hesitant, and she slowly drifted toward the square.

She could go listen to the bards' tales... or watch the circus clowns' free street performances.

None of it cost money, and watching a show would leave no muffin crumbs or scent on her. Her mentor would not find out, nor would the tower spirit of the mage tower...

She only needed to watch for a little while, that was all; it was still early, after all... and the shop was near the square too, so going this way was on her route.

If she missed it this time, there might be no other chance; she only came to town a few times a year...

At last Mary's steps turned wholly toward the square.

The young apprentice hurried across the street, through a narrow alley, and slipped by a side path into the town square. Just as she had thought, the bards and the circus had already set up their stages here, and the sound of pipes and drums drifted from one stage after another.

Many townsfolk had already gathered in the square, but since these were only small-scale performances, the crowd was not yet so thick that one could not walk. Clutching the bundle tightly to her chest, Mary threaded through the crowd with wide eyes, striving to imprint everything within her sight deep into her mind.

Some passages of the bards' poetry she had never heard before; though they were still the same old knightly tales, they were novel and entertaining nonetheless. The clowns' acts were merely clumsy sleight of hand, and the occasional trick of true magic was already the circus's most treasured skill, yet they still left Mary marveling...

Mary already possessed a formal casting grade — though she was still the old mage's apprentice, her casting grade was formal — and yet these street-corner tricks were something utterly different from the killing techniques she had learned in the mage tower.

She had seen such things only a few times in her whole life.

For a moment the young apprentice seemed to forget her errand; she wandered about the square, taking in everything that could draw her attention, until she came to the notice board in the square and was caught by several sheets of paper newly posted upon it.

The literacy rate of the Typhonians had risen only in recent years. Ever since His Imperial Majesty enacted various new policies and established stricter, fairer rules of contract, so that all could lease farmland from the state by contract, borrow oxen, and draw seed grain, the people had come to need reading and writing, and driven by that need the Typhonians' literacy had crept up bit by bit, until the notice boards in towns and cities replaced the soldiers who once read out official decrees.

Mary knew that the notice board often bore new decrees signed by the Emperor, or great news from nearby. Such things seemed far removed from her life in the mage tower, yet she remained keenly interested in them.

Her curiosity was strong — though that same curiosity, more than ten years ago, had led her to slip into that mage tower and become a prisoner wearing a collar, still it endured.

She saw that the notice board indeed bore new decrees, some signed by His Imperial Majesty, some issued by local officials:

"...By the decree of Emperor Luoyan the Great, basic education shall be further advanced, and the city shall expand the scale of its schools...

"...Volunteer soldiers are being recruited; a family that sends one member to serve shall be exempt from three years of taxes. For particulars, inquire of the local sheriff...

"By the new decree of Emperor Luoyan the Great, the post of 'Agricultural Supervisor' is established, to be filled by the finest farmers of the locality, to organize and spread planting experience. For remuneration and the method of selection, inquire of the local tribune of the people...

"An order to build a vitriol-works... apprentices to be recruited...

"By the new decree of Emperor Luoyan the Great, outstanding mages are to be recruited without regard to origin, requiring consummate skill in runes and proficiency in magical-circle research. Note: those with knowledge of ancient Gondorian magic are preferred; those with knowledge of self-charging arrays are preferred."