Tou No Madoushi

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Elite n.o.ble Sereka looked down at the turmoil unfolding below her as she crossed the bridge . Eventually she stopped in her tracks .

“What’s the matter Sereka? Hurry or we’ll be late” .

The voice belonged to an older wizard dressed in black robes . He was Sereka’s master .

However she didn’t budge an inch . She stood in place, her sharp eyes fixed on the scenes unfolding on the factory floor below them .

Behind her silver rimmed gla.s.ses, her eyes watched the factory and its workers closely, the way a falcon watches its prey .

Her pupils, together with her grey hair, gave her the aura of someone hard to approach .

“Oi, Sereka . What’re you doing?”

After a pause, she voiced the question that was on her mind .

“Yuin… Why are they so inefficient?”

“What?”

“Shouldn’t they just use higher grade magic?” She pointed downwards, at the workers, then went on .

“Basically, they’re packaging the manufactured products and shipping them, right? They should be able to make the process much simpler if they used magic circles and spirit magic . Why don’t they do that?”

“They only know one way” .

“Then why don’t their supervisors and masters teach them?”

The corners of his mouth bent into a sly grin, and spoke in a mockful tone, “because of the lower cla.s.s’s incompetence and shallow wit, Sereka Ojousama” [1] .

She knitted her eyebrows . As a n.o.ble, Yuin possesed worldly wisdom, which was the reason he was employed as her master . However his values were a touch elitist, and he often put on airs . Try as she might she just couldn’t like the man .

When she didn’t reply, he spoke again .

“Because it’s a waste of time . Their supervisors and masters don’t have enough time to spare for them . Nor do they have any obligation to them, either . Instead of teaching them more advanced technical skills, the more rational approach is to keep their wages low” .

She kept silent for a moment . She was still not convinced . Then…

“That staff” .

“What about it?”

“Why are they made to use such crude staves? Surely you can’t have your own way with your work, not with a staff like that” .

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“They’re not made to use any particular staff . They buy and use whatever they like” .

“They prefer those kinds of staves?”

“It’s because they’re cheap . Their eyes light up at cheap products” .

“Then what about the ones who sell those kinds of cheap products… Why do those companies sell cheap stuff by choice? Can’t they make more profit by selling more expensive products?”

“No necessarily . Crude products break quickly, and so new replacements need to be bought frequently . That’s why it’s a viable business strategy to sell cheap products . It can definitely turn a profit” .

“Isn’t that a scam?”

“You could call it that as well, but really… If you take into account supply and demand, it’s not scamming, or fraud, or anything like that . It’s called having a good head for business” .

“And that’s what’s called bending the truth” .

“I understand where you’re coming from, but the reason cheap products have flooded the market the way they have, is for no other reason than the buyers themselves . It’s not as if the companies used overly pushy sales tactics to make people purchase those kinds of products . They simply put the products on display in the shops . It’s those people down below us now who choose to buy them . No matter how poor some of them may be, or become, it’s nothing to do with the companies . People are responsible for themselves” .

“Responsible for themselves? What do you mean?”

That’s right . They’re responsible for themselves . No matter how much their work efficiency falls, how much they waste their time, or how their wages might be reduced, it is them who continue buying such crude, cheap staves and what have you… The natural course of things results in the companies not being able to avoid putting even cheaper products out . Look at them, Sereka Jou” .

Exemplifying reality in order to ill.u.s.trate his point, he spread his arms out as if to showcase the scene of the factory, and guided her attention to the chaos below them .

“Cheap products have come back to favour on the market . This is what they wanted!”

Sereka reflected on how people, without realising it themselves, had engineered the very economic situation which many were now suffering from .

What absurdity! Shouldn’t someone fix this crooked world we live in?

She grinded her teeth in anger as she looked out across the factory .

“Forget them, worry about yourself instead . You haven’t submitted your written report yet have you? If you become complacent just because you’re a scholarship student, you’ll soon be failing before you know it” .

“You think I don’t know that? You’re so bossy” .

She was overcome with a sense of helplessness .

That’s right… Everyone’s got enough to deal with, just with their own situations . Even Me… I can’t afford to save them .

Suddenly Sereka’s attention was drawn to a different division in the factory, where the state of affairs was quite different . The workers there were strangely calm, and the staves they were carrying were much higher grade .

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That must be… Dale’s staff .

There were two boys who appeared to be giving the orders to the other workers in their division . She watched them closely .

They seemed to be of similar age to her .

One wore his hair messy, which gave him an air of defiance and a look of mischief, while the other appeared more docile . Together they made quite the contrastive pair, she thought .

They appeared to be discussing what they should do next .

As they talked they looked about their immediate vicinity . In front of them were toppled manufactured goods which had collapsed from the protuberance of the floor . The goods were now covered in the dust and sand kicked up by the gale earlier .

Surely even the products that used magic in their manufacturing process couldn’t be shipped out in that kind of state .

What will they do?

She decided to continue observing them .

“Theo, what are we going to do with these?”

“We can’t ship the ones that collapsed, but we should be able to ship these others that are just covered in dust” .

“Just cleaning them up will be a challenge” .

A large quant.i.ty of dust and sand covered the goods .

If they set about cleaning them up as best they could, there was no way they would get it done today .

“There was a book I read before, and inside it there was a story about a wizard who restored a town that was buried in waste . He made a tornado to blow away all the waste” .

“A tornado… Creating a tornado with our ability is a bit beyond us” .

“There’s no need to go that far though . The point is, we should suck up all the dust and sand . Dale’s staff is made for moving heavy objects, but it should be able to move small, fine objects as well . We’ll cast magic over a wide area, and regulate the magical output so that only particles of dust and sand are moved” .

“Still, even the weight of dust and sand is different from one particle to another . We’d have to adjust for the weight of each separate grain . Such minute regulation is impossible” .

“Yeah . That’s why we’ll use a magic circle to aid the process . That way we should be able to make all the minute adjustments” .

“I see” .

“Lynn, can I leave the handling of the staff to you? I have more power, but control is one of your strengths . I’ll draw the magic circle” .

“Ok, I’ve got it” .

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Theo ordered the workers to fix down the goods, then set about drawing a magic circle .

When the circle was complete, Lynn stood in its centre and gathered his focus .

I can’t channel too much power . Just a little will do . As if to stir up a gentle breeze…

Having focused his mind to a point he felt sufficient, Lynn held out his staff and recited an incantation .

Currents of wind broke out in the air between where Lynn was standing and the manufactured goods . Sand and other particles began streaming through the air, in a small trickle, from the goods and towards Lynn’s staff, around which the particles revolved in a large circular orbit .

“It’s no use . It’s too slow . At this rate it’d be quicker to clean them by hand” .

“Ok, then I’ll try adding some rotation to the current” .

Theo redrew the magic circle, and Lynn recited the incantation a second time . This time the air between him and the goods began swirling . The fine particles of sand and dust were ripped away from the goods with impressive force, and began coalescing and coiling around his staff . The rotational force of the current sucked in the cloud of particles until Lynn himself was covered head to feet .

He was completely smeared in dirt .

“Ok, perfect!” Theo exclaimed .

The goods were completely clean from any dust or sand, and they were back in a condition they could be shipped in . Theo ordered the workers to finish the packaging process .

“At least we should still be able to ship enough to meet the quota . And anyway, that magic is really cool! We could even use it to clean our room . As for what to call it… Let’s call it ‘Totally Automatic Vacuum Cleaner!’”

Seeing Theo rejoice at their victory alone, Lynn raised his voice in protest .

“Umm, Theo… You do realize that right now I’m completely smeared in dirt…”

Theo stifled a laugh .

“I guess the fact that the wizard who uses this magic gets covered in dust is something to work on . Maybe a filter between the wizard and the target area that’s to be cleaned would work” .

“I see… That way the wizard would be protected from the dirt-” Lynn replied in earnest, before a realization hit him, “wait that’s not the point! Theo, you told me to do it because you didn’t want to be the one to get dirty!”

“Sorry, sorry . Go straight to bathe and do laundry when we go home later . If you can’t get reimbursed for the bath and laundry, I’ll cover the cost” Theo said, trying to appease him .

“Hmm . Well anyway, what should we do about these?”

Lynn pointed to some of the goods that were still toppled over on their sides . They had tried to protect them as best they could, but some were ruined .

“I’ll return them to the manufacturing department . There’s nothing for it but to either have them repaired, or have more made” .

“Who’ll pay for the cost of repairs and everything, I wonder” Lynn said wearily .

“We’ll make those elite n.o.bles reimburse us, of course . Honestly… They did a wonderful job of damaging our stuff, those spoiled a.s.sholes” .

Cursing more under his breath, Theo made quick work of counting the number of damaged goods and the number that were beyond repair .

“I’m going to go and talk to the supervisor about these . Can I leave you in charge for a moment?”

“Sure, I’ve got it” .

After giving Lynn a run down of what to do next, Theo broke off  into a run towards the throngs of confused and angry workers .

“Yuin, look at those kids”, Sereka said to Yuin and pointed towards Lynn and Theo .

“Huh, what about them? Oh, those are some fine staves” .

“Not only that, but also the way they’re working”, she explained and directed Yuin’s attention to the magic circle on the floor .

“Excellent . For a n.o.ble student, it would be expected, but for their social cla.s.s… It’s quite remarkable” .

Shrugging his shoulders, he lost interest and proceed to walk along the bridge

However, Sereka felt that in some small way, she was saved . Her sense of helplessness vanished .

As she walked she looked back over her shoulder once more at the two boys . The way they went about their work in the midst of this chaotic scene was almost like play, she thought to herself .

Even amongst all of this inferiority, there are some who problem solve their way through the obstacles that face them, and do their best to improve their situation . I should try my best as well .

While he watched the workers busily working, Lynn let his mind wonder . He recalled the magic the n.o.ble elite students had released in the factory not so long ago .

That was some incredible power .

They didn’t seem too smart, but their power was impressive . There was no mistaking they had either a strong grasp of spirit magic, or perhaps a high level of magic knowledge .

Connections…

He remembered what Yuven had told him about connections .

Lots of elite students belong to the Magulheim guild . I wonder if I’ll be able to meet any of them before I meet the rest of the advance party when we go into Hedin Forest .

The date for the expedition into the forest was only a few days away .

Next time… Chapter 31, ‘Irrational Taxation’ .

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