Chapter 89 (1/2)

Chapter 89: The First Loophole in the Fortress

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Even though Link was submitting seven scrolls per day, it was still not sufficient to fill in the gap of 100 scrolls. Left with no choice, Warwick went to knock on the door of Magician Derek.

“Who is it?” Derek’s voice rang from inside the room. Somehow, he sounded slightly nervous.

How strange, maybe Derek is doing something that he doesn’t want others to know? Warwick thought.

Derek was quite introverted and didn’t have much talent in magic. He was thus not exactly respected amongst the apprentices.

“It’s me, Warwick.”

“Why did you come here at this ungodly hour?”

Derek clearly sounded displeased. His footsteps were getting closer and the door slowly opened. Derek stood behind the door with a vexed expression.

The moment the door creaked open, Warwick picked up a faint odor with his sensitive sense of smell.

What is this? It smells slightly like sulfur and a bit like rosin; there is even a slight hint of rotting flesh. This is weird.

Warwick had never experienced anything like this before.

“Be quick. What do you want to say?” Derek rumbled, breaking Warwick’s train of thought.

“Oh, the thing is …” Warwick was afraid to speak. After mumbling for a few seconds, he noticed Derek’s growing look of annoyance and timidly said, “Sir, we may not be able to complete the order on time.”

As expected, this sentence caused Derek to frown with annoyance, “What exactly happened? I remember you had eight, no, with the addition of the new guy, nine helpers. 800 scrolls in 20 days should not be difficult, am I right?”

“No, we are only left with seven. Hanson and Manster suffered damages from Mana rebound. I am only receiving 35 scrolls per day. Sir, I have been writing five scrolls every day as well. We have all done our best but it is still not enough. We are still 100 scrolls short.” Warwick helplessly threw out his hands.

Derek immediately blew up upon hearing this sentence, “Damn it! You idiots! How do you expect me to find extra manpower for you at this time? The departments for potions and low-level magic equipment are also short of people. The entire academy is doing their best to complete the order on time! Do you expect me to personally help you?”

Derek was a Level-2 Magician—to downgrade himself by writing Level-0 magic scrolls was simply a joke! He would not accept it!

Furthermore, he was not adept at writing magic scrolls. His competency in magic scroll writing was probably only the level of a higher magic apprentice. But most importantly, he was busy making money. He was learning a Level-3 spell and was at the final stages of implementing it. He needed to rent the Elemental Pool only available to lecturers.

The rental fee of the Elemental Pool was 100 gold coins per hour and his experiment required three hours of usage. Usually, he needed a month to earn 100 gold coins.

Hence, he simply had no time to be embroiled in this mess!

Warwick was clearly troubled and misunderstood, he shook his head frantically, “No sir! Of course not! I am just wondering if we could reduce the number of scrolls we need to produce—for example 700, no, 750?”

Derek objected vehemently. “The order was discussed and confirmed between master and the army. I have no power to change the contract…damn it, why do I have to deal with this!”

Derek was in a pinch. As the head of the mid-level magic equipment department in the tower, if Warwick made a mistake, the blame would be attributed to Derek instead!

Of course, he would not be stripped of his position as a manager. However, it would probably affect his commission which would delay his Level-3 spell experiment indefinitely.

“What do I do? Master Bale has been acting weirder by the day. The part where I was tasked to procure strange magical resources was especially disturbing. Oh lord, why am I so unlucky!” Derek’s mood was at absolute zero.

After pondering for a while, Derek could not think of any good alternatives. If he wanted to facilitate his progress as a Magician, he would have to shoulder some of the weight.

Left with no choice, he said, “I will ask around the other towers to see if they have extra finished scrolls. However, don’t count on me for this. Try your best to write more and narrow the gap, understand?”

Warwick nodded gratefully. “Yes sir, I will definitely give it my all.”

“Ok, now go!” Derek commanded.

However, reality was often harsh and cruel. On the second day after reporting the situation to Derek, Warwick gave his best effort and wrote six magic scrolls. Together with the scrolls he collected from the other apprentices, he received only 25 scrolls in total. Link was the only one who had not submitted his scrolls.

Oh no, everyone is starting to feel tired and losing their speed. Warwick thought. If this went on, the gap would widen to 200 or even 300 scrolls.

He did not even want to think about that.

As Warwick was feeling helpless, a door at the bottom of the stairs punctually opened. Link stood at the entrance with a stack of scrolls in his hand.

Warwick’s eyes widened with delight and he rushed forward.

“Link, how many did you write today?”