Mage? Spell Engineer!

"Sorry for getting up late, I have a few important things to ask you."

Old Merkle winked, and Franz wisely walked away to check the situation in the bullpen.

"Say it, kid."

He raised the ax with his thick big hand and prepared to chop wood. As soon as Rorschach fired [Decomposition Technique], the branches were divided into sticks.

"I signed a job. Well, the agreement with my employer is to send you twelve gold coins every month. Have you received it? There should be at least two payments by now."

Another shot of [Decomposition Technique], and a new stick was born.

"Yes, we received it. In the last ten days of every month, a silent guy knocks on the door with a letter from you and the money. Otherwise, where will the money come from to treat everyone to light beer?

But there are too many, too many, so much that your mother and I don’t dare to take them out. This feels weird. Rorschach, there is no need to send back so much money. We eat what we grow and cook by ourselves. Here, Where can I spend it? "

Rorschach observed that old Merkle was indeed very strong and a farmer like an old cow. Mrs. Merkel did not suffer from any illness, which was rare in the countryside of this era.

But he still suggested: "You can move to the town and you will have more money. Now I can spend a sum of money to buy a property."

"But we are all farm men, good at farming. What can we do in the city? We have no time to spare."

"Can I open a small shop? I should be able to get the start-up capital for the small business." Luo Xia simply used [Mage's Hand] to gather all the debris and used [Decomposition Technique] together.

Old Mekler shook his head: "It's what grows from the ground that makes me feel at ease."

He had nothing to do, so he just banged the ax shaft on the ground with a look of reminiscence: "At the beginning, your ideal was to join the army. Tell us that after you have made meritorious service in the army, you can receive a fief, earn a big field, and own a piece of land. It’s a big mountain. It’s pretty good now.”

Rorschach did not continue this topic. The current system of the empire is still full of lords, and it is not possible to buy land on a large scale if you have money. If you want to use money to expand, you must at least have a prince or a son of a noble. It is legal to rely on your family and obtain the recognition of the Imperial Parliament. Establishing military merit is the easiest way for civilians to obtain fiefdom.

So this was the ideal of Rorschach, who was specialized in [Fireball] before. Even if he failed to become an official mage, the humanoid cannon could always be used in the imperial army. The land, the land under the sun, the thing that fascinated farmers, nobles and the entire empire, here gave old Mekler more peace of mind than gold coins.

"At least let Franz and Angel come to town to study."

Merkle waved her hand: "You don't need to tell me! We all gritted our teeth and let you go to school when you were a few years old. Now that our family is rich, they are indispensable. But I think Franz is not as smart as you were when you were a child." , it’s also good to let him learn a craft.”

"Okay. By the way, where is the village chief? I haven't seen him yet." In my memory, the village chief was the same age as the old Mekler before Rorschach went to school - a man in his forties, he should be in his mid-fifties or sixties now. Ten "elderly".

"Meerson" Merkle's tone made Rorschach jump. It couldn't be nothing, right? Yuan Luo Xia was able to go to the imperial capital in the end without the village chief's strong support and money. He cannot be missing when he comes back this time.

Fortunately, there is a small problem behind the big gasp, at least for Rorschach: "The old man must go hunting in the mountains. Little Melson can't stop him at all. He broke his leg and the bones here, and he is still nursing it now!" He couldn't tell what the ribs were called, so he was gesticulating on his body.

"Okay, then I'll visit the village chief's house."

"Go to the left. There are a few rabbit skins hanging in front of the door."

Merkler looked at Rorschach's leaving figure and couldn't help but laugh: "You're still 'visiting', this kid." He picked up the firewood produced by [Decomposition Technique], many of which were too thick. Under the winter sun, It won't dry in the sun at all, and it will just beep and smoke when it's burned.

The man shook his head, found a hatchet and started to cut into pieces.

"Is this the village chief's house? I'm Luo Xia."

There was a creak, and the person who opened the door was little Melson. Rorschach remembered that he had appeared last night, and after taking the candy, he went home.

"Dad, Master Rorschach is here to see you."

The old man's beloved shotgun hung above the bed. On the bed, the village chief crossed his legs, wrapped with linen and fixed with wooden boards. When he spoke, it was like a leak, and at the same time, his face showed pain, but he still smiled: "Good boy, I knew you would become a mage."

Old Melson was also a smart man. When he was young, he served as a knight's servant. He learned to read, write and calculate in the army, and once worked as a small grain counter. In addition to being a good person, he quickly became a trusted village chief when he returned to the village. The bandaging Rorschach saw now was also what Melson learned in the army and instructed his son to complete.

The "village chief" was not a high-ranking grassroots manager in the empire's ruling machine. It was an existence in the western villages of the empire that was voluntarily elected by the villagers and recognized by the lords.

On the one hand, village chiefs often have prestige and trust among farmers; on the other hand, they have the ability to simply receive orders and convey them to every household. They usually organize villagers to serve and collect taxes. When the peasants feel that the lord's conscription and land rent are too high, they will negotiate with the lord on their behalf.

In the eastern part of the empire, there were more pocket lords with military merit. They all personally managed the manor properties and took care of business.

These ambitious young sons of nobles who were born in the military, and businessmen who had risen in status had more iron fists than the hereditary old nobles and did not need village chiefs to manage the people. During the period of expansion, annexation and enfeoffment of the Marin Kingdom, a large number of free farmers and tenant farmers once again became serfs under the military nobles.

Among them, the mages who graduated from the Imperial Academy of Magic are the best. If not for that accident, Rorschach might have become one of them, controlling the life and death of dozens or hundreds of serfs in the manor.

With a simple thought, Rorschach brought back to reality and took out two bottles of wine from the Holy Kingdom from the ring. There were two more bottles he planned to give to Merkle before leaving.

"Wine?" Meyerson straightened up and looked at the dark glass bottle and the dark red wine inside in the sunlight.

"Yes, from Valuauna."

"Okay, okay, only the Rorschach boy understands that I just need to drink to get better quickly."

"Thank you for your help."

"Go, go, let's go work, I'll have a chat with Master Rorschach."

You parents like to drive away your sons? But this is okay, Rorschach can get straight to the point: "Here is a sum of money. Thank you for your selfless support that year."

Fifty Imperial Golden Eagles were placed in a small wooden box and handed to the old man - before arriving here by airship, Rorschach exchanged half of the Holy Kingdom gold coins, and this was a small amount of them.

"Boy," the wooden box opened. The golden light stopped the old man for a moment, and then he quickly closed it.

"Listen to me. This money can not only improve the lives of you and little Mel, but also ask you to build a shed to teach children every week. You are the most educated person in the village. If there are smart children, I can also sponsor them. , but you can only wait until I come back next time.”

In Rorschach's memory, the principal's school courses in the town were extremely difficult for him. He was forced to pass the exams at a young age. Only with talent and hard work could he pass the exams for businessmen and children of small aristocrats who had enlightenment and private tutors.

Old Meyerson grinned: "If I can survive this winter, I will do as you say. Anyway, I am old, and I can no longer do heavy work after my injury."

"Speaking of your injuries, can you let me take a look?"

In addition to fractures, Meyerson's injuries also had lacerations. The wounds were gray-white, and there was black residue between the flesh and skin. "I was afraid of infection, so I was covered with gunpowder. I learned these tricks in the army."

No infection is the best. "I can try to make your injury heal faster. But please promise, you must wait until I leave before you get out of bed and tell everyone that your injury is healed."