Here, after a fierce dueling match, the Grand Duchess Sophia stroked her wet hair and suddenly asked Wren a question: "Is it really that easy to train a mage?" ”

"Oh? Are you jealous of me for training so many mages for Barbarossa? ”

"Where is it, I'm just curious." Sophia picked up the orange that had already been cut on the desk and stuffed a slice into Wren's mouth.

"Barbarossa XIII needs marching rations, so I'll give him marching rations, how can I make him a big meal at that time."

The female archduke blinked: "But it looks like it's indeed a big meal!" ”

"Well said, but at the cost?"

"Ugh."

Wren asked himself: "The price is that most of them will not be able to advance to a higher level in this life. What the Emperor needs is a group of mages with great destructive power, and they will always be one of them, not an independent, qualified mage. They didn't have a chance to learn the coping skills that a mage should have, even the most basic protective magic. ”

"No chance?"

"The emperor will only send them from one battlefield to the next. I don't have much chance to come back to my tutors, and they know about it, and they are still very happy......"

"Huh?"

Wren put his hands behind his head, his mind wandered into memory, and told a story that happened two days ago:

"In class, I told them that the emperor would give them up like treasures and protect them. They are surrounded by the most fearless shield guards, flanked by archers at all times, and even knighted when necessary. But they will never be able to become good adventurers, rise through the ranks, and fight against stronger enemies. Do you know how they react? ”

"Just an 'oh'?"

Wren was slightly surprised that Sophia had guessed their reaction correctly.

He continued: "I was surprised. Not to mention those children from poor backgrounds, even the apprentices from noble backgrounds also reacted in this way. After class, an apprentice named Milian Alessandro approached me and told me an ordinary story that shook my heart. I vividly remember the calmness and firmness in his eyes when he said this......"

There was a mist in Wren's eyes, and his mind had returned to that sunny afternoon.

The 18-year-old apprentice in front of him was cramped with a white-washed knitted top hat, he obviously had enough money to buy a popular hat, he was still wearing it a moment ago, which can only be said to be a family member, most likely his mother helped him knit it.

"Your Excellency, if you have time, can you listen to my story? Most of my classmates and I are in a similar situation. ”

Wren nodded.

Milian opened the conversation:

"I was born into an ordinary family in the south of the empire. My family is not a sinner who has committed a great crime and has been enslaved forever, and there is nothing noble for dozens of generations. I have a forty-five-year-old middle-aged miner father, and a mother who works as a washermaid in the baron's house. My parents' paychecks don't make me starve, well, it's a little bit, actually, but I can stand it. ”

"At the age of twelve, I began to spend my cat in the corner outside the tavern, eavesdropping on the stories of living saints and knightly heroes told by bards. I envy them. It's just that I know that I'm not going to be a knight for the rest of my life, because a 12-year-old knight apprentice is going to be able to lift a 100-pound barbell, and I'm too thin. ”

"Thanks to my good talent in mathematics, I didn't have to follow my dad to the mines. I only need to help the foreman count the total amount of ore every day. ”

"Gradually, my dad had a bad cough and couldn't afford to work as a miner for 14 hours a day. The foreman was a nice man, and he asked my dad to go to the mine to keep vigil. But it also means a decline in income. That's when my mom became seriously ill. My family has a debt of gold coins. ”

"This is absolutely bad news for our family, and I have two younger brothers and a younger sister."

When Wren heard this, he asked him, "Have you ever resented anything?" ”

Milian shook his head: "Resentful whom? Heavy taxes? No one to help us? No! I'm already grateful. I know that there are many places where children are killed before they even have a chance to grow up. ”

Wren was silent for a long time.

Milian continued, "I'm a native of the Northlands, and I know very well that people who can't fight orcs are just a burden to the Empire. I only feel that, Your Excellency, you come from a world that is likely to be peaceful, and you feel guilty that we are not able to pursue higher goals. But for us, it is already a great fortune to be a mage. Because...... We are no longer a burden to the Empire, but the currency of the Emperor! It doesn't matter if I'm gold or platinum. ”

At this point, Wren finally pulled out of his thoughts of reminiscence.

Sophia gave Wren a hard hug: "He's right, you've changed the fate of many people. Without you, the 100,000 citizens of Marino would be reduced to the dead. Without you, this orc invasion would likely have slaughtered millions of people. Be proud, Wren. ”

"Hmm."

Wren left the Grand Duke's Mansion and returned to the Academy, looking at the apprentices who saluted him along the way, feeling their visceral adoring gazes.

Wren's heart warmed. From another point of view, they were just worthless cannon fodder in the eyes of the bigwigs, but at this time, they have completed the class jump.

Wren knew this, and so did the Emperor, and even the mages who walked on one leg themselves.

Wren once thought it might have been a mistake, but now it seems that it can only be said to be a choice of fate.

Just in the morning's big class, Wren announced the addition of an elective course.

"I used to think that as long as the needs of the war were met, your special enrollment would be considered complete. I used to think of you as a part of a machine, a tile in a house. As it turned out, I was wrong. You are living people with your own dreams, your own ideas. ”

"As a guide, I shouldn't treat you narrowly as parts of a war machine."

"That's why I'm announcing that I'm going to give you a [Magical Protection Lesson], and that Mr. Harry Winston will be in charge of teaching you."

"Finally, if you have the life to return after this war, you can take classes with the self-financed students of the latest junior class of the academy at any time to make up for your missing basic knowledge."

Wren said, ignoring the noisy cheers behind him, and just gave up the altar to his second disciple.

In fact, he has already completed the task of letting these special recruits master the war magic used by the group as before.

But he couldn't make a lot of money by destroying his conscience.

Walking out of the classroom and looking at the bright sky, he smiled: "The emperor's currency? Gold? No! My students, it can only be platinum coins! ”

Wren didn't know how much of a stir his momentary act of kindness had caused.

(End of chapter)