Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Legal but illegal activity?”

The patrons at the Research Institute Tavern were all puzzled. Someone asked, “Isn’t that an oxymoron? Like a coin being both heads and tails? Or a person being both male and female?”

“Are you discriminating against me!” A person of androgynous appearance slammed the table and stood up, “Are you seriously mocking intersex individuals in public!? And besides, being intersex has become the mainstream culture. They can enjoy the best of both worlds, the advantages of being a man and the subtleties of being a woman. This is clearly the most perfect stance to take. How can there still be such stubbornly outdated individuals like you in this era—”

“I’m sorry, it was a slip of the tongue, I sincerely apologize for offending you,” the former hastily apologized.

Lorens scratched the scales on his face and turned to ask Snake Boss, “Snake Boss, do you know what they mean by ‘legal but illegal activity’?”

“Sss… I have a guess.”

“Oh? Do tell?”

At that moment, Snake Boss smiled and suddenly asked, “Sss, Lorens, have you gotten used to life at the Research Institute? How’s everything in the Laboratory?”

“Quite nice,” Lorens replied casually. “The experimental research is also going smoothly. Recently, we’ve had an abundance of materials, and with Necromancy, the more materials you have, the faster the progress. Hold on, Snake Boss, don’t change the subject. What is ‘legal but illegal activity’?”

Lorens turned to the Holographic Screen, feeling a vague sense of strangeness.

He sensed that Snake Boss was reluctant to continue the conversation.

And this reluctance was something he was all too familiar with.

It was like after he got into middle school, when his Human classmates would ask him why he worked after school instead of going back to the Nursery to study or enjoy Entertainment. At that time, Lorens didn’t want to answer these questions because he knew that Humans could never understand his situation.

Different backgrounds, different environments, talking more was of no use.

However, here, mutual understanding was possible because everyone had shed their Lower Race status to become something much nobler…

Wait, was Snake Boss of the sacred bloodline?

He was always squinting, as if his blood pupils had never been seen…

At that moment, a voice from the Holographic Screen interrupted Lorens’s train of thought.

“City of 1659 Municipal Civil Service Examination, West Wave District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau Operator recruitment.”

The speaker was still Edmund Moken. Enduring the intense pain of his burning skin, he gritted his teeth and said, “Fernand Snow wanted his classmate to land this job, but his classmate wasn’t skilled enough to pass such a competitive exam. So, he devised a plan.”

“First, he found a Scholar who was fully qualified, even overqualified, to take the Operator exam and secure the position. Meanwhile, his classmate also took the exam but naturally failed.”

“After the Scholar had been on the job for a month, they resigned voluntarily.”

“And that’s how Fernand Snow’s classmate entered the Supervision and Administration Bureau.”

Moken continued, “Of course, this was when Fernand Snow was still a councilor. Once he became the mayor’s secretary, he didn’t have to go through such trouble. He would tailor the job requirements to fit his candidate. For example, if his candidate was a Human, male, 30 years old, he’d add a series of Restrictions… The position would naturally fall into his hands, and the process was entirely legal and by the book.”

“Although the Government Affairs Hall is mandatory for employment, the specific selection criteria are in the hands of the various departments. As long as you can form political alliances with department heads, you can easily leverage tremendous power.” He looked at the Ogre, “Half of the Forest Gallery members joined the Government Affairs Hall system this way, and many Operators succumbed to Fernand Snow’s threats or bribes, becoming his accomplices.”

Moken paused to think, then added, “Oh, some may not understand, Forest Gallery is an art gallery opened by Fernand Snow, filled with what he considers his masterpieces. Members of his Faction typically gather there, which is why Fernand Snow’s faction is also known as the Forest Gallery.”

Fernand Snow responded coldly, “Aren’t the members of your Eternal Wine Club also occupying one-eighth of the positions in the Government Affairs Hall?”

One-eighth might not seem like much, but if it’s spread across various departments, especially with a few department leaders, it represents a vast network of intelligence and political power. Andrei is seen as a strong contender for mayor, mainly because the Eternal Wine Club has enough influence to rival the Forest Gallery.

Thud!

With a dull thud, the Pillar beneath Fernand Snow suddenly began to twist, the moonlight shining on the stone danced like a serpent, transforming into ghastly chains that wound upwards towards Fernand Snow!

Fernand Snow knew this phenomenon all too well, even without looking at the Holographic Screen—it was because the citizens were voting for him.

The Ogre’s mind raced, but he maintained a calm demeanor, “You don’t have to make it sound as though I invented this ‘tradition.’ Long before now, it had already become an unspoken, unbreakable ‘rule’ that everyone abided by.”

“Without joining a Faction, one cannot land a good ‘entry-level job.’ To get promoted, not only do you need the recommendation of your department head, but also the favor of higher-ups. ‘Pushing from below while pulling from above’ is the only path upward. If you don’t join a Faction, even if you’re lucky enough to become a Government Affairs Operator, all that awaits you is a lifetime of entry-level tasks.”

“Every councilor and politician here is both a beneficiary of the Faction system and a complicit maintainer of its existence. Aside from the Eternal Wine Club and the Forest Gallery, there are many smaller Factions within the Government Affairs Hall, like webs of a spider. If you want to climb, you have to ascend the web. That’s the rule of the game of power.”

“All of this is nothing more than the everyday, commonplace ‘whims’ of power.”

In a Tavern in the Lower District, a middle-aged Orc patron suddenly covered his face and wept bitterly, his tears and snot dripping into his drink, an unsightly scene that disturbed the peace of the cityscape.

He remembered a civil service exam from thirteen years ago where he had ranked second in the interview, the first place taken by an Elven Scholar whose qualifications completely overshadowed his own.

In a government apartment of Kaimon City’s Food and Nutrition Bureau, a man in his forties slouched in a soft chair clutching a tub of potato chips. As he watched the Holographic Screen and adjusted his glasses, memories of his youthful exuberance at university graduation flooded back, followed by the realization of over twenty years of wasted time, which left him feeling rather melancholic.

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