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Chapter 77: The Special Operations Division (2)
‘Still the same as ever.’
It was a natural feeling upon hearing the words of the Deputy Tower Master.
After all, the reason the royal family had entrusted him with the Special Operations Division was crystal clear.
‘Sure, I’ve been making a bit of a name for myself over the past few months, but at the end of the day, I’m still just a beginner mage.’
It wasn’t as though he was a tremendous talent or someone they were betting on for his infinite future potential.
So, why would they trust him with such a special unit?
The answer was obvious.
‘Nebula Grime. That man mentioned it.’
In his organization, they held a profound interest in him.
The reason was simple: his contact rate with the Black Fingers was abnormally high.
The royal family’s perspective likely wasn’t too different.
‘They’re probably thinking that if they assign me this unit, I’ll inevitably cross paths with the Black Fingers.’
It felt as if they were treating him like an efficient bait, a method very characteristic of how the royal family operated.
Oscar let out a faint sigh and asked:
“How about the team members?”
“You’ll need to personally select up to ten mages at level four or below. Too large a team becomes unwieldy, so ten should suffice.”
Selecting up to nine mages below level four.
That wasn’t a bad condition at all.
It essentially meant he could hand-pick a team to his liking.
“Will there be support provided?”
“Of course. The Special Operations Division will receive joint support from both the royal family and the Magic Tower, offering you various conveniences.”
Joint support from the royal family and the Magic Tower.
That meant not only abundant resources but also bypassing a host of tedious procedures.
“Most importantly, since the division’s work involves handling information, you’ll have access to all level-two and below intel that comes into the White Tower.”
For someone whose only information source thus far had been newspapers, this was a godsend.
Though it wasn’t like he had any other choice, this arrangement was starting to seem quite positive.
“I understand. If possible, I’d like to finalize the restructuring of the delivery department before taking on this role. Is that acceptable?”
“Of course. In any case, you won’t have much to do until then.”
The Deputy Tower Master smiled faintly.
“Sirin is a peaceful city, after all.”
“That’s true.”
“Oh, and there’s a reward prepared for you as well.”
“A reward?”
Oscar blinked, letting out a small gasp.
“Oh, you mean for the results from the last training session.”
“That’s right. It’s something that will bring significant changes to the White Tower’s basic curriculum in the future.”
A reward.
Considering even Fidelina had told him to look forward to it, it seemed like it wasn’t going to be anything trivial.
As Oscar’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, the Deputy Tower Master placed something on the table.
Nameplates, identification cards, and a letter.
“And this is...?”
“First, these nameplates and IDs serve as proof that you’re now a professor of the White Tower. Your field is theoretical magic.”
A professor of the White Tower.
The power that title carried was far greater than expected.
‘It’s not even comparable to being the head of the potion department.’
It meant he wouldn’t need to go to great lengths to prove himself wherever he went across the continent.
That title alone would likely grant him immediate entry into the royal palace.
“But… is this really okay? I’m still just a level-three mage.”
A professor at a Magic Tower was a reflection of the tower’s caliber.
In the four great towers, professors were typically at least level six mages, with notable academic reputations or solid research papers.
‘Sure, my past papers hold some authority in basic magic, but still...’
The title of level-three mage was a glaring issue.
For the White Tower, it wasn’t exactly a stellar decision.
Oscar cautiously voiced his concern.
“I’m deeply grateful, but wouldn’t it be wise to reconsider this?”
“Oscar, your knowledge more than qualifies you for this position. Every elder of the White Tower unanimously agreed.”
“Even so…”
“There’s no need to worry.”
The Deputy Tower Master gave him a warm look, evoking memories of his mentor and stirring gentle emotions.
“Even if the White Tower’s prestige has diminished, it’s not so feeble as to fail to boast of the extraordinary talent of its mages. The Magic Tower is a shelter for its mages.”
“...”
There would undoubtedly be plenty of gossip.
Especially from the Blue Tower, competing with the White Tower in the field of potions, who would leap at the chance to attack.
‘They know all of this.’
In fact, they likely understood it better than anyone else.
Yet they still decided to grant him this, fully aware of the hassle it would entail.
They were willing to bear that burden for the sake of a single mage belonging to the White Tower.
“I’ll do my best not to tarnish the reputation of the tower.”
“Good. And you must stop drinking every day like you used to.”
The Deputy Tower Master added a small jest, then glanced at the letter.
“In fact, the main reward is this.”
“What could this letter possibly be…?”
“Open it and see.”
Urged by the expectant gaze of the Deputy Tower Master, Oscar opened the letter, his eyes widening in surprise.
"We invite you to the embrace of the shimmering galaxy."
“D-Deputy Tower Master… Is this…”
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“Yes. It’s an invitation to meet the Sage of the Stars.”
The Deputy Tower Master’s face lit up with satisfaction, as though anticipating his delight.
While Oscar looked pleased, he also hesitated, asking cautiously.
“Is it really okay for someone like me, still just a level-three mage, to receive something so precious? I heard each Magic Tower only distributes five of these invitations annually.”
“That’s true. But after much discussion among the elders, they concluded that considering the value of the breathing technique and training method you discovered, this was the least they could do.”
Well, the value of those techniques was indeed extraordinary.
Almost instinctively nodding, Oscar stared at the glittering invitation card.
‘In my past life, I didn’t meet the Sage of the Stars until I was a level-six mage.’
He had expected to meet the sage at around that time again, but the opportunity had come far sooner than anticipated.
Still, it was too soon to celebrate.
There was one concern nagging at him.
‘I’m not sure if he’ll agree to meet me.’
It was commonly known that one could only meet the Sage of Stars once in a lifetime.
This meant that there was also a possibility the Sage might not grant him an audience this time.
Even though his appearance had changed, the soul inside was still that of Oscar Sage.
‘I won't know for sure until I go meet him myself.’
After organizing his thoughts, Oscar looked at the Deputy Tower Master and replied,
“...If you insist, then I’ll accept it gratefully.”
* * *
Back in his room, Oscar floated in mid-air, crossing his arms, with a book in hand.
Considering the future, it was better to practice flying whenever possible, even while reading.
Swish.
The wind turned the pages of the book on its own.
[In the Magic Towers, there is a concept of performance. The annual performance determines the evaluation of each Magic Tower. Naturally, talented mages aspire to belong to well-evaluated towers, and towers strive to achieve high performance to attract such talent for the next year.]
It seemed the performance concept of the Magic Towers hadn't changed much over the years.
Well, it wasn't particularly flawed even back then.
Oscar's gaze deepened.
‘The elements that make up a tower's performance can be divided into three main parts.’
The first, of course, was achievements in magic and research.
Since the Magic Tower itself was a place for exploring truth, this part was the most important.
‘The key point is how many excellent spells, theories, or restorations were achieved in a year.’
If he were to cite an example, developing the cure and vaccine for the Cadena Flu would fall under this category.
Of course, the profits earned from it weren’t included in the performance.
The emperor who had introduced the concept of performance centuries ago did not want the Magic Towers to turn into merchants.
‘The second factor was how many high-level mages were produced.’
This particular category, he recalled, had the highest score weight.
Having more powerful mages was directly tied to national power, after all.
‘But relying on just these two methods made achieving consistent annual performance difficult.’
Meaningful magic research typically took at least five years.
Producing 7th-level mages or higher was even rarer.
If such feats were achieved annually, the Great Demon Emperor would have been hunted down immediately upon his appearance.
‘So the quickest way for Magic Towers to boost their performance is…’
Oscar’s eyes scanned the pages.
[In reality, most towers focus on sending their mages on assignments to boost their performance. These range from small individual commissions to larger-scale agreements with specific factions or cities.]
‘As expected, it’s commissions.’
This was likely the very reason the concept of "performance" was established in the first place.
It was a clever design.
Magic Towers, though sworn to loyalty to the empire, were not under direct command.
Yet by sending their mages to solve the empire’s various issues voluntarily, the system ensured mutual benefit.
‘And our White Tower is most lacking in this area of commissions.’
It was only natural.
With few high-ranking or intermediate mages, the White Tower wouldn’t receive many requests.
‘We don’t even have much advanced magic available.’
The advanced spells owned by the tower were probably limited to those known by the Deputy Tower Master and the elders.
Incidentally, Sasha’s position as Tower Master was likely related to this.
‘Only the Tower Master and their successor can access all of a tower’s advanced spells.’
Since Sasha was a direct disciple he had personally chosen as his third apprentice, her talent was extraordinary.
This likely explained why she was appointed as Tower Master—so she could master all the advanced magic available.
‘In short, I need to make up for the lack of performance through the Special Operations Division.’
It was clear that what Nebula Grime had mentioned about performance opportunities referred to the Special Operations Division.
The division likely dealt with major incidents, providing bigger chances to accumulate performance than ordinary commissions.
‘But the problem is that I only have one body.’
While other towers were deploying thousands of mages to resolve commissions, trying to match their performance single-handedly was nearly impossible.
Though, he had managed it once before.
‘The performance we gained by executing the Demon Emperor during the Night of Purge was absolutely monumental.’
Even now, twenty years later, the imperial family recognized the White Tower as one of the Four Great Towers.
This spoke volumes about how overwhelming that achievement had been.
‘But since I’ve been warned that failing to secure performance could be dangerous during the White Night Festival…’
He had to build performance through major incidents.
Of course, major incidents were not something one could handle alone.
It was time to recruit members for the Special Operations Division.
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