“So, is this everyone from the Rune Saint Alchemy Association?”
Lind’s face rarely showed a surprised expression, and the level of exaggeration was similar to when he saw Lena demonstrating intelligence.
“That’s right. I reminded you that the Rune Saint Association was thrown into chaos due to the late former president.”
The shop owner of the Shining Gold Merchant Alliance, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, still had that exquisite smoking pipe, exhaling clouds of smoke.
That said, when Lind saw the girl in front of him, he still felt a bit magical.
An alchemy association of dozens of people had ultimately ended up with just a little girl.
The girl had an ugly scar on her face, seemingly caused by a scratch, and wore very thick glasses, shrinking behind the shop owner.
“The Rune Saint Association still has some members.”
In the lord’s tent, the shop owner of the Shining Gold Merchant Alliance explained to Lind while puffing out smoke.
“However, after the former president of the Rune Association died, due to insufficient funds, some people sold all the assets of the Rune Association in conjunction with the nobles, ran off with everything, and now only the former president’s daughter remains.”
It was apparent that the shop owner had a strong smoking habit, but this time she seemed to have used some herbs, making the second-hand smoke in the tent not very pungent and not irritating.
“Had it not been for your payment of three times the deposit, to be honest, we would have probably refunded you directly.”
After a moment of hesitation, the shop owner continued to speak to Lind: “Considering that you’ve done quite well with us recently and can be regarded as a valued customer, I should first remind you, or rather introduce you to the last person of the Rune Association: Lysha Derek.”
With that, the shop owner pushed the girl behind her forward to stand in front of Lind.
“A first-level Rune Master, an alchemist apprentice, basically unable to mobilize magic power on her own, and she’s the final research outcome of the Rune Association.”
“Final research outcome?”
Lind looked at Lysha in confusion, falling into old habits, and stood up to circle around Lysha, seemingly trying to see if there was anything special about her.
“I don’t know the specific situation either, but old Derek, the former president of the Rune Association, spent the entire savings of the earl’s territory just to allow Lysha, an ordinary person, to use magic. Judging from the outcome, it seems to have failed, and she still didn’t cure Lysha’s Magic Power Illness in the end.”
From the perspective of traditional wizards, the Rune Association indeed failed. In an era where nobles could exploit commoners without limits, the financial resources of an entire earldom only produced a first-level Rune Master and a half-hearted alchemist apprentice, which was meaningless to those wizards. Even a wizard who could buy large tracts of land with a single staff would view this as a tremendous waste.
From old Derek’s perspective, the Rune Association also failed. The establishment of the Rune Association was to cure his daughter Lysha’s Magic Power Illness, but in the end, it was not cured.
The full name of Magic Power Illness is Magic Power Mobilization Imbalance Syndrome, referring to a situation where a person, although naturally capable of absorbing and storing magic power like a wizard, cannot perceive or mobilize it, ultimately either becoming a human battery for the Magic Tower or suffocating due to the magic power inside their body.
“What a pitiful child.”
Lena looked at Lysha with pity. In fact, she hadn’t understood much of what the shop owner said, but she understood that Lysha, like her, had lost her father. However, at least Lena had a loving grandfather, while Lysha had her family assets snatched away by others in the Rune Association.
“Brother, let’s take this child in. After all, it’s just finding an additional first-level Rune Master for the territory.”
Lind nodded, agreeing to Lena’s suggestion, and paid the shop owner the remaining balance in full as per the contract.
“Thank you for your generosity.”
Although Lind’s behavior might seem like a generous fool, the shop owner still maintained her professional demeanor, keeping the same business smile on her face.
After this, Lind also ordered some alchemy materials and basic books from the shop owner, watching as the Shining Gold Merchant Alliance’s convoy left Graywhite Territory.
In truth, even if Lena hadn’t suggested it, Lind would have continued to fulfill the contract and buy Lysha.
From both the perspectives of traditional wizards and Lysha’s father, the research of the Rune Association had failed. But for Lind, it was different.
Transforming a person who cannot perceive or mobilize magic power into a first-level Rune Master and alchemist apprentice is not something that can simply be evaluated through professional ranking; it is the process of bringing something from nothing, enabling ordinary people to use magic. As long as there can be some progress in this research, Lind believes that no matter how much investment is made, it is worth it. Not to mention that now, a research outcome is standing vividly before him.
After the shop owner of the Shining Gold Merchant Alliance left, Lysha clearly appeared very nervous. As Lena had said, Lysha believed that from now on, she would merely be a very ordinary first-level Rune Craftsman in the territory.
At most, due to the lady of the lord’s kindness, she might live a bit better than an ordinary craftsman. But even if it were just that, Lysha was very content.
Looking at the flustered Lysha, Lind remembered the introverted students who sat in the back of his previous class. They were extremely self-conscious and wouldn’t engage with the older brothers in the back or the confident students in the front, despite their good grades and cleverness.
Thinking of this, Lind did not directly discuss serious matters with Lysha as he did with other subordinates. Instead, he called the maid to arrange accommodations for Lysha first.
For such students, to reach into their hearts and have them engage earnestly in conversation with you, it is essential to first give them enough personal space or a safe zone.
To be honest, Lysha was a bit surprised by the arrangement. The house Lind arranged was far more than she had imagined, even much larger.
After all, Lysha was arranged to stay in the Rune Craftsman’s area, and Rune Craftsmen could be said to be among the most well-treated professions in the territory, even better than those in management positions.
Although Lysha was the daughter of a count, from the time she became aware, her father had nearly emptied the family’s fortune for her treatment. The elders in the family were very dissatisfied with her father’s actions, leading to divisions within the family.
This made Lysha’s childhood rather unpleasant.
Members of the family accused Lysha of causing the Derek family to deplete almost all its wealth.
People in the Rune Association also accused Lysha, claiming that despite investing so many resources and conducting so many studies, Lysha still could not mobilize magic power. Those wizards who could mobilize magic power as easily as eating and drinking completely failed to understand that a patient with Magic Power Illness, despite having such strong potential, could not mobilize magic power and was thus backfiring.
Lysha organized her room, placing a photo with her father on the bedside table, and then dumped the contents of her backpack onto the bed.
It was a pile of research notes, ink, and various types of markers, knives, and jars of magic stone powder—all materials for drawing magic circle runes.
After placing these items, Lysha opened the research notes left by her father.
These are what Lysha must review daily; without this notebook, without the countless formulas written within, Lysha might not even be able to become a first-level Rune Master.
The notes were filled with various annotations, most of which were added later by Lysha. Although she felt a bit guilty towards her deceased father and those who painstakingly researched, after re-evaluating, Lysha found that some critical parts of the original content had calculation errors.
Lysha felt that aside from her father, no one in the Rune Association was seriously studying these notes; most were just there to con the funding, as there were too many errors in them, leading Lysha to constantly scribble and add notes.
However, Lysha was somewhat unfair to those members. Although many were indeed con artists, there were also those earnestly helping old Derek. Mathematics is truly a subject that requires talent. People may do anything when angry, but if one doesn’t understand mathematics, then they just don’t understand.
