“Teacher, you should’ve notified me before coming.”
The chief of Norland’s Law Enforcement Agency, Saik, poured a cup of tea for his teacher.
“Notify? So that you can hide away those shameful things before my arrival?”
Yellow Mage shot a glare at his student. Back then, he was a boy that would follow after him shouting ‘I will one day be like you.’ But now, he has grown into a middle-aged man with a face full of scruffy beard.
“While it’s true that we have some shameful things in our possession, they’re all magical artifacts and living organisms used for alchemic purposes.”
Saik appeared very open and frank before Yellow Mage. He did not become afraid or reserved because Yellow Mage was one of the Seven Sages.
“Teacher, your sudden arrival would end up scaring those youngins. After all, your reputation in Norland is extremely fierce,” said Saik.
His words caused Yellow Mage to stop his tea cup-holding hand in mid motion. His long beard also trembled slightly. In the end, he managed to suppress his anger and sighed emotionally.
Among the Seven Sages, Yellow Mage had the worst temper. That sort of rumor has been spreading through the mages of Norland.
Because of that, the majority of the young law enforcers, especially his students, would always be extremely afraid when speaking with him.
It was as if the person standing before them wasn’t their teacher but instead a monster capable of shooting lightning out of his eyes and reducing them to ashes at any moment.
“It’s a temper of many years, I can’t change it,” After sighing, Yellow Mage Croshere drank all the tea in his cup in a single gulp.
“But, if you want to have more young mages accept you, you’ll have to curb your temper,” Saik had personally witnessed Yellow Mage’s malicious reputation in the flesh earlier. By himself, he threatened the entire Law Enforcement Department.
In the entire history of the Law Enforcement Department, only this ex-boss was capable of such a feat.
“Perhaps you can try walking the road of an ‘idol.’ That’s a term popular in the Mage Forum recently. As you already know, there’s quite many unknown civilians who, after getting on...”
Before Saik could finish his words, the tea cup in his hand shattered. But, the tea was still floating in midair.
“Saik, if you weren’t one of my most outstanding students, the price of that joke of yours will not only be a broken tea cup,” Yellow Mage’s voice gradually grew colder.
“I... was merely speaking the truth. Teacher, that is an opportunity to change your reputation in Norland. According to the investigations from the Law Enforcement Department, many of Norland’s youngsters are very interested in the ‘televisions,’” Unknowingly, Saik continued to court his death.
“Even if I am to die, I would not do something that foolish,” Yellow Mage placed his tea cup on the table. Then, a wax-sealed sheepskin scroll appeared in his hand.
On the seal was a seemingly very complicated rune inscription. When Saik saw the rune inscription, the smile on his face was immediately replaced with a serious look.
That rune inscription represented the Sage Parliament. In other words, it was an order from the organization with the highest authority in Norland.
“Teacher, the discussions of the Sage Parliament this time around had something to do with the Law Enforcement Agency?” asked Saik.
“It had nothing to do with the Law Enforcement Agency. However, the Law Enforcement Agency is needed to handle it.”
The same sort of rune inscription as the one on the wax seal appeared on Yellow Mage’s hand. Driven by the magic power, the sheepskin scroll opened in midair.
“The banning of ‘television?’”
Saik quickly skimmed through the content on the sheepskin scroll. He immediately understood that it was an order to abolish television in Norland. On the signature line, it showed that the proposal was put forth by Yellow Mage. Two other Sages had also signed their signatures below his.
“Teacher, why? I feel that television is beneficial to Norland,” Saik questioned in a confused manner.
“Saik, do you still remember the magic craving stones?”
Yellow Mage asked the middle-aged man before him. When he heard the term ‘magic craving stones,’ the serious expression on his face was gradually covered with a layer of haze.
“How could I forget what killed my parents? Teacher...” said Saik.
Yellow Mage’s disciple Saik was one of the victims of the magic craving stones. As people poisoned from the usage of magic craving stones, Saik’s parents died miserably before his eyes.
“At the beginning, mages were saying the magic craving stones were harmless too. They were able to greatly increase the growth of one’s magic powers. But, what ended up happening? You know better than me how miserable of an end those affected by the magic craving stones had.”
With a calm tone, Yellow Mage spoke of a matter that cannot be refuted.
“The arcanotech device by the name of ‘television’ is different from the magic craving stones,” Saik refuted.
“It corrodes the young mages’ minds,” interrupted Yellow Mage with a low voice, “It’s happening to your subordinates too. For the sake of those so-called television programs, those opera singers and actors, they’ve forgotten their mage’s knowledge-seeking instincts and what their duty was. This sort of thing is happening all over Norland’s four advanced magic academies!”
“But teacher...”
Saik stood up and walked to a wall in the office. A bird’s eye view map of Norland was on that wall. There were some special symbols on the map.
“If you really wish to ban ‘television,’ our Norland’s Law Enforcement Agency wouldn’t be sufficient to handle the task.”
“Wouldn’t be sufficient? With the power of the Law Enforcement Agency, it is an extremely simple task to destroy those arcanotech devices spread all over Norland,” said Yellow Mage.
“Indeed, it’ll be very simple to destroy them. But, the ones that will step up to stop us will not only be the people who created ‘television.’ Norland’s... citizens... will also be among them.”
A faint white colored rune inscription appeared in Saik’s hand. A charcoal pencil started floating in the air. It pointed to the locations with symbols on the map in succession.
“According to the information we’ve gathered in the Mage Forum, the organization by the name of Voice of Norland already has over two hundred and seventy thousand viewers. That number is still growing nonstop. If we are to add the live audience in the theater as well as the people who are only listening, it’ll be another fifty to a hundred thousand people,” explained Saik.
“That is an enormous number, roughly a fifth of Norland’s population.”
“They couldn’t possibly...” When Yellow Mage was about to declare that those people wouldn’t openly oppose Norland’s Law Enforcers for the sake of television, he suddenly recalled the young law enforcer by the name of Khaga he met in the main lounge.
If all the audiences of the Voice of Norland were like Khaga... it was truly possible.
Yellow Mage was certain the expression in Khaga’s eyes was serious. If he wasn’t held back by his colleagues, he would really attack a Sage for the sake of an originium crystal.
With that in mind, Yellow Mage turned to look at the map. Seeing the numerous symbols all over Norland, he knew that they were all places with television.
Exactly... what was so delightful about televisions? Yellow Mage started contemplating.