A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 265 The Witch's Forest

Inside the castle, Jiang Shuzhou sat in the main seat, with his followers below him.

"My lord, the current population of Hamlet Territory is approximately 154 million, with the majority being underground population. Ordinary humans account for 36%, half-orcs and beastmen account for 49%, orcs account for 14%, and other races account for 1%."

"Under your guidance, Hamlet..."

Pierre then gave Jiang Shuzhou a brief report on his work.

"Good job. Keep up the good work. The construction of the railway cannot stop. Training talents at all levels is also of paramount importance. Not only should they be literate, but they should also have other skills. You will be in charge of all of these."

Jiang Shuzhou has always only been concerned with the general direction in this regard.

Before the system was fully established, Jiang Shuzhou would step in to manage it. Now that the management system is complete, Jiang Shuzhou has simply become a hands-off manager.

Although Jiang Shuzhou has decent management skills, his time is precious and he doesn't have time to play political games.

Perhaps in a world without extraordinary abilities, power is simply the ability to mobilize as many people as possible.

But in the world of the extraordinary, power is merely a byproduct of one's own strength.

If Jiang Shuzhou wanted to, he could easily wipe out half of Hamlet's territory.

The reason he didn't do it was because the alchemy workshop in Hamlet's territory could make him money; otherwise, to be honest, Jiang Shuzhou wouldn't even want to bother with this territory.

It was only because Hamlet could make money that Jiang Shuzhou arranged for a fake person to supervise him.

"Hays, how are the military preparations going?"

Jiang Shuzhou needs the lord's personal guards to be useful in the interdimensional war, not to mention as the main force of attack, even if it's just for maintaining order after the war.

If they can't even do this, then the lord's guard can be disbanded.

"My lord, the lord's personal guard currently numbers 32 soldiers, half of whom are orcs, and..."

Jiang Shuzhou quickly learned the general situation within the territory.

The information obtained was almost identical to that obtained by Jiang Shuzhou.

Good, it seems no one lied to him.

"Alright, that concludes the work report."

Jiang Shuzhou nodded in satisfaction. Pierre, who was very good at reading people's expressions, stood up and toasted Jiang Shuzhou.

Jiang Shuzhou's background was no secret, and others didn't care, but Pierre had studied it long ago.

This is popular in China.

"My lord, we have gathered here today to celebrate your promotion. I would like to raise a glass to you! Without your guidance, I would probably still be an ordinary clerk in some small place."

"Of course, there's nothing wrong with being a clerk, but Hamlet's consul has a much wider scope of opportunities."

After saying that, Pierre downed the wine in one gulp.

"Oh, it's all thanks to everyone's help."

"How can you say that, my lord? If it weren't for you..."

Soon, the emotionally intelligent Pierre began to awkwardly praise the character.

Hayes was also forced to join in and began praising it.

Dvalin drank wildly, doing nothing but drinking and boasting, truly embodying the nature of a dwarf.

Chahara sat quietly beside Jiang Shuzhou, eating his meal in silence.

The fake Judas seemed to understand but not quite, and began to quickly scribble and draw with paper and pen.

He plans to write a book on human behavior specifically for pseudo-people.

"Um, is this edible?"

Murphy devoured the plate and cutlery in a swift motion, much to the astonishment of the waiter.

After all, he's a stone man. Normal food isn't inedible, but it has no taste at all. However, these tableware dishes taste quite good.

The entire banquet was a chaotic scene of demons dancing wildly, yet there was also an eerie sense of harmony.

Finally, after Murphy had eaten a huge pile of dishes, the banquet came to an end.

"Finally, a toast to our great monarch!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank together.

Of course, Murphy ate it along with the wine glass.

And so, Jiang Shuzhou's private banquet came to an end.

But the revelry in the territory continued.

Compared to Earth, this place feels more like Jiang Shuzhou's home.

High up in the castle, in the master bedroom, Jiang Shuzhou looked down at the entire Hamlet from the window.

Although it was evening, Hamlet was still bright.

People on the street had smiles on their faces and shared their joy with each other.

Jiang Shuzhou stared at all of this, remaining silent for a long time.

Then, on this joyous night, Jiang Shuzhou left Hamlet.

He was going to Mervaux to complete a diplomatic visit.

Once completed, Jiang Shuzhou's status officially changed from a high-level employee to a partner, and he would no longer have any obligations to the alliance.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The second tallest tower.

This towering tower is much taller than the previous tower, which was only a few hundred meters high.

But in the hearts of all the monks, this was far from enough.

In the distant past, there wasn't even a legend about mages.

Later, a mage named Melvo successfully ascended to the rank of Legend. He built a tower to store knowledge and made it freely available to all mages.

It was an era of extreme development in magical knowledge, and almost everyone believed that this situation would continue indefinitely. However, the arrival of the God of Protection disrupted everything.

The tower was destroyed, and the mages became refugees; they went from scholars to rats hiding in the gutter.

Now, with the construction of a new tower, the prototype of the Mage Tower has become even stronger, and the mages have united to create another golden age.

"Honorable High Alchemist Navis Lebo, is there anything I can do to help you?"

The tower spirit's voice rang out.

"I'm going on a diplomatic visit, where am I going?"

"Navigation has been established; please follow the instructions."

Then, a ball of light appeared, guiding Jiang Shuzhou on his way.

Spatial movement is prohibited throughout the entire tower, so Jiang Shuzhou cannot teleport there directly. However, there is a dedicated internal teleportation array inside the tower, so it won't be too slow.

Soon, Jiang Shuzhou arrived at a conference room.

Pushing open the door, two monks were already waiting there.

"I have long admired your name, Master Navis. I am Trank."

"I've heard so much about you. I am Maurice."

"I don't deserve such praise; it's just that others are being too kind."

Jiang Shuzhou made a polite remark, then looked at his two colleagues.

Trank was a stern-faced middle-aged man who didn't smile much and exuded seriousness. He didn't seem like someone who would be easy to get along with.

Morris, on the other hand, was ordinary, mild-mannered, seemed to have a good temper, and always had a smile on his face.

To show respect, the three people present, although wearing robes, did not wear hoods and showed each other their faces.

"I'll have to trouble you two with the rest of the work. I'm new here and don't know much about diplomacy."

Morris smiled and continued.

"Hey, you're talking like I know everything you say."