Mage Manual

Chapter 144: Chapter 132 The Rules of the Game of Power

“Legal illegal activity?”

The people in the cafe at the institute looked blank, and someone asked, “Isn’t that an oxymoron? A coin that’s both heads and tails? A person who’s both male and female?”

“Are you discriminating against me!” A person of androgynous appearance slammed the table and stood up, “Is this how you mock intersex individuals in public!? Moreover, being intersex has become the new mainstream culture, being able to enjoy the benefits of both men and women, this is clearly the most perfect posture. How can there still be such outdated fossils like you in this era—”

“I’m sorry, I misspoke, I’m very sorry to have hurt you,” the former quickly apologized.

Lorenz scratched the fish scales on his face and turned to ask the Snake Boss, “Snake Boss, do you know what he means by legal illegal activity?”

“Sss… I can probably guess.”

“Oh? Do tell?”

At this point, the Snake Boss smiled and suddenly asked, “Sss, Lorenz, have you gotten used to the life at the institute? How are things in the lab?”

“Quite nice,” Lorenz said casually: “Research is also going well, recently there has been a surplus of materials, necromancy progresses faster the more materials there are. Wait, Snake Boss, don’t change the subject, what is legal illegal activity?”

“Sss… Look at the light screen, someone’s about to speak.”

Lorenz looked at the light screen, feeling something strange in his heart.

He sensed that the Snake Boss was unwilling to continue the conversation with him.

And this reluctance was familiar to him.

Just like after he passed the middle school exam, when his human classmates asked him why he had to work after school instead of returning to the orphanage to study or play. At that time, Lorenz was unwilling to answer such questions because he knew that humans could not understand his situation.

Different backgrounds, different environments, talking more was useless.

But here, everyone could understand each other, because they had all abandoned their lower caste identities to become nobler…

Wait, is the Snake Boss from the Blood Saint Clan?

He had always been squinting his eyes; it seemed he had never seen the pupils of his blood…

At this moment, a voice from the light screen interrupted Lorenz’s thoughts.

…

“1659 municipal public examination, West Wave District Market Supervision Administration Officer recruitment.”

The speaker was still Edmond Manken. Enduring the excruciating pain burning his skin, he gritted his teeth and said, “Fernand hoped his classmate could get the position, but his classmate’s ability was not sufficient to pass for such a popular spot, so he thought of a method.”

“First, he found a scholar who was completely qualified or even excelled in all aspects, and directed the scholar to take the Operator exam and secure the position. Meanwhile, the classmate also took the exam but naturally did not pass.”

“Then, one month after the scholar got the job, he would voluntarily resign. At that point, the administration would have a temporary quota and would give priority to selecting a temporary Operator from among the examinees. Since most examinees would have found work after being in the job for a month, there would be no insistence on finding the ‘second-place interviewee’ or ‘third-place interviewee,’ any former examinee would suffice.”

“And so Fernand’s classmate managed to enter the Supervisory Administration.”

“Of course, this was back when Fernand was a councilor,” Manken said. “Once he became the Mayor’s secretary, he didn’t need to go through such trouble. He could tailor the job requirements to his candidate’s profile; for example, if his candidate was a human male, 30 years old, with a university degree and a silver degree in Earth Magic, he would set the job requirements to: human male, 30 to 35 years old, university degree holder with a silver degree in Earth Magic. In fact, these conditions could be further refined, ensuring that his candidate would definitely get an interview. Once in the interview process, the job would naturally be secured, and the whole procedure would be completely legal and compliant.”

“The Government Affairs Hall is a mandatory test for employment, but the specific screening requirements are controlled by each department. As long as you can form a political alliance with the heads of the departments, you can easily leverage substantial energy.” He looked at the ogre, “Half of the members of Forest Art Gallery joined the Government Affairs Hall system this way, and many Operators succumbed to Fernand’s threats or bribes to become his accomplices.”

After thinking for a moment, Manken added, “Oh, maybe some don’t understand, Forest Art Gallery is a gallery opened by Fernand, filled with his self-righteous works. His faction members usually choose to meet there, hence Fernand’s faction is also known as the Forest Art Gallery.”

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

One-eighth might not sound like much, but if spread across various departments, and if some of them are department leaders, that becomes a massive intelligence network and political force. Andrey was considered a strong contender for Mayor precisely because the Eternal Life Wine Club was strong enough to rival the Forest Art Gallery.

Thump!

With a thud, the stone pillar below Fernand suddenly began to twist, the moonlight shining upon the pillar danced like a snake, turning into fierce chains, coiling from bottom to top towards Fernand!

Such a spectacle, Fernand knew without checking the light screen, was because the citizens were voting for him.

The ogre’s mind worked rapidly, but his face remained calm, “You don’t need to make it sound as if I originated this ‘tradition.’ Long before, this had already become an unspoken and unbreakable ‘rule,’ something everyone had come to accept.”

“Without joining a faction, you can’t get a good ‘Initial Position.’ If you seek a promotion, not only do you need your department head’s recommendation but also favor from higher-level leaders. ‘Push down, pull up’ is the only way to rise; if you don’t join a faction, you might still become a Civil Affairs Officer by chance, but you’ll only be facing basic tasks for a lifetime.”

“In here, every politician and councilor is both a beneficiary of the faction and an accomplice in maintaining its existence. In addition to the Eternal Life Wine Club and Forest Art Gallery, there are many small factions within the Government Affairs Hall, like an array of Spider Webs. If you want to climb, you need to get on the Web; these are the rules of the game of power.”

“All of this is but the very commonplace, everyday occurrences of ‘minor whims’ about power.”

…

In a lower-class area cafe, a middle-aged Beastman customer suddenly covered his face and wept bitterly, his tears falling into his drink, creating a scene so unsightly it disturbed the public appearance.

He remembered the public examination thirteen years ago; he was the second-place interviewee, and the first place was an Elf scholar who completely outclassed him in every aspect.

…

In an apartment under the jurisdiction of Kaimon City Food and Nutrition Bureau, a man in his forties cradled a bucket of potato chips sunk into a soft chair. Watching the light screen, he pushed up his glasses, recalled his spirited graduation from university, followed by more than twenty years of wasted silence, and couldn’t help but feel despondent.