Mage Manual
Chapter 489 - 403: I Dare to Insult the Mayor, Do You Dare to Insult the Clan Leader?

Chapter 489: Chapter 403: I Dare to Insult the Mayor, Do You Dare to Insult the Clan Leader?

May 30th, 9:30 p.m., during the end-of-work rush hour, the streets of Mongfera were as bright as day with relentless traffic.

Mongfera’s Red Hat Captain, the Beastman Mage Sangjilte, was rubbing his face.

This was a bad habit of his. Whenever he felt nervous, he would rub his face so vigorously that his nose and eyes were barely distinguishable—it was probably something he had picked up from the family’s tricolor cat as a child. The dead skin flaked off his face and palms as if it could take away the uneasiness in his heart.

He glanced at the Gospel Book. The third Gospel List hadn’t been updated yet. He wasn’t sure if it would be updated today or tomorrow—since May had 31 days, it was possible for the list to be refreshed over the next two days.

If they intended to delay the update, they might even push it off until 11:59 p.m. on the 31st.

"Captain," a Red Hat behind him reminded, and Sangjilte looked up to see a tall Elf, a Red Hat whose height was in no way inferior to his own, step forward.

"Follow my lead, and you’ll have a share of the credit afterward. Act without permission, and there’ll be a coffin waiting for you afterward."

The local Red Hats were actually threatened like this, yet the Beastman simply rubbed his nose and nodded repeatedly, "The overall command of this operation falls to Captain Senheiser. If Captain Senheiser does not feel reassured, an overseer may be appointed to supervise my unit."

"Good," Qinna agreed unceremoniously, assigning a Red Hat from Vatican Mura to come over and have the Mongferan Red Hats hand over control access to their Balance Boots. Seeing that his subordinates were watching him, Sangjilte nodded to signal everyone to be meek.

Balance Boots were the standard issue flight and teleportation gear for the Red Hats, and it took at least a year of training to use them. They were indeed much more effective than Void Wings, which is why almost every Red Hat was an air combat expert on the level of swifts. If the Balance Boots were forcibly shut down, the Red Hats would lose at least 70% of their combat power at best, or in the worst case, plummet to the ground and turn into a meaty pulp, waiting for rescue.

By obtaining control over their Balance Boots, Qinna could revert them to primitive creatures that could only travel on foot. But no one was upset about this—not even Sangjilte. After all, he was only performing his duty, while the group before him was out for vengeance.

Senheiser, Vastino, Mercury, Roland, Kaisray... Even though they couldn’t match Belladett’s meticulous and absolute control in Mongfera, in their own cities, they called the shots, crossing the political, business, and military realms, sharing the world with the Gospel families loyal to the Yisu royal house!

Yet, such powerful families would all become puppets of the dead, animated by the Necromancers in the future. There were too many reasons for them to eradicate the root of potential troubles. Sangjilte was just an Alchemist who fed off tax money, there was no need to offend them.

Although Sangjilte was a Two-winged Mage, he hailed from a proletarian family or to say, there were only three classes in Mongfera: those in debt, proletarians, and those fringed by wealth. His Beastman father and Goblin mother left him no inheritance; they went traveling when they could no longer work in their forties. After spending his youth lavishly, at twenty, Sangjilte struggled from having nothing to encumbering himself with heavy debts, becoming a gloriously indebted person, and now had to serve Belladett for the next forty years.

Indeed, being a proletarian in Mongfera was considered middle class, enough to surpass 99% of the citizens. Typically, only retired people in their fifties or sixties, solely with debts, qualified to be a part of this class.

As for those fringed by wealth, it didn’t need saying, uttering it would violate labor contracts and incur penalties for emotional distress. Although Sangjilte lived in a house built by Belladett, ate food produced by Belladett, used machines produced by Belladett, and even bought Technique Spirits from Belladett’s platform, it didn’t prevent him from cursing Belladett in his heart. He needed a few good swears before work each day to invigorate himself.

Thinking this, Sangjilte’s gaze on the Vatican Mura Red Hat turned somewhat pitying: I dare to curse Belladett, the mayor, in my mind, do you dare to curse your own Clan Leader?

And those other Mages who scurried all the way to Mongfera, for the so-called future of their clans, they were little more than puppets controlled by their families.

Looking at them, a sense of superiority naturally arose among the Mongferans—

Freedom!

If the key word for Vatican Mura was "happiness," then for Mongfera, it was "freedom." They were not ignorant of the consequences of debt or unaware that their cognitive abilities could be shared. But according to research and observations, they all felt that compared to a life of deferred gratification, a life starting sweet and ending bitter was far more enjoyable.

More importantly, this was all their own choice; no one forced them. If you weren’t willing, you could move to another city and start over. Even if you could resist the temptation of spending in advance, it was possible to live normally in Mongfera without working overtime.

Compared to these foreigners, whose lives had been scripted from birth by the Gospel, their families, and their environment, Mongferans felt they owned true freedom.

Sangjilte had joined this operation reluctantly, only because he received news of a wanted criminal—his involvement was purely professional. He had no interest in the points ranking, nor did he care about the future of the Gospel—in fifty years he’d be dead. Even if the Gospel were to be invaded by the Fish-Slicing Dragon, it would be none of his business. He’d rather think about which restaurant to visit for lunch tomorrow.

However, it was clear that not everyone felt the same. They even began to argue over how to divide the spoils. Sangjilte rubbed his nose again. As a Two-winged Mage, he had no say here—there were already five Holy Sanctuary Mages present, including two Red Hat Captains: ’Crying Red Hat’ Cleos and ’Evil Soul Red Hat’ Qinna.