Chapter 579: Chapter 05: Self-Study Time_2
"Keep it up."
Saying so, Dariana nodded slightly, then turned and left.
In the office, aside from Barnes, there were about a dozen other administrative staff, all standing and staring at Barnes, who was sitting at her desk with her hands covering her face.
After a long moment, Barnes finally released her hands from her face. "We don’t even know what they’re up to ourselves. How are we supposed to explain it to the students? Issue some vague, unclear announcement? Let them self-study for a year?"
"Perhaps we could arrange courses for the sixty Magic Masters who are staying?" one administrative staff suggested. "Their original workload was already very light. We could ask them to put their research on hold for now."
"That’s impossible. Which Magic Master doesn’t value their research more than their own life?" another staff member replied. "I suspect the only reason they left us with sixty Magic Masters was to ensure the new batch of magic apprentices could complete their graduation exams on schedule."
"I don’t understand what could be more critical than the normal operations of the Magic Academy."
"I don’t agree with total self-study; that would mean relying entirely on the self-discipline of the magic apprentices. And we all know that’s not reliable." Leaning against the desk, Barnes stood up and said, "Try to persuade the remaining Magic Masters to open more courses. If persuasion fails, then keep the students as busy as possible. A busy apprentice is better than an idle one. Thankfully, the budget remains unchanged, and the Magic Masters they transferred out have been allocated extra pay. During this time, their salaries won’t be borne by the Magic Academy. This means we suddenly have a large sum of money to work with."
"I agree."
"I also agree."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
...
"The tasks of our Vein Council are extremely varied. If I had to divide them into broad categories... honestly, I can’t. They’re too miscellaneous. Essentially, we handle anything that no one else takes responsibility for. I’ll only be able to introduce them to you one by one." Walking slowly through the academy grounds with Angel, the Vein Council President explained the basics of their work. "The first is safety. We’ve been tasked with the academy’s safety. So, every day, we have to arrange patrols—four groups during the day, eight at night. Each group doesn’t need many people, just three are enough. Besides keeping an eye out for intruders on campus, we also need to handle disputes among the students."
"Intruders? Isn’t our academy open to the public?" Angel asked.
"Yes, but if someone with ill intentions comes, they wouldn’t go through the main gate. After all, entering through the main gate makes it too easy to get caught. Additionally, we also need to prevent anyone from engaging in illegal activities on campus, like theft or vandalism."
"So essentially, we’re the academy’s security team."
"That’s right, you’ve got it. Within the Magic Academy, we hold absolute jurisdiction. The Cartier Security Squad won’t step in under normal circumstances. The advantage is that we have a lot of leeway, but the downside is that we have to handle everything ourselves. Though truth be told, it’s rare for anyone to come here to make trouble. This is, after all, a school of mages, and only mages. Any mage has considerable combat power, so the cost of committing crimes here is much higher than outside. Most of what we deal with are trivial issues."
As they were speaking, they spotted two students in the distance arguing, while a nearby Vein Council member was attempting to mediate.
"Exactly, like that." Pointing casually at the council member trying to mediate, the President directed Angel down a corridor. "We have a duty to stop all disputes, even if it requires the use of force. However, we have no authority to pass judgment. That authority lies with the Magic Council. Only they have the right to determine who’s right and who’s wrong."
"So basically, we’re the enforcement team, but not the judges."
"Correct, exactly. Then there are many other responsibilities, such as proctoring exams. All written exams in the academy are invigilated by us. For any off-campus activities, we must assign someone to accompany the group. And dormitory management, that’s one of our most challenging responsibilities."
"Dormitory management?"
As they spoke, they arrived at the dormitory area within the Magic Academy.
It was a vast cluster of four-story buildings with intricate wooden carvings, featuring smooth, rounded designs that resembled giant bird eggs. Surrounding them were massive, nest-like decorations resembling chaotic tree branches. The entire area looked like a gigantic bird’s nest.
The design symbolized Luo Ge Xian Ni and her Blood Elf clan nurturing exceptional mages.
"You don’t live on campus, do you?"
"Correct. I live at home."
"I figured. No wonder you’re unfamiliar with our work." Pointing toward the dormitory ahead, the President continued, "Dormitory management is the most frustrating part of our job because you never know what a magic apprentice might be hiding in their dorm."
"Hiding? Is it that important?" Angel hesitantly asked.
"What if they’re running experiments in the dorms?"
"Uh... why wouldn’t they do them in the laboratory instead?"
The President gave Angel a weary look. "Alright, you’re not like them. You can use your mentor’s laboratory. But you need to understand, that’s a privilege. Not every magic apprentice has that privilege, especially not the juniors. The academy doesn’t have enough labs available for whenever someone wants to use them."
"So... explosions?"
"Explosions are rare. Apprentices aren’t foolish enough to perform experiments that could blow up their own dorm rooms. But there are other countless problems. For example, odors. They’ve done experiments that emit disgusting, nauseating smells, forcing everyone to evacuate the dormitory area. We had to wait an entire day for the smell to dissipate before anyone could return. Or interdimensional summoning—we once had to catch an Obeinise Beast inside the dormitory."
"Obeinise Beast? What’s that?"
"A kind of interdimensional summoned creature. It’s not aggressive but incredibly annoying. And then there are experiments that create skin-transmitting bacteria, or smoke that stains you black and is nearly impossible to wash off. Things like that. Sometimes it’s not even experiments. A few years ago, a senior brought magical materials into the dorms. After he graduated, he left them behind. The materials degraded and released vapors that clung to every object in the dormitory. While the Blood Elves weren’t harmed, it emitted a terrible stench. We spent half a month meticulously cleaning everything to finally eliminate the smell." The President shrugged and led Angel deeper into the dormitories.
A Vein Council member standing by the entrance nodded at the two of them.
"See that? We have to station someone here permanently to monitor everyone, ensuring they don’t smuggle magical materials into the dormitory zone. We also need to conduct routine inspections of every dorm room. Notice, I said routine. Specifically, once a week. But really, it’s more about deterrence. Rarely do we find anything during these inspections since we can’t search every nook and cranny ourselves. They wouldn’t allow it anyway—unless someone’s very stupid. Then again, you understand, idiots don’t usually make it into the Magic Academy."
"So how do we completely resolve these problems?"
"We don’t. We never have." The President sighed. "Even now, almost every month, there’s an incident in the dorms. Some months there’s none; some months, there are several."
"That sounds terrible."
"Exactly. Which is why we need more talents, more staff, and more funding. Unfortunately, the Magic Council refuses to approve our proposals. They argue that mages need freedom, not restrictions—even though they also think that causing chaos in dormitories with experiments is awful. Over there is the girls’ dorm, and over here is the boys’ dorm. If there’s no special reason, aside from Vein Council members, entering dorms of the opposite gender is prohibited to avoid unnecessary trouble."
"Alright, I think I get the general idea of dormitory management."
"You *think* you get it?"
"Yes."
"No, you don’t get it yet."
As they spoke, two girls walked past them. One of them shot the Vein Council President a glare, while the other simply rolled her eyes.
"See? With that, now you’ve truly understood." The President sighed helplessly. "There’s a tiny bit of misunderstanding about us—just a tiny bit, I swear. I promise."