Archmage Carlisle was feeling quite frustrated.


    Why did it seem like everything related to Garrett, good or bad, reasonable or not, always ended up on his plate?


    It was as if he was Garrett’s guardian!


    Though it would be one thing if he were actually Garrett’s teacher, but he wasn’t! Teacher, if you want to take him as a disciple, could you please hurry up and make your move? Don’t let me be in this awkward position where I have to scheme against those guys without any proper justification!


    Luckily, the job hadn’t been too difficult in the past. Everyone knew that there was a legend standing behind the young man. The Lord of Thunder is watching you—how could you not be afraid?


    But now, the teacher was no longer backing him...


    “You want to take over the Public Health Department? You want the hospital?” Lightning danced around the fingertips of the Lord of Thunder, cycling endlessly. Ever since he took up electricity as a hobby, he hardly played with coffee art anymore:


    “Then let them discuss it with Garrett. Why come to me?”


    “But we’re just going to let them bully Garrett like that?” Carlisle didn’t understand. Weren’t you always the one who protected him most closely? Why are you letting go now?


    “He should start doing some real work,” scoffed the Lord of Thunder. “A mage who doesn’t strive to study magic, doesn’t work hard to temper his mental power, and just thinks about raising rats, rabbits, and bacteria all day?—If he were at least a level five mage, none of these guys would dare to bully him!”


    “So...” Carlisle respectfully sought advice from his teacher. The Lord of Thunder waved his hand nonchalantly:


    “Let him handle it. If he wants to continue, fine, let him shoulder it himself. If he can withstand those people from the review committee, that’s his ability; if he’s willing to let go...”


    The legendary mage pondered for a moment:


    “Find him an adventure mission to practice. How can a child of Thunder Horn not even know how to fight, relying on tips from the youngsters of Black Crow Swamp!”


    Why is it still my job...


    Archmage Carlisle silently drifted away. Upon arriving at Garrett’s mage tower and relaying the probes of others, Garrett hadn’t said anything before his own disciple jumped up:


    “Why should we give it to them?! Garrett has been working so hard for so long, putting in so much effort! Just because of their word, they want to take it all away, have they no shame?!”


    “Aurora!” Archmage Carlisle chided. Aurora sat down huffily, still seething with anger:


    “We won’t just hand it over! We can’t just let them benefit like that! If they want to take it, they should offer something in exchange!—Even if they really force him out, don’t come begging him to come back later! Don’t come looking for him when some strange epidemic breaks out and they can’t handle it, trying to dredge up the past!”


    “Exactly!” Lynn, still wrapped in moisture from the door, nodded to Archmage Carlisle and sat beside Garrett:


    “If they want something from Garrett, it must be a fair exchange! Magical items, techniques, anything! To think they can just take it by force of authority, Your Excellency Archmage, I don’t believe the council has such rules, right?”


    Indeed, there were no such rules. However, if one were to argue seriously, there were loopholes to be exploited: both the Public Health Department and the epidemic hospital were public institutions established with funding from the council and city hall, not someone’s private property.


    Since they are public institutions, the founders naturally have the right to appoint more suitable candidates. If someone else were stealing not the hospital but Garrett’s mage tower, the review committee would have taken action without needing to involve Carlisle.


    With Lynn speaking up for Garrett, Archmage Carlisle couldn’t retort. It was Garrett, however, who smiled and reassured:


    “Brother Lynn!”


    Lynn grudgingly closed his mouth. Garrett stood up, rifled through his desk to pull out a stack of mostly written papers, and returned to the sofa. He was about to hand over the manuscript when he suddenly turned to Archmage Carlisle:


    “Garrett!”


    Lynn and Aurora both spoke up. The latter was indignant, while the former was practically exasperated:


    Could you possibly be any softer? People are bullying you to your face, and you’re still eager to work for them?!


    Lynn reflexively reached out to stop him. Garrett smiled and dodged back:


    “Brother Lynn, negotiating and exchanging, isn’t that what Archmage Carlisle is here for?”


    Carlisle: “...Are you waiting here for me to do everything? The mentor uses me as a tool, and you too?”


    “What if they refuse to pay anything?”


    “Then they can forget about asking me for anything for the rest of their lives!” Garrett lifted his chin:


    “Penicillin or anything else, I won’t give it to them!—I have plenty of good things in my hands!”


    With Garrett’s conditions and the hastily completed "Urban Public Health Construction Plan" in hand, Archmage Carlisle set off for the negotiations. For the water supply part, not to mention, those daring to take over the infectious disease hospital must have some confidence in their medical abilities; since they understand medicine, they couldn’t possibly ignore the existence of penicillin!


    This exchange was bound to take a chunk out of them!


    Back at the mage tower, Aurora and Lynn were still seething. Especially Lynn, who paced around Garrett, almost wishing he could shake him. Garrett could only reassure him again:


    "Brother Lynn, actually, these tasks were not what I wanted to do in the first place. Whether it’s the city’s water supply system or the infectious disease hospital, on one hand, it was to earn this mage tower, a condition exchanged with the review committee; on the other hand, it was unbearable to watch the poor living in such dire conditions, with such poor sanitation.


    —Now that the framework is set up and the mage tower is in


    my hands, why wouldn’t I eagerly hand off the follow-up tasks? There are actually people wanting to take it over, and I don’t have to pay the review committee back!”


    Lynn laughed out loud. Seeing his mood lighten, Garrett quickly pressed on:


    “Besides, these managerial tasks should really be handled by professionals. Brother Lynn, I am a healer. You want me to manage so many doctors and patients’ eating and drinking, buying furniture, changing bed sheets, washing, sterilizing surgical instruments... You might as well ask me to die!


    I’m not high-level enough, I don’t have enough resources to mobilize, handing these tasks over to the right people is better for me, and for the patients! If the hospital’s head is a high-ranking mage, perhaps the temple’s people could have arrived faster, and not so many would have died...”


    He was a surgeon!


    A front-line clinician!


    Clinical work and hospital administrative management are completely different matters, and adding public health, disease control, water services, etc., makes them three or even four separate issues!


    Previously, he had no choice but to shoulder it all himself. Now that someone is actually willing to take over, bless them, who is so considerate?


    Let whoever wants this responsibility take it, just hurry up and pass it on, and do not disturb me from studying medicine!


    With the burden lifted off his shoulders, Garrett felt immensely relieved. As if a torrential downpour had descended from the sky, washing away all dust, cleansing him inside and out. Watching Aurora and Lynn leave together, he stretched lazily and muttered to himself:


    “Take it and go, just don’t disturb my ascension...”


    Ah, does this mean I see the light of leveling up again?


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