Fortunately, Salvatore did not leave immediately after dropping the letter.
After all, as soon as he received the letter from Black Tower, he began writing to Annan. Only after sending out the letter did he start packing his own luggage... especially the materials, potions, and utensils in the basement.
As a result, before Salvatore could finish packing, Annan had already rushed back to Frostwater Harbor.
"Being so close, couldn’t you have just called me back instead of writing a letter?"
Annan spoke irritably, "What’s the point of a letter..."
"I was just worried you might be busy," Salvatore said with a sheepish smile. "What if, after receiving my verbal message, you couldn’t rush back in time... That would just be wasting time."
—In reality, he had mostly forgotten.
Since his own daily work was tightly scheduled, he subconsciously assumed Annan must also be too busy to leave his post...
But in fact, for Annan, all these bits and pieces of work could be delegated to the players.
Just give out some experience points, some goodwill... and, depending on the situation, some wages too.
Meanwhile, players could experience the joy of managing the city and addressing administrative affairs.
After all, Roth Fort was running very steadily, and it was rare for any serious issues to arise. The positions replaced by the players were those previously corrupted or assassinated by the followers of Corruption.
If those fools could do it, how could players possibly fail?
I’m not expecting you to do a great job; just don’t let it collapse, right?
And even if it really did collapse...
...that would be none of my business, ehehe.
After all, this isn’t my house!
Annan justified himself righteously.
Moreover, according to Annan’s observations, these players were actually doing pretty well. Mainly because they were very enthusiastic about their work...
This game mainly took up the players’ sleep time.
Asking them to sleep less to grind and chop trees might not be appealing to them. But letting them drink tea in the office, sign some documents, enjoy some snacks and a book, and even worry-free leveling while taking a leisurely stroll... that was quite a good deal.
Annan would not turn the players into unpaid, restless laborers. They had normal working hours, with enough free time to run dungeons.
Among these players, Delicious Wind Goose and the new player Longjing Tea indeed both had excellent management skills. From their speech and tone, Annan observed that these two were probably the oldest and the most capable among this group of players.
Beyond that, Annan gradually identified several talents who were not very strong in combat but surprisingly good at management and planning.
A couple of them appeared to have a background in accounting, others in logistics management. There were also a few players who seemed to be streamers specializing in management simulation games in the real world...
First let them practice with Roth Fort, and after they become proficient, bring them back to Winter.
Annan thought to himself.
Now that the backlog of administrative affairs in Roth Fort had been dealt with, it had returned to stable operation. Those players whom Annan had urgently summoned to work could now be laid off...
Of course, this didn’t mean they were immediately unemployed.
Annan allocated different tasks to them based on what they had done.
This was called the "hidden and unique quest line received after showcasing one’s capabilities."
"...You want me to bring Longjing Tea back to Black Tower?"
Looking at Longjing Tea, who was following behind Annan with his head lowered, behaving obediently and with a gentle demeanor, Salvatore rubbed his temples with a bit of distress: "That’s actually no problem... Since he managed to self-learn Decree spells, it shows that he definitely has the talent of a wizard, and it won’t be a big issue without a recommendation. Although I’m not yet at the stage to make recommendations, I am, after all, a child of Black Tower, and such a privilege is certainly not a problem.
"But if he wants to join Black Tower... if he doesn’t smoothly advance to become a Transcendent, he won’t be able to graduate and leave. And even if he does graduate and is able to leave Black Tower, he still has to work for Black Tower for five years obligatorily."
Salvatore explained to Annan the rules of Heath Tower of Black.
I get it, I get it, a prospective teacher’s apprentice...
Annan nodded and asked, "What kind of work would that be, exactly? How much work is involved?"
"The workload definitely wouldn’t be too much... after all, they’re wizards, so it wouldn’t be right to make them do any laborious work.
Salvatore shrugged, "Generally, it’s about assisting one’s mentor in crafting certain items, or going to ancient ruins, wilderness, and such places to collect cursed materials and effects. Then there’s going out to help sell some stuff, or recommending talented kids to the Black Tower if they’re spotted along the way... All in all, it’s basically running errands."
"And if he doesn’t have a mentor?"
Annan pressed on, "If I remember correctly... There are no Decree School mentors in Heath Tower of Black, right? I actually just wanted him to go read some books, to consolidate his foundation."
— And also to make a copy of the books from Heath Tower of Black for me.
It doesn’t matter if there are no nightmares inside Heath Tower of Black.
The "Secret Eye" faction that Annan previously established can now come into play.
Copying books for studying can provide stable experience, as well as increase one’s reputation with the "Secret Eye" faction, allowing players who choose wizard apprentices to raise their internal faction rank while copying books... This way, Annan wouldn’t have to give away too much of his personal reputation.
As for what rewards the "Secret Eye" faction’s reputation could exchange for?
That would first depend on what Annan has at the time...
The pricing, naturally, would also be decided then.
After all, if you can’t see an NPC from the "Secret Eye" faction, where are you going to use that reputation, right?
"Hmm... you have a point."
Salvatore fell into thought: "If it’s just reading books..."
He frowned and pondered for a while, then asked Annan in a low voice.
"How about this, Annan—I take him back with me, let him study on his own by reading books, then attend classes to brush up his basics. After I pass my exam and get promoted successfully, I’ll go get a mentor qualification and recruit him over to my side?"
"That would definitely be fine."
Annan said with a smile, "I trust in your character and abilities... Feel free to make use of him as you like, any tasks you have can be assigned to him. When I need him, I’ll just come to you to make a request. So, senior, go on and take your exam as soon as you can. I might find you another batch of wizard apprentices later. By then, I’ll send them over to become your apprentices."
"...So you’re essentially poaching from the Storm Tower and Frigid Wight Tower, huh?"
Salvatore asked with some concern, "Is that okay?"
Annan assured confidently, "Don’t worry about it."
Later on, Annan could simply give Salvatore access to a quest privilege—that way, tasks assigned by Salvatore to wizard apprentices could be converted into side quests for experience. The experience would still be drawn from the experience pool daily, and he could set a daily limit on experience to prevent wizard apprentices from becoming addicted to running errands for Salvatore instead of studying...
"Then there’s no problem, I’ll take him along."
Soon after, he made a somewhat worried request, "When you go to the Royal Capital, you must be careful.
"That Hermes School... I’ve always felt there’s something off about them. Once I return, I will go to the Tower Master to inquire about Nicholas Flamell’s information. If there’s an issue, I’ll send a letter to Frostwater Harbor at any time. Remember to have someone here pass it on to the Royal Capital."
Actually, it’s not that complicated. If there’s an issue, just speak to Longjing Tea, I can hear it...
But Annan didn’t say this outright.
He simply hinted, "If the information is extremely urgent, you can give it to Longjing Tea. They all have my emergency contact methods."
For example, posting a help request on the forum or something.
Or more straightforward—logging out and directly calling one by one, a life-threatening thirteen-call combo.
Isn’t that much faster than writing a letter?
This is the power of technology.jpg
Ron, let me tell you, this is so much better than a wand.jpg