"… Is this all of the recent reports? It seems that I failed again … The consumption of materials has also exceeded my expectations. Alright, I know that you've all worked hard. Summarize all the materials that you're lacking, including the materials that you might need in the next two months, and give it to Wednesday before next Monday. "
The archmage tapped his finger on the table like a little adult as he carefully read through the recent research reports.
Perhaps, in the eyes of most ordinary people, a mage's magical experiments should be carried out in a small attic within a sharp tower. In a pitch-black room, a long-bearded old man would stir a large cauldron filled with mysterious liquid, or perhaps he would nag at the corpses of wooden puppets, bones, or even a silly cat.
From a certain standpoint, this type of discrimination against outsiders wasn't completely wrong. In the olden days, many mages and acolytes' magical experiments were abnormally irregular. Even they themselves didn't understand the principles behind the magical effects, so they imitated the mysterious methods of their seniors and ancient books, praying to the gods that their magical effects came true.
So-called wizards, dark mages, and all sorts of evil archmages who madly made cameo appearances in fairy tales, stories, and operas probably came about from this.
Actually, in the elven generation, those characters were all played by the giant demon witch doctors. They just casually made things worse, and as time went on, they became classic characters. In those ancient legends, there would always be an old mage, witch doctor, witch doctor, or witch witch dressed in feathered clothing and strange robes, using all sorts of evil spells to act as the antagonist.
However, the modern mage's laboratory was completely different from the dark rooms of the seniors.
Not only was the spacious laboratory bright, it was also well ventilated. The overly enclosed environment and damp rooms were the main reasons why materials and biological samples would quickly deteriorate. The transparent glass cabinets contained all sorts of materials, and they would need to be handled with gloves, chemical scales, and clamps to prevent human influence from contaminating the materials.
Before conducting a magical experiment, one would first need to apply for materials, funds, and assistants. Only after everything was settled would the experiment begin at the agreed upon location. No matter if the experiment succeeded or failed, a large number of related reports would be written.
These reports might be useful, but they might also be useless. They might not be useful here, but they might have some value in some inexplicable place. However, without exception, every single one of these reports was exchanged with real money.
"… Everyone says that mages burn money, but I didn't expect them to burn so much money. I can't hold on any longer. Should I ask my sponsor for more money? But I feel like she's becoming more and more vigilant … It would be great if the elves were willing to sponsor me, but I don't think they're that stupid. Should I go out and taunt them a few days later …"
More than ninety percent of the reports were of no value to the current Rorschach. The last three reports were thin, and Rorschach still had to verify them one by one.
Times had changed. The low efficiency of small workshops had long since been eliminated by the magical engineering civilization. Blacksmiths had been industrialized and modernized. The traditional industries of forging furnaces and hammers had been replaced by high-pressure machine tools and assembly lines. The mages had changed even more.
Fighting alone had basically become history. Archmages' apprentices could also act as assistants. A complete research team was incomparable to an individual's intelligence.
What Rorschach needed to do was to be the leader of this project. He would list out the projects according to his needs and then toss them to his apprentices and assistants. He would wait for their feedback and then rationally adjust the direction of the research. This would be at least ten times more efficient than working alone.
"… Burning money is still more than ten times more expensive …"
Looking at the huge deficit on his latest bill, even Roland, who had always lacked money, felt his heart ache … He didn't even dare to tell Isabella how much money he had spent. Otherwise, she would definitely complain about how many e-sports stadiums he could buy with this amount of money … That's right, the money he had spent was enough to build the infrastructure. Clubs and stadiums were nothing compared to this amount.
"Everything is difficult at the beginning. Experiments also require a lot of extra expenses. It should be better after this … I hope it'll be better."
The construction of the laboratory, the hiring and relocation fees for his assistants, the purchase of magical materials, and the purchase of large-scale experimental facilities. All these expenses had to be paid from the very beginning. This was indeed the largest part of the bill.
However, judging from Rorschach's uncertain tone, he knew that he couldn't even fool himself.
Although this one-time large expenditure had ended, in order to prepare for the year-end council meeting and produce some decent results, as well as to increase his strength to protect himself, the new research project had already overflowed the schedule. There was a severe lack of manpower and experimental resources. Rorschach was seriously considering whether or not to build another laboratory.
However, after mentally calculating the budget for the construction of this infrastructure … Rorschach felt that it would be better to take things slow. Taking things slow meant that he wouldn't make any mistakes. Yep, it definitely wasn't because he couldn't take out the money even after five years.
"… I have to think of a way to get more. Elf or Seviala? This girl is getting harder and harder to deal with … "
While Rorschach was troubled, a piece of news helped him make a decision.
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