I Created Scientific Magic

Hearing these numbers, Lynn could only feel his head swell. He had participated in the entire event and had guessed that there would surely be numerous deaths, yet he never imagined it would be this many.

"Additionally, during the subsequent investigation, the security team discovered another odd occurrence. On the day of the disaster, nine wizards in the town had their minds inexplicably shattered; five of them have been confirmed dead, and the remaining four have suffered severe brain damage, hardly different from being dead," Orlando continued to report.

"After searching the residences of these wizards, the security team found some books on Spiritual Magic, and this item…"

Orlando pulled out a small box and placed it in front of Lynn, inside were nine ring-like items.

"Each of them carried one of these. From the runes on them, they might have been used for some form of magical communication, but the spells on them have long since failed, making further tracking impossible."

"Leave this matter to me. I'll find Master Rafael and delve deeper into it when I have time," Lynn said calmly, nodding his head as he collected the "Rings of the Faceless," planning to later directly remake them into "Rings of Arcane."

Orlando nodded, not giving it much thought, and once again brought up a different matter.

Upon the news of Helram's death being exposed, more than thirty wizards chose to leave Yiyeta Harbor; some of them even changed allegiances completely, joining other schools and taking some apprentices with them.

"Would you like me to send someone to invite them back? I think they would be quite willing," Orlando said with a smile.

He believed that these wizards, upon hearing that Lynn had been awarded the Corona Medal, must be regretting their decisions deeply.

They would never have imagined that the Yiyeta school, far from declining, was actually on the rise.

"No, since it was their own choice, let them be," Lynn shook his head and expressed no regret. Those people felt no real sense of belonging to Yiyeta; keeping them might not have been beneficial.

After all, sometimes an internal traitor can be more troublesome than an external enemy. While he did need more people, he wasn't desperate for just anyone…

Lynn actually felt that, although the entire harbor city had undergone many hardships, there were benefits too, as it removed most of the unstable elements within the school.

"What about the disaster-stricken poor and their families? Have arrangements been made? Has the relief money been distributed?" Lynn asked with concern.

Though he wasn't directly involved in the event, it was caused by Helram, and the council had concealed this information for the stability of Wizard Land. They at least needed to properly accommodate these innocent disaster-affected people.

The total population of Yiyeta Harbor wasn't large. The poor living in the southern part of the city were seen as dispensable wastes by the wizards, but in Lynn's eyes, they were a very good labor force. Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire

"This… Currently, Yiyeta might not have the funds," Orlando said with a somewhat hesitant expression, speaking rather helplessly.

Lynn was stunned. As the largest harbor city in Wizard Land controlling some foreign trade, it should be wealthy.

Surely it wasn't possible that Helram had secretly spent all of Yiyeta Harbor's reserve funds while researching Spiritual Magic?

Lynn quickly found some financial reports among a pile of documents and after several minutes discovered the entire economic situation of Yiyeta could only be described as bizarre.

Firstly, the wizards and the common folk operated in two completely different economic systems, with the latter barely having any interaction with the former except for supplying food.

After all, selling precious magical materials for several or even dozens of Gold Coins was common practice, and a non-magical laborer could never earn that much in their lifetime.

The wizards also generally did not engage in normal productive activities; even the alchemical apparatus and Magic Potions they produced could only be afforded by fellow wizards.

Thus, the several thousand wizards and numerous apprentices in Wizard Land formed a unique cycle, creating an economic upper class completely disconnected from the commoners.

Most crucially, as the privileged class, they didn't even pay taxes!

The finances of the harbor city had never really relied on taxation, as plundering from the common folk yielded little, typically just a symbolic amount.

The real wealth came from foreign trade. By utilizing Yiyeta Harbor's geographic advantages near the outside world, they continuously brought in various ores and rare goods from Wizard Land through merchant ships, and they just had to turn around and sell them in Greenrill City to make a good amount.

Yes, just a good amount… Although it was nearly a monopolistic business, foreign trade also meant assuming the risk of exposing the entire Wizard Land.

As a trade-off for the council's tacit approval, the prices for the scarce resources were predetermined, making it impossible to earn outrageous profits. The income was around thirty thousand Gold Coins annually, just enough to support the operation of the entire harbor city.

Thanks to him, one of the three major trade routes had already been cut, and the largest source of income was likely to shrink.

Lynn immediately felt that the tens of thousands of Gold Coins he had earned from selling glass, paper, or even airships didn't seem like much anymore.

He was still making a fortune daily, but that might not be the case in a few months.

With a population of only a few hundred thousand in the entire Wizard Land, the market was really small and would quickly become saturated, so he needed to consider further expanding foreign trade.

Many of his upcoming major moves would require money, and comforting the families of the deceased poor from the southern district was also a significant expense.

After long consideration, Lynn had a rough plan in mind, and he looked at Orlando. "I now have a rough understanding of the situation in Yiyeta Harbor. I'll allocate ten thousand Gold Coins to the treasury to first settle those innocent disaster-affected people. We can't delay any longer."

"As for the remaining funds, use them all to purchase these materials." Lynn handed over a thin sheet of paper that had already been prepared.

Orlando took it. No matter how many times he saw it, he couldn't help but be struck by the purity of the white paper, which was unexpectedly made of wood.

"Hmm, saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur, brass…" Orlando glanced at the sheet, which was filled with various raw materials, including common items such as saltpeter and charcoal, as well as some ores he had never heard of. Lynn had also noted many characteristics of these ores, asking him to see if he knew anyone familiar with these materials.