Versatile Mage

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

—

Mo Fan’s classes did a lot better after the excursion. He was finally profiting from them. Since the classes were about magic theory, Mo Fan could just teach anything he liked, as the school did not have restrictions on the topics. Mo Fan simply shared a manipulated version of his experiences on Mount Kunyu and the bizarre encounter with the Giant Purple Linden with his students.

Every student dreamt of going on adventures. The things that Mo Fan shared were nothing like they had heard before. Even books with records of bizarre events did not have anything like them. Mo Fan somehow turned the class on magic theory into his autobiography.

Mo Fan was not necessarily teaching new knowledge in his class, but many students were interested in his tales. After all, he had encountered a lot of strange things while he was still a student, very different from the typical students who spent most of their time at school. He could easily talk for the whole morning just by sharing one of his adventures.

It was one good thing about being a lecturer in the Aorus Sacred Institute. The lecturers had total freedom on the topics they wanted to teach, as long as the lecturers were not breaking the rules and the students were willing to attend their classes!

——

“Old Zhao, where’s Mu Bai?” Mo Fan went back to his room and saw Zhao Manyan lying on the couch and watching dramas in boredom, as if the sacred task of being a teacher had greatly hindered his progress of spreading his seed across the world.

“He must be studying the plant distribution of the Andes Mountains in the study downstairs. I’m not sure why he’s so stubborn about the Black Vatican,” Zhao Manyan yawned.

“Tell him to come back here. I have a new discovery,” Mo Fan said.

Zhao Manyan rose to his feet unwillingly. He only remembered there was a great invention called the cellphone after he reached the door. He glared at Mo Fan before dialing Mu Bai’s number.

“Hey, come up here… why do I hear a girl’s voice beside you? You assh***, you told me you were going to look for information, but you are hooking up with students instead? I f**king despise hypocrites like you!” Zhao Manyan cursed.

Mu Bai soon came into the room with a long face.

“Oh, it was the cleaner. Why were you having such a pleasant chat with her?” Zhao Manyan mentioned.

“I can’t be bothered talking to an idiot like you. Why did you call me?” Mu Bai demanded.

“Sit down, one of my students reminded me of something in my class today…” Mo Fan began in a serious voice.

The two immediately sat on the couch, eager to hear what Mo Fan had discovered.

“I did some checking. There are lots of farms and plantations close to the edge of the mountain range along the shore, and there are lots of farmers, workers, and gardeners living there. Even though they aren’t people of the Aorus Sacred Institute, they are working for the school. They are usually referred to as laborers,” Mo Fan explained.

Mu Bai was expecting Mo Fan to tell them a big secret since he immediately gathered them after he was done with his class. “Laborers?” he asked narrowly.

“The Aorus Sacred Institute is like a little palace. There have to be a lot of laborers helping with logistics and stuff considering the luxurious lifestyle here. We have completely overlooked them,” Mo Fan said.

“What about the farms and plantations you mentioned?” Mu Bai asked.

“In addition to the school’s plantations in the Andes Mountains, there are over a dozen villages along the shoreline where the laborers of the school live. Not only do they provide the school with necessities, they also plant herbs and provide smithing of magic ores, and refinement of magic pendants…”

Mu Bai smacked his leg when he heard Mo Fan’s words.

That’s right, why did I keep focusing on the people in the Aorus Sacred Institute? He had not found a single trace of the Black Vatican after so long!

The Black Vatican did not have to be students, lecturers, or personnel of the school. They might also hide among the laborers who were working for the little kingdom!

These laborers might not be considered the Aorus Sacred Institute’s citizens, but they were still protected by the school. They were free to enter its territory!

“One of the students in my class used to be a laborer. He told me a lot about them. I think it’s likely the Black Vatican is hiding among them, especially if they are planting the Frenzy Poppies. They can help plant what the school wants while planting what they want as well!” Mo Fan ventured.

“That makes a lot of sense. I was too focused on the people in the Aorus Sacred Institute. I completely ignored the possibility!” Mu Bai finally realized what went wrong.

The Aorus Sacred Institute did not allow laborers to stay at the school, so Mo Fan, Zhao Manyan, and Mu Bai, who spent most of their time on the school grounds, had no chance of meeting them. A huge machine consisted of thousands of wheels and parts. They kept focusing on the shiny surface of the machine, instead of looking at the parts inside it!

“Mu Bai, try filtering out the villages where we might find the Black Vatican. We’ll check them out,” Mo Fan suggested.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s unreasonable for lecturers to visit the villages, but I remember there are field trips where we can bring the students to patrol the coastline. Besides, we aren’t done forming our team of nine,” Zhao Manyan interjected.

“Fine! Mu Bai, you will filter out the potential places, while Old Zhao and I handle the field trip. You will decide on the route for the field trip. The Black Vatican won’t react in time once we find the right place,” Mu Bai said.

“Mm, but even if we found the Black Vatican, we shouldn’t do anything reckless. The students might end up as victims,” Mu Bai warned them both.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure they are safe.”

——

Mu Bai did not take long to filter out the potential locations. The Frenzy Poppies had strict requirements. He could easily eliminate the places that lacked suitable soil conditions, temperature, and availability of sunlight. In the end, there were only four villages left on the list.

“This one here that is closer to the sea is a plantation of aloe vera. It mainly provides the school with aloe vera and cacti. It has around seven hundred registered workers,” Mu Bai drew a circle on a map and continued, “This one over here is the Rock Coral Village that handles vegetation on wet ground close to the sea. It’s also perfect for planting the Frenzy Poppies. The other two are an olive grove and a cherry orchard, respectively.”

The Frenzy Poppies had to be looked after at all times. They were more difficult to plant than orchids, so the Black Vatican would need a lot of workers to plant them. They were indeed looking in the wrong direction when they tried to find the Black Vatican in the Andes Mountains.

Mu Bai was very sure that the Black Vatican was in one of these villages!