“White, white, next! Still white. The quality of this batch isn’t great. Oh, finally another yellow. Old Cui, issue a referral letter.”
The simple process quickly reduced the number of children in line, as they were all sorted by height.
The youngest, Selina, being the shortest, was at the very end.
Finally, it was Selina’s turn.
The children tested before her were all either white or a few yellow talents, not a single blue one.
This showed the quality of such a remote border town.
Finally, Selina stepped onto the platform.
She was a bit nervous, unsure whether her talent would be high or low.
She took a deep breath and placed her small hand on the crystal ball.
A pale blue light burst from the crystal ball, a gentle glow surrounding Selina.
The light made her feel warm and soft, and the mana in the air seemed to flow toward her.
Dikara’s eyes lit up, then dimmed again.
Even with the same color, there were differences in talent quality.
The deeper the color, the better the talent, and the higher the ceiling for cultivation.
A blue talent appearing among ordinary people was certainly worth noticing, but the blue light was a pale azure, just barely meeting the threshold for a central recommendation.
Amid the nervous expressions of the crowd, only Sela breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Selina’s talent wasn’t exceptional, she could still get full support from Laite without any issues.
As for Selina herself, she was a bit disappointed.
She had thought that as a transmigrator, she would have some kind of cheat ability.
Even if there was no system or old master, at least she’d get an extraordinary talent.
This feeling of being slightly below average seemed to bring her back to her student days.
Everyone had their own thoughts—some joyful, some disappointed, some excited, some regretful.
But life had to go on.
Kadila recorded in his notebook: thirty-one white, seven yellow, one blue, then put away the crystal ball and immediately moved on to the next stop.
A few months later.
Salia, the Imperial Capital.
In a meeting room within the Imperial Palace, a set of data was placed before several high-ranking humans.
“This is data collected over the past five years, with a sample size of over a million. The data shows that our people…”
“Stop with all the nonsense. Just get to the point, Bishop Kante.”
One of the high-ranking officials interrupted the bishop.
The others also seemed impatient and just wanted to get to the heart of the matter.
The bishop thought for a moment.
Although he held a high position, compared to the people before him, he was nothing.
With no other choice, he spoke.
“The number of imperial citizens with magical talent is gradually declining. It’s already below twenty percent. On average, only two out of every ten people are talented, and most of them are likely yellow-grade. This number is still decreasing. If this continues, the foundation of the empire will be in jeopardy.”
“Then… what’s the cause? Water source? Food? Or the mana concentration of the land? No one knows when those heretics will find a way to break the Demon King’s seal. For the past century, we’ve been accumulating combat power. Now that there’s a problem at the grassroots level, we can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
The big shot in the main seat said.
The bishop wiped cold sweat and continued: “Regarding external factors, our personnel are still investigating. However, the current mainstream explanation is that the number of offspring from talented individuals is too low. To explain: the descendants of talented individuals are also likely to be talented. But in the past century, many high-grade talents have died on the battlefield without leaving any offspring.”
“As for the high talent rate in the Golden Age, we believe it was due to the lax military discipline of that time. Soldiers left many ‘seeds’ in villages and towns along their march, resulting in a magical talent rate as high as forty percent. Of course, everyone knows the fate of the old empire: they resisted and even counterattacked the heretics, but ultimately fell to internal strife.”
“So you’re saying we should send our soldiers to breed?” one of the big shots said jokingly.
The bishop kept wiping cold sweat from his forehead and said, “From a long-term perspective, yes. Of course, there is another way: relax recruitment requirements and form an army of ordinary people. This could balance the numbers of talented and ordinary people, or at least curb the declining trend.”
The meeting room fell silent for a moment.
Finally, the big shot in the main seat said: “The first method could easily shake military morale and the soldiers’ steadfast will. That needs careful consideration. Leave the breeding stuff to the empire’s nobles. As for the second method, start implementing it formally next year. Corresponding equipment must also be prepared.”
“Start implementing next year? That urgent? At least wait until the first batch of equipment is completed. There’s no conclusion yet on the combat effectiveness of ordinary people. The more people join the army, the less tax revenue.”
“We can’t wait. I have a feeling that in the next twenty years, at least several Demon Kings will awaken. To welcome the awakening of the Demon Kings, the heretics should be stirring as well.”
“But tax revenue…”
“It’s just money. Some old geezers have hoarded quite a bit. When war breaks out and people die, the money will naturally revert to the empire.”
At this point, many people’s faces darkened.
With various thoughts in mind, the meeting went from initial anxiety to a final atmosphere heavy with gunpowder.
Not all of the empire’s high-ranking officials were loyal to the empire.
Loyalty that isn’t absolute is absolute disloyalty.
After this meeting, some people already had a list in their hearts.
The empire began to stir.
But all of this had little to do with Selina.
She was just an ordinary little girl adopted by a church in a remote border town, with average talent.
Living out her life in ease and happiness would be enough.
Sela seemed to think the same.
Counting the time, eight years had passed since she was adopted.
In those eight years, she had never revealed her background, and Father Laite also remained silent on the matter.
It was as if Sela herself was adopted too.
If not for the year she revealed her sixth-order magic level, Selina might have believed it.
Over the years, Sela’s appearance hadn’t changed much, but her temperament had become more mature.
It was like she had gone from an ordinary girl to a caring older sister.
It piqued her interest.
She felt like she was being a ‘reverse mother-daughter’ type.
Although they had no blood relation and the age gap was large, it was just an adoptive relationship.
She could overcome all that.
Probably.
Hopefully?
It was said that those who cultivated magic lived much longer than ordinary people.
She could also cultivate, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Just like in an anime she had watched in her previous life, someone said: ‘What if she’s five thousand years older? After a million years, she’ll only be five thousand years younger than you.’
However, Father Laite seemed to be aging visibly.
He seemed to be quite old already.
Without her noticing, Selina’s address for Laite changed from ‘Father’ to ‘Grandpa Laite’.
It felt closer, but sensing the aging of those around her was not a pleasant feeling.
Sister Manila retired and returned to her hometown.
Her elderly father had fallen and broken his leg while chopping wood up in the mountains, so she had to go back to take care of him.
She was probably not coming back, but she would send a few letters every month.
Milia got married.
Her husband was a promising young knight in the town, a third-order fellow who served as a town guard and currently as a squad leader.
Not long after, Selina found a tea-colored-haired boy by her side.
That was Milia’s child.
The young and pretty girl did not give up her duties as a nun.
She seemed to think that since Sela could take care of a child while fulfilling her nun duties, she could too.
But reality proved otherwise.
Taking care of a child was harder than she imagined.
Not all babies were transmigrators.
It served as a lesson for Milia.
Since Selina was already eight years old, she could help this rash girl take care of her child.
Perhaps she could take revenge on this little one named Paul.
She recalled how Milia used to take care of her.
It was simply unbearable to look at.
Oh, right.
A year and a half ago, Selina had successfully entered the gate and stepped into the first order of magic.
At the same time, as the future nun of this church, she officially began studying healing magic.
Father Laite had said that given Selina’s talent, as long as she didn’t have any major stains in the future, she would likely become a Priest.
The position of Priest was above that of Father, even a bit higher than the Cardinal.
Below the Bishop, and above that was the Saintess.
The Saintess’s status was second only to the Pope, one of the highest positions in human society.
When Sela told him that Selina had already finished reading his collection, Laite couldn’t help but show surprise.
He knew this somewhat precocious child loved reading, but this pace was beyond his expectations.
Guessing that she would become a Priest was already a conservative estimate.
It wasn’t that only the powerful could gain higher status; some positions required vast knowledge, and those who were virtuous and respected could also be valued.
This made the Father think of his daughter, who was far away in the Central Church.
Since the day his wife died, his daughter had broken ties with him and gone to the Holy City to work.
He hadn’t heard from her in a long time.
Occasionally money was sent, but the priest who sent the letters refused to disclose anything.
With Laite’s authority, he couldn’t find out more, so he had to let it go.
Perhaps Selina could help him find out about his daughter.
So in addition to her learning healing magic from Sela, he also had Selina study various matters related to the church with him.
He would teach her everything he knew.
Thus, it came about that Selina spent her mornings listening to believers pour out their troubles and offering redemption with Sela, her afternoons learning church common sense and knowledge with Laite, and her evenings studying healing magic and simple spells with Sela.
Being the group’s darling also had its price.
It made Selina feel like she had gone back to her school days in her previous life.
There were also surprise tests every few days, which made Selina miserable.
The full and busy days passed quickly.
Winter went and spring came, and Selina was another year older.
She touched her head, then took out a bamboo pole from the corner of the yard and stood it against the wall.
With the knife she usually used to peel fruit, she made a few scratches at the spot level with the top of her head, marking how much she had grown that year.
Then she grabbed a book and slipped away to a locust tree at the edge of town, where a dozen children her age were waiting.
At that moment, there was some commotion at the church.
Someone was knocking.
Milia and Sela, who were chatting, turned their attention to the church door.
On the Sabbath, the church was in a state of reorganization, which was an annual custom.
Unless there was an emergency, believers wouldn’t come to the church.
Milia was still holding her child, and Laite was old and frail.
So she stood up and went to open the door.
A polite old man dressed like a butler appeared before Sela.
Besides him, a luxuriously equipped carriage was parked behind, and several Order Knights, as tall as the carriage, stood nearby.
None of that was the point.
The butler’s face made Sela’s expression turn pale.