After leaving the castle, Apolo searched for the carriage guarded by his loyal servant, Mateo, until he finally found the man feeding the horses under some trees on the road.

—Can we go get my crystals?—Apolo asked impatiently as he climbed into the carriage.

—Why the rush? Don't you know that those in a hurry get nowhere?—Mateo responded, refusing the request and focusing on the horses eating their apples—When the horses finish eating, we'll go get the annual budget...

—I hope the emperor is a bit more generous with this year's sponsorship...—Apolo murmured, reclining in the driver's seat, gazing at the trees along the road to quell his impatience.

Mateo fed the horses without any hurry, and after a few minutes, they finished eating. The driver got into the carriage without wasting any more time and headed to the castle where Apolo had registered as a wizard.

—This area is really beautiful, don't you think?—Apolo asked, looking at the ministry's gardens with particular interest.

—With the number of crystals that wizards move every year, it doesn't surprise me that they spend so much on the gardens—Mateo replied. As far as he knew, the emperor paid each wizard more than most noble families earned in a year, except, of course, for particularly powerful families. Although that amount of crystals felt like a pittance because life in the capital was particularly expensive compared to the rest of the empire, and they were even scarcer if one wanted to carry out research with exotic objects and goods, as most wizards did.

—I suppose for every ten useless wizards, you get one who makes the crystals spent by the other ten wizards worthwhile—Apolo commented as he looked at the colorful trees. From what the young noble knew, there were indeed some wizards who worked hard to discover useful things. He thought that the two ancestors who had passed down a message to him were part of that group, while the other two who were also wizards but left no inheritance belonged to the useless group.

It didn't take long for Apolo to arrive at the castle where he had registered as a wizard. Without wasting time, the young man entered. Apparently, the guards didn't ask for identification when entering this castle, or maybe it was because it was daytime and visits were more common at that time. Recalling, Apolo managed to find the room where he had previously received his sponsorship and tried to enter it, but a guard stopped him at the door.

—What's with the manners, kid? Show me your badge!—The guard demanded, unimpressed by the young man's size. Perhaps it was because he had confidence in the intimidating power of his position, or perhaps it was because he was genuinely someone to be feared, and the ministry didn't joke around with security in the room where crystals were handed out.

Annoyed by the insults, Apolo restrained himself, thinking about the crystals, and handed his badge to the guard. The guard looked at the badge carefully, making a disgusted face as if he expected a different resolution to the problem. Then the guard said to the young wizard:

—Go ahead, go to the last desk, and mind your manners next time, kid.

Quite irritated by the insults, Apolo held back, thinking about the crystals, and silently went to the desk where Finz, as elegant as ever, was working.

—Oh, Apolo, did you finally come for your crystals?—Finz asked with a smile.

—Yes, is it ready?—Apolo asked, noticing that someone had placed a chair of his size in advance, as if they were expecting him.

—No, this takes time, like everything that involves a large number of crystals—Finz replied, extending his hand to ask for the young wizard's badge.

Upon hearing "a large number of crystals" a smile formed on Apolo's face, and he handed over his silver badge.

Finz took the silver badge and placed it on a blank parchment. Immediately, the employee took a wax seal in the shape of a pointed hat and used it to inscribe a seal above the badge, attaching it to the parchment. Skillfully, the employee folded the parchment and put it into one of the tubes on his desk while commenting:

—By the way, the Minister of Magic wanted to talk to you; it seems there have been some complaints about repeated incidents in the transfer of goods for your magical research.

—How long ago did this happen? I finished the transfer a few days ago—Apolo asked immediately, with an unmistakable concern on his face. The last thing he wanted was trouble with the Minister of Magic.

—Eight months ago...—Finz replied from memory—But you never came, so the complaints have been accumulating for eight months.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

—Couldn't they have sent a message to my house to inform me of the problem?—Apolo asked with disgust.

—Yes, but apparently, the problem isn't that serious—Finz replied with uncertainty. Indeed, in general, these things were resolved with a warning, which in this case was never sent for some reason that the employee didn't know about—In any case, you would have been notified. Remember that problematic or dangerous research requires prior authorization, especially if it's going to be conducted privately and individually.

—I'll keep that in mind...—Apolo commented, somewhat worried. It seemed he would have to postpone his plans to go talk to the Minister.

—I'm glad to hear that...—Finz said, watching as a parchment came out of one of the tubes on his desk. Immediately, Finz took it and opened it, showing that inside there was only a wax seal with the same inscription of the pointed hat he had sent a few minutes ago. With a very small spatula, Finz removed the wax to reveal Apolo's badge and a black coin underneath.

—Well, here's your badge back, and I'll give you your annual sponsorship—Finz commented, handing over the badge and the coin to Apolo—The imperial sponsorship is 3,000 crystals for being a wizard, plus another 3,000 crystals for your noble blood. So, it's a total of 6,000 crystals. And...

—What?— Apolo interrupted abruptly—Last year, it was 7500 crystals!

—Yes, but the Council of Mages passed a resolution increasing the maximum quota of mages: it went from 500 to 750 slots— Finz explained calmly and somewhat prepared, as if he had been giving this explanation many times—The funding was achieved by reducing sponsorship for high-ranking nobles and completely eliminating sponsorship for low-ranking nobles.

—Why the hell did the Council make such a stupid decision!— Apolo shouted, not caring that his fellow employees were giving him strange looks.

—Obviously, it was due to political pressure from common mages and to negotiate other resolutions, such as increasing the imperial family's general budget for the Ministry of Magic— Finz commented calmly.

—If they increased the budget, why the hell did they end up cutting mine?— Apolo asked angrily.

Finz picked up a cup from the desk and drank from it slowly, as if trying to freeze the conversation for a few minutes. Then he explained the reason:

—Because the quota was quickly filled thanks to this resolution, and at the same time, they simplified the procedures for becoming an acolyte and advancing to mage. In return, the Council completely eliminated the ability to become mages directly as commoners; now it's mandatory to go through the acolyte stage, as it used to be in the past. These reforms caused many acolytes to be in a position to become mages, just as the imperial family wanted. Unlike his father, Emperor Cesar is more conservative in dealing with commoners. I suppose what happened with the "accident" of condemned registrants was what finally tested his patience.

—All of that happened in a year?— Apolo asked in astonishment. It seemed like they had completely reformed the registration system since the last time he came, which was relatively recent.

—Yes, but it simply returned to the old registration system, so there really wasn't any very revolutionary change— Finz replied with a smile; it seemed he preferred this system too.

—Is there still quota available?— Apolo asked with concern.

—Are you interested in sponsoring an acolyte?— Finz asked curiously, understanding that given Apolo's age, it would be unusual for him to have an acolyte under his tutelage.

—No, but I'm interested in the number to plan some things— Apolo replied, not wanting to give explanations.

—There are 14 slots left, 11 reserved, and the rest open for new applications— Finz replied mechanically.

—Perfect, and now the big question I still don't understand and that's bothering me too much not to ask again...— Apolo commented angrily—Why the hell would the Council be so stupid to change the system if it ends up screwing all of us who are already inside?

—Because all Council members are important mages, so they have acolytes...— Finz replied calmly—It's not as if it was reduced significantly; the major losers in this are the second-rate nobles. You only lost 1500 crystals; it's not even half your budget.

—And they didn't complain?— Apolo asked, not satisfied with the answer.

—Of course they complained, but the Emperor dislikes this kind of mages— Finz replied, taking a long pause to take a sip of his drink—And under the threat of reducing the general budget, it's not as if the Council could refuse. Although they did manage to negotiate a solution where they ended up gaining a position for their acolytes.

—What a way to ruin my day...— Apolo commented angrily, getting up to leave. Finz was not a mage, let alone a member of the Council; the decision had been made by others, and unfortunately, a novice mage like him was bound by their decisions.

—What a pity, but let me warn you that I have to ruin your day a little more...— Finz commented with a vengeful smile. It seemed he was quite annoyed by being interrupted while speaking.

—What happened?— Apolo asked worriedly. His day had already started on the wrong foot with strangers blocking his way, and now he didn't want any more problems.

—In addition to receiving 6000 crystals in total, you were fined 1000 crystals for breaking a piece of furniture in the Ministry— Finz replied with a cheerier smile than Apolo would have liked.

—Are you telling me that this fourth-rate chair was worth 1000 crystals? Did the damn Emperor himself use it to support his noble behind, or how did they manage to draw such a price? You swindlers!— Apolo shouted, raising his hand as if about to break Finz's desk, but he stopped himself. He didn't want another fine.

—The chair was worth 50 crystals, but you're not asked to pay for the replacement; you're asked to pay a fine— Finz commented calmly—So stop breaking things and behave like everyone else.

—...— Apolo angrily glared at Finz. He had never found a person so unpleasant, and no one had ever ruined his day so thoroughly. However, he didn't want any more problems; his heart had already suffered enough watching his budget dissipate, and now the Ministry of Magic seemed to be searching for any excuse to snatch crystals from the mages he worked with, just to unlock their tight budget.

With resignation and bitterness, Apolo left the room and headed to the Minister of Magic's office, not holding back the violent shouts he uttered into the air every few steps, seeking to ease the pains of his already worn-out soul.