Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Dinia's words were clearly emotional, and she was acting, but not entirely, because Ronan told her that some of the things in the whistleblower letter were true.

Everyone was completely relieved to see that although the mayor was a little angry, she still agreed to Ronan's request.

"Lastly, regarding expansion, I think it's necessary for Xinhai City to recruit more civil servants and improve their welfare benefits."

Dinia said.

“Madam Mayor, it’s wonderful that more people can participate in the construction.”

"This is definitely a good thing for the citizens."

"The citizens should thank Ms. Dinia for coming."

"Before that, it is necessary to allocate funds to build a mayor's residence."

"To improve benefits, the mayor's salary should be raised first."

Looking at this group of people, Ronan could only say that this was probably what bureaucracy was like.

Chapter 109 Sacrifice, Shocking Change, Take a Test

After the meeting, the heads of each department returned to their respective offices; some went directly back to their offices, while others left the city hall and returned to their own workplaces.

The announcements at the meeting were all genuinely important matters, but they did not have a significant impact on these individuals, including the announcement of an investigation into officials.

After all, which mayor in the past didn't do something similar when they came to power?

They were used to it. In the past, there was always smoke but no harm. The scene looked big, but in the end, they would just arrest a few unlucky little guys whose methods were too straightforward and who happened to have recently committed crimes.

The mindset cultivated by this experience was exactly what Ronan had expected, and it was precisely because he had anticipated that this group of people had this mindset that he prepared a series of surprises.

At the same time, in the courtyard of Dinia's residence.

Agustina had already prepared the ritual circle. She was holding a silver wine jug in one hand, taking sips now and then, while explaining to Alice, who was standing in the center of the circle, the possible situations they might encounter and the precautions they should take.

Elena was also there. Ronan had asked her to come and look after Alice, but she only glanced at her symbolically before sitting down in a chair at the table. On the table were seedless tangerines that Agustina had brought as a special gift for Dinia, and she was told to help herself to them, which she did without hesitation.

"It's normal to feel pain during the final stage of the ceremony; just bear with it and you'll be fine."

Agustina said to Alice.

In sacrificial rituals, the parts of the body offered are not chosen by the sacrificer, but rather selected by the ritual itself.

After the sacrifice, it's not that an organ is lost, but rather that it is replaced by a demonized organ.

For example, Agustina is not one-eyed; beneath her eyepatch is a magical eye that grants her the ability to remotely and precisely control fire magic, which can be considered a form of enhancement.

If it were just like that, it wouldn't be called a sacrifice, but a huge profit.

Having a demonized organ can have side effects. A certain aspect of one's inner self will be amplified according to one's own elements, making emotions prone to extremes, and magic can sometimes get out of control. For example, Agustina can burn anything she doesn't like like a fire. If she tries to control it, it will immediately cause excruciating heart-burning pain.

To stabilize her emotions and magic, Agustina would often bake something to eat with her drinks, and whenever she had the chance, she would start a big fire. Over time, she developed her current polarized personality, which is usually carefree and lazy, but occasionally becomes extremely fierce.

She's considered lucky; she only sacrificed one eye, and the boost came from her technique, making self-control easier.

She knew a single-fire mage who sacrificed his heart. When he was still at the first rank, he often became uncontrollably elementalized, losing his consciousness and rampaging through flames. He couldn't even make enough money to cover his losses. It wasn't until he reached the third rank that he was able to control himself effectively.

"That's about it. Stand in the middle and just channel a small amount of magic into your feet."

Agustina said to Alice.

Once Alice begins, the magic pillars in the four corners, representing water, fire, earth, and wind respectively, will start to overflow with magic.

Whichever one is closer to Alice indicates that she is more affectionate towards that one.

Most people have two elements, a few have three elements, and very few have four elements or a single element.

A single element represents the overwhelming power of magic in one aspect.

Agustina was able to join the mage corps at the first rank because she possessed both immense magical power and precise control.

The four elements are stable and have no weaknesses; only the four elements have the potential to reach the top and enter the seventh order.

"But there's no need to worry too much about these things. Generally speaking, the higher the rank of a mage, the stronger they are, but there are many exceptions. The captain is only at the fifth rank, and the only ones who can fight her are those few seventh-rank old immortals."

Agustina said something unrelated to the main topic to prevent Alice from feeling disappointed when she discovers that she is just an ordinary elemental being, which could affect the progress of the ritual.

However, in the next moment, all four elements moved.

Agustina's eyes widened. "No way?"

But then, the four elements began to retreat again.

Alice was momentarily panicked upon witnessing this unexpected scene.

“Don’t move, keep going,” Agustina shouted, having already understood what was going on.

Alice is already a full-fledged mage, but she doesn't know it herself. And she is not an elementalist, but a summoner.

When the overflowing magic returned to the magic pillar, Alice found herself holding a rifle, which completely stunned her.

“As you can see, you are the summoner,” Agustina said, waving her hand to stop the sacrificial circle from operating.

“But I…” Alice still looked incredulous.

“You mean none of your ancestors were summoning mages, right?” Agustina said. “That’s not that surprising. You’re just the first generation.”

"You don't look like a very good first-generation mage at all." Elena, who had just finished eating two oranges, added, "Congratulations, Alice. You can still maintain your original fighting style after becoming a full-rank mage, hahaha."

“You’re the first generation. You’ll have to figure out how to summon this creature on your own. No one can teach you anything.” With that, Agustina put the flask into her pouch, stretched, and said, “I have to go to work now. Goodbye.”

Alice and Elena left with Agustina.

Agustina went directly to the police station, while the two of them returned to Ronan's mansion.

On the way, Elena couldn't help but tease her again, "Actually, this suits you very well, you're a great shot."

"Quiet," Alice said in a low voice.

“I’m telling the truth, your marksmanship is indeed excellent.” Elena said as if she had been wronged. “Back in the basement on that island, you turned the tide with a single shot.”

"Will you die if you don't talk?" Alice glanced at Elena.

Elena didn't care at all. "Only the dead don't talk. I'm alive, of course I'll talk."

Alice stopped talking and silently quickened her pace.

Seeing that Alice was really getting anxious, Elena gave up on teasing her any further.

In the evening, Ronan returned home from get off work and heard about Alice's magic.

My first reaction was a bit of surprise, because summoned creatures created by summoning magic are generally alive and have a certain degree of autonomy.

The gun that Alice summoned seemed more like Ronan's materialization magic, which was quite strange.

After dinner, Ronan took Alice to do some testing to test the power of her "gun".

The physical attack was pretty good; it punched a hole the size of a bowl into a tree trunk that was half a meter in diameter.

Its magical power is even greater, capable of reducing the defensive energy of his Shield of Loyalty by half a unit.

With such power, even a first-tier mage with high magical defense and physical strength would be instantly torn apart and even have their bones fractured from a single shot.

With no recoil and good accuracy, Alice's marksmanship allows her to hit any target within 100 meters, surpassing all other firearms of this era.

It fires a single shot, but reloading a magic bullet only takes one second.

Unfortunately, Alice, like him, was also a man lacking magic, otherwise she could have unleashed considerable firepower with that rate of fire.

At this level, Alice is best taken care of by finding a good spot and taking some sniper shots.

Chapter 110 Surprise, Address, and an Unexpected Gift

In the blink of an eye, half a month of the new year has already passed.

Officials of all ranks in Xinhai City have realized that something is wrong. As mentioned in the previous meeting, investigations into officials at all levels must be conducted in accordance with procedures and regulations, so as not to affect normal work.

However, this was not the case at all. Under the command of Elliott, the head of the oversight department, a lightning raid was launched, and people were arrested one after another.

Apart from Alice's group, the others didn't follow any procedures or regulations. They brought a bunch of police officers from the security bureau and stormed into the house to start searching. If they couldn't find anything, they would lock the person in a room and have people come in and question them repeatedly. They wouldn't lay a hand on them, but they wouldn't let them sleep until they confessed.

During the lunch break, at the City Hall tea room.

"Your Excellency, these people are simply lawless."

"They're not kicking our butts, they're slapping you in the face."

"Ronan, we can't hesitate any longer."

"Don't forget, you were the one who led the purge of the remnants of the rebel party back then. They might turn on you."

"I suggest finding someone to report them and suspending them from their positions."

"Ronan, say something!"

"You can't just sit idly by and watch the situation unfold."

A group of bureaucrats, old and young, polite and impolite, surrounded him demanding an explanation.

Ronan cleared his throat, not in a hurry at all, and calmly replied, "As the secretary-general, I manage everything, but actually I can't manage anything. If you want to stop them, it's simple, go find Mayor Dinia. Anyway, she's the one who promoted them."

Upon hearing this, a group of people frowned. Who would dare to go to Dinia about this? Wouldn't that be an admission of guilt?

"This is not just our business."

"Ronan, I'm afraid some people will say things that are bad for you if you do this."

"Yes."

They got anxious and started threatening to drag Ronan down with them.

Ronan remained unmoved and unhurried. "If you drag me into this, then there won't be anyone left to rescue you, gentlemen."

"Actually, it's a good thing that many people have been forced to confess. You're all older than me. Do I have to tell you that the law doesn't punish everyone? Can our mayor replace all the civil servants, from top to bottom?"

"By the way, the more rampant the oversight department is now, the more grounds they'll have to overturn their conclusions later. Do I need to say that?"

“Look at this. The city hall has plenty of people and they’re not in a hurry at all. They have just as many problems as you do, but they’re very clear-headed and calm.”

"I'll leave it at that; figure it out for yourself."

After Ronan finished speaking, he held out a hand, indicating that they should leave.

After hearing Ronan's words, the group of people respectfully nodded their thanks and left Ronan's residence. Although they were still a little worried, they were much more at ease than before they came, since Ronan had already hinted that he would find a way to solve the problem.

Watching the group of people leave, Ronan shook his head. Anyone who called him by his name directly among those who came to demand an explanation was blacklisted without question.

Ronan didn't mind people calling him by his first name in private, but it was working hours now, and these old guys wouldn't even call him Secretary-General.

This has drastically lowered the average quality of officials in Xinhai City. As the head of Xinhai City's administrative affairs, he has an obligation to eliminate these low-quality old guys and make room for outstanding young talents.

What is excellence? Excellence is reliability, and reliability is excellence. That young man who kept addressing the Secretary-General was quite excellent, though only relatively so.

Truly outstanding people won't come to him with pointless chatter at this time.

The afternoon passed quickly, and Ronan went home as usual.

One person, Elliott Wright, is leaving get off work normally for the first time today. He is 36 years old, the president of the Northern Reading Club, and the current director of the Xinhai City Supervision Bureau.

For the past two weeks, he has been working overtime every day to carry out the arrest and interrogation work.

Elliott opened the door and went inside, immediately feeling calmer.

This house was given to his mother by his former owner, his biological father. His father was a truly kind nobleman. He was not only approachable but also often helped the poor. He was polite and humble to his servants and took great care of him, his illegitimate son, teaching him to read, write, play the piano, and paint.

Yet, even such a person died in that uprising ten years ago.

Upon entering, looking at the furnishings in the entryway and the paintings on the walls, Elliott smiled with a long-lost joy.

He bought all the artwork in his home; the prices weren't high, and he could easily afford them with his previous income as a school teacher.

But the quality is absolutely top-notch among the artworks that can be bought at this price. There is also a painting in the room, which is his pride. It only cost three and a half silver jiao at the time. Now the artist is a well-known painter in the entire south. Any painting he makes will cost forty or fifty silver jiao, which is nearly two hundred and a half silver jiao.

Upon entering the house, he took off his coat and put it away. He then sat at the head of the table, offered a prayer, and began to eat according to table manners.

After dinner, he asked his eight-year-old son to play the piano to check if his son's piano skills had improved recently.

Although the harpsichord was secondhand, after his repair, the tone was no longer a problem.

After listening to his son's performance, Elliot first offered some rather harsh criticism, then said a few words of encouragement. He then took out the gift he had bought for his son on the way, a delicate little knife, and promised that when he had time in a while, he would start teaching his son swordsmanship, and that when the magic academy was established in the future, he would find a way to send him to try his luck there.

The son was very happy, but his next sentence made Elliot's expression change: "Dad, I have a prettier knife."

As he spoke, his son Alan walked to the side, picked up a box, and opened it. Inside was a dagger inlaid with gemstones, clearly quite expensive.

"Where did you come from? Tell me!" Elliott demanded sternly.

“Why are you being so harsh with the child?” his wife said from the side. “It was a gift from your colleague, and there’s also a doll for Mary.” Mary is Elliott’s youngest daughter, who is only four years old.