Chapter 16. Culture of Power

This night had only just begun... It began with a fall.

When you're in the air, surrounded only by its currents, you feel incredibly free and open, I must say. The cold, piercing wind fiercely blows through your hair and face, and it seems louder than any sound. Falling at a tremendous speed, you suddenly feel as if time has slowed down. You see the ground approaching with every passing moment. Your arms are spread out and you try to prolong this moment, feeling the adrenaline and exhilarating tension. Immersed in this feeling of freedom and sweetness, a thought flashes through your subconscious that this could be the last moment of your life. But in these moments, everything around you seems unimportant; all that remains is the feeling of freedom and life that you experience at that moment.

It was a very refreshing experience... As it turned out, freefalling clears the mind quite well.

And then, throughout the night, Zelretch and I "Confucianized," so to speak. Nighttime walks through the magical world of a young man and a vampire... It really was "The Song of the Night Owls," no less. Although, in this version, there was a confrontation between conservatism and progressivism instead of the usual romantic tragedy. To be honest, I was not surprised at all by the extent of the old man's knowledge of the philosophy of life... What surprised me more was how much free time the Tower Master had.

And so, over conversations about the "difference between Marxism and Communism," "magical theories of the past," and "scientific influence on magic," we spent this night...

If you think about it, it's not much different from drunk Dad's conversations with his friend nicknamed Skull. I thought, looking out the window. The sun was rising. Rats were singing. Bullets were flying. It was a typical morning in always gloomy London.

"Uneducated youth!" Zelretch angrily spoke, slamming the table. "For you, Palahniuk is just "Fight Club"! It's people like you who consider it the pinnacle of his work, not even suspecting the existence of "Choke" or "Haunted"."

"Crazy old man!" I was incredibly annoyed. "How dare you bring something as pretentious as blindness towards a fellow member of the cultural-enlightenment movement 'Cacophony' into my opinion about Howard Lovecraft as the greatest summoner!?"

"Everything starts small. Understand, you!" The old man continued, staring me straight in the eyes. "First, you tell me about the unfounded theory of the youth that could disrupt the concept of all summoning magic. Then you equate Palahniuk to Fight Club, and in the end, it turns out that you don't respect magical girls!"

...

"Do you respect magical girls?"

Yes, our conversation was so filled with geek nonsense that the two of us became a whole culture continent in this ocean of barbarism. It went so far that even when I think about it, "high-culture" references and allegories constantly pop into my head. So I suggest we move on to a more constructive and enlightening dialogue.

"What about my request, Zelretch?" I asked the Tower Master, taking a sip of coffee.

"You will make me a list of books you want to devour. The Tower of Mages watches the library as strictly as the storage of magical artifacts, so you won't be able to act as carelessly as in the academy. But if the books are recorded in my name, no one will question their disappearance... After all, I can just create a copy of the book you'll devour," he continued, taking a sip of his green tea. "As for your connection to the Black Market, if I were you, I would limit my circle of acquaintances with these people as much as possible, or better yet, not associate with them at all. The darkness of this world is much deeper than people think, and the Black Merchant is just standing at its gates."

"I realize that this could end badly, but at this point in my life, it's the only option for a mage like me to quickly increase my power," I said, placing my right hand on my heart and feeling the three Circles rotate smoothly within it. "Besides, I'm almost a 4th Circle mage."

"And where is the youth always in a hurry these days?" Zelretch asked, pondering as he twirled a precious gemstone in his hand. "Alright then! Solving all your problems one by one would take too long, and I don't have much free time... So let's cut to the chase - you'll join the Grauzauberer!"

"Is that possible with my status?" I asked.

The thing is, a student of a magical academy cannot join an association until they complete their education. To join the Grauzauberer, one must be a 3rd Circle mage and receive an invitation letter from the association or a recommendation from an influential mage.

As for the academy... When you graduate, you are at least a 3rd Circle mage, and because magical academies are sponsored by the Mage Association, all graduates receive an invitation letter. As for a recommendation letter, I cannot officially write one for you, as it would go against the rules.

"I'll just submit an application for your early graduation," Zelretch smirked, looking at me. "For a 'veteran' like you, passing all the exams should be easy, right?"

"If that's possible, then I'm all for it," I nodded, ignoring the old man's teasing.

"That's great! In that case, you won't have any problem with "fuel" for the development of your circles. The market for magical artifacts in the association is incredibly developed, so you will easily satisfy both your appetite and your grimoire."

"You're forgetting something, Zelretch," I continued, looking at the pile of precious stones on the table. "Grau Zauberer uses a rather... special currency. My already meager savings will be useless, so in the end, I'll still have to go to the Black Trader."

The key feature of the economy of the society of magicians is the use of gold coins, which serve as a means of exchange for goods and services. Essentially, this is the most familiar function of money, but if it were that simple, why would I be talking about it? Of course not.

The main global goal of such a currency is the need to abstract the economy of the inner world of magicians from the outer world of humans, to exclude digitization and non-cash settlements. However, in addition to being a means of exchange, the feature of coins is also a certificate of a physical person's affiliation to Grauzauberer, giving them access to the elite sphere of magicians' services.

But despite the superficial clarity of the economic essence of the coin circulation, at least one aspect of the gold coin in the world of magicians is very special. Namely - its symbolism. The coin represents a social agreement that you agree to sign. That is, it embodies commercial relations, a social contract.

With all these intricacies, the world of magicians in DxD doesn't seem like such a casual fantasy.

Of course, in addition to the philosophical subtext, these gold coins also have a monetary value, as they are made from one of the most liquid metals in the world, which has a specific value. Specifically, an ounce of gold, which is comparable in weight to a coin, is worth almost two thousand dollars on the international market. And that's the cost of one metal, not counting the cost of production and logistics of the coins around the globe.

So it turns out that everything in Grauzauberer is unbelievably expensive - at least one gold coin to enter the magical library, one gold coin to drink at the bar, and a minimum of one gold coin to cover your tracks. Of course, this doesn't mean that everything in the world of wizards costs a gold coin. Ultimately, the cost depends on the value of the service you're buying.

"Well, who said that life was easy?" Zelretch replied with a smile. "At the moment, you're no different from an ordinary mage of the 3rd Circle of the association. Although, there's one thing that sets you apart - your student status. But that's more of a burden for you, so I'll help you out a bit. But in the end, you'll still be on the same starting line as everyone else... except for your grimoire."

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I left the tower master's office the same way I entered - with someone else. But this time, I was accompanied by the beautiful and proud Tohsaka Rin.

"Since I'm not a member of Grauzauberer, I don't have the right to use the Carillon, so I need someone to guide me," she said.

"What's your speciality?" Rin broke the silence.

"Hey!" I protested playfully. "Do you want to reveal the secret of my identity?"

"You don't have one, Ryan Romano," the girl replied, raising an eyebrow. "And, according to your dossier, you've never tried to hide it."

"I have a dossier already?" I asked, brimming with happiness. "I'm famous! How do they describe me?"

"Proud, freedom-loving, cynical, and stubborn," Rin said. "Half-right! What do you say?"

"You already know," I smirked. "Let's just say I got lucky and became a mage of the third Circle in two months."

"Your method isn't that impressive," Rin said, pausing for a moment. "Even I became a mage of the third Circle in a year."

"Is this some kind of competition?" I glanced at the girl.

"Of course not," Rin said firmly. "After all, it's not interesting to compete with an untalented but lucky mage."

"Are you afraid that your talent will lose to my luck?" I smirked in response.

"Of course not. Any competition should be interesting and beneficial. And you're not only weak," Rin looked me up and down. "But also poor."

"How many Circles do you have?"

"Fifth," she smirked and added, "Do you want to fight me? Oh my god, what a barbarian. Solves all his problems with force... And he even taunts a girl."

"No, I'm not interested in fighting a mage specializing in gem magic," I said, meeting the girl's gaze.

"Do you even realize that you're insulting the Tower Master?" Rin hissed, smiling slyly.

"It's strange," I continued, scanning the girl with my eyes. "Why is he such a pleasant and wise old man, while you're irritating and cunning?"

"If you're trying to compliment me, you're not doing a good job," she smiled at me and added, "But thanks anyway."

I just grinned knowingly at her response, as nostalgia washed over me. I remembered the times when I would start or join arguments on the internet. Oh, it's a real art to piss off the enemy without getting burned on your own burning ass with the jet thrust to the moon.

Noticing my strange reaction, Rin fell silent for a couple of seconds, clearly not expecting me to act this way. Well, if it was me right after the battle with Emmanuel, I definitely wouldn't have kept quiet, but as I already said: free fall clears the mind well. And old man Zelretch helped me a lot to come down from the sky to the ground.

The Tower Master has a theory that the reason I have poor control over my emotions in Gluttony is due to reading the original book... As soon as I get back to the academy, I'll have to ask her about it in person. Oh yeah, and give her this thing. I thought, feeling the outline of the Blue Flame of the Giant's Blaze in my pocket.

"So, what's the essence of your gem magic?" I turned to Rin.

"Um," hesitating for a second, the girl gathered her thoughts and spoke. "It's a very special magic... well, very expensive, and then it becomes special..."

And so our conversation continued until Rin brought me to the meeting place with Mephisto, from where we would teleport back to the academy, and then she left with a haughty smirk.

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A bit of post-chapter coddling:

Other chapters are available here: https://www.patreon.com/watson_

However, if you guys collect 100 power stones, I will immediately release the next chapter.