Published at 13th of August 2026 6:57 am

Chapter 1924: Individual Needs

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Genevieve and Michael’s equipment had been returned to them briefly to honor the Mana Oath.

And then, it had been taken away.

They found safety within the walls of the City Hall, but it came at a great cost. Moreover, handing over possession of their artifacts was the least of their problems.

"What did you just say?" Genevieve asked with wide eyes.

After officially handing over possession of their artifacts and other equipment, she and Michael had met up with one of the clerks stationed on the first floor.

They needed to understand the rules and regulations of the City Hall, and also needed to be assigned duties.

But one of the rules the clerk had just laid out to them made them doubt their ears.

Michael stepped forward, shaking his head in disbelief. "Did you just say... we are prohibited from making advancements in our ranks?"

The person behind the desk nodded placidly. She had done this several times in the past. She had seen Magi and Paladin stunned to their cores, thinking they’d heard her wrong.

But no, they hadn’t. And so, she enunciated:

"You are prohibited from advancing."

A brief pause. Then she added in a professional tone:

"Of course, an Apprentice or a Squire still has the freedom to advance to a Magus or a Paladin. The City Hall welcomes such advancements, in fact. However, you must not advance to the Mana Seed or the Templar ranks."

"What!" Michael blurted out. "Why?!"

The clerk shrugged. "These are the rules."

Michael was about to press vehemently for further explanation, but the clerk raised her hand and gestured to calm down.

She then added, "Of course, if you still wish to advance, that would require approval of the council."

Michael gritted his teeth, fuming beyond control. "Are you crazy!"

He went on arguing with the clerk, not realizing that there was hardly anything she could do. She was just a mouthpiece, someone so far down the chain of command that her only job was to relay the decisions handed down from those above her.

Genevieve understood this point very clearly, though. With a dark frown on her face, she thought of the crux of the matter.

Power and authority go hand in hand, she thought grimly.

The council has long since understood that.

As the only Mana Seed Magi and Templar Paladins, they occupy the very top of the City Hall’s hierarchy.

Their strength gives weight to every order they issue and discourages anyone from openly defying them.

Allowing newcomers or ambitious adventurers to reach the same rank as them would inevitably weaken their authority.

Advance with the approval of a council? What a farce!

As she observed Michael arguing with the clerk, more and more people gathered around them. Suddenly, she couldn’t help but wonder if staying in the City Hall was indeed the correct choice.

What she suspected was, in fact, true.

To preserve the chain of command, the higher-ups quietly ensured that no newcomer was ever allowed to stand on equal footing with them. It also eliminated the possibility of ambitious adventurers rising high enough to stage a coup and threaten the council’s authority.

The more Genevieve learned about the City Hall, the more conflicted she became. It had saved countless lives and offered shelter from the horrors outside, yet every rule seemed designed to strip away another piece of one’s freedom.

She couldn’t help but wonder...

Is this truly a safe haven? Or merely a prison with thicker walls?

Noticing that Michael’s quarrel with the clerk wouldn’t get them anywhere, she grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

She cast a forced, polite smile at the woman behind the desk and said, "This is too much to take in for us. I hope you can understand. We will be right back."

"Whatever." The clerk waved her hand in dismissal.

This wasn’t the first time she had faced something like this.

It came as a shock to every newcomer who heard this rule for the first time. Outrage, disbelief, and arguments were always the first reactions. But sooner or later, they accepted it.

After all, the alternative lay beyond the walls.

Out there were endless monsters, starvation, and death. In comparison, life inside the City Hall offered warm meals, a roof overhead, and the promise of seeing another sunrise.

For most, that was enough.

They would rather surrender a measure of their freedom than gamble their lives outside the safety of the walls.

"This is utterly ridiculous!" Michael cursed as he paced back and forth.

The two had arrived at a relatively secluded spot in one of the long, winding corridors on the first floor.

Genevieve leaned against the wall, silent and deep in thought.

"Can’t advance to the next rank?" Michael hissed. "Who do they think they are?!"

He paced some more. Then he glanced at Genevieve and blurted out, "Well?? Say something!"

Genevieve remained silent for a few more moments. Then she looked at Michael and said with a helpless sigh, "There is nothing to say. We either follow their rules or leave this place."

Michael hesitated. His lips opened and closed several times. At last, he mustered the courage and spoke in a hushed tone:

"Let’s go then. We’ll find Adam. Then we’ll figure something out."

"I don’t think it’s going to be that easy," Genevieve said, a troubled look in her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Michael frowned.

"I believe... they won’t give our artifacts back if we choose to leave," she replied.

Michael’s eyes slowly widened. "Why wouldn’t they? They said the artifact would remain ours!"

"They did." Genevieve nodded. "But think about it. They told us newcomers aren’t allowed to advance to Rank 2. Why? Because the council doesn’t want anyone becoming powerful enough to threaten their authority."

She looked around the corridor, ensuring no one was there. She then continued in a lower voice.

"I don’t think they’ve been trying to escape this secret plane for a very long time. They’ve accepted that City Hall is all that’s left. Their only goal now is survival."

Michael’s eyes trembled. He still refused to believe her words.

Genevieve continued, "Darenoa said it herself - the safety of the collective comes before individual needs. If our artifacts can make the City Hall stronger, do you really think they’ll give them back?"

Michael opened his mouth to protest, but no words came.

"And if they refuse," Genevieve continued, "what are we going to do? Argue? Fight back?"

She let out a bitter laugh.

"With what, Michael? They’ve already taken away the very things we’d need to resist."

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