Imprisoned for a Trillion Years, I Was Worshipped by All Gods!

Chapter 16: Chapter16-The Art of Spending Money

Time flew by.

Daniel had fully adapted to life in this world.

Rose didn't disappoint him—she successfully advanced to a tier-iron knight on the eighth day.

Now, she had joined the rest of the academy's students on their mission to support the border towns.

With everyone gone, the academy had grown very quiet.

The three teachers Daniel had hired were too concerned about their students to stay behind, so they accompanied them.

However, under Daniel's orders, they strictly adhered to the rule of only intervening if the students' lives were in serious danger.

While everyone was away, Dean Rowan and Logistics Director Lady Isolde began upgrading the academy's facilities.

Desks, chairs, teaching tools, blackboards, and various large magical items were being replaced one by one.

Every day, Daniel could see Crossbridge Academy transforming.

The previous aura of decay had long since vanished, and now the academy was clean, cozy, and gradually taking on the shape of a future super-academy.

Daniel had also fully grasped the knowledge and common sense of this world.

"This continent is entirely different from the Earth I knew in my previous life," Daniel mused. "I'm even beginning to wonder if this place is spherical at all."

The reason was simple: the landmass was simply too vast.

Once, a tier-grandmaster mage attempted to create a complete map of the entire continent.

He used his flight magic to trace the continent's edges, recording his journey.

After ten years, he was shocked to find that there was still no end in sight. Undeterred, he continued exploring for another thirty years.

The results were just as astonishing.

In the end, he left behind a famous quote: "This is a world without borders. No matter how powerful a mortal's body, even a tier-sage cannot glimpse the full expanse of the continent."

Since then, everyone had accepted that the world had no borders.

Even the most seasoned travelers only ventured within a handful of kingdoms, and no one dared to claim they had seen the entire world.

However, being a magical world, people still managed to create a rough map of the world, even though they couldn't explore the boundaries.

The continent was roughly divided into five regions: the Holy Empire, the Eternal Tribe, the Free Federation, the Lost Lands, and a vast expanse of islands collectively known as the Emerald Isles.

Scattered throughout were countless smaller factions.

Riverside City, where Daniel was currently located, was part of the Free Federation, a loose confederation of many cities that barely qualified as a nation.

Riverside City was a subsidiary of Lakecity, and if ever in danger, Lakecity would provide protection.

In exchange, however, Riverside City had to pay a hefty annual fee to Lakecity.

"The relationships between cities are quite interesting," Daniel thought. "It's not a bad system. Large cities can fall into decline, and small cities can rise. Whoever becomes the strongest with the greatest military power will have the final say."

"If Riverside City were to become the most powerful in the future, Lakecity would become its subordinate."

As for strength, the continent's tier and class system was clearly defined.

There were two types of classes: ordinary and extraordinary.

Every class had both types of practitioners.

For example, there were regular maids and magical maids, regular chefs and magical chefs.

The latter produced more exceptional results and earned much higher rewards.

Professions like mages, priests, knights, and assassins typically focused on adventuring, mercenary work, or combat to earn a living.

Tiers were divided into pre-stone, iron, bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, master, grandmaster, and sage.

Few ever reached beyond the sage tier—that was the domain of legendary gods.

Daniel kept his power at the sage peak, meaning he was essentially invincible on the continent.

"But it's not just a legend," Daniel knew full well. "There's something beyond the sage tier. If I wanted, I could break through at any moment. Last time, when I sensed that power beyond the stone forest, it was beyond the sage tier."

"It seems this continent isn't as simple as it appears."

"There are still many hidden mysteries."

Daniel set down the book in his hand. He had already finished reading through the academy's entire library.

Unfortunately, the level of knowledge here wasn't sufficient to grant him access to the Void Library. He wasn't in a rush, though.

Crossbridge Academy had only just gotten back on track.

With Daniel at the helm, it was only a matter of time before the academy grew into a force to be reckoned with.

"Daniel, the meeting is about to start," Rowan knocked on the door to remind him.

"I'll be right there," Daniel nodded.

Each month, the academy's management gathered for a meeting.

Unlike the gloomy atmosphere of their first meeting, today every teacher appeared relaxed, smiles on their faces.

"Daniel, the students are doing great," Rowan reported. "Mr. Synapsis, Ironhand Lindsey, and Lady Emily have been sending updates every three days. The students of Crossbridge have already helped the border towns deal with twenty-six spell beasts."

"The border patrol is full of praise for them, and the local townspeople have warmly welcomed our students. Quite a few parents are now considering sending their children to the academy."

"Our financial situation is also excellent. While the spell beast attacks caused minor losses to the border merchants, the rewards earned by our students for defeating the spell beasts have completely covered those losses."

Daniel smiled and said, "I sent them out for training, but I didn't expect them to start earning their own money already."

The support mission had been a tremendous success.

Not only did it provide valuable experience for the students and win them a good reputation, but it also sent a clear message to those in Riverside City who were still plotting against Daniel: Crossbridge Academy was no longer what it once was.

At least, no one had made another attempt to assassinate Daniel.

Daniel himself felt a little disappointed by that.

"Headmaster, this is the academy's expenditure report for the month," said Lady Isolde, the Logistics Director, as she handed over the academy's specialized magical ledger.

Her tone was filled with pride as she said, "We've saved eight hundred million mana stones compared to last month."

"Saved?" Daniel asked. "Why are we saving money?"

"I cut some unnecessary expenses," Lady Isolde explained. "For example, I replaced the magical street lamps with cheaper ones. They go out after ten o'clock at night, and while the light is a bit dimmer, each lamp saves us a thousand mana stones compared to the automatic, light-adjusting ones."

"And the dining utensils—we switched to regular ones. Replacing everything with magical items would have cost us an additional three million mana stones."

Isolde continued to list her cost-saving measures, clearly proud of how much she had saved the academy.

"Stop." Daniel knocked on the table. "Isolde, I don't doubt your abilities, but you need to work on something."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Your ability to spend money!" Daniel said. "I understand that you want to save, but it's unnecessary! Our academy is going to become a top-tier institution, so we need to use the best of everything, as long as we aren't wasting resources."

"Cheap magical street lamps will cause students to trip and won't keep the blood-sucking mosquitoes away."

"Ordinary utensils require extra cleaning time and provide no benefits to magical food."

"Bedding and pajamas made from high-grade mana-patterned fabric keep students warm in winter and cool in summer. They also provide a calming effect and can alert them to nightmares. Ordinary fabric can't do any of that."

"Lady Isolde, from now on, I want you to shift your mindset! Prioritize the students. As long as the academy is strong, we won't need to worry about mana stones."

Daniel's words left Isolde feeling ashamed.

She hadn't realized that her well-intentioned savings weren't actually benefiting the students.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Isolde said, her face flushing red. "I wasn't thinking clearly. I'll be more careful in the future."

"Then start by spending the entire budget I give you each month," Daniel said firmly. "Fifty billion mana stones per month, and I want it all spent! Show me the detailed accounts next month."

"How am I supposed to spend that much money?" Isolde felt overwhelmed by the pressure.

Aldric and Rowan exchanged a glance, both of them smiling in relief.

Other schools were worried about having too little funding. Their school was stressed because they had too much.

If word got out, the rest of the academies in the Free Federation would be green with envy.

"With Daniel here, Crossbridge Academy is destined to become the greatest academy!" Aldric thought silently.

His heart was full of hope, and he believed he could continue working for Daniel for at least another fifty years!