Then Hill quickly picked out a few people whose situation seemed slightly better.
But so-called "better" only meant their clothes still fit them; they were still terrifyingly thin… the kind of skin-and-bones figure those crazy dieting girls in his previous era dreamed of.
The younger children, on the other hand, still looked okay.
Above eight years old, it seemed only a small fraction still looked healthy, and their clothing and grooming started to stand out from the others.
The reason Hill could be sure about the age of eight was naturally because by that age, children whose Mage Aptitude still hadn't manifested could basically bid farewell to the path of the Mage.
Of course, there were occasional late awakenings, but ordinary people wouldn't think that far.
Among the adults, only those wearing Mage Robes—even if it was just a scratchy apprentice robe like burlap—looked halfway presentable.
