Throne of Magical Arcana - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: A rough start

Lucien was surprised with the funny scene in front of the pub, he walked in with confusion. Morning should be the most cheerless period for a pub.

At the door, a slim girl peeked into the pub, light blonde hair sways when she moved her head when she sighed and turned back, the girl was startled, “Lucien?”

Oh, another one who I don’t know but knows me? Lucien already got used to such circumstance, he smiled, “You are at the pub that early?”

The girl’s wheat-colored skin flushed: “I just heard that a new bard comes to Copper Coronet…I’m just curious and wanna take a look before working. Um. I don’t have much time, See you…”

Watching the girl hurriedly leaving, Lucien. Sounds like that bard have either extraordinary look or throat.

However, that was not related to Lucien, he gently pushed the pub’s door that stood ajar and walked in.

Dusky environment, strong booze, slatted wooden floor, disorderly placed chairs, and desks——That’s Lucien’s first impression on Copper Coronet. Walking in from a clean and bright morning, was like entering another world.

It takes Lucien a while to figure out where the bar was .

Several guys who just went through a hangover was awakened by Lucien’s footsteps. They cursed for a while in a daze, and soon went back to sleep like logs again.

There was only one man who sits in silent at the bar, drinking an amber wine. He had an eagle nose, about the age of thirty, and wore a long tight-fitting coat. Lucien felt a kind of murkiness from that man.

The man took a glance at Lucien and continued to taste his wine.

Lucien looked around and soon saw the sound sleeping dwarf behind the bar, he sat on a tall stool, leaning his head on the counter, and snored loudly. A large portion of his blonde bread got wet by his saliva.

Lucien felt like the dwarf won’t wake without outer forces, therefore he folded his finger, and knocked the bar counter.

In the dazing curses of several drunkards behind him, the old dwarf slowly raised his head, and blinked sleepily, “Hey, Lucien, you’re finally a grown-up, and you finally knows the importance of hard liquors to your life. Come on, let’s have a toast, for our new guest Lucien!”

“Uncle Cohen, it’s morning now.” Lucien was considering how to call him.

Cohen rubbed his eyes and looked at the dullish lighting, “I’m not drunk yet, don’t play the fool with me, that’s apparently midnight, such a good night.”

After some useless chats, Cohen finally became sober: “Lucien, there’s not much work for you, and no long-term jobs either. For other stuff, one of them is at nine a.m, Gucci’s shop in the market area needs someone to move some cargos from the warehouse to city gate, three Copper Fiers; but you know, such words are controlled by Aaron’s Gang, and you need to give on Copper Fier to them, you can only buy the worst black breadstick with the rest.”

“Also, the Musician’s Association is doing a sweep up today, they need people to move the garbages to the bank of River Beleń. You can rent a four-wheel carriage, and go there at one p.m., the gross profit is pretty good—-eight Copper Fier. Of course, three for Aaron’s Gang.”

“There is some more similar stuff after one p.m. but unless you are a knight, it’s impossible for you to get back to town.

Lucien nodded his head, the work for musician’s association was probably the best, he also confirmed that the seven coins I have should also be Copper Fier.

“Uncle Cohen, is there any other better-paid jobs?” Lucien asked curiously.

Cohen starts laughing, “Hahaha, of course, there is, but not for you, those jobs require a real man to wrestle with their life and strength. Lucien, you are still a kid who can’t even drink Ale.”

He pointed at space in the middles of the pub, giving a sense of seriousness, “Mount Obscurité is the largest storehouse, every year there is three, five, six, seven……anyways I can’t count, but innumerable mercenaries and adventurers entering the mountain chain, but only a tiny amount of them can finally come back,” Cohen belched, “Well certainly, they all made a lot of money.”

“Don’t look down upon those mercenaries and adventurers, many of them are real knights, even grand knights.” Lucien heard a soft and vibrant voice from behind, the rhyme foot of his sentences rising strangely every time, presenting a special aesthetic feeling, giving people a sense of allure and elegance.

Lucien turned his head and saw a man in silver hair walking out of tavern part of the pub. He wore drainpipe trousers, red lined-shirt, and black high-collar coat. Such way of dressing should be pretty formal, but with that man, it felt much more informal and lazy. He had fine facial features, silver pupils, straight nose, thin lips, and silver, soft hair. Lucien had a feeling of looking at the silver moon at night when looking at that man.

The young man held a harp similar to Joel’s, and slowly walks by.

So he was the new coming bard. Lucien guesses, and asked, “Knights are real nobles, why would they risk their lives at Mount Obscurité?”

Cohen also greeted the man, “Hey, Rhine, you wanna have a drink?”

“I only drink after evening,” Rhine sat down next to the bar smiling, “For many empires at the east, there hasn’t been any war in the past two or three hundred years, there’s not much need for knights since conferring the nobility to knights requires manors and lands. In those countries, common people, even if they activated their bloodline power, are only conferred knighthood but not real nobility. Many become knights of other countries, and some come to the Grand Duchy of Varolit——which is the closest place to heresies, dark creatures and sorcerous beasts——to gain fame and wealth.”

“Besides that, there’re also many impoverished knights who experienced bankruptcy; convicted knights who escaped; adventuring noble knights who obey their family mottos; and those Dark knights who activate a dark-side bloodline power, and thus being denied by the church.”

Cohen looked dissatisfied by Rhine’s refusal, he mumbled,”Lucien, this is the new bard Rhine——Rhine Dias Carlen, he lives a vagrancy life, knows a lot about the continent, and just escaped from those ebullient Tyrolean ladies, and arrives from the Empire of Syracuse.”

“Empire of Syracuse?” Lucien smiled back to Rhine. Mount Obscurité is so dangerous, that even most formal knights died in it, therefore Lucien temporarily canceled his plan to adventure for wealth. No matter when a clear understand of one’s personal strength was important.

Cohen started laughing and shaking his long, blonde beard. A smile full of shadiness, which every man understood, appeared on his wrinkled dwarven face, “Yep, it’s the romantic, untrammeled, lyrical, love-above-all Syracuse Empire.”

A drunkard already awakened when Rhine appeared, he stumbled to the bard, burping, and enviously asked, “Rhine, those madams, and ladies in Tirolo, are they so lovely, mmm? and so ebullient like tales said?  “

Rhine smiled and responded in this typical elegant and rhythmical tone: “Oh, of course, those ladies. Their bright eyes are like dawn stars and long hairs like the smoothest silk; their fleshy lips are like beautiful rose blossoms and white, tender skins like the sweetest milk; they also besprinkled their body with glamorous perfumes. Several Countesses and Viscount’s daughters even breathe out warm, wet aromas next to my ear, inviting me to their secret manors……”

The drunkard was short of breath, he yearned and asked, “So you went? How does it feel?”

Lucien was not unfamiliar to such scene when a bunch of guys gathers together, it was almost certain that they were going to talk about girls. He listened with great interest and thinking about how to ask Cohen about learning read and write.

Rhine responded with a slight smile, “I told them, that I don’t want dirty objects that have been used by others; I only love the beautiful, pure, clean lives, no matter males for females. They are the most ‘delicious’ things on earth.”

“Puff! Rhine, you are really good at boasting, how would those ladies take such humiliation?”

“Haha, if you really talked to them like that, I’m afraid that you will be in that famous Tyrolean prison now.”

“Nah Nah Nah……You know, many of those court ladies are actual knights. Rhine will be torn into pieces if he dares to say that.”

Seems that Rhine doesn’t feel offended, he shrugged his shoulder, “And that’s why I’m in Alto instead of Syracuse.”

Cohen went into convulsions, and hammered the bar table, waking all the drunkards. Among everyone’s curses, he yelled: “Everyone thanks to Rhine’s good story, letting  us welcome a brand new day! Let’s have a toast for him!”

The drunkards were super sensitive to the word “toast”, they quickly staggered toward the bar, took Cohen’s beers, and rose them up.

“A toast for Mr. boaster Rhine!”

After several minutes of bustling, Cohen surprisingly discovered that Lucien is still there, he asks, “Is there anything else you need from me, Lucien?”

Lucien organized his words, and asks carefully, “Cohen, I begin to have a new thought since several days ago, I want to learn reading and writing.”

“Yo, learning letters? Are our little Evans also influenced by Rhine and starts boasting?”

“Read and Write! Oh, that’s a magnificent, ambitious dream!”

“Don’t even give a shit about what they said Lucien. A man without a dream is worse than a dead one!”

Cohen also laughed for a while, and stared at Lucien,“Are you sure you really want to learn that? You don’t haven’t learned any basics yet right? I heard that to learn the most fundamental reading and writing takes at least two years, do you have that much time and money?”

“I don’t know how many failures I will encounter, but if I don’t take that first step, there won’t be any signs of progress at all. Uncle Cohen, I’m real.” Lucien said earnestly. For an adult who had studied for multiple years, knew how to study, and more importantly, can speak the language of that world fluently, it may only take one or two months to master the language.

Sensing the seriousness from Lucien, Cohen replied firmly, “If you are young enough, there’s a chance for you to pass the church’s test, and learn the language in the Abbey. Well, for now, you can either sign a ten-years contract of apprenticeship or spend your own money to learn at a scholar’s house. Of course, I can’t guarantee that you can learn reading and writing as an apprentice——for example most blacksmiths in their guild can’t read or write; for spending your own money, the standard in Alto is five Silver Niars per month, there’s a dozen of scholars willing to teach with what price.”

Lucien almost immediately eliminated the choice for apprenticeship. It was not the problem about a ten-years contract, he wouldn’t be caring about the contract if he becomes a mage, but living and studying with a master would expose his secret. He mumbled, “Five Silver Niars?”

Cohen nodded, “Yup, five SILVER NIARs, even if you work from dawn to dusk every day and eat only the worst black bread, it takes half a year to save enough of them. How much can you learn in one month, though? Are you still trying to learn reading and writing?”

“Yes,” Lucien gave a dead-set answer. in this case, one Silver Niar equals to a hundred Copper Fiers.

Such a rough start huh?