Book 8: Chapter 3: Doing part time labour

This pocket should have had his final two gold coins and ten silver coins, but it was completely empty at this time without a single thing in it.

Lucian dug around in his pockets a few more times and even pulled it out to look carefully, but he couldn’t even see a trace of a silver coin, causing him to start panicking.

This was the final bit of money he had left. If he didn’t have it, he wouldn’t be able to stay in Dollar City to find a suitable job, he wouldn’t even have the money to go back home.

The most important thing was that he wouldn’t be able to pay the ten gold coins that he owed for his meal!

The boss of the noodle restaurant naturally had experience. When he saw Lucian’s appearance, how could he not know what was happening? The smile on his face instantly turned cold.

“This customer, please pay for your meal.”

Lucian pinched his pocket as a cold sweat appeared on his forehead while his mind kept turning.

What to do?

What to do!

Seeing that Lucian didn’t say a thing, the expression of the boss turned colder and he raised his voice a bit.

“This customer, you wouldn’t be planning on dining and dashing, right?”

The other customers in the restaurant heard the commotion and all turned to look over.

Seeing the look of panic on Lucian’s face and seeing his worn out clothes, everyone started to laugh.

“Ha, ha, this little beggar came here to eat, boss, it’s your bad luck.”

“Boss, you should know that he didn’t have any money just by looking at him, I think that your bowl of noodle should be given for free!”

“Hei, this kid looks quite honest, but how can he not feel embarrassed to do such a disgraceful thing? It can’t be that he was forced into it by hunger, right?”

……

Hearing the whispers from the crowd, Lucian’s face turned red, but he couldn’t say anything to refute them.

The fact was that he didn’t have money to pay the bill, so he could only endure the cold look of the boss and the taunting of the people around him,

He knitted his brows to think before bravely saying, “Boss, I……”

As soon as he spoke, the uncle sitting across from him suddenly slapped the table.

“Here’s a gold coin, settle the bill of the young man in front of me with my bill.”

Lucian was stunned. The boss looked at the uncle before his hand came out to take the gold coin and then he left.

The others saw that there wasn’t a show to watch anymore, so after giving a few laughs, they turned their attention away.

“Thank…..Thank you……” Lucian had an awkward look, but he also quickly expressed his gratitude to the uncle.

The uncle waved his hand before his eyes swept over him, “Based on how you look, you shouldn’t be someone who tries to dine and dash. What’s wrong? Did you encounter some problems?”

Lucian calmed down and carefully thought about it, quickly thinking it through.

It had to be the fierce looking short person that bumped into him on the road!

He must have seized that chance to steal his money!

Lucian’s heart was filled with regret. His parents had warned him several times before he left that he had to watch out for thieves, but he never thought that he would still fall for it.

If it wasn’t for this kind uncle helping him solve his problems, he could only work off his bills with the boss.

“I…..might have met a thief……” Lucian explained with a bitter smile.

“Un……There are many people in Dollar City, so there are also many thieves. I was hit when I first came here, so it isn’t strange.” The uncle nodded with a smile. Then sweeping his eyes over Lucian again, he asked, “You should be a magician, right?”

Lucian was surprised, “How could you tell?”

“I can feel the magic fluctuations coming from you.” Seeing the surprised look Lucian had, the uncle pointed at himself, “Don’t be surprised, I’m also a magician, but my grade isn’t high. I’m only a Third Grade Magician even now.”

Lucian only said “oh” while finding this a bit strange.

He didn’t find it strange that this unknown uncle knew that he was a magician, but rather the uncle called himself a “Third Grade Magician”.

Since the «Magicians Peace Convention» was announced ten years ago, the magicians of the continent no longer measured themselves with individual strength. Rather, they now evaluated themselves with their abilities in the magic machine industry and their knowledge.

The evaluation of a “Third Grade Magician” was already thrown away by the Magicians Guild that had created it. There was no magician that evaluated themselves with this standard anymore.

Moreover, with the guidance of the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, working hard to develop a new magic system on the continent, the traditional evaluation method had already fallen behind. It wasn’t accurate to describe a magician’s abilities with it anymore.

For example, with Lucian’s current level, because he rarely studied spells that focused on destructive might, if Lucian were to take the traditional assessment, he would only be categorized as a Second Grade or Third Grade Magician.

But with the new magic theory system taught at Philip Academy, his understanding and grasp of magic far surpassed those traditional magicians.

If he was willing, his battle power wouldn’t be worse than a Fifth Grade or Sixth Grade Magician.

But things like battle power were very boring for the current magicians of the continent, so there were few magicians that would focus on studying it.

After all, with the limitations of the «Magicians Peace Convention», magicians couldn’t go to war, so they couldn’t manifest their destructive might.

Moreover, even if they participated in wars, in front of the powerful military magic machines, the individual might of magicians wasn’t enough and wouldn’t play much of a role.

As for the traditional role of joining companies as guards, they were already replaced with guards that were equipped with light military magic machines, so there was no need for magicians.

Not to mention that compared to joining a company as a guard, it was better to join as a researcher or be engaged in other magic research work. You would make much more money than being a guard and it would be much easier, as well as being less dangerous.

In short, describing oneself as a “Third Grade Magician” like this uncle did was rarely seen.

At least this was the first time that Lucian had encountered it.

“What? You’re not familiar with the concept of Third Grade Magician?” The uncle seemed like he could see through Lucian’s thoughts and revealed a smile, “A young magician like you, you definitely aren’t familiar with it.”

Lucian revealed an awkward smile and didn’t know how to respond.

It was a good thing that the boss came over and handed the change to the uncle, alleviating the awkward atmosphere.

The uncle took the money before standing up and waving his hand at Lucian.

“Let’s go.”

Lucian was surprised as he looked at the uncle with a confused gaze.

The uncle said with a smile, “Didn’t your money get stolen by a thief? It seems like you aren’t a native, so how are you planning on living here?”

Lucian gritted his teeth, “I can look for some part time work and earn some travel expenses to go back.”

“That’s why I said it was just right. I needed some part time labourers with magical knowledge. Three days, it’s one gold coin a day. If you’re willing, you can come with me.”

Lucian hesitated a bit before standing up while gritting his teeth.

The uncle smiled at Lucian and said with a sincere look, “Young man, it isn’t anything to encounter problems, there’s always a way to solve it.”

Lucian gave an “un” sound. After following him for a bit, he couldn’t help asking in a curious voice, “Uncle, can I ask what the work is? Right, I still haven’t asked your name yet.”

“Just call me Rondo. As for the job…..I opened a small workshop and we received a new order to make the Magic Rotor for a batch of Magic Fans, so I needed to recruit some people to make the Magic Arrays. You can draw some simple Wind Magic Arrays, right?” The uncle suddenly asked.

“Ah? Ah. No problem……This Magic Array is rather simple……”

“Then that’s fine.” Uncle Rondo nodded, “The other side urgently needs it and I was thinking about recruiting some interim workers in the city, but I met you while I was having a meal. You don’t need to thank me, if you can finish this large batch of goods without any delay, I should be the one thanking you.”

Lucian quickly waved his hand, “No, no, no, not only did you pay for my meal, you also gave me a job. No matter how you look at it, I should be thanking you.”

Uncle Rondo revealed a faint smile and didn’t bother arguing about this with Lucian. He brought him out of the noodle restaurant and turned a corner to head to a bus stop before getting on a public transportation Magic Car.

The bus drove out of Dollar City and when it was several kilometers out of the city, it stopped by a small stop by the road.

Uncle Rondo got off the bus with Lucian and after walking along the road for a bit, they arrived in front of a small manor.

“We’re here.”

Lucian looked at the somewhat old manor and felt it was a bit strange.

Why did uncle Rondo open up his small workshop here?

This place was so far away from Dollar City and wasn’t even in the industrial district outside Dollar City. It wasn’t convenient to transport the components or the finished products, so it’s clearly not a good place.

“This is a manor that my ancestors left me. If I were to find such a large place in the city or the industrial district, it would cost much more money.” Seeing the doubt in Lucian’s eyes, uncle Rondo gave an explanation.

“Oh……”

Lucian indicated he understood before following uncle Rondo through the gates of the manor.

There were two guards at the gate. Seeing the two of them, they smiled at uncle Rondo before waving their hands to let them head in.

After coming in, Lucian saw how dilapidated the manor was and he felt even more doubtful.

Since this was uncle Rondo’s small workshop, he should at least hear the sounds of some production magic machines at work, right?

At least……the manor shouldn’t have a layer of dust and spider webs everywhere, right?

After talking another two steps, Lucian suddenly felt vigilant and he stopped moving.

“Uncle Rondo, I……I suddenly thought of something, so I can’t do this job anymore. As for the money that I owe you, I guarantee that I will pay you back.” Lucian hesitantly said.

Uncle Rondo took a deep look at Lucian as the gentle smile on his face gradually disappeared. It was replaced with a strange smile that made Lucian’s heart turn cold when he looked at it.

“What? You owe me fifteen silver coins and you want to leave like that? How could that be?”

Lucian couldn’t help taking a step back.

“Uncle Rondo, you……”

Uncle Rondo suddenly waved his hand and Lucian felt a strange magic fluctuation coming from his side.

“Magic fluctuation disturbance?” Lucian was shocked. He had wanted to release his magic power and stabilize the magic space around him, but two men had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

One of them used the blade in his hand to hit the back of Lucian’s neck. His vision turned dark and he fainted.

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