The Patient Wizard Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – Calculation (5)

The next day, the three winners left the Lion Hall without eating breakfast, saying that class would start early. Smith grumbled while chewing lamb.

“They come here and just ruin the atmosphere.”

Tony pointed out.

“You’re spitting food. Don’t talk with food in your mouth.”

Chris took Tony’s side.

“Maintain some manners.”

Smith acted like he had been betrayed.

“To think a slave would take the noble’s side.”

While they were eating and chatting, David appeared after a very long time. Everyone stopped eating and stood up. Chairs scraped against the floor, making a loud noise.

“Sit, sit. Continue eating.”

They sat in their chairs but did not resume eating. An awkward silence briefly followed. Tony cleared his throat and spoke.

“When do those who have felt magic leave the dormitory?”

“It’s customary to stay with your cohort for at least a year.”

He looked over the group members and continued.

“Do you dislike living together?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Their showing off is annoying.”

“Then it was successful.”

“Pardon?”

“We deliberately placed fast achievers with slower group members to provide motivation. Judging by the atmosphere, it seems the motivation has been properly received.”

His observation was correct. They were already working hard, but from now on, they would work even harder with burning determination.

“There’s a saying, if you feel wronged, succeed.”

David added with a laugh. No one laughed along. That’s how upset they were. David awkwardly took out five passage tokens.

“Resting is as important as working hard. When your head feels heavy and stuffy, go to Stratton for a change of scenery.”

“Oh!”

Chris was flustered. With passage tokens, Mark and Tony could directly take their laundry to town. This could mean losing yesterday’s already halved customer base.

Faye, Smith, and Alice were happy to receive the tokens, and though not to the same degree, Mark and Tony’s faces also brightened.

This isn’t good.

Chris felt a sense of crisis.

“It’s beneath the dignity of royalty and nobility to carry their own laundry.”

Tony nodded.

“That’s true.”

Phew, that’s a relief.

Just as Chris was feeling relieved, an attack came from the side.

“I’ll do it for half price.”

Alice emerged as a competitor. Chris was overwhelmed with a sense of betrayal and stammered.

“You… You… You…!”

Tony immediately accepted.

“Good, I’ll entrust it to you, Alice.”

Chris jumped up.

“We had a good relationship. Why are you suddenly doing this?”

Tony smirked.

“What good relationship? I was getting tired of your excessive fawning.”

Chris grabbed Alice’s arm.

“If you cut the price in half, there’s nothing left. Really.”

It wasn’t a lie. With Alex and Catherine’s departure, the amount of laundry had decreased, and so would the fees, but there were still minimum costs.

Smith found Chris’s panicking and sweating amusing.

“Your Highness, who will you entrust your laundry to?”

Mark looked back and forth between the two. Chris was desperately putting his hands together.

“You can continue to handle it.”

Mark’s finger pointed at Chris. Chris jumped for joy but then became dejected when he realized that 75 percent of his customers had vanished in one day. The group members all laughed at his quick change of expression.

*    *    *

They worked even harder than before for the next ten days. Some group members developed dark circles that extended to their cheeks.

During breakfast time, Faye said.

“I feel like I’m going to lose my mind.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I need to go to the village.”

Then she looked at Chris.

“Guide us there.”

“I was planning to go for laundry anyway, so I’ll guide you.”

Tony said.

“Let’s all go down together.”

The apprentices of Lion Hall went down to the village guided by Chris. There was a brief moment of tension when Chris took out his passage token at the tower boundary and told them to do the same, but otherwise, the atmosphere was cheerful. Everyone enjoyed the hike after a long time.

They parted at the village square. Chris and Alice moved together because of the laundry.

“Traitor.”

At Chris’s whisper, Alice lowered her eyes.

“Sorry.”

“I will never forget the betrayal from ten days ago.”

Alice laughed at his exaggerated tone.

“You’re laughing?”

“Sorry.”

The two entered Stan’s General Store. Today, Stan was manning the counter. Stan alternately looked at the two with a mischievous gaze and raised his pinky finger.

“Girlfriend?”

Both of them simultaneously waved their hands.

“No, sir.”

“No.”

Stan smiled cunningly.

“You look good together, give it a try.”

“No thanks.”

“No thanks.”

“If you don’t like it, I can’t help it. You came to drop off laundry?”

Chris placed the laundry bundle on the counter.

“I have bad news.”

Stan leaned his upper body back defensively.

“What bad news?”

“Half of my customers have disappeared.”

Stan clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk.”

“So I need to lower the laundry fee.”

“Damn.”

Stan cursed.

“No way. It’s already below cost.”

“The laundry is only a quarter of what it was.”

“I thought you said half? Why is it a quarter?”

Chris pointed at Alice with his chin.

“Competition has arisen.”

Alice placed her laundry on the counter.

“Let’s make it half a silver coin per month.”

“Per month? Not per time, but per month?”

Alice spoke honestly.

“I was supposed to get one coin per month for my trouble. Originally it was two, but since he has a passage token and there’s a competitor here, I had no choice but to give a discount.”

Stan stared into her eyes.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“You’re an honest girl. Alright, I’ll charge half a coin per month in appreciation of your honesty.”

“Thank you.”

Chris said.

“For me too, let’s make it half a coin per month.”

Tony had reduced the laundry fee, but Prince Mark, Chris’s only remaining customer, had not. Nevertheless, Chris pretended that his fee had been reduced equally.

“Not for you.”

“Why not me? I’m a regular, so it should be even cheaper.”

“You lack manners.”

“Me?”

“You undercut prices while I was away.”

“Come on, a man shouldn’t hold onto past grudges. Should I go to Brian’s instead?”

Brian’s Magic Store always worked well as leverage. Stan spent some time denouncing Brian’s store before sighing and accepting the proposal.

As they were leaving the general store, Alice asked.

“What’s Brian’s Magic Store?”

“Over there.”

When Chris pointed to the opposite side, Alice started walking in that direction.

“Where are you going?”

“To have a look.”

“There’s nothing to buy.”

“Not much merchandise, huh?”

“No, there’s plenty of merchandise.”

Chris made a circle with his thumb and forefinger and continued.

“It’s extremely expensive. We can’t even dream of it with our means.”

“That expensive?”

“Yes.”

The fact that it was expensive made her more interested. Alice quickly walked into the store. Donna was reading a book and hid it when she saw the two.

Chris asked.

“What book is that?”

“A magic book.”

Chris’s eyes sparkled.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Show me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a high-level magic book. If someone of your low level looks at it, you could go blind. You might even go insane.”

Chris was skeptical and pouted.

“Were you a wizard, old woman?”

“Of course. How could I run a magic shop without being a wizard? Didn’t you know?”

Chris was still dubious.

“You don’t look like a wizard.”

“When a wizard reaches a very, very high rank, they appear ordinary.”

If she had said she was at the meditation wizard rank, he might have believed it. Claiming to be a high-level wizard made it even less believable.

“Why doesn’t a wizard wear robes?”

“Some don’t wear them if they don’t want to.”

“But all the wizards in our tower wear them.”

Donna lowered her voice.

“They’re just being showy.”

While the two were talking, Alice was looking at the wands and moved over to the magic stones.

“Old woman, how much is this?”

Donna told her the price, and Alice’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Don’t you have anything cheaper?”

“Common magic stones are a bit cheaper than attribute stones.”

“What are common magic stones?”

“Magic stones containing magic that doesn’t have a specific attribute. Most natural magic stones are like that.”

Once the conversation between Alice and Donna concluded, Chris approached Donna and whispered.

“Did it sell?”

“What?”

“Come on, you know.”

“Not yet.”

“Looks like Juan doesn’t have money.”

“He’s bought a lot of different things trying to feel magic. He’s been scammed a lot too.”

“Isn’t your magic helmet also a scam, old woman?”

“Our shop is high-end. Can’t you tell by the fact that we only deal in attribute stones? We don’t promote scams.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“I’ll buy it, so don’t sell it to anyone else and keep it for me.”

Donna pointed to Chris’s pants pocket.

“You don’t have money.”

“Not now.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’ll have any later either.”

“I’ll tell my cohort after a few more months.”

“And then?”

“We’ll pool our money and buy it together.”

“So you’ll co-own it and take turns using it?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ll consider it.”

Chris and Alice spent about 30 minutes exploring the store before going out to the square. The two sat by the fountain.

The Lion Hall students gathered one by one at the fountain, then dispersed again to look around the shops around the square, eat lunch at restaurants, and have drinks. Mark paid for everyone. Thanks to this, Chris’s fondness for the prince increased even more.

They spent half a day in the village and returned to Lion Hall. As they entered the reception room chattering noisily, their movement stopped.

Alex was sitting with his legs crossed. Alex was clearly a fellow group member residing in Lion Hall, but he had somehow become an unwelcome guest. No one welcomed him.

“You all look close.”

Alex’s lips twitched.

“Are losers sticking together?”

Tony was offended.

“Losers? Watch your mouth.”

Alex pointed his finger.

“Just look at you. When did you become friends with slaves?”

“We’re not friends.”

Contrary to Tony’s words, they had become much closer than before. Tony no longer made dismissive comments as he used to, and Mark also treated them more decently. The fact that they were comrades moving toward the same goal, and the fact that they were continuously failing, was strengthening their bond.

Alex got up from his seat.

“Sure, losers, good luck with that.”

“We’re not losers, I said.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, we’re not, you bastard!”

“Did you just curse at me? A mere apprentice daring to speak to a wizard like that!”

When Tony flinched, Alex smirked with his lips pursed.

“Considering our past relationship, I won’t make an issue of it.”

He patted Tony’s shoulder as if talking to a subordinate and walked past. Mark blocked his path.

“Apologize.”

“For what?”

Mark did not answer.

“Oh, for calling you losers. But what can I do, it’s the truth.”

“We could feel magic as early as tomorrow.”

The sneer on Alex’s face deepened.

“Do you know why I treat you with increasing disrespect as time passes?”

“Because your character is rock bottom.”

“No. I’m a wise person who knows how far I can push.”

“You seem to think it’s okay to push me.”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

“Do you know what percentage of aspiring wizards who enter the tower at the same time can sense magic? In small cohorts, it’s 30%, at most 40%. How many people are in our Lion Hall? Nine. Of those, three have already sensed magic- that’s well over 30%.”

Mark’s face turned white. In contrast, Alex became triumphant.

“Those who are meant to fail will fail no matter what they do.”