Chapter 55 - Arriving at Horador City
Horador City was superior to Byk Town in every way. It was a city in the truest sense.
Its magnificent city wall boasted antimagic steel, with watchtowers standing every 100 meters. Busy streets also stretched across the whole city. And the rows of shops and the magnificent castle in the middle of the city fully illustrated Horador City's superiority over Byk Town.
Even Zwei, whose soul had originated from another world, could not help but be in awe as he looked into the distance at the castle tower covered in countless colorful runes.
However, he wasn't here to have fun. Following the guidance of Sasangsang, his party soon arrived at the fat gnome's destination—the Roman Wind Chimes Chamber of Commerce.
Compared to the several large chambers of commerce on the main street, the Roman Wind Chimes' headquarters was located in a remote corner of the city. This proved that it wasn't a particularly popular chamber of commerce.
Even so, the fact that the Roman Wind Chimes had managed to secure a foothold in Horador City proved that it wasn't some backwater chamber of commerce; it should be at the second- or third-rate standard.
"T-That… Lord Magician…" Putting on a charming smile on his face, Sasangsang rubbed his palms together as he asked hesitantly, "C-Can you give Sasangsang's items…"
After discovering the gnome, Zwei had casually stored the last crate of spices in his Bronze Storage Box. He did not wish to have a bunch of spices taking up space on the cart or have the smell of spices stuck to his body.
And although spices were indeed valuable, Zwei had no intention of appropriating them. With a light snap of his fingers, several crates of spices suddenly appeared in front of Sasangsang.
Seeing this, the gnome screamed in excitement and plunged himself into the spices. After a moment, though, his greed-filled mind finally recalled that Zwei's party was still standing nearby. Hurriedly, he poked his head out of the spices and faced Zwei's faint smile.
The trembling gnome immediately crawled out of the spices.
"Sasangsang is very grateful to Lord Magician for saving Sasangsang," the gnome thanked Zwei sincerely. However, when Zwei's expression remained unchanged, his expression collapsed, and his pointed ears drooped. He then untied the bag hanging by his potbellied waist.
Based on the jingle coming from the bag, an expert could easily tell that it was full of coins!
"This is 80 gold coins. It's a small gesture, but please accept it, Lord Magician," the gnome said with a pained expression on his face.
Zwei didn't reject the offering, casually accepting the gold coins under the gnome's reluctant gaze.
Setting aside the fact that he had saved the gnome from potential gnoll attacks, just the spices he had casually returned to the gnome were worth well over 500 gold coins. Hence, a remuneration of 80 gold coins wasn't much at all.
As for Sasangsang, no matter how much his heart ached, he was still a traveling merchant. This wasn't the first time he had suffered a loss, so he was able to adjust his mood quickly.
"This humble one still has to visit the mercenary union to report the fallen mercenaries. Please feel free to do whatever you want, Lord Magician."
"Go on."
Zwei waved his hand. He then had Old John find their lodgings while he himself led the joyful Alyssa and sullen Tio toward the distant castle.
—City Castle—
"We want to see the lord. Please convey our request," Zwei said to the soldiers guarding the castle gate in a neutral tone.
In response, one of the grunt-like soldiers eyed Zwei. Upon seeing Zwei's worn mage robe, the soldier took him for a magician reject trying to make a living off the castle. In a bureaucratic tone, the soldier said, "Lord Magician, if you wish to apply for a position in the castle, please do so through the Seven Luminaries Mage Association. We do not accept direct applications here, much less allow a direct meeting with the lord."
Am I being treated as a job hunter?! Zwei was dumbfounded by this situation. He then tried to explain, "Sorry, but I have an urgent matter to speak to the lord—"
"Shoo, shoo, shoo. The lord isn't someone you can meet whenever you want." Seeing that Zwei "failed to appreciate his kindness," the soldier suddenly turned hostile. "I've seen plenty of incompetent bastards like you!"
These words made Zwei frown. While it was indeed rude of him to ask to see the lord out of the blue, he never thought a measly foot soldier would dare speak to a magician like himself in such a manner.
Of course, the reason for the soldier's behavior was also understandable. After all, the armor he wore used antimagic metal, which was especially resistant to first-circle magic. Meanwhile, most magician rejects were only Apprentice Magicians or Basic Magicians. The spells they eeked out with great effort wouldn't even scratch the soldier's antimagic armor. It was only natural that he would dare insult Zwei, who looked to be a magician reject.
This type of armor was quite rare, so this grunt was likely one of Horador's elite soldiers.
"Apologize to me," Zwei snapped. So what if the soldier was geared in antimagic armor? As someone who possessed strength far surpassing that of ordinary Basic Magicians, something like this wouldn't pose a problem to him at all.
Ever since Zwei had come to this world, he had only been accorded respect for his status as a magician. If he shrank back now, it would be akin to bringing dishonor to the title of magician, and this was simply unacceptable!
Meanwhile, Zwei's attitude put the soldier in a dilemma.
In the soldier's opinion, there were only two possibilities as to why a magician reject would have such an attitude.
The first was that they were a fledgling magician belonging to a magic academy. If Zwei belonged to this category, then there was nothing to be afraid of.
However, the second possibility was that they held their skills in high esteem and actually possessed noteworthy skills. Normally, such magician rejects operated as itinerant magicians, and they were known to surpass the norm. If Zwei happened to belong to this category and the situation really developed into a fight, the soldier wasn't confident he could suppress Zwei. Moreover, if the fight dragged on until someone from the Seven Luminaries Mage Association arrived, then he would definitely be in trouble.
Hence, the soldier decided to prepare for both eventualities. First, he asked one of his subordinates to rush into the castle to seek out the household magicians, who were all Intermediate Magicians and much more proficient at fighting magicians than him.
Afterward, the soldier put on an upright look and said to Zwei, "I won't lower my head to anyone weaker than me. Unless you defeat me, I won't apologize to you!"
Just as the soldier finished his speech and was enjoying the respectful gaze of his subordinates, Zwei's calm voice entered his ears.
"So, all I need to do is defeat you?"
The next moment, a huge force struck the soldier's body, sending him flying into the air and rendering him unconscious.