"Father, why did we buy three sets of clothes when there are only two of us?" Moransiu changed into the new clothes they had just bought in the store and looked much more refined.
"Hehe, these three sets of clothes are all for you. You'll need clean clothes while living at the academy," Mo De chuckled and explained.
He handed over the payment for the other two sets of clothes, totaling four silver coins and five hundred copper coins.
"But..." Moransiu felt something stuck in his throat, unable to voice it out.
"Moransiu, as long as you become an intermediate magician in the future, our Algu Village will undergo a great change. For now, don't worry too much about me or the village. Understand?" Mo De interrupted Moransiu and led him out of the clothing store.
Moransiu nodded. Although he was still young, he understood everything.
After buying some road rations in town, Mo De and Moransiu arrived at the station. It would take three days to reach Sufei City, the second closest city to Qinghe Town. The closest city to Qinghe Town was Xiusi City, and it only took a day and a night to travel there by carriage.
"Father, have you ever ridden a carriage before?" Moransiu asked as he looked at the carriage.
"Of course, I have. Riding in a carriage is quite comfortable," Mo De hesitated slightly. He had indeed ridden in a carriage before, but that was eight years ago when he got married. As for how it felt to ride in a carriage, he had long forgotten. All he remembered was that it was quite comfortable. Riding in a carriage during his wedding day was certainly comfortable.
Mo De and Moransiu entered the station and began to negotiate the price with the coachmen.
To reach Sufei City, it would cost three silver coins per person. Since Moransiu was just a child, he only needed two silver coins.
Mo De and Moransiu boarded the carriage, where they found several other passengers already inside. Aside from a woman with two children, there was also an old man dressed in black, his face waxen and sickly, constantly coughing inside the carriage.
"Moransiu, let's sit inside," Mo De saw that there was still space inside the carriage and said to Moransiu.
"Okay," Moransiu agreed and moved towards the carriage.
After a while, two more people boarded from outside. They were dressed decently and appeared to be in their twenties. As soon as they entered, their eyes wandered around, scanning the passengers before fixing on the spot beside the woman.
"Excuse me, big sister, the carriage is quite crowded. Could you let the child move over a bit so we can sit together?" one of the young men with a small mustache said to the woman.
The woman looked at him and nodded without saying a word, simply pulling the girl beside her onto her lap. Then, the two young men sat down beside her.
"Everyone, we're about to depart now. We'll be traveling on the official road, and there are few stops along the way until we reach Sufei City. Do you all understand?" one of the coachmen said to the passengers outside the carriage.
Seeing no response, the other coachman entered the carriage, and the one who spoke earlier went to drive the carriage. The two coachmen would take turns driving day and night, and the carriage wouldn't make many stops until it reached its final destination, Sufei City.
The carriage slowly started moving towards Sufei City.
At first, sitting in the carriage was indeed quite comfortable. But after two hours, Moransiu, feeling a bit uncomfortable, shifted his position. The carriage was quite bumpy, and the thought of enduring this for three days and nights furrowed his brow. He glanced at his father, who seemed perfectly accustomed to it, showing no signs of discomfort.
Moransiu straightened himself up again, determined to endure it like his father.
"Damn, this is really bumpy," the young man with small eyes muttered, his mouth not very clean.
"Hmph, now you feel it's bumpy. I told you this carriage was bumpy, but you insisted on riding," the mustached young man retorted.
"Damn, if I had enough money, do you think I'd willingly squeeze in this shabby place?" the young man with small eyes snapped angrily, his eyes glaring.
The mustached young man seemed unwilling to argue further and fell silent, turning to look at the girl lying in the woman's arms. The girl was about four or five years old, while the boy on the woman's right seemed to be about six or seven. Both children were very well-behaved, neither speaking nor crying.
The old man sitting furthest from the door remained silent throughout, his waxen face devoid of any expression.
"Hey, big sister, what are you going to Sufei City for? Looks like you're taking the child to visit someone?" the mustached young man, seemingly talkative, interrupted the conversation between Mo De and Moransiu and asked the woman.
The woman's face showed a hint of awkwardness upon hearing the question, as if she wasn't used to interacting with people.
Nevertheless, she spoke up: "My husband works in Sufei City. I'm taking the children to visit him."
The mustached young man's face lit up upon hearing her reply: "Oh, the child is so well-behaved, not making a fuss at all."
"Yeah, she's always been obedient since she was young," the woman nodded and smiled.
*Cough... cough...* The old man began coughing again.
"Damn, what bad luck. Don't kick the bucket halfway," the young man with small eyes muttered a few words from his mouth, sarcastic.
Although his voice wasn't loud, the carriage was small enough for the old man to hear if his hearing was fine. However, the old man seemed as though he hadn't heard anything, not even lifting his gaze.
Moransiu and Mo De didn't talk much, only eating some rations when they got hungry, and so did the other passengers. The mustached young man seemed to get along quite well with the woman, getting more and more familiar with each other.
By the afternoon of the second day, the carriage had already reached William Town. Although it was only a town, it was much larger than an average town and could barely be considered a small city. William Town was situated at the center of a transportation hub, with roads connecting various cities in all directions. As a result, it gradually became a transportation hub.
The carriage stopped in William Town for half an hour, during which everyone bought some supplies before continuing on their journey.
"We're halfway there," Mo De said to Moransiu.
The day and a half of travel had made Moransiu feel like his butt was about to swell. He occasionally touched it with his small hand, but fortunately, he didn't feel any obvious swelling.
"Father, after you send me, will you return to the village?" Moransiu looked at his father, feeling a little scared about living alone in a strange place in the future. After all, he was just an eight-year-old child who had never traveled far from home.
"Well, Moransiu, you're all grown up now. I'll come to Suf
ei City to see you once a year," Mo De patted Moransiu's head, his eyes filled with a smile.
"Hey, what are you going to Sufei City for? It seems like you want to send the child over?" the mustached young man, seemingly talkative, heard Mo De and Moransiu's conversation and interrupted.
"Oh, the Mulan Magic Academy is recruiting students. My child is going to participate in the assessment," Mo De said directly.
His son was going to be a magician, something that made him proud!
"What? Mulan Academy?" The mustached young man's mustache trembled, and the young man with small eyes widened his eyes, a magician?
"You mean, your child is going to study magic at Mulan Academy?" the mustached young man asked with a trembling voice.
"That's right!" Mo De nodded with certainty.
"Hehe, I'm afraid you don't know yet, Mulan Academy doesn't accept all children. Even if you have money, if you don't have talent, it's impossible to get in. Moreover, judging from your appearance, it seems like you're from the mountains, right?" The mustached young man glanced at Mo De and Moransiu, feeling like these two mountain people were daydreaming in broad daylight.
"Hmph, now even cats and dogs want to learn magic?!" The young man with small eyes sneered, not bothering to hide his disdain.