Saving Money Requires Reverse Thinking

Chapter 7 Saving Money Requires Reverse Thinking

Rorschach walked out of the office with the letter of introduction written by Ms. Caroline.

He still owed her a favor. As for Teacher Caroline, Luo Xia wasn't so resistant. This teacher had taken good care of the original owner before, and he felt a special kind of warmth when he met her.

With nothing to do during his last few days at the academy, Rorschach, Bart, and Richard had a good drink. Rorschach came to a significant conclusion—the Imperial snacks, besides sausages, were mostly potato-like tubers, and due to a lack of spices, they didn't taste as good as in his previous life.

Aside from magic, Rorschach's favorite thing about Diane Castle is its environment. This castle, along with the surrounding woodlands, occupies nearly half of the Queen's District. Diane was the moon goddess of this land's primitive tribal history, falling into slumber after the establishment of the old empire and no longer responding to her followers. However, as the goddess of the moon and hunting, she is deeply ingrained in the culture of the empire's northern region. As the name Diane Castle suggests, it was built as a hunting lodge during the reign of Archduke William the Elder; the Queen's District of the imperial capital did not yet exist when it was completed.

Then it was donated by the young Duke William. Could it be that this young master had a childhood trauma from being in the castle and simply didn't want it anymore? Rorschach walked down the corridor lined with armored figures, passing paintings depicting the history of the empire and mages—after confirmation, the figures in them didn't move, what a pity.

Harboring this distorted tourist mentality, Rorschach wasted his remaining time at the academy. During this time, the chairman addressed all the newly appointed mages who had passed the examinations.

"Today you are proud of the Empire and the Academy; tomorrow the Empire and the Academy will be proud of you!"

"Hmph," came Bart's disdainful nasal tone.

"Pfft!" At the same time, Luo Xia couldn't help but sneer.

Aside from that, the speech was rather uninspired, making Rorschach realize that some things are beyond the reach of even the most magical powers. Standing in the summer-filled courtyard, draped in a formal mage's robe and sweating profusely, Rorschach almost wanted to unleash a purple-quality fireball on the speaker.

What kind of terrible first-person open-world game is this that you can't skip the storyline?

After receiving the offer from the Tower of Stars, Sabins went to Rorschach again.

"This is the first payment; the remaining twelve will be sent to your parents." The discipline chief laid out twelve gold coins, then took out thirty silver coins. "These silver coins are for the journey. Don't spend gold coins lightly before reaching the capital; it will cause you trouble."

"Understood." Rorschach took the money, first putting the gold coins into a pouch and storing them in his storage ring—a gift Bart had given him before leaving, which, according to Rorschach, was to express his gratitude for ensuring he hadn't failed any courses for four years. He then put the remaining silver coins into his inner pocket, tucking them under his mage robe. "Our organization's benefits are pretty good."

"His Majesty will not mistreat talented people." The discipline chief gave an unnatural, stiff smile again: "Especially useful and loyal talents."

Rorschach only cared about collecting money, regardless of whether his boss sent carrots or sticks.

"I think you trust me too easily, sir."

"It wasn't easy. We know you. We started getting to know you and paying attention to you before you even enrolled... Of course, the organization pays attention to many children, but very few can become qualified spellcasters. So you're worth the price, Mage Rorschach."

"Yes, sir."

Sabins also taught Rorschach how to use the Holy Kingdom's emergency liaison agency, and what constituted an emergency, including but not limited to the Holy Kingdom declaring war on the Empire, the death of the Holy Kingdom's dwarf king, and the Magic Guild holding a council of elders...

With the funding, Luo Xia could travel in an airship reinforced by a magic array and maintained by a low-level mage, reaching the capital of the Holy Kingdom in as little as a week.

However, the Tower of Stars considerately gave him a two-month deadline, as long as he reported before winter. In addition, Luo Xia was not well-off, and he might have to spend money even after arriving in the capital.

"At this point, we need to think in reverse."

Rorschach strode confidently into the Adventurers' Guild.

Traveling the same route, as a passenger, you have to pay others; as a mage guard for a caravan, others have to pay you.

The two largest and wealthiest nations on the continent, despite some tensions, maintain frequent trade as long as they don't escalate into war. Rorschach observed the recruitment section and indeed saw numerous caravans seeking bodyguards for their journeys to the capital.

Most of the commissions on the recruitment board are escort missions, with a small number for team adventures and investigations, such as this Monich University archaeological team recruiting investigators to explore mountain ruins... Rorschach suddenly felt that such a group was almost guaranteed to fail.

In general, the Adventurers' Guild is a job market, attracting skilled but powerless individuals looking for short-term work. The teams are mostly tomb raiders from other worlds who like to call the graves of ancient nobles and archmages "relics."

"Welcome! Is this your first time visiting the Adventurers' Guild?" Although the boy who entered looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, he looked around nervously, clearly a complete novice. But what could he do when he was wearing the robes of the Imperial Royal Magic Academy? The receptionist didn't dare to be negligent and greeted him with a friendly smile.

Are you the client or are you planning to accept the commission?

"I'm here to take over the escort mission."

The receptionist first had Rorschach fill in his name, age, and country of origin, and then checked his Imperial Spellcaster Certificate and the First-Class Mage Badge issued by the Magic Guild—the former being a specially patterned stamped steel plate, and the latter being a mithril badge bound to Rorschach.

Rorschach removed his badge, which was engraved with nine magical loops. He infused the loops with magic in a sequence known only to him, and the badge immediately glowed with blue arcs of light. The first three tiers were blue, the fourth to sixth tiers were purple, and the top three tiers were crimson. This was quite a cleverly encrypted identity card.

"Beginner Mage (Tier 1-3) is equivalent to a Silver-rank Adventurer. These are the quests you can accept." The receptionist specially took out several recruitment letters, a privilege not afforded to other Silver-rank Adventurers. Skipping the Iron-rank quests that only allow accepting small commissions is also a great convenience.

A man who can cast spells is a man, no doubt about it!

"I only accept escort missions from the Imperial Capital to Valuvana, the capital of the Holy Kingdom."

"This route is quite long, and the goods being escorted are usually of high value. Silver-rank adventurers don't often accept these kinds of commissions. Let me help you look..."

Finally, Rorschach selected a suitable mission: to escort a batch of fur and leather goods made from raw materials sourced from the Black Forest and crafted by the best artisans in the capital to the Holy Kingdom's capital within one month.

He needed to contact his employer, so the receptionist first invited Rorschach to the guild's second-floor reception room—a place that should normally only be reserved for Gold-rank adventurers, but Rorschach had the "I am a mage" buff that automatically upgraded him.

The employer was a middle-aged man dressed as a butler, meticulously groomed from his mustache to his gleaming leather boots. His impeccably tailored attire matched his refined manners, and his every gesture exuded propriety and elegance.

The representative of the Lowe Merchant Guild summoned all interested adventurers to the guild's training grounds to inquire about and test their abilities.

(End of this chapter)