Revisiting an Old haunt

Chapter 79 Revisiting an Old haunt

Sabins silently took the bag and weighed it in his hand: "Holy Kingdom gold coins?"

Rorschach nodded.

The head of the organization slowly touched his clean-shaved head with his left hand, and opened a drawer with his other hand: "First, I assure you that not a single penny of the money that reached your parents was missing. Second, I will make up for any shortfall in the company's funds now."

"No need. I don't need money right now. What I want is for the Holy Kingdom's Pacharuca Trading Company to give it to me as agreed. I want things to be done officially."

"It's all business. Okay, you'll receive it when you go to the Holy Kingdom again. I promise."

Having received two assurances, Rorschach picked up the money bag and turned to leave.

The chief of staff had a bald patch on his head, which was barely visible from the angle unless someone was a head taller than him. After the wound healed, a bald patch appeared, so he simply shaved it off and refused to wear a wig.

With his left hand still touching his head, the Imperial Chief was staring at a painting on the office wall depicting a mage fighting with several soldiers.

The mage was awe-inspiring, his hands emitting strange and dangerous orbs of light. The soldiers were in a sorry state, some standing trembling in fear before the mage, others lying on the ground, their cries of agony audible, and still others face down in the earth, already dead.

Different people see this painting from different perspectives. To others in the academy, the painting is somewhat strange, because the enemy the protagonist faces is not a dragon or monster, a common theme, but rather soldiers whose affiliation is unclear. Naturally, the mage is the protagonist.

Sabines' perspective was different: he saw himself and his comrades. One of them, like him, had survived by sheer luck and, with Sabines' help, had secured a good position to retire in. Even his old injuries from the winter had been taken into consideration. In the warmer and more pleasant south, Sabines trusted his brother who had risked his life for him and entrusted him with the system of the organization in the Holy Kingdom.

There were personal motives, trust, and the helplessness of having no one to rely on when the organization was first established.

The painting was taken down and torn apart in anger.

Feeling smug after his righteous report, Rorschach hummed a tune as he followed his memory to Caroline's office. In the academy, he wore a black robe trimmed with purple, and the apprentices greeted him politely with "Hello, teacher," secretly wondering when the academy had acquired such a young teacher. Rorschach responded without hesitation, after all, he did hold a temporary teaching position at the Tower of Stars.

"Ms. Caroline? Ms. Caroline?" I knocked on the door, but there was no response from the office.

Is class in session? Rorschach hesitated, wondering whether to search all the classrooms, when the door next to him opened. A teacher he didn't recognize explained, "Mage Caroline isn't at school lately. Who are you?"

"Hello, teacher. I am a graduate of Professor Caroline's school. I've come to the academy to visit her today."

"High Priestess Caroline has gone to Istani. There will be a comet observation point in the Atlas Sea early next year, and she has already gone to Istani ahead of time."

"Thank you for letting me know, it's such a pity. Does Professor Caroline have any contact information in Istani?"

"All we know is that she should be in Storm City until January next year, and she will probably continue to move around after that."

"OK."

The next stop after the academy is the library. Comparing the two, the books here are indeed more practical than those in the Tower of Stars. At least you won't see any old books with incomprehensible titles or handwritten manuscripts that might be rare copies. The books here, regardless of their depth, are explained in a very straightforward and clear manner, which should be the result of special compilation by the academy's teachers.

Rorschach really liked this style, but unfortunately he was there to return a book.

"Master Luo Xia, all your books have exceeded their rental period." The academy's librarian, an older woman, was very unhappy about the overdue period.

"Do you know how troublesome it is for us to replenish our library through inventory, application, and approval? Why can't we do it on time? Look, all we can get back is your three silver coin deposit. Here you go."

Rorschach took the books out of his storage ring one by one:

"The Three Royal Spellcasters", "Complete Guide to Elementary Spells", "Geometric Analysis of Standard Magic Circles", and "Anatomy of Human Magic Circuits".

Rorschach read through all these books when he had a spare moment, but to be honest, they weren't very helpful after he got the panel.

For example, "The Complete Book of Elementary Spells" is like an index, with brief descriptions of its effects. The formal spelling instructions for each spell could probably fill a whole book. Therefore, spells that are unfamiliar still require demonstrations and instruction from mages or learning scrolls.

Only when it came to "Standard Magic Circle Geometry Analysis" did Rorschach hesitate for a moment. Ever since he saw the topological magic circle on the airship, he had been thinking about studying magic circles: "Can I renew the loan? And pay the deposit again?"

"What? No, you've already graduated, unless you teach at the college."

"Can I buy this book?" He didn't want to go through the trouble of making another trip to the guild's bookstore, and there was no guarantee that the book would be available.

The administrator paused for a moment, then replied in a much softer voice, "Four Golden Eagle Coins." The price was fair; magic books were always expensive.

"Can I use the Holy Kingdom's payment system?"

"Paper money? Sorry, I don't accept that."

"Of course, gold coins. How about five?" There was no other way. The old gold coins of the Holy Kingdom were inferior in weight and purity to the Golden Eagle coins of the Empire. Now, Ichiro's gold content was zero, and only fibers remained.

Before leaving, Luo Xia glanced at his paper booklet placed at the library entrance and smiled unconsciously as he departed.

After Rorschach left, the librarian looked around. Seeing no one else had come to borrow books, she promptly took out Rorschach's borrowing and returning records, copied them onto a blank form, and placed them in the file folder. The newly copied document was missing one copy of "Standard Magic Circle Geometry Analysis." She put five Charlie XVI coins into her pocket.

A farmer's son lost his home in the capital after graduation, even though Rorschach was already a mid-level spellcaster and a mainstay of the empire. Fortunately, there was no shortage of luxurious hotels near the Imperial Magic Academy. The academy recruited students from all over the country, and there were always minor nobles and merchant families from other places who needed accommodation when their new students enrolled.

In addition, many students were not used to living in dormitories and became long-term hotel guests. The richer and more powerful simply bought "school district housing". Over time, living off-campus became a tradition: living in school dormitories became a shameful thing among apprentices from wealthy and aristocratic families.

As a result, many of the dormitories at the academy became empty, which is why Rorschach, a young apprentice, was able to have a room all to himself.

It was already noon when Luo Xia checked into his room, and he went to the Moonlight Lake Restaurant alone.

It was the familiar sound of an elven harp, and the decor was still predominantly blue. There were also apprentices wearing the academy's insignia, chatting and laughing. When they saw Rorschach enter, seeing his young face paired with his purple robes and mage badge, they showed expressions of envy and longing.

Rorschach stood at the door, making a fruitless search, but of course, he didn't see any familiar faces. It was strange; strictly speaking, he hadn't seen those two guys that many times.

The waiter greeted us and arranged seating, first asking the number of diners.

Rorschach replied with a smile, "It's just me."

Thank you to reader "Night Light Shines on Buttocks" for the 2 monthly tickets, thank you to "Passing Soy Sauce Bottle" for the monthly ticket, thank you to "SilverKey" for the monthly ticket, thank you to "Cigarette" for the monthly ticket, thank you to "Ideal Like the Sun" for the monthly ticket, thank you to "Silent Young Master" for the monthly ticket, and thank you to readers "Playing the Piano Randomly", "bokklubb", and "(Ruochen)" for the recommendation tickets!

(End of this chapter)