-Chapter 33, DGM-
Al Wright finally calmed down. Although the expression on his face was murderous, he had managed to restrain himself.
Link stepped forward, dipping his body in a magician"s bow, deferentially speaking to Vincent, "Mister Vincent, may I know how I can prove my insights in magic?"
"Simple. You can write a sheet of expository detailing your understanding towards this world." Vincent closed his eyes, lazily swaying on his rocking chair.1apparently its not a bench, one word can mean 20 diff things in chinese That handsome youth had unexpected gained back his cool. Truth to be told, he was slightly disappointed. If the youth dared to lay a hand on him, he would have carved a hundred magic prints on that beautiful face on his. Heh.
“Oh. Could you be more specific?” Link was polite and modest, unlike Al Wright. Vincent was very pleased.
“Your thesis does not necessarily need to pertain to magic. Rather, as long as it has a unique perspective and is well-researched, it may receive the favour of any magic academic adviser. However, the studying fees will be 2,000 gold coins. If you’re a n.o.ble, then it’ll be 1,000 gold coins.”
“I see.”
Link deliberated for 5-6 seconds, before an idea popped up in his head. He politely cast a magician’s bow towards Vincent again, “Sire Vincent, thank you for your pointers.”
“Mhm, this is how the att.i.tude of a young magician should be like.” Vincent reclined on the rocking chair in the courtyard, slightly nodding his head in approval. He looked at Al Wright, “Young man, you’re too impulsive. This temperament of yours cannot do, or you’ll pay bitterly sooner or later!”
Al Wright snorted. Looking back, he saw the old b.a.s.t.a.r.d begin to get angry.
Link retreated a few steps, returning to Al Wright’s side, softly speaking, “We’ll take our leave first.”
Al Wright nodded dejectedly. He followed Link away.
He felt like he had let down Link. Originally, he thought he could get admitted into the academy before finding a way to return the favour. Now, everything had been fruitless.
After walking for a hundred meters, Link smiled and a.s.suaged him. “Alright, don’t get angry anymore. He’s only a level 2 magician. After you enter the academy, you’ll easily surpa.s.s him with that talent of yours. When the time comes that you can look down on him, he’ll definitely fawn on you like a dog.”
“I can’t enter the academy. 1,500 gold coins is too expensive. I don’t have that sort of cash.” Al Wright was depressed.
He had suffered a great blow, and was down in the dumps.
‘I have 200 gold coins. Even as a commoner, I can marry a beautiful honest commoner girl. As long as I live my life well, I should be happy even without pursuing magic?’ Thoughts like these flooded in Al Wright’s mind.
Al Wright deeply sighed.
Up till now, his dreams of magic had only brought him suffering and torment, and not one whit of happiness. He was at his breaking point.
Looking at his wretched appearance, Link more or less guessed his train of thoughts. He lightly patted Al Wright’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, my friend. If it’s studying fees, you need not worry. I still have 1,300 gold coins here. With your 200 gold coins, it barely makes the cut.”
“What!”
Al Wright screamed. He thought he had heard himself wrongly.
This was 1,300 gold coins. Not silver coins, and not copper coins. This was a huge stack of wealth that ordinary people would never begin to imagine. The several thousand residents residing in the river valley village would not be able to attain this sum even if they miserly saved and h.o.a.rded their wealth for a year.
But now, this youngster he had known for a day had willingly given this amount to him. He had no idea how to express his feelings. Should he be happy, cautious or in disbelief?
The faint smile on Link had not faded. “Are you scared of any conditions attached with the money that you’ll be unable to bear?”
Al Wright remained taciturn. He agreed silently.
He was well-accustomed to the affairs of life, and not some naive newborn that had been birthed into the world recently. n.o.body would offer a free lunch and the heavens would not drop falling meat pies for free. n.o.bles were even more untrustworthy.
This law was thought to him by earl Alice. Although she was as fat as a pig and ugly to boot, Al Wright had learnt many things in that month.
How could Link be unaware of Al Wright’s thoughts?2typo, na(2) to na(4) He explained, “As you know, I was born out of a viscount’s son. However, I am only his third son, without any rights of inheritance. The most I can receive is a few coins of inheritance. I’m the same as you, someone who can only rely on determination and effort. Look; between two of us now, you can easily enter the academy, while it is more difficult for me. What I have in mind is you first enter the academy. If you succeed in learning there, and receive the acknowledgement of the academy, then perhaps you can request a chance for me to get admitted into the academy. Regarding the academy fees, you don’t need to worry either. After all, my father is a viscount. Yeah?”
They had only known each other for a day. Link could not spout any superficial feelings of friendship and bulls.h.i.t. If he did, Al Wright would suspect him of conspiring against him.
He was telling Al Wright his plans, and the conditions he had attached to the 1,300 gold coins were reasonable. It was also a non-zero sum game to Al Wright’s perspective, and his reason for accepting Link’s money had also increased.
Of course, this was still an act of kindness as astronomical as the cash.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll go back on my word?” Al Wright was very moved, but he still could not comprehend the reason behind Link’s actions. In the end, they had only recognised each other for a day. Why did Link have any reason to believe him at all?
He knew that even if Link was the son of a viscount, 1,300 gold coins was still a huge sum of money. It was also possibly something Link had earned on his own rather than received from his father. If he grabbed the money and bolted, Link’s conditions would be very tragic.
His viscount father would also pay no attention to him, as n.o.bles tended to be ruthless. Al Wright knew this deeply from experience.
Link’s smile was dim, staring straight into the depths of Al Wright’s clear green eyes. “Al Wright, your talent is too outstanding. From the depths of your eyes, I can see your hunger for magic. I believe that as long as you are given the chance, you will turn into the greatest magician that has ever lived. Or could it be that the prestige of the greatest magician could only be worth 1,300 gold coins? If that’s the case, then even I will admit that I was blind and had seen the wrong person.”
For a long time, neither of them spoke. For a long time, he stood with his body lowered into a deep bow. His stunning face was filled with graveness. “Link. From today onwards, you are my lifelong friend. I swear I will not betray your trust!”
Link lightly patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re friends. And I’m not in that terrible a state you imagine. I know some n.o.bles, they’ll give me a recommendation letter. Actually, I think I’ve already thought of a suitable thesis to prove my insights in magic.”
“Oh, can I hear the general subject of it?” Al Wright interestedly asked.
Link picked up a stone from the ground, and tossed it into the air. After a few seconds, the pebble fell back onto the ground. Link looked at Al Wright. “What do you think?”
Al Wright was unable to make head or tail of his actions no matter how hard he thought. He scratched his head in puzzlement. “What?”
Link asked, “Tell me, why do you think this stone will fall back to the ground?”
He was a person from earth, where science was everywhere. Although he was a slacker student, he roughly knew the general idea of how the various theories and formulae worked. Coupled with a powerful spirit, anything he did not understand previously was clearly solved.
To enter the academy, he was going to use the scientific knowledge robbed from famous scientists’ years of hard work. Link did not hesitate in doing this.
With this sentence, he dragged Al Wright into fascination.
When he had first asked, Al Wright’s expression was ‘why wouldn’t it?’. But as Al Wright deeply pondered, he became increasingly perplexed. For a long time, he repeated Link’s words in his head. “Right, why would the stone fall?”
Why wouldn’t it simply float upwards towards the sky? Why wouldn’t it fly around? Why would it fall down despite it being propelled upwards?
-Chapter 33, end-
Tler’s Note:
isaac newton would be disappointed
again, unedited. edits will be paused until everything’s patched up