5 Treasure (1/2)

As a result, this 5th Rank Mage waited for a long time. The twenty minutes were almost over, yet that scoundrel was still acting, walking at a steady pace with his head lowered and his hands clasped behind his back, a thoughtful look on his face the entire time.

'What's with that thoughtful look? You are just an apprentice, what kind of profound question could you even be thinking of...'

After waiting and waiting, as time passed, Raymond couldn't wait any longer and his mind had become filled with who knew how many curses. 'This scoundrel can really act! Hurry up and ask me for guidance, can't you see that I've been waiting for a long time? If you don't hurry up, we will reach the Gilded Rose, and by then, there will be no onlookers! What would be the point of me taunting you then?'

'This won't do, I have to think of a way to bring it up myself…'

”Oh right, Young Master Merlin, did your teacher tell you which specific few formulas you should master when preparing to form the mana whirlpool?” Raymond was extremely pleased with himself after asking this question. It was a perfect suggestion, and the arrogance of a senior from a magic school was plastered all over his face.

Then, Raymond waited for quite a long time...

He turned and saw that the youth beside him was still looking down at the ground with his hands behind his back, seeming to be thinking about something.

'Fuck… That's too much!'

Veins could be seen palpitating on Raymond's forehead. 'I'm a great mage, yet I took the initiative to speak with a mere apprentice like you. Even if you aren't overwhelmed with awe, you still shouldn't dare to ignore me! Do you wanna die?'

”Hey! Young Master Merlin!” Raymond restrained himself once again, restraining the urge to curse at him, and raised his voice to shout.

”Hmm? What?” Lin Yun finally snapped out of his reverie with great difficulty. He was at a loss first, before finally managing to react. ”Oh, the formulas that need to be mastered before forming the mana whirlpool, that's simple. The Nossen formula can be used to form the foundation of the mana whirlpool, the Jide formula is used to calculate the direction of the mana, and hmm, if the conditions are met, it's best to master the Figaro formula, this way, you can save a lot of mana when building the mana whirlpool.

After saying that, he threw Raymond a strange look and asked, ”In fact, isn't this knowledge that an apprentice should know about already?”

”I…” Raymond suddenly became angry, almost stomping the ground. 'What does he mean by that!? I'm a great mage, do I still need you to teach me knowledge of mere apprentices?'

'This won't do, I have to think of another way to shame that scoundrel!'

Raymond was fuming, but unfortunately for him, before he could think of a way, they reached the Gilded Rose...

The Gilded Rose was located in the Victorious Return main street. This was the most flourishing zone of Thousand Sails City. The most people, the most expensive goods, everything was concentrated on this lavish street. With the power of the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce at that time, Locke Merlin was able to let the Gilded Rose enter Victorious Return street after a few jokes and some compliments.

But with the decline of the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce, the originally bustling Gilded Rose was now deserted. The three peak alchemists of Thousand Sails City had left early on, and they had taken a lot of expensive alchemy materials with them. Their reasoning was that the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce was behind on paying their salary, so they took materials as replacements.

But in reality, what they took was worth ten times their salary. They only left behind the most inexpensive reagents.

Admittedly, the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce truly was unable to pay their salary at that point. Even Fario's eight thousand gold couldn't be repaid, so the salaries of those alchemists which amounted to tens of thousands didn't even need mentioning.

And after all that, if the clerks leaving one after the other were added to the mix, each taking this or that, the formerly highly respected Gilded Rose was now but an empty shell of what it had once been. In fact, if not for the old butler noticing the strange situation and hurriedly sealing the warehouse, even those remaining cheap reagents might have been filched away.

When Lin Yun opened the door and entered the Gilded Rose, he couldn't see anything. The previously dazzling shelves were now completely empty, and dust filled the air, which had a moldy smell.

”This is too much,” Raymond sighed after entering, a look of pity appearing on his face.

But he was already inwardly gloating. 'Despair? Shock? Thinking of the time when you were a rich young master that didn't have to worry about food and clothing? Thinking of that formerly lucrative Gilded Rose? Don't joke with me, the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce already collapsed, the Gilded Rose already withered, and you are just a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice, one that has been stuck there for years. Nothing more!'

Raymond was ready, ready for despair to appear on that scoundrel's face so that he could jeer at him.

But after waiting for a long time, Raymond couldn't wait any longer. He realized that something was wrong... after that insufferable wretch entered, he didn't react at all. He was neither stunned nor losing hope. Even his own exaggerated sigh and head shake hadn't drawn a reaction. It was as if the youth didn't even look around and just passed straight through the empty lobby to go to the back of the Gilded Rose.

”Hey...” Raymond started speaking, wanting to needle some sort of reaction out, but he trailed off because that guy was walking too fast. By the time Raymond had thought of something to say, he could only see his back.