I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 30 Big Money
Wearing a mask, DuPont arrived at the tavern. The mage badge on his chest allowed him free passage, and even the portly owner greeted him with a smile. After learning that DuPont wanted to take on a quest, the owner took out a glass of ale and pushed it on the table: "Honorable mage, this is on me. Let's go upstairs and discuss this further."

DuPont shook his head at the glass, and the tavern owner, as if suddenly realizing something, replaced the bottle with apple juice, a forced smile on his face: "Look at my memory, I even forgot the mage's taboo."

“Let’s talk here.” DuPont said coldly. The tavern owner, seemingly oblivious to his expression, whispered, “My lord mage, unfortunately, the mission to scout the goblin camp has already been taken.” He then pointed to a man and woman eating and drinking heartily in a corner of the tavern: “The mission this brother and sister just took is probably to launch a night raid on those goblins.”

DuPont thought to himself, "I can't believe someone's already trying to steal my job." The tavern owner smiled broadly and said, "If you're interested, you can investigate that graveyard. If you're skilled enough, you might be able to complete the mission without even fighting. The bounty is quite generous, a full 800 silver, much better than the 500 silver for wiping out the goblin camp."

800 silver coins is no small sum for a village, even for DuPont, but he believed in one thing.

What you buy is not what you sell.

“800? That’s not a low price here.” DuPont spoke casually, as if it were nothing to him, and stated bluntly, “It seems like this is no small problem.”

"Yes, it's really haunted there. The monks from the village were almost scared to death when they went there. They even wrote to the town's priest, inviting him to come and exorcise the evil spirits. Of course, adventurers can also help." The tavern owner pointed in the direction of the church: "If you are willing to accept this contract, remember to inform the church and bring the shrine. Then find the place with the strongest necromancy and use it to purify it. If there are any undead creatures, you can also bring back their heads. The church will give extra rewards for how troublesome those undead are."

"Is that so?" DuPont thought for two seconds. "The matter isn't too complicated, but I have some things to take care of recently. What is the term of this deed?"

The tavern owner's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but his smile remained: "If you accept the contract, you must finish it within three days. Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to find someone else to solve the problem if you can't finish it in the long run?"

"This is a small matter. Forget it, I'll come back and take a look in a couple of days. I'll take action when no one has solved it by then."

Under the bar owner's hesitant gaze, DuPont grabbed his juice and made a quick getaway.

It would take him at least a day to learn how to use the magic missile, and with his left arm still injured, it was really inconvenient for him to take on such a difficult task.

Moreover, judging from the information provided by this boss, this matter is exceptionally difficult.

"Monk" is short for "low-ranking priest," similar to "apprentice of a mage." When it comes to dealing with the undead, most priests of the gods are highly skilled; they possess a divinely granted ability called "Dispel the Undead," specifically designed to combat these undead monsters.

Once the Dispel Undead spell is cast, it can suppress undead monsters to the point where they are powerless to fight back and can only passively take hits. In severe cases, it can turn undead creatures into ashes. It is much more effective than any other random spells.

If even a priest of the same level can't handle something, he'll likely be completely baffled if he goes. Plus, the undead are tenacious and persistent, and without specific information and before he's fully recovered from his injuries, he definitely can't take on this task for his own safety.

We can only discuss this another day.

However, he's going to volunteer at the college's church tomorrow, so he can ask the pastor there about the situation. If he's lucky, he might get some holy water for free, which would be ideal.

Once I've learned how to use the magic missile and recovered from my injuries, I can try to complete this task.

However, just as DuPont was leaving the tavern to return to the academy, he was suddenly stopped by a shrewd-looking man who looked to be in his twenties.

He was one of the two adventurers who had just accepted the mission and were sitting there eating.

“Greetings, sir mage.” Dupont remained silent, while the adventurer seemed somewhat reserved. “Well, my sister and I are planning to do a goblin-clearing quest to practice our skills.”

"I don't team up." DuPont kept in mind what ManShi had told him.

Teaming up with low-level adventurers is fine, but you can't bring women along. Besides, these two seem to be novices too, definitely an amateur combination.

"Huh? This..." The man was somewhat surprised, not expecting the other party to have anticipated his words. Looking at DuPont's cold eyes, unmasked, he became even more reserved: "Haha, what a coincidence." "...Is there anything else?"

"Um, do you sell mage scrolls, sir?" The man gestured as he spoke, "My sister used to study magic. Although she only knows a trick and doesn't have a deep understanding of magical devices, she can still activate a level 1 scroll. We're just trying to help this remote little mountain village resolve its future problems out of goodwill. Could you sell us two at a slightly cheaper price?"

DuPont remained silent after hearing this, and just as the man's expression grew increasingly awkward and he was about to leave, he spoke up: "How about the Hand of Flames?"

"Sure, sure!" The man became excited upon hearing this. This was exactly the kind of spell that could deal area-of-effect damage: "How about this, sir, I'll offer 9 gold coins per spell. Do you think that price is reasonable?"

Huh? Nine gold coins?
DuPont's pupils dilated sharply. Seeing that DuPont remained silent, the man said nervously, "I know this price is a bit low, but we really don't have much money on us. We need to prepare food and traps for the goblin camp, and we're really short on funds right now."

"I'll let it slide this time, considering how dedicated you've been." DuPont said, taking two scrolls out of his pouch and taking two steps back. "Give me the money first."

The man was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly took out a money bag from his chest, containing 15 gold coins and 30 silver coins. The once full bag immediately deflated.

"Sir, would you like to take a look?"

DuPont summoned the Mage's Hand to take the coins, and quickly confirmed with a few rubs of his fingers that all the coins were genuine.

DuPont calmly put the coins into his purse, then had the mage hand hand over two scrolls.

The man received the magic mark and checked it. After confirming that it was correct, he was overjoyed. He expressed his gratitude again and was about to leave when DuPont said, "By the way, this transaction is not priced according to the market price. If word gets out, it may cause me trouble. Just use it yourself and don't spread it around."

"Huh, is that even possible?" The man was puzzled, but DuPont cursed inwardly, wishing he could blow this damn academy to pieces.

How much profit did the college actually make from this inflow and outflow?

The man quickly realized what was going on: "But please rest assured, sir. We won't go around telling everyone we've benefited. After the mission, we'll visit other villages and won't stay here for long."

DuPont nodded after hearing this. Just as the man was about to say goodbye, the mysterious mage in front of him spoke up: "It's good that you're willing to help. There aren't many adventurers like you who are still willing to help in such remote places. If you still need anything, you can come to the tavern in this village next Saturday and wait for me. I'll sell you a few more then."

The man was overjoyed: "That's wonderful! By the way, sir, my name is Thomas. May I ask how I should address you?"

"The dust and grime of life bring much sorrow; you can just call me Xiaose (meaning bleak and desolate)."

"Xiao, se?" Thomas pondered these enigmatic words, assuming they were some kind of obscure language or nickname, thinking to himself that these mages really liked to use fancy words: "Lord Xiao Se, shall we meet next week afternoon?"

"See? If I'm not here by dark, don't wait for me." DuPont didn't give a definite answer.

"It's alright, all mages are busy, I understand." Thomas smiled ingratiatingly, while DuPont simply nodded and turned to leave.

Watching DuPont's retreating figure, Thomas couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.

Judging from the voice, the other party should be young, but he was calm and wealthy. He couldn't even figure out what kind of strength the other party actually possessed.

This is truly a mysterious and arrogant profession.
(End of this chapter)