novellaaa Chapter 29 On-site Business Services
Chapter 29 On-site Business Services
Hamelin listened to Rom's explanation and remained silent for a moment.
"Elena?... Cassius's student. That girl is indeed a kind child."
The old monk muttered to himself, then frowned again:
"However, light magic is closely monitored by the Holy See. How dare she give you a scroll of Healing Hands without permission? Didn't that old man Cassius give you any trouble?"
Rom nodded and explained:
"Cassius went to a meeting in Red Dragon City and is not in town."
Elena actually respects you very much. When she heard you were sick, she secretly gave me the scroll.
In order not to anger the old man, Rom decided to give all the credit to Elena.
Hamelin nodded thoughtfully: "Oh..."
The old monk leaned against the wall and sighed, his eyes becoming somewhat complicated, seemingly not with anger or jealousy, but with a deep sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection).
"I never expected... that guy Cassius has become so powerful that he can now seal away scrolls of the [Holy Healing] level."
Rombe sensed the desolation in the old man's words, but he did not expose the lie.
"Hamerlin, stop thinking about useless things. The most important thing now is to rest. Your wound hasn't fully healed yet," Jill said, patting her old friend on the shoulder and tucking him in.
Hamelin was unmoved. He turned around, took out his thick diary, and began writing something with a charcoal pencil.
Rom knew that Mr. Hamelin disliked being disturbed when he was writing in his diary, so he prepared to leave.
"Thank you for your hard work, Rom."
Let's go get something to eat... There's some matsutake mushroom porridge in the pot, which you like.
Without turning around, Professor Hamelin stopped writing and finally managed to squeeze out this sentence.
Jill gave a wry smile and shrugged.
Everyone knows the old man's temper.
This is what "making up" means.
Fortunately, Hamelin did not press further about the reel.
After being warned by Rom, Jack became as docile as a quail and refused to mention what happened last night.
The group huddled around the warm stove and rested peacefully through the night.
……
The next morning.
Jack was sweeping snow outside the stone house when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps in the snow in the distance.
The bearded mayor of Blackrock Town and the tavern owner, Gil, walked in side by side, each carrying a few wild pheasants.
After entering the house, the mayor inquired about Hamelin's well-being.
However, Rom, who was standing to the side, noticed that although the mayor had a big smile on his face, he seemed to have something to do.
Upon hearing that Hamelin was not fully recovered and needed to rest, the mayor even sighed, clearly indicating that he had some unspeakable worries.
Rom pulled the mayor to the snow outside the door and asked in a low voice:
"Mayor, what happened? Is there something wrong with the magic circle in the square?"
Upon hearing this, Jack, who was sweeping the floor, jumped in fright and quickly clarified, "I really didn't do it this time!"
The mayor was taken aback by Jack's reaction, then waved his hand with a wry smile:
"No, no, the array is operating very well, and the temperature is much higher than before."
The problem occurred in a mine shaft located in the back mountain of our Blackstone Town.
"A mine? What happened?"
The mayor sighed and explained:
"There is a trace amount of magical ore that is found in that mine, which used to be an important source of income for our Blackrock Town."
The mine was sealed off a few years ago due to a landslide. This winter has been too long, and the town's food reserves are running low, so everyone is discussing reopening the mine to extract ore.
"As a result, a couple of days ago, the miners who went down to scout the way came back in a panic, saying that a monster was lurking inside!"
This is a real problem. If the mine is taken over, our town will lose an industry...
So everyone wanted to ask Master Hamelin to help drive away the monsters in the mine. But the master's injuries haven't healed yet... Alas, it seems we'll have to wait until spring."
Upon hearing this, Luo Mu's mind immediately became active, and he asked:
"Did the miners who escaped see what kind of monsters were inside? Approximately how many were there?"
The mayor thought for a moment and said, "The miners were terrified and didn't dare to see the whole thing clearly. But from the description, it seems there was only one... probably a [Crypt Demon Spider]."
"A cave spider?"
Rom remembered it from the Warcraft Encyclopedia.
This is a second-tier magical beast that prefers to live underground; it is half-beast and half-spider.
The bestiary clearly states that the Cave Spider has a very strong sense of territory and is a typical solitary magical beast.
If there is only one Tier 2 monster in the mine, and the terrain is too narrow for the monster to use its speed advantage, then this is an extremely rare monster-hunting dungeon.
It is also a great opportunity to obtain high-quality magic crystals.
More importantly, Rom used Holy Healing several times last night to heal the old man.
As a modern man, Rom admits that he suffers from severe "battery life anxiety." As the bag of magic crystals gets flatter and flatter, he begins to feel anxious.
After taking stock, he discovered that besides the intermediate-level magic crystal, he only had three magic crystals left from Elena's gift, and he still had 68 points of mental computing power.
If the old man's illness requires repeated treatments, I'm afraid I won't have enough magic crystals left.
"Okay, I understand."
Luo Mu patted his chest. "I'll talk to the teacher later. If he approves, we'll take on the mine cleaning contract."
Upon hearing this, the mayor was overjoyed and excitedly grabbed Rom's hand:
"That's wonderful! I'm relieved to hear you say that, Rom! You truly are a worthy disciple of the great Mage Hamelin! I have complete confidence in your abilities!"
The mayor thanked him repeatedly, left the pheasant behind, and departed from the stone house with a heart full of joy.
After seeing off the mayor and Jill, Rom returned to the stone house.
Hamelin leaned against the straw mat, his face still somewhat pale, but his breathing had become much more steady.
Seeing Luo Mu return, he slightly raised his eyelids and asked, "The mayor was muttering to himself outside just now, it seems he's encountered some trouble. Did he say anything to you?"
Luo Mu knew that if he told the old man the truth—that the town mayor had asked them to clear out the monsters—the old man would absolutely refuse to let him go to the mine.
He smiled slightly, and the lie came out of his mouth effortlessly:
"Oh, it's nothing serious. The mayor said the fire in the blacksmith's furnace isn't burning bright enough, making blacksmithing inefficient. He'd like you to take some time to help add fuel to the fire and draw a fire-gathering array."
"Screw it!"
Upon hearing this, Hamelin immediately puffed out his beard and glared:
"That old miser! If he ever causes trouble like this again, don't let him into my yard!"
I did so much for them in Blackstone Town, and the town mayor promised to erect a stone statue of me at the town entrance as a token of his gratitude.
It's been almost a year and there's still no construction! All he does every day is busy with these trivial things in town, what a useless big-bearded man!
After hurling his insults, Hamelin angrily rolled over and picked up a tattered book of magic theory to read.
Luo Mu secretly suppressed a laugh behind his back.
In fact, the mayor of Blackrock Town is an extremely pragmatic person.
He was unremarkable in appearance and lacked the astonishing wealth and guards of the Silver Town mayor; he was indeed incomparable.
He was just a local baron who rose to power through hard work and diligence. He often went to the fields to help the townspeople with farm work and roof repairs. He was a truly good person.
"Teacher, I'll go to town to buy some ingredients." Luo Mu walked to the door and said goodbye.
"oh…"
Hamelin looked at the book in his hand, without raising his head, but his tone softened:
"If you go... you might as well help the mayor with the blacksmith's business. Anyway, you can control magic now, so go and draw a magic array to practice. From now on, I can leave all these trivial matters in town to you."
"Yes." Rom smiled.
Despite his scathing criticism, Hamelin actually held a high regard for the stingy yet kind-hearted mayor.
He pushed open the door and went out.
Jack was idly sweeping the already clean snow in the yard with his broken broom.
Luo Mu waved to him.
"Stop sweeping, there's work to do."