Chapter 162: This woman is really a money-grubber!

“Five thousand gold coins, and the Sistine Opera House is yours.” Senior Knight Molly grudgingly raised the price by a thousand gold coins.

“No, I don’t have time to manage it. It’s much better to be a steady Handyman Agency clerk, working as a logistics person for intelligence analysis. Or I could learn from the Equipment Master and forge some equipment. My strength should be enough; forging some simple, ordinary equipment shouldn’t be a problem.” Little Will directly refused. Want to raise my price? Heh heh, I’ll make you lose money on it.

“The Equipment Master was an alchemy apprentice, a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice, an Intermediate Warrior, and an Intermediate Blacksmith and Forgemaster. He seems to have left behind some diaries and materials, but I don’t know where they are.” Molly skirted the issue, her finger tapping on the contract.

“I’ll rent the blacksmith shop, and the Equipment Master’s diaries and alchemy materials must be mine.” Why did Little Will join the Handyman Agency? Wasn’t it to pay off his debts as quickly as possible? The debt to the God of Wisdom—no, he should be called the Greedy Demon God—was not so easy to repay. How long would it take him to repay over a million contribution points, and the time limit was only ten years? What would happen if he couldn’t repay it after ten years? After knowing his true nature as a demon god, Little Will couldn’t even imagine. A small demon, Dean, already made him tremble with fear, always afraid of being tricked. What about that powerful being, revered as a demon god by the little demon king?

Currently, he was treated quite well, but that enormous debt was truly terrifying, constantly pushing him forward. However, he was still treated well; the collateral (the seven-story tower) could be used freely. As long as he didn’t look for the second proxy elf, and only sought out Little Wei, she would give him special treatment. But if he encountered the second proxy elf, the demon Dean, the price he had to pay would be much higher. Even for the same service, Dean could find all sorts of excuses to increase the fee.

“Tsk tsk, Little Will, you can’t be so shameless. How much is the rent for the blacksmith shop per month? The alchemy diaries and materials of a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice are not of low value.” Senior Knight Molly looked at him as if he were an idiot, seemingly accusing Little Will of being dishonest.

“As a member of the Handyman Agency, do I have permission to browse the internal library? The deceased Equipment Master’s materials in the internal library shouldn’t be classified, right? Even if I have to pay a small price to access them, that price wouldn’t exceed a hundred gold coins, would it?” Little Will rolled his eyes at her. “Don’t treat others like fools; those who do often end up being fools themselves.”

“Heh heh, unfortunately, the internal library doesn’t have the Equipment Master’s relics. All his relics, including his alchemy diaries, are stored in the storeroom.” Senior Knight Molly smiled at Little Will. This little guy was still too green; he exposed his objective so quickly. This time, she definitely had to squeeze more gold coins out of him. Her brother told her that the items this kid asked him to sell were indeed astonishingly valuable. Perhaps Molly herself hadn’t expected it, instead treating the manor as the most valuable asset and spending all her time there, refusing to return.

Well, Molly did return often, as her husband’s and son’s breakfast and dinner still needed her to prepare. She spent most of her days at the manor anyway, with the luxurious carriage and fine horses. Even Floret. Declan often went to the manor to practice horsemanship.

How envious! This scoundrel kid was actually richer than her! She was, after all, a officially ennobled baroness of the kingdom. While her title, earned through military merit, didn’t come with land, it did come with a stipend. But that small stipend was nothing compared to that box of ancient gold coins. The kid also had wine that had aged for over a thousand years. Not to mention the wine, even those thousand-year-old wine barrels were valuable. Besides that, there were those magic runic equipments. Not counting the complete sets, the other scattered pieces were at least of good quality, and there were even a few excellent ones. This kid’s maternal grandfather was a Level 2 Wizard.

He currently had at least four enchanted items equipped: a cloak, glasses, a magic book, and the Staff of Civilization in his hand. The excellent-grade magic runic longsword hidden inside was elven in style, which suited her aesthetic perfectly, but unfortunately, this kid just wouldn’t give it to her. This kid was clearly a boy, yet he liked using elven-style weapons; he was truly a weirdo.

Little Will was also helpless about this. He was just a teenager, and his physique was what it was. Adult weapons were not handy. Dwarf weapons could work, but their weight was a bit excessive. Dwarves didn’t look big, but they had enough strength. Only elven weapons were the most suitable, and this excellent-grade magic runic longsword was precisely the most suitable weapon he had, so he naturally wouldn’t transfer it to Senior Knight Molly.

“I remember you saying that a newly hired clerk could choose one piece of equipment from the storeroom, and the time limit for choosing was one hour. With my memory, one hour is enough to remember a lot of knowledge, isn’t it?” Little Will’s words made Senior Knight Molly look as if she had swallowed a fly. She really couldn’t stop this custom, and Little Will didn’t even need to take it out; he could just look at it on the spot and put it back.

“Let me ask you, did you study the Reading spell?” Senior Knight Molly wasn’t a fool. Seeing Little Will so confident, she immediately reacted. She hadn’t paid much attention to magic before, but ever since Little Will enlightened her, she had been spending a little time each day contemplating basic runes. After a month, she had successfully inscribed two basic runes, both of which were standard basic runes provided by Little Will. Lilith had also updated her basic rune manual, using the version provided by Little Will, on the grounds that it was an optimized version inspired by the gods, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call them divinely bestowed basic runes (bestowed by the demon god).

“I am only a Level 1 Wizard Apprentice. Other Level 0 cantrips that require magic power are beyond my reach, but I do know spells like Reading, Scribing, Eagle Eye, Mage Hand, and Light.” Little Will could currently only use purely auxiliary spells, and only to assist himself. For example, Haste and Giant Strength were still beyond him; he would have to wait until he was a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice to learn them. He needed to remain at Level 1 for a while, as his accumulation was still very insufficient, and advancing too quickly would lead to an unstable foundation.

“You freak!” Senior Knight Molly couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed: “How many basic runes have you inscribed, kid? Have you surpassed Lilith?” Thinking that this kid had only been exposed to the wizarding tradition for less than half a year and could now use Level 0 cantrips, Senior Knight Molly was very envious. Why hadn’t she started wizard training earlier? She didn’t need to be too high, a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice would be enough, at least it would make daily life much more convenient.

“At least I won’t be worse than her, as long as she hasn’t advanced to a Level 2 Wizard Apprentice.” Little Will’s voice wasn’t loud, but it reached Senior Knight Molly’s ears word for word. What did that mean?

“Could it be, could it be that you are already at the peak of a Level 1 Wizard Apprentice, and all thirty-six basic runes have been successfully inscribed?” Senior Knight Molly’s gaze was no longer that of someone looking at a genius, but at a prodigy. She had indeed suspected it before, but he hadn’t admitted it. She didn’t expect him to actually admit it now?

“When you asked me, I had already successfully inscribed all thirty-six basic runes, hadn’t I? Otherwise, how would I know so clearly.” Little Will shrugged indifferently, but still explained to her, “The Soul Singer Segris once cast the Soul Singer’s Blessing on me, and more than once. So my mental strength is much stronger than others of my age and level. Rapid advancement in the Level 1 Wizard Apprentice stage is natural, and I can even advance quickly in the Level 2 and Level 3 Wizard Apprentice stages. However, there is a huge obstacle to becoming a formal wizard, and that is the Soul Singer’s Blessing affecting the purity of the soul. To remove this effect, I must stay in the Level 1 Wizard Apprentice stage for a few more years. It’s a double-edged sword, I suppose. If I were purely a wizard apprentice, these few years would definitely be wasted, but I am both a knight and a wizard practitioner. While continuously purifying my mental strength in the Level 1 Wizard Apprentice stage, I can also improve my physical fitness and foundation. It’s a win-win situation, so it’s hard to say whether it’s good or bad.”

“Alright, alright, you’re allowed to copy the Equipment Master’s study materials and alchemy diaries, but you must take the Sistine Opera House. It’s not just my personal issue; half of the Handyman Agency’s funds are in there. Consider it a small welcome gift from you to everyone. Newcomers who perform well will find it easier to integrate.” Senior Knight Molly immediately changed her tone.

“I can pay the original price for the Handyman Agency’s half, which is two thousand gold coins. For your half, I can offer an 80% discount, right?” Little Will squinted at Senior Knight Molly: “Miss Kendall family, do you really care about such a small amount of gold coins? And according to the information I gathered from Segris, someone seemed to have contributed very little to the Soul Singer incident. Isn’t that the fundamental reason why the city hall wants to renege on your debt?”

“I used to have plenty of money, but ever since I started practicing as a wizard, money has become a bit tight. I never realized that the wizard profession was so expensive.” Senior Knight Molly was also helpless. She only now realized that while wizards seemed powerful, that power was built upon countless resources. Leaving aside other things, just the potions, cultivation methods, and spell templates were a huge expense. Paying with gold coins was already cheap; some good things often required magic stones.

“Now, Little Will, one low-grade magic stone, and I’ll help you find all of the Equipment Master’s cultivation notes, alchemy notebooks, and other materials left here, how about it?” Senior Knight Molly said with a grin: “Only the old painter and I know how many things are in the storeroom. If not ten thousand, then eight thousand. It would be very troublesome for you to search for them one by one, wouldn’t it? What’s more, the Equipment Master’s relics aren’t just these. His usual essays and such were placed elsewhere, and some were collected by me because they weren’t public property or deposited with the Handyman Agency, so they weren’t put in the storeroom. One low-grade magic stone, and I’ll allow you to copy all of them.”

“Deal!” Little Will agreed casually, then immediately reacted: “How did you know I had magic stones?”

“Eh~, what do you mean by that? It’s common knowledge that wizard apprentices have magic stones, isn’t it? What’s more, you awakened the Magic Awakening talent, yet you’re only a Level 1 Wizard Apprentice. If you don’t get magic power from magic stones, do you directly draw the sparse magic power from between heaven and earth? Wait, your question just now seems very problematic, are you hiding something?” Senior Knight Molly wasn’t stupid; she immediately reacted: “You have your own little stash, a little stash that Molly and Wizard Starsan don’t know about, and it contains magic stones. No, I’m raising the price. Two low-grade magic stones.”

“Only one. Take it or leave it.” Little Will rolled his eyes at her. This woman was truly a money-grubber.