Volume 6 Chapter 2 Visitor
The next morning, excited from his new discovery, Al had stayed up reading the 'spellbook' until almost dawn. He was woken up by Iris's gentle knock.
"Good morning, Mr. Al. You have a visitor. Her name is Barbara."
Still half-asleep, Al slowly got up from his linen bed. While straw beds were still common in the countryside, he was grateful that this inn had linen sheets. He yawned widely and began to wake up.
"Mr. Al, are you awake? You have a visitor. Isn't it bad to keep her waiting?"
The knocking got a little louder when Al didn't respond.
"Oh, sorry, Ms. Iris. Can you tell her I'll be right down?"
Al hurriedly stood up and put on some clothes. He tied his messy blonde hair back with a string. He turned off the light that had been on in the room and carefully rolled up the 'spellbook' before hiding it in a secret place. After checking the room one more time to make sure everything was okay, he rushed downstairs.
* * *
"Good morning, Ms. Barbara."
When Al came down, Barbara was eating stew meant for the guests.
"Good morning, Al. The food here is pretty good. I already ate breakfast, but it was early, and it smelled so nice. I asked them to prepare some for me."
She said this with a cheerful smile. Given the angle of the sun, it was probably still around the time when the second morning bell had just rung or not rung at all. Only about an hour had passed since dawn. He wondered what time agw started working in the morning.
"Did you come because of what we talked about yesterday?"
"Yeah, while I was at the station for the morning check, Guildmaster Levy called for me. It seems I've become your contact person."
Al asked Iris to bring him his breakfast and sat down across from Barbara at the table.
"According to Guildmaster Levy, he wants you to visit Lord Radyard at the lord's mansion around the time the third bell rings the day after tomorrow. You'll be acting as a temporary servant for Sir Naresh, and you'll also be his bodyguard. Oh, and Lord Radyard is Sir Naresh's protector, a knight who has served His Excellency Viscount Lester for a long time."
Being a servant is different from being a squire who fights with bows or swords; it's more like being a personal attendant. Al wonder if he'll be working inside the mansion.
"What about the payment?"
"Ten silver coins per day. Guildmaster Levy was disappointed that he couldn't negotiate a higher amount, but I think it's a pretty good sum. As a servant, the risk to your life should be low."
Previously, the payment for an apprentice magician was 30 silver coins for 2 weeks. Since that included meals, it's not easy to compare, but it's definitely not too low. If there's not much danger, then it's even better. Considering that the reward for goblin hunting in the capital was just one silver coin per goblin until about 6 months ago, this amount seems quite high. Once Orson, who is currently recovering, comes back, he might be able to earn even more...
"Well, Sir Naresh is supposed to join the knight expedition to defeat the Barbarians in a week, so I'm curious about that. If you go with him, you might get caught up in the fight. But hey, that could be a good chance to earn some money. Plus, Sir Levy is counting on Sir Naresh to achieve something. Just help him out as much as you can. If you do, I think Sir Levy will reward you handsomely."
Al thought for a moment but nodded, thinking it wouldn't be bad to build some achievements while living here.
"Got it. Please tell Sir Levy that I'll give it a try."
Hearing this, Barbara smiled brightly. Then she took out a wax-sealed parchment scroll and a leather pouch and handed them to Al.
"Here are two letters. The first one is a letter from Sir Levy, marked with the Levy merchant guild's seal. You need to give it to Lord Radyard without opening it. The second one is your reward for escorting Lady Patricia. You�ve earned 10 gold coins. Good job!"
10 gold coins! Grateful, Al took the leather pouch but tilted his head slightly. He thought he had successfully delivered it without any issues, but he sensed something different in Barbara's expression.
"It's about Lady Patricia. She seems totally smitten with you. But be careful."
"No, no, that's not it," Al hurriedly denied it, but Barbara just kept grinning. Patricia was indeed beautiful, but she lived in a different world from Al. It was possible that she had feelings for him, but he didn't know what to do about it.
"Is it really true? I mean, I think that's smart this time... But there are guys like that, huh? You're slim and has long hair. You're not secretly a girl or something, right?"
Barbara had a hard time believing it, but in the end, she seemed to trust about half of what Al said.
"Listen closely. If you lack ambition, it's best to stay away. The Tempest Kingdom is currently weak because of fighting within. Soon, neighboring countries might try to take advantage of this. As a princess with royal blood, many will want to claim her and become the king. Guildmaster Levy looks calm, but Sir Naresh is also a potential threat."
Al shrugged at her words. He wasn't sure if there would be men seeking the throne, but he could see she had a lot of political influence. As he thought about this, he remembered Patricia�s smile when she mentioned the guidance of the Tempest. Her deep green eyes... now that he thought of it, she had been looking at him for some time. Her gaze made his heart race, but it felt good.
Al quickly shook his head and forced a smile.
"I received the payment. Please tell Sir Levy thank you. I will give the letter of introduction directly to Lord Radyard the day after tomorrow."
"Got it, I'll let Sir Levy know. Lord Radyard is strict about time, so don't oversleep the day after tomorrow."
Barbara said this and stood up, telling Iris, who had just brought Al's food, that it was delicious before leaving. Al received his breakfast in silence, feeling something was bothering him as he started to eat the black bread.
"Mr. Al, is something on your mind?"
Iris asked, noticing Al's unusual behavior. Before he knew it, he was the only one left in the dining hall still eating.
"Huh? No, it's nothing. I just got my next job. It looks like I'll be working at the lord's mansion starting the day after tomorrow."
Iris's eyes widened at the mention of the lord's mansion. She seemed to think that working there was a big promotion.
"What? You're not quitting being an adventurer, are you? Are you going to move out of here too?"
Al quickly shook his head. Just yesterday, he had talked about how he could stay for free instead of paying for the inn using the 'Light' spell.
"I'm supposed to get more details from Lord Radyard the day after tomorrow. It's just a temporary job, though."
Iris looked relieved at Al's explanation.
"By the way, while you were gone, a guy named Marcus came by. When I told him you wouldn't be back for a while because of work, he just said 'I see' and left."
When Al asked about Marcus, he learned that Marcus was a bit taller than him and wore a black robe. This made Al think of the apprentice magician at Eric�s, who had a similar name. Al remembered he needed to look at the spellbook at Eric�s place. He hadn�t forgotten about it, but there were other spellbooks he wanted to study first.
"I need to go there too..."
From what he saw yesterday, Orson probably wouldn't be going to work today. Al decided in his heart to go to Eric's and quickly started eating the leftover breakfast.
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