Watching Felix's bloated figure disappear into the distance, Leon finally turned back and looked at the two thugs Jimmy had brought. "Why are you still here? Waiting for me to treat you to dinner?"
The two thugs, who had been frozen in shock, were suddenly jolted awake by Leon. "Ah, we're leaving, we're leaving right now..."
As the two thugs carried Jimmy away, the spacious house grew quiet once more. The old butler, Perry, sat in a chair with Leon's help. The scrape on his arm had been bandaged and was nothing serious, but his face remained troubled. "Young master, about those eight thousand gold coins..."
"Don't worry, it'll be handled." Leon replied casually. He truly wasn't bothered by the eight thousand gold coins. It wasn't that he had no concept of money because he came from the apocalypse—in fact, the opposite was true. Having survived the end times, Leon craved wealth more than anyone. He'd had enough of a world where people killed over a sip of clean water. Now, as long as you had money, you could buy anything.
But eight thousand gold coins really wasn't much. For a mage far beyond this era, it wasn't enough to trouble him. He had plenty of ways to get that money within three days.
He'd just survived a near-death journey through time and taken over a completely unfamiliar body. Never mind how cleanly he'd dealt with Jimmy just now—right now, Leon's mind was a mess. Who had time to worry about a mere eight thousand gold coins?
But while Leon didn't care, Perry definitely did. Seeing his young master so unconcerned, the old butler grew anxious. "Young master, we really can't come up with that money right now. We sold off all our assets to pay for those goods, and with the compensation for the families of the dead, we're truly out of funds..."
"I remember my father transferred an alchemy shop to my name before he died, right?" Leon searched through Matthew Merlin's memories and confirmed it. The shop was technically his, but Roger Merlin still sent people to manage it. The whole point was to make it easier for Matthew to buy magical materials.
"That alchemy shop is still around, but..."
"But what?"
"But after the master died in the shipwreck, all three alchemists left. Can't blame them, really. With Goldspark Trading Company in shambles, they had to look out for themselves." Perry shook his head as he spoke. The most important thing for an alchemy shop is its alchemists. The master spent a fortune poaching those three top alchemists from Seaview City. If they were still around, maybe they couldn't keep the whole company afloat, but getting through this crisis would be no problem at all. That kind of business made gold hand over fist—paying off a debt of eight thousand coins would be nothing.
Unfortunately, all three alchemists are gone. Even if there are some leftover magical materials in the warehouse, they're just cheap stock from before. Without alchemists to turn lead into gold, selling it all still wouldn't cover the eight thousand gold coin debt.
"As long as it's still there, I'll go take a look..."
"Young master, you're going to check it out?" Perry was a bit taken aback. It was strange—ever since his young master fainted this morning, he'd seemed different. In the past, he never would have talked back to that damned Felix.
And then there was Jimmy—after his right hand was roasted, he was rolling on the ground, bawling like a child. Even Perry felt a chill watching it, but Leon hadn't even flinched. Calm, collected—completely unlike the gloomy, sighing young master of just a few days ago.
The young master really had grown up. Too bad the old master would never see it.
As they spoke, footsteps sounded outside. In walked a young man, about twenty, short and dressed in a black robe. Embroidered on the cuff was a two-legged dragon—the mark of Auckland Magic Academy, the best in the eastern kingdom.
No doubt about it—he was a student from Auckland Magic Academy, and he'd already advanced to mage. Only mages were allowed to wear the black robe.
The young mage hurried in. Seeing Perry bandaged and covered in dust, his expression changed instantly. "Matthew Merlin, look at what you've done! My father has worked for your family for over thirty years, and now he has to clean up this mess for you. That's more than enough loyalty, isn't it? How could you let my father get hurt like this?"
"Raymond, that's enough!" Perry shouted at his son, wanting to defend his young master.
The problem was, Raymond was furious now—he wasn't about to listen to any explanations. His father had worked for the Merlin family for over thirty years, always loyal and hardworking. Now Goldspark Trading Company was ruined, and he stubbornly stayed behind to care for the young master. And what was the result...?
After news of the shipwreck broke, Raymond had been worried sick, terrified his father might run into trouble here. He managed to get a ten-day leave, then rushed all the way from Falling Star Lake to Seaview City. Sure enough, on the way, he heard that Roger Merlin's cousin Felix had brought Jimmy to collect the debt.
Raymond grew up in Seaview City—he knew exactly what kind of person Jimmy was. Panicked, he raced to the Merlin household, and seeing Perry in this state, all his anger naturally landed on Leon.
To be honest, Raymond had never really respected the young master. It used to be because he had a wealthy, powerful father. From the moment he started learning magic, he got the best conditions—his master was an archmage, and when he needed magical materials for experiments, his father just handed him an entire alchemy shop. Every year, his expenses alone were at least a hundred thousand gold coins.
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But despite all those advantages, he was always stuck outside the door to becoming a mage. After all these years and all that money, he was still just a ninth-level mage apprentice. Raymond had often thought, if he'd had those opportunities, he'd be far more accomplished than he was now.
Later, when Raymond himself became a mage and looked back at Matthew Merlin, all the envy and jealousy disappeared. Mages don't envy apprentices—there's too big a gap, they're worlds apart. As the professors at the academy say, a mage doesn't even see a magic apprentice as a real existence...
"Young master, I'm so sorry. This brat doesn't know anything and comes in here yelling at you. Wait a moment, I'll teach him a lesson and make him apologize to you."
"It's fine. Raymond's still young—a little impulsive is normal..." Leon couldn't care less what he was thinking. After a few more words with Perry, he headed straight for the door, calling out as he left, "By the way, Raymond, your father needs to rest. Since you're here, if you have nothing else to do, come with me to the Gilded Rose."
"Me...?" Raymond nearly choked on his own breath. Was this guy trying to get himself killed? A mere ninth-level mage apprentice, daring to order a full mage around like this!
Sadly, before the proud mage could even get angry, Perry lost his temper first. "You little brat, do you want to drive me to my grave before you're satisfied?"
"Alright, alright, I'm going..." Raymond had grown up without a mother, raised entirely by Perry. He both respected and feared his father. Seeing the old man get angry, his mage pride vanished—he put on a sheepish grin, checked Perry's injuries, and, after making sure he was fine, grabbed his staff and hurried after Leon.
It was about a twenty-minute walk from the Merlin house to the Gilded Rose. The whole way, Raymond didn't bother hiding his annoyance toward Leon. Out of respect for his father, he decided not to make trouble for now—but if Leon pushed his luck, he'd make sure to give him a hard time.
To Raymond, it was a sure thing.
A ninth-level mage apprentice stuck for years—finally getting to meet a real mage, how could he not seize the chance to get close? If nothing else, just hearing about how to form a mana vortex would save him countless detours, not to mention all the other details. As long as this Merlin kid wasn't an idiot, he'd definitely start pestering him with questions.
Just wait till he tries to cozy up—then I'll put on a cold face and mock him a few times. Let's see if he ever dares to order a mage around again.
Yeah, that's the plan!
So Raymond waited...
[Author's Note: Four chapters updated! Hey, you know what to do—don't make me roll around begging...]