Badge in Azure

Chapter 53: Nut Mercenary (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After dinner, everyone became more familiar with one another. The arrangement of the Nut Mercenary was an interesting one. There were no assassins and no swordsmen who specialized in thin swords. Aside from the mage, everyone was clad in heavy armor.

Out of the eight of them, two used a heavy sword, four used an eight-sided sword, one used a spear, and then there was the mage. This arrangement would have been terrible for a low-grade mercenary regiment. Even for a powerful team like the Nut Mercenary, it was lacking because there were no people suitable for being the scout.

Everyone’s armor was heavy, but wouldn’t it also be strange for the mage to scout at the front?

Saleen was not someone who was chatty, at least not in comparison to Aini. Aini was chatting away happily with Flamenco and the others while he could only discuss some technical problems with Walnut to pass the time. Sika couldn’t speak the Qin language and Nailisi couldn’t even speak the common language. The mercenaries soon realized this problem after speaking to them for a few sentences and had been quick to give up.

“Mage Saleen. If you don’t mind me asking, who is your teacher?”

“Just call me Saleen.” Saleen paused before sighing. “My teacher won’t let me speak his name until I become a grand mage.”

“Oh.” Walnut didn’t find this strange, as many mages had this rule when they passed on their magic lineage. If they did not reach certain standards, the teacher would not acknowledge them as students. This was a means of encouraging the student to improve themselves. Walnut took no notice of it and said, “Saleen, why haven’t I seen you use a magic staff?”

Saleen was a little embarrassed. He had possessed a magic staff but had thrown it away. Since leaving the Chaotic Swamp and having handicapped one of his hands, he had no need for a magic staff.

A magic staff was used to increase the effects of magic and preserve some mental strength as well. Saleen didn’t know much magic and had mastered all the magic that he knew. He didn’t have much need for a magic staff, and since he had a much higher mental strength than other mages of his grade, he hadn’t thought of buying a new staff at Aini’s shop.

“I haven’t found a magic staff that is suitable. Anyway, Walnut, who is your teacher?”

Saleen wasn’t familiar with the pedigree of mages. Even though Jason had owned a lot of books, none of them had touched on this.

“I have no teacher.” Walnut seemed a little dejected.

“You’re impressive. If I didn’t have a teacher, I wouldn’t be anything now,” Saleen comforted Walnut. For a mage without guidance, it was almost impossible to become a grand mage. Walnut was gifted. If he had a teacher, he might have been similar to Jason and become a grand mage at the age of thirty.

“I’m too poor. I can’t afford a teacher.” Walnut caught a glance of the white crystal ring on Saleen’s hand and felt conflicted. He had mistaken Saleen for a rich kid, thinking that was how he afforded a magic teacher. Looking at his ring, it had to be worth tens of thousands of gold coins.

“How much did it cost to hire a teacher?” Saleen was confused. Jason had never talked to him about receiving money. He had even given him money.

“Any registered student has to pay a hundred thousand gold coins every year.”

“So much!” Saleen was shocked. He was very sensitive to money. A hundred thousand gold coins? Even Viscount Gugger from Ceylon City couldn’t produce that much gold. And that was only a year’s worth of fees! Moreover, this was for a registered student. Saleen didn’t know his teacher’s fees, but he did know what a registered student was.

Before Jason had acknowledged him, he had been treated the same as a registered student. Jason had not given him any guidance and had let him figure things out on his own. After he had gained the recognition of Jason, only then did he have a chance to attend weekly magic tests. Sometimes he would pass on some wisdom to Saleen and Saleen could ask him anything that he hadn’t been able to understand from the books.

This difference was too big.

Seeing Saleen become shocked, Walnut was confused. Could it be that his teacher was passing on their skills for free? At this thought, Walnut couldn’t help but display his jealousy on his face.

It wasn’t an obvious expression, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Saleen had been a sensitive person since he was young, he wouldn’t have noticed it.

Aini, for one, would have never had this expression. In that instant, Saleen felt a growing distance between him and Walnut. Jealousy was poison to a mage, and even though Walnut was gifted, his disposition wasn’t firm enough. Probably because of this, no grand mage had taken a fancy to him. To many mages, money was a small matter.

My success has nothing to do with you.

This was a saying from a very powerful mage. This mage had been born a commoner, and without any guidance from anyone, he had reached Grade 9 before he was forty.

Saleen had the fortune of reading the magic diary of this mage when he was a youth and had nothing but respect for the personality of this mage. Despite coming from a poor background, he had persevered and gone down the path of magic one step at a time. Such was the life journey of that mage.

Saleen had not seen anything worth flaunting in the diary, nor any words of grievances.

Even though Saleen felt disgusted with Walnut, they still needed to spend the next three months together and hence he did not display it. Instead, he said enthusiastically, “If a chance comes up in the future, I’ll introduce my teacher to you.”

“Really?” Walnut was ecstatic. This was precisely the reason he had gotten close to Saleen.

“Of course,” Saleen answered sincerely. In his heart though, he was afraid that would never happen. Once he reached the Bitter Water Prefecture and trained in peace there, by the time he became a grand mage, his teacher probably would have already surpassed Grade 6 and returned to the Qin Empire to build his magic tower.

For a mage, the promotion from a Grade 6 to a Grade 7 mage was an important checkpoint in their lives. Once they crossed over, they would be a sorcerer. If they were not able to cross over, there was nothing left in their lives worth pursuing.

Though a sorcerer’s life would be greatly extended, a Grade 6 mage could only live a few decades longer than a commoner. A few decades were too short in relation to the vast world of magic.

At that point, his teacher would most definitely not meet with anyone, including himself. You can wait!

“Saleen, do you have any leftover gemstones? Sell them to me.”

Saleen was starting to despise Walnut. This was standard greedy behavior. Walnut did not seem like a mage at all. Rather, he was like a Sikeqinya merchant. If Saleen said he had any, Walnut would definitely shamelessly bargain with him or even offer to pay in credit. Saleen had seen too many people like him. Half the people in Ceylon City were just like this.

“I still have some biotite left. These things are very hard to price.” Saleen put on an embarrassed expression, and as expected, Walnut stopped pestering him about the gemstones.

Even though biotite had poor uses, it had a special property. After being processed by a powerful alchemist, it would have similar properties to chlorite. However, if one paid an alchemist to process them, the most likely outcome would be that the biotite would turn to ash and one would not get anything out of it.

If it were not processed, biotite had nothing special about it and was worthless.

Many mages had gone bankrupt because of biotite and had not processed a single chlorite in the end. These mages had been mocked as miser mages.

Even though Walnut was greedy, he didn’t dare bet on it. His father was a gambler and had been hacked to death by others when he was young.

“Your ring, it’s made of crystal, am I right?” Walnut changed his target. His eyesight was keen, not missing anything.

“Yes. It was from my teacher.”

Walnut felt a fire raging in him. Saleen’s teacher had actually given his student a magic ring worth tens of thousands. Why hadn’t he met a teacher like that?

Life was unfair. People with wealth could get anything they wanted while a commoner like him could only suffer miserably. At this thought, Walnut clenched his fist, unable to say a word. Because his teeth were clenched so tightly together, he was having a hard time holding it together.

Saleen held up a cup to block his view and drank a cup of restorative water. He couldn’t stand this any longer. Saleen even wondered if it had been a mistake for Aini to hire the Nut Mercenary in the first place.

“Master.” Sika was seated between Nailisi and Saleen. The voice was not too soft and everyone could hear it, but no one could understand a word.

“What is it?” Saleen placed the cup down.

“That mage has ill intentions towards you,” Nailisi laughed softly. From her expression, no one could tell what she was saying. They only knew how melodious her voice sounded in their hearts.

“Quit talking nonsense. Shut up.” Saleen was worried that Walnut could understand ancient Myers language. After all, Walnut was a mage too.

“I’m worried for my master’s safety.” Nailisi covered her face and smiled, almost as if she were whispering to Saleen.

It was then that Walnut began to grow excited. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed Nailisi’s beauty before, but his thirst for magic had led him to focus on Saleen the entire evening.

“Saleen, who is this lady?” Walnut hadn’t been able to get anything from Saleen and thus shifted his target.

Flamenco coughed angrily. If it weren’t for the fact that mages were hard to find, he would have kicked Walnut out a long time ago. He was simply too greedy. However, even though there were many mages in the Qin Empire, not many were willing to join a mercenary regiment. Walnut’s abilities were decent and since he was of a low grade, it didn’t take much to make him stay. Hence, Flamenco had been patient with him. However, now that Walnut had suddenly lost his cool as a mage and was looking strangely at that woman, Flamenco naturally grew angry. What was most important to a mercenary was their credibility, and even if one were a mage, they should not have been giving flirting glances to their employers.

Walnut suddenly felt a surge of horniness rush past him. He ignored Flamenco’s anger and couldn’t stop looking at Nailisi. Saleen couldn’t help but think: If only you were to see how she really looks. Would you still be like this? Despite thinking that, Saleen said, “This is Nailisi. She is a slave that has followed my family for many generations.”

Aini looked over in shock. He had always assumed that Nailisi was Saleen’s protector. Who would have thought she was a slave? He knew that Saleen wasn’t one to joke, but Nailisi was someone who could use a spatial prop!

It turned out Saleen was from a big family too, and he must have had powerful forces backing him up. He was lucky he hadn’t had any despicable thoughts or else he would have gotten himself into big trouble. Sometimes, offending a family was worse than offending the Holy See.

At least the men from the Holy See couldn’t enter the Qin Empire, but for vengeance, a family could get close to the royal family and earn the power for revenge.