Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Day broke.

"Clip-clop, clip-clop..."

The sound of horse hooves rang out as Richard and Jia Lie rode into Jialan City.

Jialan City is situated in the southern part of the Main Continent, thousands of miles away from the nearest seaport, having left the coastal area behind, it is an inland city—a typical inland city.

Because of the undulating terrain surrounding it, transportation was not well developed, which hindered the rapid development of Jialan City, leaving it to this day as a medium-sized city.

However, every cloud has a silver lining. Given that Jialan City is surrounded by mountains on three sides, it possesses unimaginable mineral resources so that local people basically don't need to labor in farming to earn a substantial income. Of course, most of the income was carved up by the Nobles, leaving only the scraps between the teeth, the meager remnants of food for the ordinary Civilians.

Most residents relied on strenuous mining work in the mountains to earn enough money to meet their living needs. This was better than the Farmers elsewhere who depended on the weather for their crops, since the income was stable, but it also meant it was difficult to find a way out.

Jia Lie was well aware of this and had left Jialan City to try his luck out in the world, hoping to rise above his station.

But clearly, he had underestimated the dangers of the outside world and overestimated his own luck; he suffered a series of setbacks and fell to the level of a beggar.

Fortune, however, had not completely forsaken him; at the last moment, it gave him a chance, a job that allowed him to return to Jialan City.

To become a wizard's servant was a job that fell short of Jia Lie's dreams, but it was better than any he had had before. So, Jia Lie took great care to perform each task directed to him, hoping to keep this job for as long as possible.

...

"Clip-clop, clip-clop..."

The sound of horse hooves echoed within Jialan City as Jia Lie led Richard, viewing the vacant courtyards inside the city.

This was Richard's request.

Since he had come to Jialan City, he planned to stay for a while, which naturally required finding a residence.

At that moment, as he rode, Jia Lie carefully pulled on the horse's reins, bringing the horse to a stop.

Having successfully stopped the horse, Jia Lie breathed a sigh of relief, quietly wiped away a bead of sweat, and turned his head towards Richard who had effortlessly stopped beside him. Pointing to a courtyard on the street, he began, "Master, look, this is the largest vacant courtyard in the city, said to belong to a Noble with a title.

This Noble left Jialan City for a larger city up north, and that's why he entrusted his courtyard to a friend to sell. The price should be around twelve hundred Gold Coins, but if you want it, you might be able to bargain it down to about a thousand Gold Coins."

Having heard this, Richard's eyebrows rose.

According to the purchasing power of the Gold Coin in Jialan City, a thousand Gold Coins were roughly equivalent to one million and eight hundred thousand to two million and two hundred thousand RMB on Earth. To buy an over one thousand square meter courtyard at such a price was quite cheap indeed. However...

Richard shook his head.

Seeing Richard shake his head, Jia Lie cautiously asked, "Master, do you think the price is too high?"

"No," Richard looked at the carriages and pedestrians that occasionally passed on the street and said, "Price is not the issue; the main concern is that this place is too bustling. I don't like busy places. The more secluded the courtyard, the better, to avoid being disturbed."

"Is that so." Jia Lie nodded, feeling slightly baffled inside. He didn't understand what was wrong with a place being a bit lively, but he attributed it to the wizard preferring not to engage with people.

After thinking for a moment, Jia Lie said, "There's another courtyard in the northern part of the city, a bit smaller than this one, but its secluded location indeed makes it very quiet. Master, would you like to go see it?"

"Let's go take a look then," Richard said.

"Yes," Jia Lie said, gently patting the horse's hindquarters to get it moving, gripping the reins tightly to prevent falling off, and taking the lead towards the distance.

Richard followed behind, observing Jia Lie's cautious way of riding and knew clearly that Jia Lie's caution was not due to fear but rather his lack of skill in horsemanship.

As a civilian, Jia Lie faced a natural gulf between himself and the nobles—opportunities to ride horses were sparse. Without long periods of practice, being able to stay on horseback without falling off was considered good.

Through the horse riding experience on the way to Jialan City, Jia Lie's horsemanship had somewhat improved, but it had still only just reached a beginner's level, and caution was necessary.

After all, horse riding was not without risk. Poor control could easily lead to a fall, and at the very least, this would result in minor injuries.

More seriously, it could lead to death by falling from horseback.

Throughout the history of Earth, whether in the East or the West, there were numerous people who died from falling off horses, and not even famous individuals were exempt. For instance: the Western Han Huailiang King, Emperor Zhao of Beiqi, Genghis Khan as mentioned in the "Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty," and William I from the British Norman Dynasty.

In some sense, horse riding was even more dangerous than driving cars on Earth.

It is worth mentioning that, in the current world, even wizards still relied on horses for long-distance land travel, without developing any alternative transportation methods. Creatures like hippogriffs, griffins, and wyverns were nowhere to be seen; teleportation circles and the like were merely stuff of legends.

This clearly hindered the communication between wizards and constrained the emergence of a higher-level wizard civilization. Whether this would improve in the future remained unknown.

...

Pondering these thoughts, Richard followed Jia Lie to another courtyard in the north of the city.

It was clear that this courtyard was much smaller in area, with dense cracks on the walls, and wild grass growing through the door gaps—it was quite dilapidated.

Jia Lie spoke up to introduce, "Master, this here is the courtyard I mentioned to you. It once belonged to a wealthy merchant who, after making some money, purchased this property. Unfortunately, he offended someone and was killed, and the estate was then inherited by a distant relative of the perpetrator.

The distant relative who inherited the house has always wanted to sell it, but the asking price is very high, at least one thousand gold coins, so it has remained unpurchased to this day. If you're interested, master, it could probably be managed for six hundred gold coins."

After hearing Jia Lie's words, Richard did not respond verbally but instead looked around, his gaze settling on a stone building not far away.

The Stone Building was four stories tall, and from its top level, one could clearly see everything inside the courtyard.

Richard frowned slightly, then shook his head and said to Jia Lie, "This won't do either; there's a risk of being spied upon. Besides peace and quiet, the place I plan to live in must also be secret, not exposed to prying eyes."

"This…" Jia Lie's expression became somewhat conflicted, "Master, there are courtyards that meet your requirements, but they are not easy to find in this city. It will take at least a day or two to find one. Unless... you go outside the city and buy an estate."

"An estate?"

"Yes, an estate," Jia Lie affirmed, "From what I know, there are a few small estates that are quiet and hidden from prying eyes—surrounded by fields after all. But the problem is... they are somewhat expensive."

"How expensive?"

"The cheapest one would also cost two thousand gold coins," Jia Lie cautiously stated, viewing it as a fortune he could never earn in his lifetime.

Little did he know, Richard simply nodded and said, "Two thousand gold coins? Well, that's not a problem then. Let's go have a look." Having said that, Richard rode off in the direction outside the city.

Jia Lie was momentarily stunned before hastily following, eyeing Richard's retreating back, his gaze flitting with speculation. Upon reflecting on Richard's words, he suddenly realized that the wizard master he served might be far wealthier than he had imagined.

Perhaps... had he unwittingly attached himself to a major benefactor?

...