Chapter 002: Settlement in Progress
Lin Muqiu pursed his lips and stared at the shining level zero above the young man's head.
She didn't understand why this person's level was still revealed?!
When she glared at him, the boy immediately shrank his neck again, like a little chicken seeing the big bad wolf.
Everyone's eyes changed again.
Medea tried to smooth things over, saying, "I forgot to tell you, we don't practice slavery here, that's why everyone is so wary."
Lin Muqiu retracted his gaze upon hearing this and smiled, "How could I not know? That's my companion. He...he has some special quirks, so he likes to call him master."
Medea: “???”
The people around them looked at them even more strangely, and a few even burst out laughing, but fortunately no one showed any vigilance or malice towards them.
Lin Muqiu also felt that this reason was a bit lame.
But in a small town where slavery is not prevalent, calling someone "master" is like saying "I like to eat pork" in front of a Muslim.
The rule of this town is that if you want to settle down permanently, there will be no slave masters and noble servants, and all residents are equal.
Of course, if it’s just a trip, then it doesn’t matter, just don’t say it in person.
But Lin Muqiu is planning to settle down permanently.
So she immediately added, "Really, our original intention was to just hang out for a bit and then settle down permanently if we felt it was a good fit. How could we break the rules?"
Medea breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. You can continue your stroll. You're fine. It's just hot and you feel dizzy. If you feel dizzy again, remember to go to the town gate well and get a bucket of water. You'll feel better after cooling down."
Lin Muqiu took out thirty copper coins and handed them to her, thanking her repeatedly.
Medea accepted the money, but still worried, so she advised, "It's been incredibly hot these past few days with the natural disasters. Be careful. If you really decide to settle down, you can go to the village hall to complete the formalities."
Facing her kindness, Lin Muqiu curled his lips and said, "Thank you."
Medea was indeed as enthusiastic as she was described in her book.
*
As they walked, noon gradually arrived and the sun rose high in the sky. Lin Muqiu then realized how hot it was.
From the inside out, it was like a furnace boiling in her chest, stirring and churning, roasting all her internal organs.
The wet clothes stuck to my skin.
The soles of his feet seemed to have been softened by the hot sweat and were very swollen. Every step he took felt as if his feet were filled with lead, heavy and pinning.
This is also her fault. When she wrote the novel, she added a semi-natural disaster setting, so there will be some special circumstances in each season.
For example, the high temperatures in summer cause mosquitoes to run rampant; tsunamis occur frequently, which is terrifying.
Just like the severe cold in winter, there is no harvest; avalanches often occur, which is shocking.
…
Fortunately, these mostly occur in forest valleys, and towns usually only have to deal with temperature issues.
She faces more business-related problems.
It doesn't matter, she has the ability to turn a survival story into a heartwarming farming story.
But then again, maybe it’s because of the high temperature in summer that the people hawking their wares along the way are in low spirits, and the people strolling along the street don’t have much interest in shopping either.
"Give me two sandwiches." She said to the man selling sandwiches.
"10 copper coins each."
The uncle took the money and handed it to her. She gave one of them to the boy and prepared to eat the other one herself.
She took a bite and found it tasteless.
Whole wheat bread is hard and tastes bad, like tearing paper.
People here are thrifty and don't even want to throw away wheat husks, so the bread they make is so hard and unpalatable that it can be used as a weapon.
The lettuce leaves in between had a soft and juicy taste.
Perhaps it is because people have a low appetite in summer and fewer people buy lettuce. In addition, lettuce is easy to spoil in summer and stores do not change vegetables frequently, so lettuce has an unpleasant and strange smell.
The only piece of meat that people were looking forward to was dry and tough, and had a raw and fishy smell that made people cover their noses.
Perhaps it is because most of the meat here is hunted rather than raised, the beasts are not castrated, and they are not bled when killed, so the bloody smell is very strong and it tastes very bad.
This is too disgusting and a complete waste of food.
Lin Muqiu frowned and thought.
But the uncle still insisted, "How is it? It's delicious, right?"
She pursed her lips, "Not bad."
The uncle's face froze in place, but Lin Muqiu had no time to care.
She only secretly thought about how to open the grocery store.
She brought seasonings and a small amount of ingredients. What she lacked now was manpower and the funds needed to open a stall and find a place to live.
In short, she was short of people and money.
She glanced indifferently at the boy beside her who was munching on bread pitifully without saying a word.
His temples were wet with sweat, and he followed her every step like an abandoned dog.
Lin Muqiu's heart moved.
Isn't this free labor?!
Great, the manpower problem has been solved temporarily.
We will expand the scale and recruit more people later.
So she raised a guilty and gentle smile and asked with concern: "Are you okay?"
juvenile:"???"
Was it his imagination? Why was there a hint of...excitement in her compassionate eyes?
And why did her smile contain a sense of happiness at seeing free labor?
Before the young man could answer with red ears, Lin Muqiu suddenly heard a heartbreaking cry: "Someone come and save him! He has heatstroke! As long as it can be cured, I'm willing to pay any amount!"
Lin Muqiu raised his eyebrows.
Great, the funds for opening a store actually came to my door.
*
At the sound source.
Linde was holding his companion who had fainted from heatstroke in his arms, shivering all over.
Although Medea beside him gave his companion a cooling potion, his companion still did not wake up.
Medea's forehead was covered with sweat. "There is only a level 20 cooling potion in our town. If this person still hasn't woken up, I'm afraid..."
She didn't say anything else.
But Lind understood.
Linde glared like a stubborn bull and shouted, "Impossible!"
Medea tried her best to comfort him, saying, "You'd better put him in the bucket. If you're lucky, there might be an ice mage passing by in the town. Maybe he can be saved."
Lind picked up his companion, who was soaked in cold water but still showing no signs of cooling down, and said with tears in his eyes, "I won't let him die here! Please find me a carriage. I'll put him in a bucket of cold water and take him to a big town to seek medical treatment!"
Medea stopped him, saying, "Don't rush into anything! The medicine in this town is all bought at a loss from the surrounding earldoms, just in case... If you want better medicine to reduce your fever, you'll have to go to Stank Castle, the duchy, and it'll take at least a day and a night!"
One day and one night would probably only hasten his death.
Lind was devastated.
If he had not been greedy and insisted on killing more beasts today, perhaps his companions would not have insisted on holding on until noon, and ended up coming back in the scorching heat and suffering from heatstroke.
It was a hot summer day and there was no one around to even help them.
No one expected this summer to be so hot, and most people went home to escape the heat.
Just as Lind was becoming increasingly desperate, a gentle voice came from the side asking, "I'm an ice mage. If I'm willing to save him, how much are you willing to pay?"
Lind raised his head and saw the woman with her hands behind her back, as if she was confident of what she had done.
There was a faint smile on her red lips. In the scorching sun, her hair was like a dazzling spot of light reflecting the light, flying like golden threads, making people dare not look directly at her.
At this moment, she was like a god in Linde's heart.
Medea, who was standing next to her, was also shocked and stared at her in a daze.
On the one hand, she couldn't believe that the hard-to-find ice mage would be willing to come to such a small town. On the other hand, she couldn't understand...
Why do ice mages get heatstroke?
Could he be a scammer?
There was a strange look in Medea's eyes.
"I'm willing to pay 10 silver coins!" Lind said, gritting his teeth.
In the other world, one hundred copper coins equal one silver coin, and one hundred silver coins equal one gold coin.
For ordinary people, 20 silver coins are enough to live a comfortable life.
Lin Muqiu responded: "Okay."
She waited for so long before taking action just to increase her value in the other person's heart.
Judging from the man's appearance, 10 silver coins should be the limit.
"But you have to save him first." Lin De seemed to still have some concerns and didn't dare to trust her directly.
Lin Muqiu no longer hesitated, picked up a branch and held it up.
Lind: “?”
Medea: “?”
Ice Cave
She activated her skill.
The icy cold air climbed up the branches and onto the leaves like ivy, leaving a layer of frost. The frost seemed to have a purpose and floated around the person lying on the ground.
Originally his face was flushed red, like a cooked shrimp, but when the magic was cast, his eyebrows were frozen white in an instant.
The temperature around them dropped instantly, and even Medea felt a lot cooler.
Medea was shocked.
The person in front of him could actually use any branch he picked up as a magic wand.
This magic level must be at least thirty or forty, right?
Moreover, she was frozen for several seconds without stopping. This magic power continued like a gurgling stream. How powerful is she!
As the temperature dropped, the person lying on the ground choked and coughed and woke up.
Lind immediately rushed over, crying and shouting, "Alex, I will listen to you from now on. Please don't get into any trouble."
"He'll be fine." Lin Muqiu raised a kind smile, "Give me the money."
"Oh." Lind scratched his head and handed over his silver coins with both hands while thanking him.
Alex on the side saw this scene and his eyes widened.
Ten silver coins would take them half a month to earn!
But the ice mage is only at this price, which is still considered cheap.
Alex groaned as he watched this scene, not knowing whether it was because of the pain or the heartache.
"Thank you." Lin Muqiu smiled happily and turned to Medea and said, "Would it be convenient for you to take me to the Lord's Hall?"
Medea woke up as if from a dream and realized that such a big man was actually going to settle down in their town.
What an honor it is to have an ice mage.
Thinking about how I had doubted the other party just now...
Medea's eyes instantly showed a hint of guilt.
If the ice mage could really settle here, perhaps not so many people would have to die in the hot summer.
As a pharmacist, every time she sees lives slipping away in her hands, she feels extremely powerless.
"Let's go!" Medea's eyes lit up, full of hope and expectation. "Don't you want to settle down? I'll take you there!"
Lind and Alex also came to their senses and couldn't believe it.
It is common to see ice mages coming to the small town. After all, some of them want to make a fortune during the hot summer. In a small place, fever cannot be cured and can be fatal.
But there is indeed no wizard willing to settle in such a small town.
Lin Muqiu looked at their hungry eyes: "???"
Finally, Lin Muqiu, led by the three of them, walked to the check-in area.
That is the lord's mansion.
Lin Muqiu raised his eyebrows slightly, "Why did you come to the Lord's Mansion?"
Medea stuttered a little: "Because... because, the Lord happens to be free today, so I came to help relieve the pressure on the Household Registration Office."
Lin Muqiu smiled and nodded, "Then the lord here is indeed diligent and caring about the people."
Medea's face turned even redder.
Lin Muqiu didn't ask any questions and just wanted to go inside.
"Wait a moment!" Medea stopped her. "Well, wait outside the lord's mansion. I need to report the situation in the territory to the lord first."
After saying that, she sprinted up the stairs, looking back every three steps and saying, "It's really quick, don't worry."
Lin Muqiu smiled and nodded.
After Medea left, Lin Muqiu fell into deep thought again.
The young man next to him watched for a long time before he mustered up the courage to ask, "Are you worried about the high settlement fee? Are you unable to afford it?"
Lin Muqiu felt a little strange, "Why do you ask?"
The boy hesitated, "Because there are two of us..."
Lin Muqiu suddenly realized, "Don't worry, I won't abandon you."
After that, she narrowed her eyes and smiled, "I'm just thinking about how to maximize my benefits. If I settle here, they should definitely give me some benefits."
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