Chapter 20 Arnel's Levitation
Chapter 20 Arnel's Levitation "Rebuilding a stable will cost about thirteen gold coins... rounding it up, that's twenty..."
"It costs two gold coins to rebuild a cart. Money is secondary. The most important thing is that the ox pulling the cart was frightened... This ox is the strongest and most energetic in Idar County. Because of you, it may give birth to fewer calves this year. Therefore, as for the mental damage and treatment costs... round it up to ten gold coins..."
"If you add the white bread you stole and the cost of treating your injuries..."
Bruno stopped writing, raised his head, and said with a smile: "My respected wizard consultant, Mr. Arnel Blood, you now owe me a total of 45 gold coins, which means... you now owe me nine months' salary."
Arnel stared at the long string of numbers Bruno listed on the parchment in amazement. After a while, he said, "If we round thirteen gold coins... shouldn't it be ten gold coins?"
"This is our tradition in Idar, we prefer high to low," Bruno explained.
"So that's how it is..." Arnel nodded thoughtfully.
"So..." Bruno took out a roll of parchment and said, "This is an employment contract that I asked Old Ford to rewrite. Please take a look at it and sign it..."
While Arnel was looking down at the employment contract, Bruno said, "According to the new contract, your monthly salary will still be five gold coins before you pay off your debts, but two gold coins will be automatically deducted to pay off the debts. The calculation rules for the interest on the debts are explained in the contract..."
Arnel felt that the words on the parchment were pitifully small and densely packed, and he felt a headache reading them: "Can't the words be written a little bigger..."
"I'm sorry, the parchment of Idar is tight lately... If there's no problem, just sign it quickly..." Bruno said with a smile.
Arnel was too lazy to read it, he just picked up the pen and signed his name in a few strokes.
Bruno took the contract from Arnel, took a closer look, and then stamped the Stuart family seal with satisfaction. A mage's indenture was completed, perfect...
"Ahem..." Bruno cleared his throat, straightened his sitting position, and said, "Mr. Arnel, we should talk about other things now... For example, your levitation..."
"Levitation is the first magic I have come into contact with. Although I don't know higher-level magic yet, performing levitation is definitely a piece of cake." Anel was full of confidence.
"How many times can it be released in a day? How long can each time last?" Bruno asked directly.
"Also, what do you think of working eight hours a day? That should be pretty humane, right?"
Arnel: “???”
I am a wizard, a wizard!
Working eight hours a day? Even the donkeys in the production team are not that productive!
"Bruno Stuart, Count of Idar," Arnel finally said seriously, "Are you sure you are not kidding?"
"I don't think so."
"Casting spells consumes a great deal of the caster's mental and magical power. Not to mention working eight hours a day, even casting spells for two hours straight is a fantasy," Arnel retorted.
"I need to remind you that the reason I hired you is because I want to build a hanging garden. If it is built only with the help of serfs, it will take a long time to complete. So I want you to assist those serfs and cast levitation spells on the stones or wood to speed up the progress of the project." Bruno said frankly.
"It's a shame for a wizard to associate with serfs! It's a stain on the nobility!" Anel said angrily.
Bruno asked in return: "Serfs are neither stupid nor mean. They earn food and shelter with their own strength. What qualifications do you have to despise them?"
The room suddenly became quiet, as if the air had frozen. Bruno stopped talking and just watched the complex expression on Arnel's face constantly changing.
For Anel, Bruno's remarks today were already shocking.
After all, the western part of the empire where he was born was probably the place on the entire continent where serfs were most severely exploited and persecuted. More than half of the serfs in the entire Idar territory were bought from slave traders in the western part of the empire.
Arnel seemed to have given up resistance. After all, he had to bow his head when under someone's roof. So he said resignedly, "It takes me about seven or eight seconds to chant the levitation spell, but I need to rest after casting eight or nine spells in a row at most. You should know that casting magic consumes a lot of a mage's mental energy."
Bruno nodded in approval.
In fact, Bruno was not completely ignorant of magic. After Arnel's arrival, he also received some special "tuition". Therefore, in Bruno's opinion, Arnel's efficiency in releasing the levitation spell was already very high.
After all, for most ordinary wizard apprentices, they may need to rest after casting three or two spells.
But what surprised Bruno was that if Arnel's mental strength could support him to cast the levitation spell eight or nine times in a row, then such mental strength should be considered extremely excellent, and he should not be able to only use basic magic...
However, since Anel didn't say anything, Bruno didn't bother to delve into it. After all, the most important thing was to get started as soon as possible.
As for Bruno's request of "working eight hours a day" at the beginning, it was naturally not counted, but...isn't that what negotiation is all about? Asking for a high price and paying a low price. If a realistic request was set at the beginning, who knows, Arnel, the noble mage, might even ask for more...
After thinking for a moment, Bruno suddenly said, "There is something I have always wanted to ask you. You know... on the envelopes between the Regent Council and the nobles, there are usually magic marks to ensure that the letters are not opened before delivery. Once the envelope is destroyed, the magic mark will dissipate. In this case... can levitation be attached to certain objects, so that these objects have the levitation effect for a certain period of time?"
"Hmm?" Arnel was stunned for a moment. It seemed that he had never thought about this question before...
"It should be... impossible. After all, no one has ever tried it." Arnel said uncertainly.
"How can the magic mark on the envelope exist for so long?" Bruno asked. "It is a special magic circle..." Arnel thought thoughtfully, as if he had grasped a thin thread that was almost invisible but could not figure it out.
(End of this chapter)
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