City of Sin

Book 3, 44

Just Youth(2)

Richard could only smile helplessly, “But why did you have so much faith in me?”

“Because Her Excellency Sharon once said that you’re a future saint runemaster.”

“Master always exaggerates her words,” Richard said with a forced smile.

“No!” In a rare display of solemn earnestness, Agamemnon looked up from the pile of food.

“How could that even be possible?” Nyris shouted. What left Richard speechless was the fact that two pieces of roasted meat disappeared down his throat even as he did so, his eating not delayed in the slightest. “Very few people know this, but every comment from Her Excellency is a prediction. And anyone she has ever evaluated has ended up with achievements somewhere around what she said.”

“That can’t be...?” Now, it was Richard’s turn to be shocked. He had no idea that his teacher possessed such abilities. Her speaking style had always been rather... exaggerated, especially when it came to people she liked or disliked. If not for Sharon’s Delight, Richard would add in a ‘very’ to that statement. However, some serious consideration brought to mind the fact that Sharon had never decently evaluated anyone during the time he spent in the Deepblue except himself.

“It’s true,” Nyris followed up, “It’s said that the eyes of Her Excellency can pierce through the river of time and view images of the future. It’s the one thing about her that Father admires the most after the amount of food she can eat. It’s said that it has something to do with her race.”

“Race? She’s not human?” Richard was slightly shocked.

“Of course not!” What, you didn’t know? You’re the student she’s most proud of! But then again, it’s not that strange. Nobody knows her race— not even my dad.” Nyris said mysteriously. Of course, another honey-covered rib disappeared down his throat in the meanwhile, “But it’s said that it takes a few centuries for those of her race to grow into adults. Even dragons don’t need so long to grow! Oh... Hey Richard! We’re friends now, you definitely can’t tell Her Excellency that I said this!”

Richard was truly shocked this time.

Agamemnon suddenly looked up, “You’ve said too much!”

Nyris suddenly understood, hitting his own head in vexation, “Crap! I forgot that Her Excellency will know if her name is mentioned too many times! Enough of that... Richard, let’s discuss the matter with you being a royal runemaster!”

Richard was just about to accept when Agamemnon suddenly pushed a pile of roasted meatballs towards him, “Eat first. The food here is very expensive, and he eats too fast.”

These roasted meatballs looked ordinary, but upon tasting one Richard found it had a familiar taste. He had often eaten this sort of meat in the Deepblue. While the meatball was tiny, a fire surged out when it entered his stomach that slowly spread towards his limbs and bones.

“Red Dragon ribs! It’s not easy to find, I had to use an entire week’s allowance!” Nyris cried piteously. It had to be said that the youth was just too pretty, the fake wails left one feeling sympathy for him.

Richard felt bad and tried to push the plate to the middle of the table, but Agamemnon held his arm and explained, “Ignore him, he’s the best at acting pitiful!”

Left at a loss for what to do, Richard began to annihilate the meatballs on the plate. “So,” he asked as he ate, “What duties does a royal runemaster have?”

“The first task is thirty sets each of Savage Barrier and Savage Strike!” Nyris didn’t hold back.

Richard was left unsure of whether to laugh or cry once more. Forget the rate of success, even if every single attempt succeeded that was still three hundred runes! How long would it take? Besides, he had only just officially become a runemaster. He had no real workshop, no proficient helpers nor apprentices.

Agamemnon frowned, “Be serious. We aren’t that close to Richard.”

Nyris shrugged and said, “Fine! Seeing as you helped us beat down Lunor, and let me appear good in front of Father, the royal family is willing to provide you access to any of the materials in our warehouse. All we need is one rune for every four sets of materials. If you’re building your rune sets, then there’s a bit more leeway. The second requirement is that the royal family needs to have first priority to buy your runes, at the same price as others of course. Also, outside of the materials, you will also get a million gold coins as compensation every year from the family.”

Richard had known that there were benefits of becoming a royal runemaster, but he had never assumed they would be so immense! Although powerful runes had a high failure rate, his own success rate was unimaginably high. It would be a huge source of profit.

“Alright then, can you sell the two sets you showed to us first?”

“It isn’t two sets,” Richard corrected, “It’s one set and a separate rune.”

“Six runes are fine. I want them all!”

It had been a very strange lunch. Richard felt something strange that he could not describe as he left the building. Was it that Nyris and Agamemnon were just too direct, so direct that they seemed genuine? They were different from all the other noble children he had met before.

Agamemnon had patted his shoulder when they were about to part, saying, “Let’s take over planes together!” In that moment, he had been slightly touched.

The royal guards escorted Richard back to his island. When he walked out of the teleportation gate, his heart had turned cold and hard once more. He walked into Gaton’s study and sat in Gaton’s seat, beginning to skim through the documents piled high on the table.

Most of them were invitations, messages, or name cards, all in huge quantities. Even with his blessing of wisdom and the ability to think ten times as fast as a commoner, he still needed quite some time to look through everything earnestly. However, he was not planning to go to any of these banquets. He already held the title of royal runemaster now, and his results from the convention had surpassed expectations. Just like Nyris said, wasting time was wasting divine grace. What he needed most now was to raise his power and influence, not to go to banquets and meet noble ladies.

He planned to only stay in Norland for seven days.

However, he still had some things to deal with before he returned. He rang a bell to summon the old steward, “Invite the three knights and Miss Fuschia. Call Demi, Wennington, and Venica over as well. And get Erwin in here.”

The steward accepted the order and left. A moment later, everyone was present.

Of course, Erwin was ‘accompanied’ by two of Gaton’s personal guard.