Chapter 36: Get your filthy hands off her (1/2)
”Enrolment?” Stunned by what Irea clearly took for the answer to his question, Layn turned even more confused instead. While the word itself wasn't foreign to him, the meaning behind it was simply too abstract for Layn to acknowledge it right away.
”Yeah. You said that you lack proper foundations, didn't you?” Sending a light nudge to Layn's side, Irea quickly trodded out of the archmage's reach, avoiding the retribution. ”Isn't the cultivation academy the best choice then?”
'As if.' Shrugging at just the idea of entering some kind of school once again, dread befell Layn's soul. Not because the school seemed scary to him for some reason, but because of how useless and wasteful going to one would be!
'On the other hand though,' suddenly struck by a realisation, Layn looked around. Everywhere around, everything was different to what he remembered from his own time. The buildings, the clothing of the people around them, their possessions…
Heck, even the food on the street-stalls was starkly different, although the heavy use of oil and spices was just the same. But if just being out in the open of the street was so rich in the experience of the ancient world, wouldn't a school be a perfect way to learn some common sense?
”First off, I'm not okay with all of you pitching in just…” Turning to the wider audience, Layn directed his words to the rest of the group as well. But before he could finish, Karter and Sitra stepped forward. Passing a sheet of paper forward, the leader of the group looked calmly in the archmage's face.
”This is the list of spoils that we obtained from the vagabonds you killed.” While it was only Layn's guess, it seemed as if using Kerren's name out in the open could cause them some trouble. Lowering his eyes down on the markings on the page, the archmage once again cursed the fact that he was unable to read local letters or numbers.
”On the right side, Sitra calculated the overall worth of those tokens we saved for you.” Pointing his finger at the specific parts of the paper, Karter explained its content. ”I assumed you wouldn't like to be indebted to us, so here is the offer.”
Passing the long piece of paper to Layn, Karter straightened before rising his eyes at the archmage. ”Out of the fair share of the spoils that you imposed, we will deduct the equivalent of a hundred tokens. Irea, explain the rest.”
After being waved at, Irea once again stepped forward, even going as far as grabbing Layn's hand to bring his attention to her face. ”It's just easier to use tokens rather than plain money when talking about the academy. Think of it as accepting someone by recommendation rather than an outright fee.”
Clutching her hands around Layn's arm, Irea smiled. Then, her eyes twitched, only for her body to freeze in place.
”Teacher?” Shouting from the other side of the street, a youth in relatively plain robes made a surprised face. Then, his shock turned into delight, as he and a group of people around him instantly raced forward.
”Teacher, I'm so glad to see you back in good health!” Stopping right before the girl, the leader of the pack instantly bowed before bringing his face up. Putting a wide smile on his lips, the youngling started his litany.