Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 2 Professor Old

In the college corridor.

Locke was pondering a way out when Ald Franklin, the college's history teacher, suddenly appeared in the corridor.

Old Franklin was about sixty years old, one-eyed, with a black eyepatch over his left eye and gold-rimmed glasses over his right.

The old man was accompanied by a student.

Locke immediately recognized that the student was also from the Kingdom of Anjou, and was Angel Maclink, the youngest daughter of Viscount Maclink from the southern region of the Kingdom of Anjou.

Previously, he and the original owner of this body were in the same circle in this academy.

At this moment, Angel was chatting and laughing with the old man, while Professor Old was speaking to her with a smile.

“Angel, I know you can’t afford the tuition for this term. I can’t waive it for you. But I can offer you a way to earn money. After the last class each morning, you can come to my office and copy historical texts for me. You only need to copy for an hour each day at noon.”

Professor Old said with a kind smile, "The reward for each time is ten gold coins."

Angel's face showed interest.

Earning ten gold coins a day is certainly not enough to pay for a semester's tuition at Aurelian Academy.

But ever since her family stopped providing her with financial support, she has struggled to even maintain her previous lifestyle, and all her former friends have turned against her.

So, she is indeed short of money right now.

Angel said, "Professor, I'm willing. Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

"You are such a good person."

"I never realized you were so kind."

Professor Old smiled, then looked up and saw Locke Augustine, his expression immediately showing surprise, his eyes flickering.

"That's strange, it's been more than a week."

"Could it be that……"

Professor Old's smile widened as he said to Locke, "Locke, you haven't been to my office for three days. Have you encountered some difficulties?"

"I still welcome you to transcribe historical documents for me for an hour every day. You've done a great job before."

"You are the most outstanding student I have ever met."

Locke frowned, his mind racing with alarm bells.

Because he knew very well that the reason he had transmigrated was because the original owner of this body had copied documents for this old man, and then died less than a week later, and then his soul transmigrated here.

But the key point is that no matter how much Locke goes through the original owner's memories, he still can't understand how he could die just because he was copying history books for this old man.

But in the days leading up to his death, he grew weaker, more powerless, and less energetic each day.

On the very last day, he was copying history books in Professor Old's office, in a daze, when he returned to his dormitory room and suddenly died, and he himself was transported to this world.

Locke still didn't understand why copying historical documents for this old man was so dangerous, so he absolutely refused to work for Professor Old again.

This is too dangerous.

Locke smiled slightly, trying to make his answer sound normal. "Professor Old, thank you for your compliment."

"But I'm looking for other part-time jobs lately..."

Professor Old waved his hand dismissively, saying, "You can continue working for me until we find it."

"It would be best to start at noon today."

"I'll be waiting for you in my office. I'm very satisfied with the work you've done."

Locke was startled; as expected, the old man was not going to let him go.

The fact that the other party approached someone from the Kingdom of Anjou to work for him suggests that they were specifically chosen.

Locke quickly declined, saying, "Professor Old, I thank you again for your high praise. But I haven't been feeling well lately."

Professor Old smiled and said, "Feeling unwell doesn't affect your work. Young people always have to go through ups and downs. I know you've been in a bad mood lately, I understand, but that's precisely why you should work even harder."

“Look, Angel came to my office at noon today to copy historical documents.”

Angel thanked Professor Olde, saying, "Thank you, Professor."

“I never expected that when I was in such a difficult time, it would be the teachers at the academy who would lend me a hand.” At the same time, Angel looked at Locke with a questioning and doubtful look.

She didn't understand why Locke would refuse Professor Old's offer.

They've clearly lost their family's support and are now barely making ends meet. The daily expenses at the academy are so high. If they don't accept the professor's offer, do they really have a better choice?
Professor Old nodded in satisfaction.

Locke glanced at Angel, that silly girl, and then stubbornly refused again, "Sorry, Professor."

"I really can't get away for the time being."

Professor Old's smile vanished, replaced by a clear expression of displeasure. He stared coldly at Locke. "Well then, Locke, history is a compulsory course at the college. In addition to the tuition, you'd better settle the fees for this semester's history course as soon as possible."

"I hope that when I see you next time, you will have settled the history course fee of six hundred gold coins."

"Otherwise, you don't need to come to class."

History, language, and swordsmanship are the three compulsory courses at Aurelian Academy. If you don't pay the fees for these three courses, you will likely be expelled from the academy.

Professor Old took a few steps, thought for a moment, and said, "Of course, if you continue to work for me, you can wait another month to settle the fee for this course."

“If you’ve thought it through, Locke, you can come to my office.”

"I still think you're doing a great job."

Professor Old deliberately feigned anger, turned around, flung his hand, and stormed off.

Angel quickly followed, but after a few steps, as if she had thought of something, she turned around, ran up to Locke, and couldn't help but complain and scold, "Locke, what's wrong with you!"

"You actually made the professor angry."

"The professor meant well; otherwise, who would give us Anjou people such an opportunity? You really don't know what's good for you."

"You'd better apologize to the professor right away. Things are different now. You're not the earl's son you used to be, and I'm not the viscount's daughter anymore."

After Angel finished speaking, he hurried off to catch up with Professor Old.

Locke looked at her and shrugged.

Angel was originally an academy student in her circle. Because she was just the daughter of a viscount, she usually fawned over her... the original owner of this body. But now that the Kingdom of Anjou has fallen, she naturally no longer needs to flatter her.

However, I originally wanted to kindly remind her out of humanitarian considerations, but now it seems that I don't need to.

Character determines fate.

If I were to offer any advice given her attitude, she might easily turn the tables and sell me out to Professor Old.

Locke began to think. "History class is twice a week, and the next one is in about three days."

"If I can't come up with a solution, I'll probably be expelled from the college for the next history class, or I'll be forced to agree to continue copying history textbooks for Professor Old."

"I need to figure out a way to break this deadlock as soon as possible. Or, I need to figure out what I should do after I leave the academy. I can't go back to the Kingdom of Anjou; it's too dangerous there."

"Want to become a wandering nobleman?"

Locke glanced at the Rubik's Cube in front of him, which showed that there were still forty-five minutes left before it was completed.

"I'm about to have my language class, I'll go to my language class first."

"The most important courses at Aurelian Academy are the three compulsory courses, but there are different levels among the three compulsory courses."

"The most important thing should be the language class."

"Next was history class, and then swordsmanship class."

Locke recalled that in other colleges or other places, grammar teachers would certainly have a relatively low status.

After all, this era was similar to the Middle Ages.

Within the knightly class, martial prowess was clearly far more important than culture, so swordsmanship lessons should have been more important than history and language lessons.

But at Aurelian Academy, it was not like that at all.

In this college, the language course teacher is not only the dean of the college, but also holds a very high position and his word is law. Sometimes, he will even take over other courses.

Therefore, if the college's quota for outstanding graduates is related to what courses, then logically speaking, it should most likely be related to language courses.

That might be the way to break out of this predicament.

(End of this chapter)