I was an apprentice in Ferren

Chapter 210 Postponed (Part 1)

When Robert awoke from his unconscious state at the desk, he felt a splitting headache.

Since the academy ordered that both instructors and students must contribute a certain amount of gold coins to purchase national bonds, to be returned after three years, the Yarakh Magic Academy, regardless of its size, has been plunged into a state of despair.

As the largest and best magic academy in Harua, Yarakh welcomes thousands of new students every year. Every year, it is full of geniuses and outstanding graduates whose stories inspire all new students to study hard, strive to graduate as soon as possible, and become true citizens of this mage kingdom.

As long as you can get your diploma, you can borrow low-interest loans to buy yourself clothes, or you can be assigned to the military or local government by the academy and earn a generous salary. You can also sign a contract with a magic shop to regularly supply magic items and gain extra benefits.

Even if you don't like these jobs, being an adventurer mage is very popular. They don't need to keep watch at night and have a high status. If they notice something is wrong, they can just run away without any problem.

Each person can receive a special allowance by registering in Yarakh every year. Although it is only a few hundred gold, it is enough to pay off their debts.

As for not graduating or having to postpone graduation? Those are things that only poor students should worry about. Thinking about these things shows that the person lacks confidence. A person without confidence is not suitable to be a mage, and even if they do, they won't go very far.

However, the architecture department also welcomes these apprentices. As long as they sign a 10-year contract, they can ride in a carriage to various parts of Faerûn to repair buildings, eat, drink, and have fun. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

However, the appearance of this must-buy government bond directly disrupted the holiday plans of many apprentices.

Apprentices are already under a lot of pressure during their studies, and most of them have to copy more scrolls during these two days to make up for the weekly quota. When they have a little free time, they don't go too far. They sleep a little longer or go to some elegant places to relax and make up for the deficit they usually make up for.

During summer vacation, many apprentices work part-time as tutors, providing magical instruction to children under 10 years old from wealthy families.

This industry is quite popular. After all, even just learning a magic trick can save a lot of manpower and resources. As long as you master it, you can get more jobs when you apply for a position.

Although the apprentices' own skills are limited, they can still teach a trick and a first-level spell. This job is relatively easy and well-paid. Even the lowest-paid trick teacher earns 1 gold coin per hour.

Apprentices can also take the opportunity to improve their magic skills, which can be considered a balance between work and rest.

However, purchasing government bonds has a time limit. Even if teaching a level 1 spell earns 2 gold coins per hour, it is still very difficult to repay the debt of several hundred gold coins in the short term. And normally, no one would hire an apprentice to teach their own child level 2 spells.

Anyone who needs this can go directly to the academy; who would still hire a private tutor?

With time running out and the task heavy, copying and selling scrolls was naturally the best option. However, there were clearly many more spies lying in ambush near magic shops and taverns these days, and many people who sold scrolls privately were arrested, causing the apprentices to feel uneasy.

Selling it privately isn't feasible, so the only option is to sell the scroll to other apprentices. The price of five gold coins minus the cost leaves four gold coins, which is clearly a viable solution for many level three or four mages.

However, when Robert woke up from his coma for the second time and looked at the scroll, he couldn't bring himself to write anything. He even felt nauseous and wanted to vomit whenever he tried to concentrate. He knew that he had probably reached his limit.

This is not a difficult thing to understand. For example, people who are not intelligent enough but want to force themselves to learn spells will encounter this situation. Many apprentices who have just mastered second-level spells and want to copy second-level scrolls also have this symptom.

The solution is quite simple: continue your studies and you can overcome this hurdle.

Of course, for DuPont, it means that the experience points have been exhausted and they can no longer copy the scrolls.

Robert's IQ was 15 when he enrolled, and he clearly hadn't reached his limit yet, but today's experience made him realize that he might find it difficult to pick up a pen today.

Looking at the 20 magic missile scrolls in his pocket, Robert sighed and walked out of the room to the third floor.

That's where the senior students live. Some well-off families can also buy rooms there, and these days they're the ones buying scrolls.

As for whether they had channels to sell them or used them themselves, Robert was too lazy to think about it too much. He just wanted to get the money together and take a good vacation.

However, after being warmly received by the familiar senior, Robert heard the information he least wanted to hear.

"There are too many scrolls now, and the price has been driven down. I can only offer 4 gold for 5 scrolls."

“Senior Aruna, the price of the hardware is already very low!” Robert suppressed his anger, really wanting to punch this guy with the troubled expression: “Magic Missiles are popular scrolls, I’m still selling them in bulk, normally I even have to buy two extra parchment sheets for every 10 I sell!”

“I know what you’re saying, but that’s how the market is now, cash is king.” Aruna shook her head, her long, jet-black hair, a symbol of her pure Netherian bloodline, trembled slightly. “If you don’t believe me, you can go and talk to Senior Xia. His price will definitely not be much higher than mine.”

Robert was furious. There were only a few people who regularly bought and sold scrolls. It wasn't like they couldn't team up to lower the price. Asking them would be pointless.
Seeing his junior remain silent, A-Lu had no idea that the kid was probably angry inside, but so what?

He leaned back in his chair, took out a nail file to trim his nails, and didn't even bother to look at the screen. "To be honest, I estimate that the price of scrolls will drop in a few days. There are too many people selling magic scrolls right now, and I have limited cash on me. I don't even want to think about what the price will be like at the end of the month."

"Thanks for the reminder, senior." Robert turned and left without bothering to say anything more. It was clear from the other person's attitude that he didn't intend to have a proper conversation. But as he was leaving, he heard the other person's slightly mocking reminder: "There are a lot of spies on the streets these days. Junior, don't get caught for trafficking and end up in jail for a month."

The only response he received was the sound of the door closing.

Although the hope was slim, Robert still contacted several people who regularly bought and sold scrolls. Unfortunately, the information he received was exactly the same as what Arjuna had said, and some even offered lower prices.

Back in his dorm, Robert felt extremely agitated. He couldn't understand why spell scrolls cost at least 9 gold coins each in the magic shop, but he couldn't sell them for even 5 gold coins.

Feeling powerless and frustrated, he couldn't rest even in bed. Every time he closed his eyes, he would recall Aru's sarcastic words from that afternoon, which kept him awake all night.

He finally made it to the second day, but his attempt to copy the scrolls, though he tried, ended in failure. After washing his face, he went to sell the scrolls, only to find that they were already selling for 4 gold coins each.

“Hey, for the sake of our friendship, I can give you a parchment.” Aruna’s face lit up with a smile as he received the 20 scrolls. He affectionately stuffed a parchment into Robert’s hand: “Junior, I’m only doing this because of our long-standing friendship. You mustn’t tell anyone else, or they might call me heartless.”

"Thank you, senior." The boy forced a smile and stuffed the 86 gold coins into his bag.

He lost another 3 gold coins simply because he sold the goods a day late.
Robert barely suppressed his displeasure. He already had 186 gold coins in his pocket, and there were still 20 days left until the end of the month. He should be able to make up for the money by working as a private tutor. He could also use this time to learn some magic knowledge so that he could copy the scrolls more smoothly.

However, when he learned that teaching magic tricks for an hour would only earn him three silver dollars, Robert completely lost his composure.

“Boss, I’m Yalach’s top student. My IQ was 16 when I enrolled, and it’s probably 17 now. I’ll definitely have no problem teaching your son.”

The bakery owner also looked troubled: "I'm not trying to lower the price. This is the current market rate. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to afford the original 1 gold coin per hour. How about this, the meatball shop next door has two girls. How about I introduce them to you as apprentices? Three people for 9 silver coins is a good deal for you, isn't it?"

Robert was somewhat tempted. Teaching one person or three was indeed similar, as long as the students listened attentively. However, there was a problem: "That won't do. We apprentices can only teach a maximum of two people. If it's three, it's considered unauthorized teaching, and I don't have a teaching certificate. If I get caught, I'll be severely punished..."

"Oh dear, we don't have any secret agents in this small town." The bakery owner chuckled good-naturedly. "Just come up to my second floor and I'll provide you with free meals. I think that's pretty good for you."

Robert thought it was a good idea and took the job. Three hours later, several children started to lose focus, so Robert stopped the lesson.

Although he could earn more money if he continued teaching, it's not right to deceive his conscience for such a small amount of money.

Although the bakery owner didn't know much about this, as someone who had been running a business for many years, he thought the young man was indeed good, so he helped him get business for the afternoon.

Ten days passed in this way, and the six children had already taught four of them. When Robert returned home that night, he tried copying the scroll again and found that he was in good condition. He copied it twice in a row before he became a little tired.

This is similar to his usual behavior.

I originally had 40 gold coins in savings, sold scrolls for 186 gold coins, earned 54 gold coins from teaching these past few days, and spent 2 gold coins on food and transportation. I am only 22 gold coins away from the total of 300.

That's close enough to buy government bonds. I just need to work a few more days to earn enough for next semester's living expenses, and keep some scrolls as a precaution. My living expenses for next semester shouldn't be a problem.

However, just as the afternoon class was about to end, Robert saw a man in a black trench coat leaning against the door with a cold expression, and his heart sank to the bottom.

Who would wear a trench coat in the middle of summer?

Only those who want to deliberately display their identity would do this.

“Apprentice, you have violated the Harua Mage Regulations. Please come with me to the Inspection Bureau.”

The sudden turn of events terrified the children, who burst into tears. Their parents had taught them since childhood that these men in black coats were no good, and they thought they were there to arrest them.

Robert did not resist and simply went out obediently.

Although he knew how to become invisible, these little tricks could not escape the eyes of these secret agents from the investigation bureau. On the contrary, adding the charge of resisting arrest would only make his crime more serious.

The handcuffs weren't heavy, and could be covered by the robe, but they still made it hard for the young apprentice to breathe.

He didn't tell anyone he was going out to give lectures; only these few bosses knew about it, and yet he was blocked at the door.
Someone must have betrayed him.

He had clearly put a lot of effort into teaching.
(End of this chapter)