Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 23 Buying a Horse

The first thing Wayne did upon opening his eyes the next morning was to open the task system and check if the previous assignments had been completed.

The result was pretty good. The system seemed quite user-friendly in this regard. Although it handed over the follow-up of the task to Geralt, the search for Misha had already been completed.

He gained 45 experience points and an expert-level treasure chest.

The rewards for expert-level missions are generous, almost equivalent to the experience gained from fifteen normal-level missions. He estimates that once this ruins exploration mission is completed, his Witcher level will reach level six, and his strength will increase slightly once again.

Of course, expert-level tasks are all quite difficult.

For example, in this search mission, if Wayne and Geralt insist on using force to take away the two young people, they will have to clash with more than a hundred non-human races, inevitably leading to a major battle.

Instead of resolving this matter by fulfilling the elves' requests as we are doing now.

This experiment also gave Wayne an interesting idea: should his mission system only focus on the mission results, or should he personally participate in and complete them?

Could he recruit a few apprentices and have them work for him to complete his tasks and allow him to profit from others' misfortunes?

Of course, Wayne is just a novice demon hunter with no connections or wealth, so it's too early to talk about these things.

However, when he has enough power and strength in the future, he will definitely explore this area, develop the system's convenience, and accelerate its growth.

After getting dressed again, Wayne took the money bag containing more than 1,500 Ducati coins that he had obtained the night before, divided it into 800 coins, put them into another money bag, and hung it on his belt.

However, the money bag was still too heavy and quite conspicuous, causing his belt to bend askew, making it look rather strange.

He put on his coat, concealing his money bag inside the oversized fabric, bent down, pushed open the tent flap, and looked out. In the dimly lit underground ruins, he could already see residents moving about in the camp opposite.

The slender Toruville was sitting by the campfire, holding a square whetstone and sharpening a beautiful one-handed sword.

After last night's long talk, the relationship between the two is no longer as unfamiliar as before.

Wayne wasn't socially awkward; he was quite popular during his school years. While he wouldn't be called a social butterfly, he had no problem with normal conversations.

With a smile on his face, he took the initiative to sit opposite Toruviel, exchanged a glance with the female elf, and spoke directly:

"Toruville, I have a small favor to ask, could you help me?"

The elf paused in sharpening her sword, looked up into Wayne's eyes, and said:

"What do you need help with, Wayne? I can't agree to it without you telling me clearly."

Wayne didn't stand on ceremony with her and asked directly:

"It's just a small matter."

Do you have any spare horses here? I'd like to buy one.

Toluviel pondered for two seconds, nodded, and said:

"There are a few decent horses, which we seized from the Covende soldiers, and they are grazing in the forest outside the cave."

"If you really want one, I can give you one."

"But right now, we're being hunted by Cordwin's soldiers, so money isn't of much use to us."

"Consider it part of your payment for this exploration of the ruins; I'll treat it to you as payment."

Wayne was somewhat surprised to hear this. According to what he had learned from Geralt, a good traveling horse was worth about eight hundred ducats, which was considered quite valuable in this era.

It seems that Toluville takes this task of clearing up the ruins very seriously, and is willing to pay a much more generous fee than the villagers.

However, he was not the kind of man who liked to take advantage of others materially. Rather than getting a horse for free, he preferred to obtain the spoils from the elven ruins.

Wayne reached down and took the huge money bag hanging from his belt, tossing it down in front of Toruville with a thud, and said in a persuasive tone:

"No, Toruville, you need money more than you think."

"There are a total of eight hundred Ducats here, which should be the market price of horses in human towns."

"As for the role of money, Toruville, you underestimate it."

"Haven't you noticed? In human society, money is almost omnipotent."

"It allows you to buy the supplies you need to survive in the city, the weapons and equipment you need to fight, and the ability to bribe the city guards to rescue your inhuman race compatriots from prison."

"If you are wealthy enough, you can even hire a mercenary legion to help you defeat the armies of other kingdoms on the front lines."

"Just like the Kingdom of Kovir back then, it was precisely because they possessed immense wealth that many kingdoms that wanted to conquer them were defeated and returned empty-handed."

Toluviel seemed to understand, but not quite. Looking at the huge money bag on the ground, she considered for a few seconds before asking a question:

"But those human merchants, city guards, or mercenary groups are simply not trustworthy."

"They might not only swindle our money, but they might even betray our whereabouts to the nobles."

"Many of our non-human races here have been betrayed by their neighbors and their friends."

"Humans are not trustworthy."

Regarding this question, Wayne felt that Toluviel's perspective was too narrow, or her thinking not broad enough. He reached for the whetstone from the elf's hand, drew the steel sword from his back, and carefully sharpened it by the campfire, saying:

"In this situation, there are actually many ways to handle it. Whether it's transporting supplies from countries that don't hate non-human races, finding a trustworthy merchant to help you procure the supplies, or simply using threats and inducements to control a puppet, all of these are good methods."

"Besides, aren't there sorcerers among the elves? We can commission them to create a magical item that can conceal your elven characteristics, allowing you to disguise yourselves as humans and infiltrate the town to carry out your mission."

There are many ways to accomplish something; it just depends on whether you're willing to try.

Seeing Toluville's eyes light up, Wayne chuckled and said:

"I will be here during the time we are cleaning up this site. If you have any questions, I can help you with your decisions."

Upon hearing this, the female elf leader smiled back at Wayne, stood up, pointed to the cave exit, and said:

"Thank you, Wayne. I'll be learning a lot from you during this time."

"I've accepted your money. Let's go outside and take a look at the horses. You can pick any one you like."

(End of this chapter)