[Author's Note:
I am happy to announce that I finally got a capable editor for this series!
Please welcome thisisnate for editing this chapter! and hopefully future chapters
And of course once again, thanks for reading!]
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Chapter 63: Filthy Rich
In Teo’s cave, Teo sat down on the floor staring at a large bag in his hands.
The bag was made of expensive looking leather, thick, yet soft to the touch and of a beautiful tan. Held within was the true treasure, a pile of gold coins that made him doubt whether or not he was dreaming.
He looked at the gold coins again motionlessly as he unconsciously clenched and unclenched his hand around a golden medallion.
“I… I’M…. I’M RICH!!!”, he shouted.
Teo did not expect that he could make this much profit!
When he was given the leather bag, the branch manager only said that it was the amount agreed upon. Teo took the bag and said that he would return in two weeks to collect information on the people who bought his wares.
In addition, the branch manager gave him two more items. The first item was a golden medallion that allowed him to directly access the third floor upon showing. The second item was an identification card to prove his identity.
Teo could feel that the bag had a lot of coins and was quite happy, but he had only assumed that they were all silver coins! He didn’t expect them to be all gold coins!
On his return trip home, Teo was extremely cautious and took a long path back and continuously changing his disguise along the way. As a result, he did not have the time to check the contents of the leather bag until he got home.
Teo slowly counted one gold coin at a time... He carefully counted them as he enjoyed the feeling of success.
After counting them, Teo took a deep breath.
‘96 gold coins!’
He calmly thought of what had just happened before ecstatically jumping in the air. Those crappy shoes turned into such a large sum of money!
“I don’t think I’ll ever have to work ever again.” He softly whispered.
He felt like the goose that could just shit out golden eggs!
“ha ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA Ha”, an unceasing laughter emerged from him.
He was ecstatic!
But after remembering his original plan, Teo quickly sobered up.
‘Maybe I should sell some more before this is over’, he thought.
……
After a few days, the Mirth academy branch of the Emerald Pavilion as well as the surrounded branch within the prefecture, simultaneously coordinated the spread news of their high tier enchanted shoes.They announced that it was high tier, but the descriptions of the effects of the shoes implied that these shoes were beyond high tier.
And the selling price was quite low for such an item, only 60 gold! Although high tier boots were sold at around this price, many knew that it should have been a lot more.
The Emerald Pavilion chose this price as a sign of sincerity to the mysterious eccentric. A lower price would simply be an insult to his work, but a higher price would cause people to hesitate and wait before buying.
Their true estimated price for the boot was well over 100 gold coins, and if the materials used were improved it could even reach close to 200 gold coins, but due to the materials used, the aesthetics of these boots as well as other conditions set on the buyer's and the pavilion lowered their price to around 80 gold coins.
The Emerald Pavilion was completely truthful in its description of the shoes as well as the conditions attached. It was clear to any prospective buyers that these shoes were made of low quality and that they could only guarantee what they had assessed.
….
“Is this news true?”, a dark haired middle aged man asked.
Within the Mirth city manor, the a man sat behind a desk surrounded by several stacks of paperwork while looking at another older gentleman who was excitedly describing some wares. That man was precisely the lord of Mirth city.
“Yes, it’s true! I have confirmed it with an Emerald Pavilion’s branch elder of this news! Outside of those odd restrictions, we can easily afford this treasure!” The bald old man said, his wrinkles bouncing merrily on his oily face.
They were the largest power closest to the Emerald Pavilion branch that was selling it. It was truly an opportunity of a lifetime!
“A pair of shoes that increases your speed based on your cultivation level...” The city lord gasped in shock.
If the effects were really true, then this was not a high tier item but saint tier! Many hidden experts within the Empire would come flocking towards Mirth academy to get a pair. Even if it was made of poor quality, it’s allure was still very attractive.
Blood would be spilled!
“What of the conditions of purchase?”
“My lord, according to my sources, they are just a few. To acquire just one pair, many had already attempted to buy it before the date that the Emerald Pavilion had set for its sale. Thus, the Emerald Pavilion will be holding an emergency auction within a few weeks. The buyer must also have a specific cultivation and must also stay and live in the academy for a few months.”
The bald old man paused as he took a deep breath before continuing
“One pair would be given to a class 3 fighter, the next pair to a class 4 and so on. There is a total of 6 pairs for sale. If buyers of higher classes could not be found after two weeks, they would sell it to the highest class fighter that is offering. There is also something odd about this my lord, every buyer is required to showcase the speed of the shoes within the academy to the public.”
“Did you find out who enchanted these shoes?” The lord asked as he tried to analyze the seller’s intentions.
“We do not know yet my lord, but my sources told it was brought in by an unknown eccentric. Perhaps it’s Grandmaster Yula?”
“Impossible, why would someone like him do something like this?”, the lord instantly rejected the idea
“This must be a new inscription master that has emerged from the academy...Wasn’t there a genius scholar within Mirth academy? What was his name, what was his name...”, the lord thought out loud.
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“My lord, I believe that was Mister Quin. Mister Deacon Quin is currently an instructor for the academy.”
The lord nodded and paused for a brief moment. He pondered on the conditions, the reasons behind them, the identity of this mysterious eccentric.
‘From these conditions, it is obvious that the creator of these boots is currently living within the academy and wants to test the performance of his inscriptions. With these saint tier shoes...perhaps his cultivation level is too low to test them out himself.’
“Do you know this Deacon’s cultivation level?”, the lord asked
“My lord, this Mister Deacon does not practice cultivation at all”
‘Is it really him? But then why go through all the trouble of hiding his identity when he is already famous?’
After some thought, the lord stood up from his chair.
“Send the fastest falcon we have to the Imperial city. If this news is from the Emerald Pavilion then it’s credibility is without question. We can’t defend the academy alone from being attacked by rogue experts. Also, send someone to reserve a few seats for us for this auction. Finally, send a gift to this mister Deacon and quickly invite him to join our Mirth family, remember to be extremely humble, even if he does not join us, we must form a friendly relationship with him!”
The news spread like wildfire, reaching the surrounding prefectures and even the Imperial city, which was distant, distant place from the city of Mirth. The Rizon branch family and several other branch families had also sent word to their main families.
Many of them had begun to move despite knowing the quality of the shoes. Normally, equipment of inferior quality would not be able to handle high tier inscriptions, much less a saint tier inscription but the effects of the shoes were already miraculous!
Besides, they all had an ulterior motive. Find the eccentric creator and draw him into their camp!
….
The events that had caused several ancient, and powerful groups of the empire to move out quickly was unknown to Teo.
Since he was waiting for his guinea pigs to arrive, he was either focused on perfecting the void array’s design or studiously learning from Lia’s personal instructions on casting.
“So if you make your mold, you have to make sure that it’s melting point is much higher than the metal you are working with.” Lia sat on the opposite side of the table as she discussed the basics of casting.
“Teo, are you planning on taking smithing next year? I think we should be focusing on training instead”, Windle who sat to the other side said.
“I’m not sure yet, but this metal casting is really interesting.”
“I see... Hey did you guys hear about the recent news released by the Emerald Pavilion? People say it’s saint tier shoes, the tier above than high tier.”, Windle said.
“Really?”, Teo tried to keep a straight face but it ended up making him look weirder.
“Saint Tier… -sigh- I wish I could get one, how much does it even cost?”, Lia asked
“The original selling price was 60 gold coins, but because of the amount of people fighting over it, the pavilion had no choice but to hold an emergency auction within in two weeks.”
“60 gold!? Wait.. Is that why classes will be canceled next week?”
“Yeah, I heard a lot of dangerous experts will be entering the academy grounds and that the academy said students should avoid going to the southern district next week.”
Teo continued eating as he listened to the two talk.
“Sigh, Saint tier boots are too expensive, I guess I have to settle with Teo’s inscription instead.”
While Lia was yearning for such expensive treasure, Teo started coughing wildly after hearing Lia.
“Are you alright Teo? You should really chew your food properly.” Windle asked in a worried voice.
“Teo, since you are inscribing stuff for Lia… could you possibly…make some for me too?”
Windle was somewhat jealous as he knew that Teo’s inscriptions were really outstanding. He really wanted to act cool and as if he didn’t care but he just couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Hmmm okay, but help me buy some things for the three of us,” Teo said.
“No fair, I am here working hard teaching you and Windle is getting it for almost nothing!”, Lia complained.
“...wait a second, are you buying US free stuff?”, Lia slowly realized what Teo had said.
Teo nodded as he chewed his food
“You… don’t tell me you made more money again?!”, Windle was shocked
He knew that Teo would always become generous after each time he found himself some money.
“Teo.. teach me how to be rich.” Windle said seriously.
But Teo could only laugh in response.
…..
After returning from Emerald road, Windle and Lia were shocked by the amount that Teo had bought. Not only that Teo bought them new pairs of shoes, he bought a few more extras pairs, 5 extra pairs to be exact. They were high quality made boots but were not enchanted so although they were high quality, each pair only cost 1 gold.
In one shopping spree, Teo had spent 8 gold coins without blinking.
‘This rascal is filthy rich, I just know it,’ Windle and Lia both thought to themselves.
Although they were slightly jealous, having a generous friend was enough to satisfy them.
“Teo must’ve been a saint in his past life”, Lia joked
“Heh, that might be true but Teo, I hope you are not doing anything illegal to get this much money. You know there is a saying, One courts misfortune by flaunting wealth.”
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing illegal, it’s just I can’t tell you about it. Anyways, do you guys want to do anything next week? Since there are no classes we should do something.” Teo said.
He needed a break, and enjoyed the company of his friends and sister. Also with his friends around, those four hunting him would not dare to make a move.
“We can ask the seniors, perhaps they have something in mind.” Windle said.