Before the Orc Wars, humans, dwarves, and elves once had great divisions and contradictions, even leading to several conflicts. However, by this time, all residents of Stormwind were aware that if it weren't for the dwarves and elves standing together with the humans in the face of the invaders from another world, fighting to the death, they might never have the chance to return to their homeland.

Jess said, "Alleria also has two sisters of equal beauty. You still have a chance, Grit."

"Heh!" Grit laughed awkwardly. "I'm not interested in those immature girls; I prefer someone mature."

"Lady Sylvanas, the second of the Windrunner sisters, is said to be over six hundred years old."

"Over six hundred years? Then her older sister must be..."

"Shh…"

Jess saw the high elf's blue feather golden phoenix flag approaching from afar.

"Here they come, help me up on the railing... I can't see!"

Grit grumbled and complained while Jess barely lifted this nearly 200-pound iron barrel.

In the corner of his eye, a group of high elves was marching forward. They wore silver-white armor, held engraved long spears and silver bows, and their sea-blue capes fluttered in the wind through the valley. Regardless of gender, they all looked elegant and composed, forming a stark contrast with the dwarves and humans.

The female elf riding a white horse at the front was probably Alleria Windrunner, the captain of the rangers from Silvermoon.

She wore a green cloak, her pale golden hair fell to her chest, and her arcane-powered magic eyes shone blue even under the sunlight, firmly focused ahead.

Alleria's cheeks were exaggeratedly thin, not to mention her slender, sharp nose, and those long pointed ears arching high, which seemed somewhat odd by human standards.

Jess still remembered the first time he saw an elf from Quel'Thalas in Lordaeron, feeling as if he had encountered an alien.

Although they looked the same as in the game, just more detailed and real, Jess had completely lost the perspective he had when playing the game.

After living in another world for over a decade, he suspected he was getting farther and farther from his former self, the corporate slave, becoming more and more like a native of Lordaeron.

If it hadn't been for the certainty of the Scourge invasion in a dozen years or so, he would never have made the decision to cross oceans and come to Stormwind from his homeland.

Perhaps because he didn't have any cheat-like advantages.

Yes, so far, he had no grandpa in a ring, no suddenly awakened ancient lineage, no arcane gem filled with magic power, nor any guidance from gods or demon lords whispering in the shadows.

He was just a bricklayer from the north, with nothing different from the locals except for a thick Brial accent in Common language.

Other people's transmigration versus his transmigration.

If Jess had started like those protagonists in transmigration novels with a system or something for adding points, maybe he would now have the ability to stop all this and save the world in their stead.

Now, he could only rely on his own two hands to barely make ends meet, at best using his foresight of future events to pick a safe and stable place to scrape by.

But at least, he wanted to earn enough money to bring his aging parents from Lordaeron to Stormwind. If he couldn't save the world, he at least wanted to take care of the most important people to him.

Gazing at the gradually departing expeditionary force, Grit sighed and asked, "What are your plans for today?"

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I'm going to check the notice board for any jobs," Jess replied. "Rent's due next month."

As they talked, they walked towards the inner gate with the crowd.

"I need to pay up too," said Grit. "Some Bronzebeards said Baron Lescovar's going to raise the rent from 5 silver coins to 6 next month."

"Aren't you going to move to another place?"

"Move where? The entire Stormwind is raising rent, and the cheap ones are all full up. Do you expect me to go to Goldshire? Don't want to get my head chopped off by orcs on the way."

"Hasn't the routine patrol to Goldshire been restored?"

"It has, last month they found a patrolman's sword and intestines at the shore of Mirror Lake."

"Sword and… intestines?"

"Human intestines, not orc intestines."

"Could it have been wolves?"

"Does it make a difference, Jess? Wolf calamity, orcs, murlocs, Elwynn Forest is scarier than the damned Zul'Aman, really. At least Amani trolls understand a bit of Dwarvish. You shout 'Spare me!' and they won't mistake it for 'Stick my head on a spear!'"

"In the end, they still stick your head on a spear." Jess laughed.

"True, no difference, but it feels more like fighting enemies to death than being senselessly eaten by a mindless beast, you catch my drift?"

Laughing and talking, the two reached the notice board at the crossroads of the Trade District. A few months ago, the board had posts about repair works in various districts, but now a significant portion was about bounties for bandits and roving orc leaders in Elwynn Forest, as well as labor recruitment for Redridge Mountains.

The reconstruction work of Stormwind was nearing completion, and most of the more detailed and professional work had been taken over by the local trade guild, the Stonemasons Guild. This meant that these foreign laborers had to find another way to make a living.

Jess's rented house was located on the back street of the Trade District market, one of the first new districts to rise. The refugees mostly lived in the Old Town, and the newcomers, the laborers, were willing to move to the new districts.

However, as the new districts became more and more prosperous, Jess now had to pay 4 silver coins for monthly rent, which was likely to increase soon, as the dwarves' news was always accurate.

To a former World of Warcraft player like Jess, 4 silver coins seemed laughable; after all, he always carried tens of thousands of gold coins in his game inventory without feeling it was much, spending thousands with just a click at the auction house.

Yet, here in Stormwind, many people worked hard all month without earning a few silver coins.

Jess remembered last year there was a guy at his doorstep polishing armor and weapons for old soldiers, charging only a couple of coppers each time. At that time, the silver mines in Westfall had not been taken back from the Blackrock orcs, and a silver coin was worth nearly two hundred copper coins.

That guy was a local Stormwind resident who had some connections to a noble family but was now living very frugally. His house was occupied by ogres during the orcs' rule and he was deeply in debt after refurbishing it.

Jess was even less qualified than that person; at least that person had a skill, besides doing labor work, and the reward from Terenas II was about to be spent as well.

Originally, it was promised that each person would receive a gold coin, but what ended up in their hands was 40 silver coins.

The noble who paid the wages claimed that the kobolds were driven out of the gold mines around Goldshire, so now the price of gold was cheap, and 40 silver coins were enough to exchange for a gold coin.

However, these workers have neither seen a gold coin nor a kobold since they arrived in the Kingdom of Stormwind. Only Jess knew that twenty years later, the kobolds in the mines hadn't been eradicated, and even the kobold chieftains would be wearing gold teeth.

Not to mention, if the gold mines resumed production, why not distribute gold coins, or at least gold nuggets of similar weight?

Now, finding a job was harder with each passing day. Last week, on a job escorting lumber from Eastvale Logging Camp to Stormwind City, a pack of grey wolves followed them for two or three hours. On their return, they were given a mere 35 copper coins as a reward, which was practically a joke.

And yet, there was a bunch of foreigners like him desperately vying for the same job.

Just as he was worrying, he suddenly saw a quite special job posted on the bulletin board.

"Assistant wanted, requires a certain knowledge of history, archaeology knowledge, preferably some understanding of herbs. Must have good patience and other excellent qualities, the work location is in the Mage Quarter—Edwin Marin."

Edwin Marin?

Jess remembered that there was an Archmage Marin in Stormwind City's Mage Quarter, his daughter was also an outstanding mage who participated in the joint military expedition of the Alliance and Horde in the north a decade later.

If this Edwin Marin is that Archmage Marin, wouldn't applying for this assistant position be a good opportunity to become a mage?

Knowledge of history, archaeology, understanding of herbs... Although Jess had not systematically studied history and archaeology, he felt that with his understanding of this world, he should be able to surpass most ordinary people in these areas of knowledge without a problem.

Since this mage posted such a notice on a bulletin board that was facing both foreign laborers and ordinary citizens, he probably didn't have high expectations for the applicants.

Once becoming a mage, one wouldn't lack for money, right?