Chapter 5

Old Hanmu ultimately did not live to see the day when格林 married a wife and had children; he passed away.

It was the beginning of spring, the biting cold wind had started to soften. After a day's work, Old Hanmu and格林 bought a small barrel of malt wine and a few pounds of meat, preparing to start the major house renovation plan for the year and to put the plan to find a wife for格林 on the agenda. Unfortunately, the next morning, Old Hanmu could no longer wake格林 to work.

Old Hanmu left with a smile, whether it was because of the good wine and meat from the previous night, or because all his wishes had been fulfilled in his dreams. In any case, when格林 hired a few farmers to bury Old Hanmu, the old man still had a full smile on his face, as carefree as usual.

The old pipe that Old Hanmu cherished the most,格林 also buried it with him.

Old Hanmu's sudden departure left格林 feeling lost for a long time, but life went on.

格林 became the owner of the two thatched cottages, along with an old horse and two gold coins and 17 silver coins, which were all the savings Old Hanmu had left behind. Now, everything belonged to格林, and this was all his current assets. Of course,格林 privately hid the magic book "Nose Hunting Transformation and Scent Atlas" where he stored the gold coins, and he read it one or two times every night without using too much lamp oil.

Gradually, it was already summer.

It was still an ordinary day. After a busy morning,格林 dumped a large amount of garbage left from the noble lords' revelry at the viscount's residence outside the city, then came to the viscount's territory to collect the supplies prepared for the viscount from these tenant farmers.格林 sat in the carriage, enjoying the blue sky and the drifting white clouds.

A country girl named Mary was loading the goods with nimble hands and feet, more capable than most boys. She wore a linen apron, had many freckles on her face, and had a head of golden hair. Her heart was pounding. She kept stealing glances at格林, who was sitting comfortably in the carriage. Mary liked this handsome man to death, and the unique scent from his body reminded her of the fragrance of iris grass.

However,格林 ignored Mary. A year ago, by chance,格林 knew that this girl liked him, which Old Hanmu had secretly told him. Even in Old Hanmu's plan, he intended for格林 to marry this girl. However, though he didn't say it out loud, he had to admit that he didn't really have any feelings for this diligent and shy girl, at most she was like a little sister. So after Old Hanmu's passing,格林 never took the initiative to contact this girl, only seeing her once a day when loading the goods.

Seeing that格林 didn't speak, Mary continued working while secretly observing him. As the goods were gradually loaded onto the carriage, according to the usual routine,格林 would drive the carriage away. Finally, Mary bit her lip and couldn't help but speak up: "格林, this morning, a wizard passed by here and asked how to get to Bisel City. Everyone here was stunned; it was the first time I had seen a wizard in person."

Mary pretended to be full of surprise, secretly observing格林.

Originally,格林 was bored sitting in the carriage, but when he heard the word "wizard," he suddenly perked up, incredulously asking, "A wizard? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure; many people here saw him," Mary replied happily, seeing that格林 was talking to her.

格林 was somewhat excited: "What did the wizard look like?"格林 had never seen a wizard before and asked eagerly.

"Um... The wizard was wearing a gray, wide robe and a tall hat. His face was unclear, as if covered by a mist. He was holding a frog with red eyes. Oh, and he was talking to Ima at the village entrance."

Seeing格林's excited expression, Mary told him all the information she knew.

"Thanks."格林 was very excited. Since he had obtained the magic book half a year ago, this was the first time he had a clue about a real wizard.

He quickly ran to Ima's house at the village entrance. Ima was a girl around 23 or 24 years old, already with two children. Her husband, Sogara, was a hunter, strong and with a very generous personality.

Sogara was surprised to see格林: "Hey,格林, haha, are you attracted by the smell here? Come, come, the wild boar I caught by luck yesterday..." Ima came out of the kitchen, and two curious children looked at格林.

Half an hour later,格林 excitedly left Ima's house, muttering, "Bisel City, he really went to Bisel City!" In a hurry,格林 drove the carriage back to the city, the old horse trotting along, fearing it might die and join Old Hanmu in heaven.

At the viscount's residence, a domineering old steward stood with four tall knights blocking the entrance. The old steward glared at the dozen or so farmers gathered at the viscount's gate and roared, "The land you have is granted by the viscount. The viscount can tax as he pleases! Do you want to rebel? Let me tell you..."

格林 anxiously waited from a distance. Every year at this time, a large number of farmers would gather at the viscount's gate to cause trouble, and after being dealt with by these tall knights, the farmers would disperse, though the process could take longer or shorter.

"Scum! Scum! You dare to talk back!" The old steward roared, "Drive them away!"

In a moment, the four tall knights beat and kicked the dozen farmers away. The old steward was furious, his face red with anger.

格林 didn't dare to delay, driving the carriage into the viscount's residence in a low profile. The old steward roared, "Stop!" He glanced at格林, casually flipped through the goods on格林's carriage, and shouted, "Why are you so slow? Do you still want to work?"

格林 forced a smile, his heart full of anger. This old man had already taken two silver coins from him this month. Working for the viscount's residence for a month could earn him three or four silver coins, but the high wages couldn't withstand this old man's exploitation.

"Sir, I arrived earlier, but the farmers blocked the way,"格林 wasn't as good-tempered as Old Hanmu.

Suddenly, the old steward's face turned red, and he pointed at格林's nose, roaring, "Bastard! You scum, you dare to talk back? It seems the viscount has wasted his time on you! Fine! Fine... Don't come back tomorrow, get out!" The old steward angrily entered the courtyard and shouted to the knights, "If this scum comes back tomorrow, break his legs, or you won't come back either."

格林 stood beside the carriage, furious, cursing the old man to join Old Hanmu in the afterlife.

Suddenly,格林 thought of something, grunted, and parked the carriage under a nearby tree, then ran to a blacksmith's shop in the small city.

"Hey, Sixth Brother,"格林 called to a blacksmith's apprentice.

When格林 was begging in Bisel City, he was one of nine beggars, ranking eighth. Later, each of them had different opportunities.格林 was taken in by Old Hanmu, Sixth Brother became an apprentice at this blacksmith's shop, and Second Brother reportedly went to the countryside to be a tenant farmer. As for the others, they had no news.

"Old Eighth!" The blacksmith's apprentice's eyes lit up, and he walked over, patting格林, "What brings you here?"

Standing at about 1.8 meters tall, the apprentice was full of sweat and a manly aura. Now, Sixth Brother was much stronger than格林, with a beard and a red face from years of working by the furnace. His rough hands hurt when he patted格林.

"Sixth Brother, I have a question. I heard a wizard came to the city?"格林 asked quietly.

Sixth Brother's face changed, "How did you know? A wizard did come, apparently to recruit students with wizard potential, but the fee for testing is one gold coin." He secretly nodded toward the old blacksmith, "The old man took his son Ai, but the test showed no wizard potential, and now he's still upset about the gold coin."

格林 was both surprised and delighted, "Where is the wizard?"

Sixth Brother's face changed, looking shocked at格林, "You're not thinking of going, are you? One gold coin is not a small fee, and we don't have that much money to waste."

After hesitating for a moment.

If he really lost a gold coin, it would be a significant blow to格林, who only had a little over two gold coins. However, if he missed this opportunity, he might never have another chance...

Finally,格林 nodded firmly. After being shocked for a long time, Sixth Brother said, "He's at the mayor's residence. They say the mayor's precious daughter has been tested and has wizard potential. Of course, she is the only one in Bisel City."

"Thanks, Sixth Brother."格林 was extremely excited, even forgetting the old steward's incident at the viscount's residence. His mind was filled with thoughts about the wizard, and he ran back to his two small thatched cottages, pulling out a box from the most hidden place, which contained a large number of silver and copper coins.

"I must become a wizard! I must!"

After counting out 100 silver coins,格林 thought for a moment and brought the magic book "Nose Hunting Transformation and Scent Atlas," hiding the box again.格林 then rushed back to Bisel City.

Since it was already summer, the days were long and the nights were short, so it was still light.

The mayor of Bisel City was the highest noble in the area, said to be the only marquis in the region. Unless he was in another city's jurisdiction, in Bisel, the mayor's word was law, even the viscount had to obey.

格林 had only seen the mayor's residence from a distance a few times. In the past, it was heavily guarded with seven or eight knights. Now, however, many people were coming and going.格林 took a quick look and saw that most of these people were shop owners or nobles, accompanied by their younger generations, often with disappointed expressions.

格林 knew the wizard was inside and rushed in without hesitation.

"Stop, pay one gold coin," a boy about格林's age shouted at him.

格林 painfully handed over a small bag of silver coins. The boy glanced at格林 disdainfully and threw the bag into a box behind him without counting.格林 was taken aback; from the boy's appearance and demeanor, he looked like a farmer's son, probably having some good luck, but he didn't know where his arrogance came from.

格林 glanced at the boy disdainfully and followed the crowd into the mayor's residence.

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