Hemlock ultimately did not live to see the day Elias married and had children; he was buried.
It was the beginning of spring. The biting cold wind had begun to soften. After a day's work, Master Hemlock and Elias bought a small barrel of ale from town and a few pounds of meat, planning to start renovating the house the next day, and putting the matter of finding a wife for Elias on the agenda.
Unfortunately, the next morning, Master Hemlock was unable to wake Elias up for work.
Master Hemlock left with a smile, whether it was because of the good wine and meat from the night before, or because all his wishes had come true in his dream. In any case, even when Elias hired a few farmers to bury Master Hemlock, he was still smiling, as carefree as usual.
The pipe Master Hemlock cherished most was also buried with him by Elias.
Master Hemlock's sudden departure left Elias dejected for quite some time, but life went on.
Elias became the owner of these two thatched cottages, as well as an old horse, two gold coins, and seventeen silver coins. This was Master Hemlock's life savings, now all belonging to Elias, and Elias's entire current fortune.
Of course, Elias secretly hid the witchcraft book, "The Modification of Hunting Nose and Olfactory Atlas," where he kept his gold coins. Every night, without consuming too much lamp oil, he would read it once or twice.
This was a glimpse Elias took into the Wizard World, through a crack in the door.
Gradually, summer arrived.
It was still an ordinary day. After a busy morning, Elias dumped the large amount of trash left over from the Viscount's Mansion's noble lords' revelry outside the city, then went to the Viscount's territory to collect the supplies prepared for the Viscount from the tenants.
Elias sat in the carriage, comfortably gazing at the clear Sky, with white clouds drifting by.
Beside the carriage, a country girl named Lyra was nimbly loading goods, more capable than most boys.
Lyra wore a linen apron, had many freckles on her face, and golden hair. Her heart pounded fiercely as she occasionally stole glances at Elias, who sat comfortably in the carriage.
Looking at this handsome man, Lyra was madly in love. The unique scent on him was like the fragrance of Elan grass.
However, Elias paid no attention to Lyra.
A year ago, by chance, Elias learned that this girl liked him; Master Hemlock had secretly told Elias, and Master Hemlock's plan was even for Elias to marry this girl.
Though he didn't say it aloud, he had to admit that he truly felt nothing for this diligent and shy girl, at most she was just like a little sister next door.
So after Master Hemlock passed away, Elias never proactively contacted this girl, only seeing her once a day when loading goods.
Seeing that Elias said nothing, the girl worked while secretly observing him. As the goods were gradually being moved onto the carriage, and according to usual custom, Elias would drive away. The girl finally bit her lip and couldn't help but speak.
"Elias, this morning, a Wizard passed by here and asked for directions to Biser City. Everyone here was incredibly surprised. It was my first time seeing a legendary Wizard!"
The girl pretended to be full of surprise, secretly observing Elias.
Elias, who was bored sitting in the carriage, suddenly perked up upon hearing the word "Wizard" and said incredulously, "Wizard? Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure. Many people here saw him."
Lyra replied happily when Elias spoke to her.
Elias asked somewhat excitedly, "What did that Wizard look like?"
Elias had never seen a Wizard before, so he pressed for details.
"Um... that Wizard wore a loose grey robe, a tall pointed hat, and his face wasn't clear, as if covered by a layer of mist. He also held a red-eyed frog in his hand. Oh, and he was talking to Anya at the village entrance at the time."
Seeing Elias's excitement, Lyra poured out all the information she knew to him.
"Thanks, that's great!"
Elias was very excited. Since obtaining that witchcraft book half a year ago, this was the first time Elias had gotten a clue about a real Wizard.
He quickly ran towards Anya's house at the village entrance.
Anya was a young woman of twenty-three or twenty-four, but her figure had already started to become plump and stout, with a white apron tied around her bucket-like waist. She was already a mother of two children.
The male head of the household was a hunter named Torvin, strong in body and very straightforward in character. He had a scar on his left cheek from a wild boar's tusk.
Torvin was very surprised to see Elias arrive and said, "Oh, Elias's here, haha, were you attracted by the aroma here? Come, come, this is wild game caught yesterday in the eastern mountains..."
From the kitchen, Anya walked out, and two children curiously looked at Elias.
Half an hour later.
Elias excitedly left Anya's house, muttering excitedly, "Biser City, he really went to Biser City!"
Elias furiously drove the carriage towards the city. The old horse trotted along, and he was truly afraid it would run out of Qi and join Master Hemlock in the earth prematurely.
At the entrance of the Viscount's Mansion, the arrogant Elder Varus stood behind four tall, burly knights, blocking the entrance.
The Elder Varus's eyes were stern as he roared at the dozen or so farmers gathered at the Viscount's Mansion's entrance, "Your land was bestowed by the Lord Viscount! The Lord Viscount can levy taxes however he wishes! Are you trying to rebel? I'm telling you..."
Elias waited anxiously in the distance.
Basically, every year around this time, a large number of farmers would block the entrance of the Viscount's Mansion and cause trouble, and then after being dealt with by these tall, burly knights, the farmers would disperse. It was just that the duration of the process varied.
"Wretches! Wretches! How dare you talk back!"
The Elder Varus roared, "Get out of here!"
In just a short while, the four tall, burly knights, with a flurry of punches and kicks, drove all dozen farmers away.
The Elder Varus was furious, huffing and puffing.
Elias didn't dare to delay. He discreetly drove the carriage into the Viscount's Mansion. The Elder Varus roared, "Stop!"
He glanced at Elias, casually flipped through the goods on Elias's carriage, and the Elder Varus reprimanded, "Why are you so slow? Do you still want to work or not?"
Elias grimaced, having long been simmering with anger inside.
This old fellow had already taken two silver coins as a bribe from him this month. Working at the Viscount's Mansion only earned four silver coins a month. Although the pay was high, he couldn't stand this old fellow's exploitation.
"Lord Steward, I arrived earlier, but those farmers were blocking the way, so I couldn't get in."
Elias was young and hot-blooded, not like Master Hemlock; he didn't have such a good temper.
Immediately, the Elder Varus was like a stirred hornet's nest. His hair practically stood on end, and his old face turned crimson as he pointed at Elias's nose and roared.
"Bastard! You wretch, how dare you talk back? It seems the Lord Viscount has raised you for nothing! Good! Good... Don't come tomorrow, get out!"
After speaking, the Elder Varus huffed and puffed into the courtyard, and shouted at the knights beside him, "If this wretch comes again tomorrow, break his legs, otherwise you don't need to come either."
Elias stood beside the carriage, furious, constantly cursing this old fellow to go see Master Hemlock tomorrow.
Suddenly, Elias thought of something. After a grunt, he parked the carriage under a large tree not far away and ran to a blacksmith's shop in the small town.
"Hey, Brother Silas."
Elias greeted a blacksmith apprentice.
When Elias was begging in Biser City, there were always nine beggars begging together, and Elias was ranked eighth.
Afterwards, each had their own opportunities. Elias was taken away by Master Hemlock, Brother Silas entered this blacksmith shop as an apprentice, and Second Brother was said to have run to the countryside to become a tenant. As for the others, there was no news.
"Eighth Brother!"
The blacksmith apprentice's eyes lit up when he saw Elias. He strode over and patted Elias, "Why do you have time to come here?"
He was over six feet tall, reeking of sweat and full of masculine scent. Now Brother Silas was much sturdier than Elias, with a full beard, and his cheeks were red from years of baking by the furnace. His rough hand patted Elias's body, making it ache.
"Brother Silas, I want to ask you something. I heard a Wizard came to the city?"
Elias asked softly, and Brother Silas's face changed.
"How did you know? A Wizard indeed came, supposedly to recruit students with Wizard Aptitude, but it costs a full gold coin to test for Wizard Apprentice Aptitude."
Saying that, Brother Silas quietly gestured with his chin behind him, pointing to the Old Blacksmith and saying, "The old man also took his son, Ai, there. He doesn't have Wizard Aptitude, and he's still heartbroken over that one gold coin."
Elias was both surprised and delighted, "Where is that Wizard?"
Brother Silas's face changed, and he looked at Elias in shock, "You're not thinking of going, are you? A gold coin isn't a small expense. We don't have that much money to waste."
Elias hesitated for a moment.
If he really lost a gold coin, for Elias, who only had a little over two gold coins, it would indeed be a significant blow.
However, if he lost this opportunity, perhaps he would never have such a chance again...