Translator: Legge
As half of the city’s streets were still made up of dirt roads, Ren Xiaosu could just imagine how muddy the streets would get on rainy days.
There was no sewage system in this city either. While Ren Xiaosu sat on his horse, he even saw some residents transporting human waste out of the city. He could even smell that foul stench from a distance away.
Although the residents had neatly combed hair, the texture was extremely greasy. At a glance, Ren Xiaosu roughly understood that even though Melgor had used his first year of tax revenue to build 180 wells, there was still a severe water shortage in the city.
Ren Xiaosu and Little Liuyuan were in a similar situation while living in town.
The residents knelt on one knee on both sides of the street to welcome the return of Lord Melgor. To them, sorcerers were gods and also the most sacred people in the kingdom.
It could be seen that their clothes were very different from the people in the Central Plains. The women were mostly dressed in layered skirts with lace collars and sleeves and wore tight corsets around their torso.
On the other hand, the men were dressed more plainly, with most of them wearing a short vest over a tattered shirt.
“People used not to dress like this, but that style made a comeback some 20 years ago,” Melgor explained to Ren Xiaosu with a laugh. “So what do you think? It’s quite different from Fortress 178, huh?”
“It really is very different.” Ren Xiaosu nodded.
The knights prepared to leave after respectfully escorting Melgor and Ren Xiaosu back to the Sorcerer’s Tower. However, Melgor was worried the bounty hunter would come to kill him, so he ordered two knights to stand guard outside his tower for the time being.
Not only that, he also told Li Chengguo to have the Li clan deploy more guards there after the knights escorted Liu Ting and him back to their families.
Ren Xiaosu was a little annoyed. With such security measures, the bounty hunter would probably not dare to come to the Sorcerer’s Tower to assassinate Melgor. Therefore, Ren Xiaosu might need to make an effort to lure the other party out.
But honestly, Ren Xiaosu really admired Melgor’s sense of cowardice.
So what if he was afraid of dying? Everyone could only live once, and dying for something that was not worth it would be the dumbest thing to do.
For some reason, Ren Xiaosu was even more tempted to abduct Melgor to the Prosperous Northwest.
As they walked into the Sorcerer’s Tower, Ren Xiaosu thought the interior would definitely be covered in dust since Melgor had not been back for two years.
But after stepping inside, he was surprised to find there were actually more than 20 middle-aged women cleaning the floor and doing housekeeping.
“Tve really underestimated your authority in York County.” Ren Xiaosu sighed.
Melgor laughed and said, “There’s many more things you’ve underestimated about me.”
Honestly, Ren Xiaosu could not be faulted for thinking so lowly of Melgor. As a sorcerer, Melgor only brought two lowly servants with him on the reconnaissance mission and did not have a proper attendant to see to his needs. He couldn’t be more pathetic on their way back to the Kingdom of Sorcerers
either.
Ren Xiaosu found it rather difficult to associate someone like him with an important figure. This even caused Ren Xiaosu to underestimate the entire magus order as he felt that Melgor’s status as a sorcerer was not that prestigious.
Meanwhile, the inside of the Sorcerer’s Tower looked opulent and magnificent. Many of the ornaments and decor were gilded with a thin layer of gold.
Curious, Ren Xiaosu asked, “Since you have so much authority, why didn’t you bring some subordinates and maids with you to Fortress 1782”
Melgor sighed and said, “They’d only have ended up suffering over there. Look at these people. They’re just working hard for a salary. How can I bring them to a dangerous place like the border? If we encountered any of Fortress 178’s troops, I couldn’t have protected them with my ability.”
Ren Xiaosu sighed. “What a sweet idiot.”
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When Fortress 178 got invaded, the people there started to subconsciously demonize everyone from the nation of sorcerers. This was only human nature.
Just like when Ren Xiaosu faced the expeditionary army, he also demonized them in his mind.
But in fact, there were good and bad people no matter where you went. Melgor was undoubtedly a typical example of a good person in the nation of sorcerers. As the environment in the Far North became too harsh, the expeditionary army had headed south in search of a better environment. Furthermore,
they were instigated by Black Robe.
It was not that Ren Xiaosu was trying to justify the sorcerers’ and barbarians’ actions. If another war broke out, he would still massacre them even if he knew there were good people among them. Even if the expeditionary army were to attack the Central Plains another 100 times, Ren Xiaosu would still do
the same as before.
A middle-aged woman walked up to Melgor and curtsied with a smile. “Lord Melgor, you’re finally back. I’ll have the maids prepare dinner for you.”
Ren Xiaosu started sizing up the other party. This “housekeeper” was not from the Central Plains. She had an exotic look with blonde hair and blue eyes, but she still spoke in Chinese. This made him feel a little out of place. It somehow felt like the world was a little unreal.
Melgor said, “Alright, make dinner quickly. Is the hot water ready? I’ll take a bath first.”
‘The middle-aged woman smiled and said, “We always have it ready. What would you like for dinner?”
Melgor thought for a moment and said, “Shredded pork with garlic sauce, spicy tofu, twice-cooked pork, stir-fried Napa cabbage with hot and sour sauce…”
Ren Xiaosu was confused.
What the fuck?! Shouldn’t sorcerers be eating something different? Did the culinary tastes in the Kingdom of Sorcerers also get influenced by the flavors of the Central Plains?
Melgor looked at Ren Xiaosu. “I’m afraid we’ll have to wait a while until dinner is ready. Why don’t we take a bath first?”
Ren Xiaosu immediately frowned. “Be clearer. If you say it like that again, I’ll beat you up.”
“Don’t misunderstand.” Melgor snapped, “We have eight bathrooms in the tower. I never said that I wanted to share the same bathroom as you!”
“I won’t wash up yet.” Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “First, find me that book we talked about. I want to read it.”
“Alright, do as you wish.” Melgor shrugged and got someone to retrieve a thick book from the tall bookshelf. He brushed off the dust and said, “This is the book. The Sorcerer Chronicles was published 80 years ago. You can’t find it now.”
“What was the name of that sorcerer?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“Russell.”
“Got it.” Ren Xiaosu found a chair and started searching for clues in the book. A maid walked over to him and offered him some tea and snacks, her dress skimming across the floor. She even asked if he needed a neck and shoulder massage.
She served him red tea and mini twisted doughnuts.
Ren Xiaosu did not know whether to laugh or cry. The sorcerers really knew how to live lavishly. Being at the top of the kingdom’s vested interest pyramid, even a fringe sorcerer like Melgor was able to enjoy the benefits of that authority.
‘As Melgor’s steward, Ren Xiaosu was now the highest-ranking person in the Sorcerer’s Tower after Melgor.
He shook his head and turned her down with a smile. “There’s no need for that, just leave me to my reading.”
Ren Xiaosu was not acting pretentiously. He was really eager to read his book!
Acertain curiosity was prompting him to search for all information related to the Central Plains Rider Ren He.
He somehow felt that when all his questions were answered, a lot of doubts in his mind would disappear.
Ren Xiaosu checked the table of contents and realized the first biography in the The Sorcerer Chronicles was about Russell..