Chapter 464: Chapter 464: Adina 17
After a glance at Catherine standing to the side, and another at Dumont, Tan You finally boarded the carriage with a maid’s help. Schubert cracked his whip, and the line of carriages began to roll out of the Edmonds estate.
Tan You lifted a corner of the window curtain, gazing at the sights and sounds of the Imperial City. ’I may be making a desperate escape now,’ she thought, ’but the next time I return, it will be after I’ve made a name for myself.’
Glancing at Schubert’s back in the carriage ahead of them, Tan You spoke softly, "Uncle Schubert, I’d like to buy a few things to take to Kandapes."
Schubert nodded. "Of course. I’ll accompany you, Miss. What did you have in mind?"
Tan You replied, "Let’s just browse for now. I’ll know it when I see it."
With that, Tan You and Schubert entered a nearby shop. It was something of a general store. As soon as she walked in, Tan You saw shelves of all kinds, sparsely lined with various ores, blank scrolls, potions, and the like.
Behind the counter, an old man sat dozing with his eyes narrowed to slits. Tan You wasn’t even as tall as the countertop. ’Even if I stood on my tiptoes, he probably wouldn’t see me.’
After struggling to climb onto the stool in front of the counter, Tan You knocked on the wood. "Sir, what’s the price for your blank scrolls?"
The groggy Old Wright’s hand, which had been propping up his head, slipped, and his face plunged toward the countertop. Tan You shot out a hand to catch the old man’s chin. ’He’s so old, I hope he doesn’t get hurt.’
As his chin was caught by a pair of small, bony hands, all of Old Wright’s drowsiness vanished. He looked at Tan You, who was struggling to support his chin, her face flushed red from the effort. She looked as frail as a newborn chick.
In their first meeting, it was safe to say that each saw the other as exceptionally weak.
Seeing him sit up straight, Tan You withdrew her hand and took a moment to steady her breathing. Adina was already congenitally frail, and after the recent ordeal, it was no exaggeration to call her the very picture of fragility.
"You want to buy blank scrolls?" Old Wright chuckled, finding the little girl he’d met today rather interesting.
Tan You smiled back. "They’re for my older brother. He’s a second-year student at the Imperial Academy. I heard he’s learning how to make Magic scrolls, so I wanted to buy some blank ones for him."
Old Wright glanced at the Edmonds family crest on Schubert’s attire and immediately knew who Tan You was. He blinked. "The blank scrolls here are ten copper coins apiece. How many will you be needing, Miss?"
Tan You already knew the conversion rates: one silver coin was worth 100 copper coins, and one Gold Coin was worth 100 silver coins.
Tan You calculated the cost. ’Anything involving Magic is really expensive,’ she mused. ’A twelve-year-old boy doing odd jobs might only earn about ten copper coins for a full day’s work.’
’And a single blank scroll—something you can’t eat or wear—costs ten copper coins. That’s not even considering the success rate of actually creating a Magic scroll. As expected, training is expensive no matter what world you’re in.’
"I’ll take ten Gold Coins’ worth of scrolls to start," Tan You said after some calculation, deciding on the large amount. For one, the large number of carriages in their retinue would provide enough cover for her to transfer the scrolls into her ring.
And for another, buying in bulk was more fitting for a noble lady. ’What kind of noble lady haggles over a few silver coins? That would be an embarrassment to the Edmonds family name.’
Old Wright didn’t even bat an eye. His shop’s turnover was extremely high, so a ten-Gold-Coin transaction was nothing special—at least, not for a noble family.
But then again, he exclusively catered to the wealthy. Commoners wouldn’t set foot in his shop.
A shop clerk helped load the blank scrolls into the carriage, but Tan You was in no hurry to leave. She looked at Old Wright. "Sir, I’ll also need one set of basic magic plants and alchemy equipment. In addition, I want potion recipes—give me everything you have from this list."
Tan You said, pushing a list across the counter. Sean’s training notes had mentioned potions, but he hadn’t been interested in them himself, so the notes contained very few recipes.
Tan You, on the other hand, was very interested in potions. In fact, she was interested in anything that could make money.
A glint flashed in Old Wright’s aged eyes. "Very well. I’ll prepare a complete set for you, Miss, at the standard for a Magic apprentice."
Tan You gave a wry smile. "I’m no Magic apprentice, sir. You flatter me. I’m simply curious about these things."
The mention of a Magic apprentice made Tan You pause. She recalled how Catherine had tried to stop her from going to Kandapes. Her mother had come up with a perfectly reasonable excuse: Adina’s birthday was just a few days away, so shouldn’t she wait until after her talent assessment at the Divine Hall of Light?
Tan You had shut her down immediately. "Mother, I’m in no condition to suffer another blow. Yet you’re trying to tempt me with the talent assessment? What if it turns out I have no aptitude for Magic? That would only crush me further."
"Do you want to just stand by and watch me die?"
Those words were a trump card, stunning Catherine into silence. No matter how much she favored Lilith, she couldn’t risk being accused of driving her own daughter to her death. And so, she could only watch with resentment as Tan You left the Edmonds estate.
Shaking off those thoughts, Tan You watched as Old Wright rummaged through his shelves. He then swiped a hand over the ring on his finger, and a small mountain of assorted magic plants, Magic Beast cores, and a complete set of alchemy equipment appeared on the counter.
"That’ll be ten Purple Gold Coins," Old Wright said, looking at Tan You with a grin like a sly fox who’d just cornered its prey.
Tan You lowered her gaze. "How expensive. Uncle Schubert, could you please handle the payment? Prioritize using the Gold Coins, please."
Purple Gold Coins were, without a doubt, much more portable than Gold Coins. Tan You’s goal was to convert her bulky gold into practical survival supplies. For example, she bought an entire carriage full of grain.
After all, Dumont and the others had only packed basic daily necessities for her. In their eyes, things like grain and fruit were readily available in Kandapes, so there was no need to bring any along.
And so, Tan You led the guards on a shopping spree, not stopping until she had spent more than half of her Gold Coins. Only then, finally satisfied, did the group leave the Imperial City for good and set out for Kandapes.
Once they were beyond the borders of the Imperial City, Tan You began her training. According to the classifications in Sean’s notes, she was currently just a fledgling Magic apprentice.
Tan You was busy training, but to outside observers, she was simply sitting quietly in her carriage. The guards said nothing about her behavior, but inwardly, they couldn’t help but feel it was a shame.
They had been escorting the Fourth Miss for some time now. If nothing else, she had made the impression of being exceptionally low-maintenance and not the least bit picky. Even when they had to camp out on the road, she never uttered a single word of complaint.
She was also very considerate of others. In short, the guards felt that Miss Adina was a genuinely good person.
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