278 – Ian’s Order
Beth took a piece of black bread that was harder than wood, soaked it in the water for a long time, and then nibbled on it like a weasel.
“Beth, I heard that Court Grandmaster Ian is going to open a magic college in the St. Tulan City. If you’re 10 years of age or older, you can go to the magic college to study. If you’re magic aptitude is strong enough, the tuition fee will be waived and you’ll even get 3 silver coins to 1 gold coin per month as allowance. I’m going to take the aptitude test, I want to give it a try.” Arthur slowly extended his hands. Apart from his fingers, the rest was covered in various injuries. His arms were also covered with lash marks and knife scars.
As a thief at the bottom of society, Arthur struggled in the slums for his and his younger sister’s sake. Therefore, injuries were a very common occurrence.
Once a thief was caught red-handed, being battered was very common. If they were discovered stealing from an aristocrat, being beaten to death for their poor foresight was also a possibility.
Arthur had seen a thief who stole money from an aristocrat being beaten to death and have their body thrown into a sewage ditch after being caught. At the time, nobody dared to take care of the body.
Arthur was once cruelly tortured when he was caught red-handed, leaving scars all over his body.
Beth raised her head and looked at Arthur with a look of adoration, saying: “Brother, you are the best and will definitely become a Wizard!”
Arthur’s eyes sparkled with intelligence, and he said gravely: “Let’s go together. Like this, even if just one of us joins the magic college, our fates will still be changed.”
Beth murmured with a look of fear in her eyes: “But brother, isn’t it dangerous outside? Jenna was taken not long ago.”
The slums were very dangerous for pretty-looking girls. Once they were found out, they would be captured by gangsters to be sold or reduced to prostitutes, effectively destroying their lives.
The reason why Arthur was so careful was that he didn’t want others discover that he had a fairly pretty sister, as that would be disastrous to the both of them.
“Put these clothes on, and let’s go.” Arthur handed Beth a black robe and said gravely.
Beth put on the black robe, which was obviously too long, so part of it was being dragged on the ground. The black robe covered her completely.
Arthur opened the door, stuck out his head, carefully surveyed the scene outside for a while, waved his hand, and went out.
When she went outside, Beth follow behind Arthur like a tail.
Arthur carefully shuttled through the streets and alleys of the slums with Beth in tow, trying to avoid the gazes of people.
After passing through one street after another, Arthur took Beth to a place at the edge of the slums.
“Arthur, where do you think you’re going?” Suddenly, they heard a loud voice. A somewhat thin, middle-aged man with a haggard appearance stepped out from the side and blocked the path of Arthur and his sister. Looking at the siblings, the middle-aged man revealed a sneer.
When he saw the middle-aged man, Arthur’s pupils shrank slightly. There was a look of fear in his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared in his right hand.
The middle-aged man, whose real name was Tim, was known as the Viper in the slums. He was a member of the gang Black Poker, which was notorious for human trafficking. They would capture young girls from the slums and sell them to aristocrats or brothels.
Everyone in the slums hated the Viper and them, but there was nothing they could do about them. As long as the people of the Black Poker didn’t leave the slums and harass the commoners and aristocrats of the St. Tulan City, the security hall would not mobilize to wipe them out.
Arthur replied gloomily, stressing each syllable: “Tim, I’m going out, get out of the way!”
In the slums, you had to learn to be tough. You could not show any sign of weakness. Otherwise, numerous mutts would pounce at you and tear you to shreds.
Tim sneered and took out a dagger with a flick of his wrist. As if it had a life of its own, the dagger spun around in his hand before being grabbed in a reverse-grip: “Little shit, you dare to threaten me with a dagger? That’s so foolish. Don’t you know that there are no more than 3 people here who are better at wielding daggers than I am?”
Tim licked his lips in a perverted manner and said with an excited smile: “The person next to you is your sister, Beth, right? Her friend, Jenna, confessed everything yesterday while I was plowing her.”
Beth’s petite body shivered slightly, and she bit her lips tightly. She didn’t expect that Jenna, whom she considered to be a good friend, would betray her.
Arthur’s face twisted slightly, and he said in a loud voice: “Tim, we are going to study magic at the magic college established by Grandmaster Ian. Grandmaster Ian has ordered that no one is to obstruct those who are going to take the aptitude test. Do you want to oppose Grandmaster Ian?”
Tim’s face changed slightly, and he hesitated for a moment. Next, his eyes flashed with determination and killing intent, and he said coldly: “Now you did it! I only wanted to take your sister, have fun with her, and then sell her off. Now, however, it looks like I can only kill the both of you. Otherwise, once you learn magic, and then come back for revenge, I will be a goner. Besides, who would know that you wanted to go to the magic college to study once I kill you and throw you into a sewage ditch?”
“Scum, you got some nerves to disobey Sir Ian’s orders.” Said a voice full of contempt. A middle-aged man dressed in a black Wizard robe approached under the escort of a heavy-armored Knight.
A burly middle-aged man with a gloomy expression and a black eye-patch followed behind the Wizard and Knight duo.
As soon as Tim saw the one-eyed man, his complexion changed dramatically, and he exclaimed: “Boss!”
The one-eyed man was the One-Eyed Dragon, the boss of the underground force Black Poker of the slums. Just his name could make anyone in the slums shudder.
The One-Eyed Dragon’s face changed greatly, and he snapped in frustration: “Bastard, why haven’t you put away your dagger yet?”
With a flick of his wrist, the dagger disappeared from sight.
The middle-aged Wizard said coldly: “Band, what have we talked about? Do you treat Sir Ian’s orders as hot air?”
With a look of flattery on his face, the One-Eyed Dragon Band said fawningly: “Sir, I wouldn’t dare. I’ll teach Tim a lesson when we go back! No! I’ll teach him a lesson he will never forget when we go back, so that everyone knows the consequence of going against Sir’s orders.”
When Arthur saw the One-Eyed Dragon Band fawning expression, he could hardly believe his eyes. Band had always been an arrogant bully in everyone’s eyes. Now, however, he was as meek as a lapdog in front of the middle-aged Wizard. It was the first time that the immature boy realized the weight the word ‘Wizard’ carried.
“A lesson? Only death can atone drags who violate Sir’s orders!” Sneered the middle-aged Wizard. He silently recited an incantation and pointed at Tim.
A fireball suddenly appeared and slammed into Tim.
“Ah!” Tim screamed and struggled in pain, as he was covered by fire. He was turned into a charred corpse, and collapsed to the ground.
The members of the Black Poker felt aggrieved when they saw this, and they glared at the middle-aged Wizard.
The middle-aged Wizard scanned the members of the Black Poker with an arrogant look, and asked coldly: “Do you have any complaints?”
The Knight guarding in front of the middle-aged Wizard burst out with frightening Great Knight rank qi, shocking the gangsters.
A Great Knight rank powerhouse alone could eradicate the Black Poker to a man.
The face of the One-Eyed Dragon Band was covered in sweat as he replied fawningly: “No, no! You did well, Sir!!”
The gangsters lowered their heads and no longer dared to look at the middle-aged Wizard.
The middle-aged Wizard said coldly: “If anyone else is intercepted while on their way to the magic college, then the Black Poker might as well seize to exist. If you anger Sir, you will be tossed into a sewage ditch, understood?”
The One-Eyed Dragon Band replied fawningly: “Yes! Yes! I understand. There won’t be anyone disobeying Grandmaster Ian’s orders. However, if someone dares to disobey, I’ll kill them myself!!”
In the slums, the Black Poker seemed to be a tyrant. However, in the eyes of real big shots, it was no more than an ant. A random greater aristocrat, so long as they dispatched a few Knight rank powerhouses, could completely erase the Black Poker. The reason why the gang was still not erased was that no one wanted to do that.
Every year, the Black Poker secretly made offerings to some greater aristocrats in exchange for protection. However, the Black Poker was clear that once some bigwig decided to act against them, their backer would not fight the other bigwig for their sake, they would just leave them to fend for themselves.