First Pot of Gold

Eingelin's father was a shrewd innkeeper, and he would most likely inherit his father's trade. That was why he had begun working in the tavern at a very young age.

He wiped down the tables, cleaned up the rubbish left behind by yesterday's drunken guests, arranged all manner of expensive wines, and roasted venison marinated in fresh honey. Its fragrant warmth instantly melted the frost from the glass windows, driving away the chill and leaving warmth everywhere.

The tavern doors were pushed open by a pair of powerful hands, and a boy strode inside.

No, Eingelin rejected that rash conclusion. The boy carried an enormous staff on his back. He was very likely a mage who had suffered some misfortune, perhaps transformed into this state by an accident during an experiment.

"Honored mage." Eingelin took out a clean glass goblet. "Would you like a cup of Dalaran red wine?"

"I'm still a child." The child sat across from Eingelin. "A ham and fried egg, with a glass of milk."

"No problem!" Eingelin swapped out the wineglass, filled a tall glass with warm milk, and handed it to Lister. "Bring our guest a ham and fried egg!"

Lister looked at the cheerful young proprietor and pulled a newspaper from his robes. "Boss, actually, I came to see you about something."

"Haha, it is my honor to serve a mage." Eingelin smiled, his gaze falling on the newspaper. "This is...?"

"I work for this newspaper office. This is the first issue of our paper. Dalaran has everything, but its flaw is that it is too hard to rise to prominence. Without the recommendation of influential people in society, it is difficult to make any real headway." Lister handed him the newspaper. "You can take a look at the contents."

Eingelin accepted the newspaper with a smile. He skipped most of the material at the front and quickly browsed the food section. "You actually mentioned my family's marinated venison. Should I say I'm honored?"

"This paper will regularly hold rankings." Lister said, "Every reader can rate the selected restaurants. We will choose the winners to take part in the next round of promotion."

Eingelin nodded and casually set the newspaper aside. "It sounds plausible enough. So I don't have to do anything, and just let others point fingers at my restaurant?"

"Help us sell this newspaper." Lister pushed the paper toward him. "You do not need to do much. Just hand one out while customers are eating. If they want it, sell it to them."

"It seems you know very little about tavern culture." Eingelin wagged a finger. "They will only buy one newspaper, because some loudmouthed fellow—usually a dwarf—will take it upon himself to tell everyone what it says."

Lister shrugged. "That is because you do not understand mages. Mages prefer enjoying things alone. One newspaper costs 1 gold coin. For every copy you sell, I will give you 1 silver coin—a ten-percent commission."

Eingelin picked up the newspaper and turned it over in his hands. After a moment, he made his decision. "All right, give me ten copies first. I will see how they sell before deciding whether to continue. Also..." He handed the ham and fried egg to Lister. "Put my ham and fried egg in there next time."

"If it sells well." Lister raised his milk. "I will deliver the newspapers in three days."

After eating, Lister hurried off. He still needed to find more distributors.

"Get me a copy of the Dalaran Truth Daily." Kel'Thuzad's matter-of-fact tone made Landarock's eyes widen. He stammered, "What did you say, Master?"

"I said, get me a copy of the Dalaran Truth Daily." Kel'Thuzad impatiently raised his dead-fish eyes. "Hurry up."

Landarock felt that if he asked what it was one more time, he would probably be frozen into an ice block and used as a warning sign. He hurried outside. What the hell was this thing?

Brasel suffered the same confusion. The prince had asked him to buy a newspaper called the Dalaran Truth Daily, but no matter how he searched, he could not find it. Thinking of Rommath's contemptuous look at the time made his hair stand on end in fury, and he mobilized every resource he had to find that damned newspaper.

The next day, all of Dalaran knew about it. Rumors filled every street and alley. Some guessed that it was a newspaper introducing spells. It was truly hard to imagine—what mage would willingly contribute spells? Others believed it was a trashy paper devoted to the romantic affairs of the streets and alleys. After all, these two were famous golden bachelors of Dalaran. Kel'Thuzad was a highly talented mage with a strong chance of becoming a councilor someday, while Kael'thas had long been a member of the Council of Six and was also an elven prince. They had finally come to their senses and wanted to find themselves companions.

On the third day, even more outrageous rumors flew out. The general idea was that the reason these two were bachelors was because they did not like women, yet their own reserve prevented them from making the first move toward someone of the same sex. Thus, they were using this matter to express their love for one another. It was merely a secret signal. The one who said this was a kid named Marcus, a believer Uther had only recently brought into the fold. His vividly detailed tale spread throughout Dalaran through gatherings of Holy Light believers.

Damn it, it actually sounded a little reasonable. When Lister received the news from Uther, his right hand twitched, and his quill drew a deep black line across the papyrus. He could already imagine how furious the two archmages would be. Fortunately, the paper would be released tomorrow, and the rumors would collapse without a blow.

At that very moment, Rommath and Lor'themar were hanging Marcus up and hammering him. Surely he would watch his words more carefully in the future. After finishing, they slowly departed, leaving behind Marcus, who was still savoring the experience.

Kael'thas paced back and forth anxiously. The power of rumors was so great that they had appeared in the morning, and by afternoon his father's concern had struck like lightning. He sternly demanded that Kael'thas return to Quel'Thalas immediately to meet several noble girls. He was deeply worried about his son and Quel'Thalas's future. If it were merely his son's fall from grace, that would be one thing. But if humans corrupted every elf in Dalaran, then brought that demonic wind and wicked miasma to Silvermoon City, that would be quite the spectacle.

No wonder Antonidas had never married either. The aged king shuddered. Fortunately, he had discovered it early.

In this anxious atmosphere, even Antonidas could not help asking what exactly the Dalaran Truth Daily was. Was it truly a secret little code, or really just a newspaper? It was destined to be a long night. Rumors tormented everyone, and when the newspapers appeared in the streets and alleys the next day, everyone rushed to buy them.

That evening, they counted the earnings. Before them stood a small mountain of gold and silver coins. After counting, there were a full number of silver coins, carrying a somewhat inexplicable foul smell. Converted into gold coins, that came to a full number of gold coins. After deducting labor costs, taxes, and commissions, a full 900 genuine gold coins fell into Lister's pocket.

A tremendous success.