"All right, deal!" Jiang Jie was delighted.
Although the money could not be handed over immediately, and Mage Nolan could hardly carry all his possessions around with him-200 gold coins were heavy, okay!-the money was not going anywhere. Mage Nolan was a dignified intermediate mage, a member of the Lordaeron Royal Mages, with nearly forty years of credibility. Surely he would not welsh on a debt?
What Jiang Jie had not expected was for Mage Nolan to hand both the staff and the magic ring straight to his student, Connie, keeping only the spellbook that recorded necromancy. Then he pointed at Connie and said, "She'll pay you!"
Jiang Jie's expression froze. He was utterly speechless!
So you came here to buy things for your student?
Jiang Jie noticed that Connie was looking at him with eyes full of admiration, the way naive girls in his previous life had looked at their idols...
That still doesn't count as payment! I'm not interested in your model and size, little sister! I prefer papayas to apples... Besides, do you have any money?
"Connie is Earl Lawrence's only daughter. There's no need to worry that she can't afford it," Mage Nolan explained, his tone perfectly calm, as though two hundred gold coins were nothing much.
Jiang Jie understood!
Indeed, it was terribly difficult for commoners in this world to become mages. Spellcasting materials were expensive, and hiring a teacher cost money too. Otherwise, who would have the spare time to teach you for free? Tuition at the Lordaeron Academy of Magic was expensive, and tuition at the Dalaran Academy of Magic was even more expensive. Fees could easily run into dozens or hundreds of gold coins. Unless you were a high-ranking dignitary, a noble, or a wealthy merchant, you really could not afford it!
What? You wanted to hire a high-ranking mage for private lessons? Were you the first-in-line heir to some earl? Did your family have thousands of gold coins? No? Forget it if you were that poor!
What? You wanted to become an archmage's student? Oh, were you a princess of one of the seven human kingdoms, or the first-in-line heir to some duke? Or did your family have a hundred or two hundred thousand gold coins? No? Then why should they teach you? An archmage's time was precious, okay? Every second was worth several gold coins!
Jiang Jie remembered that he seemed to have heard somewhere that Earl Lawrence had a large fief in Tirisfal Glades, along with several farms and mills. He took part in the grain trade every year, with transactions totaling at least several thousand gold coins...
In short, Connie's family was really rich-even richer than Dudley's!
In other words, Connie's family was actually more powerful than Dudley's, with a higher title and greater wealth. Yet she was far more low-key than Dudley and had a much better attitude. This was what a refined, well-bred noble scion looked like...
Yeah, mage lords were all damned, enviable nobles. Truly a profession for the nobility!
Wait, Dudley?
Jiang Jie turned to look. That damned little fatty was sitting beside the campfire, his right hand tightly clenched around something. His enormous pig's head was furtively looking around, and there was no telling what he was up to!
"Something's wrong! Something's definitely wrong! That ambush just now must have had something to do with Dudley! Xiao Feng, scan him! See what he's holding!"
Soon, Xiao Feng's voice came through. "Host, he's clutching a crystal vial five centimeters tall. It contains a liquid carrying a plague virus. The three-dimensional scan is as follows, and the analysis results are as follows..."
Soon, a crystal vial filled with liquid appeared in Jiang Jie's mind.
The liquid was a sickly green and looked exceedingly eerie, like the color of a ghost!
"Scourge Plague!" Jiang Jie was instantly startled.
He recognized that crystal vial!
The original owner of his current body had been murdered to silence him because he had seen Baron Soroson pour a vial of Scourge Plague liquid into Andorhal's river. That was what had allowed Jiang Jie to come back to life in this body and live another life!
Looking at it from another angle, did Jiang Jie perhaps owe Baron Soroson his thanks?
Well, Jiang Jie would thank him in the most "exhilarating" way!
When exactly did Dudley
get this vial of Scourge Plague? Before we set out? Or on some pitch-black night along the way? Hmm, I'll know once I ask him! A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Jiang Jie's mouth. He had been wondering how he could get rid of Dudley, either quietly or openly. Well, this made things easy. Dudley, if you're determined to court death, not even Medivh can stop you!
Jiang Jie walked up to Dudley, held out his hand, and looked at that enormous pig's head with a half-smile. "Dudley Dursley, hand over what you're holding!"
"Hand it over? Why should I?" Like a startled rabbit, Dudley hurriedly shoved his clenched right hand inside his clothes. His face instantly went deathly pale, and he roared without the slightest confidence, "Nicholas! You lowborn scum! How dare you offend a noble mage! A future baron! I'll kill you!"
"You're not a full-fledged mage yet, nor are you a baron, and you certainly can't kill me. Besides, don't you think this childish, ridiculous behavior is telling all of us that there's something fucking wrong with you? Otherwise, why are you panicking? What are you hiding?" Jiang Jie sneered, then enunciated each word. "Now, hand over the Scourge Plague you're holding!"
Scourge Plague!
Hearing those words, Basil the paladin, Harold the kingdom knight, and Mage Nolan all gathered around. Mage Nolan fixed his aged eyes on Jiang Jie, frowning as he demanded in a low voice, "Nicholas, what did you say? Scourge Plague? Dudley has Scourge Plague? That's impossible! How could he have Scourge Plague?"
Dudley was his student!
Although he was very reluctant to have such a cowardly, spineless student, Dudley was already his student. Of course he had to defend Dudley. Unless there was conclusive evidence, he had to protect him!
A teacher who could not even protect his own student would be mocked by everyone!
"I think everyone should know very well what Scourge Plague is, right? One small vial of Scourge Plague can turn an entire village into undead!" Jiang Jie said evenly. "Mage Nolan, don't you think you should at least search Dudley before questioning me? I swear in the name of my family that he has Scourge Plague on him! If he doesn't, I'll kneel and apologize to him in front of everyone!"
In the name of his family!
Everyone's expression changed at once.
The people of this world placed tremendous importance on their origins and their families, and took pride in their families.
For a human of Lordaeron, swearing in the name of one's family was more serious than swearing in the name of the "Holy Light." You might not be a priest or paladin, and might not believe so strongly in the Holy Light, but you absolutely could not betray your own family. Otherwise, everyone would look down on you!
No one thought Jiang Jie would joke about his own family, although Jiang Jie knew perfectly well that all that remained of his family in this world was a collection of wandering spirits-those rotting zombies, fragile skeletons, and cold ghosts!