Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Chapter 129: Chapter 128: I’m Different from Them!
 

Seeing the beautiful girl blocking the way, Richard was slightly startled and quickly associated her with some relevant matters.

First, the beautiful girl looked very nervous, which likely meant she was new to the job and didn’t have much experience before.

Second, even though the beautiful girl saw Prince Gro behind him, she still obstructed the way, indicating she didn’t recognize Prince Gro and wasn’t dispatched by the royal family of the Jade Kingdom; she might have been someone “Lord Warner” had found on his own.

Third, logically speaking, “Lord Hua’er,” if he wanted someone to take care of his daily life, having a few beautiful maids would be understandable, but replacing all guards with young girls was a bit too much—seems like this “Lord Hua’er” is no ordinary person.

Tsk, tsk.

Contemplating, Prince Gro quickly stepped forward, glanced at the beautiful girl, and with a great deal of confidence, pulled out a gilded invitation from his bosom and handed it over, saying, “I am Prince Gelo, invited by Lord Hua’er to participate in the testing. You may check the invitation.”

Having heard Prince Gro’s words, the beautiful girl immediately became very nervous, not having expected Prince’s eminent arrival. To be honest, she was somewhat confused—was the “Lord Hua’er” inside of higher status, or was it the Prince standing before her, or perhaps the quiet man beside her?

The beautiful girl clumsily accepted the invitation, somewhat frantically spoke out, “Ah, yes… it’s Prince, then… you… please… please…” She could barely get her words out straight, looking as if she was about to cry.

Richard looked at her expression, shook his head slightly, and confirmed some of his suspicions.

Prince Gro didn’t pay much attention to these either; he nodded and walked inside with Richard, eventually guided into a huge private room in the inn by another beautiful maid.

The private room covered nearly a hundred square meters, originally a gathering place for some guests in the inn, but at this moment, it had been arranged as a small hall.

Richard and Prince Gro walked in and saw that inside were neatly arranged more than ten rows of chairs, and a number of young people were already scattered sitting on the seats, most of them dressed lavishly, appearing to be nobles.

Richard and Prince Gro chose a corner seat towards the back; in a hushed voice, Richard asked Prince Gro, “Are there so many young nobles in Cuijin City wanting to become wizards?”

“Heh, not possible,” Prince Gro scoffed with disdain, “Don’t be fooled by those sitting here looking like real nobles; most of them don’t even hold the lowest rank of nobility. They aren’t first in line to inherit anything; most of them are who knows how far down the succession order, or they’re illegitimate children.

Thus, no matter how great their families might be, it will never be their turn to inherit the family business. While their fathers—the family heads—are alive, they’re like slaves, only able to follow orders and live off meager allowances. Without their father’s consent, they can’t even pursue a profession. When their father dies, their situation is even more pitiful; without allowances, unless they can swallow their pride and compete with a bunch of poor folks for work opportunities, they’ll have to consider an alternative that won’t starve them to death.”

“I see,” Richard nodded, displaying understanding. In a world similar to the Medieval era, indeed, paternal authority was supreme. Without family fathers’ permission, sons in the family hardly had any autonomy, even if they were nobles.

If one were the eldest son or the already determined first in line to inherit, they might have something to look forward to; they could inherit most of the family wealth and gain a foothold in politics with the support of the family’s strength. But the rest of the sons in the family, their situation was much more tragic, sometimes almost another form of slavery. It was also one of the reasons why parricide incidents were so common in the Medieval era.

“In their view, becoming a wizard might be a way out. That’s why they’re trying their luck here,” Prince Gro explained, “Although they’re unclear about what it takes to be a wizard, it definitely can’t be worse than what they’re going through. As far as I know, several of them here are so strapped because they owe money to lenders, having been repeatedly accosted at home for debts; truly a dire situation. Perhaps they’re hoping that once they become wizards, those debt collectors will leave them alone.

In fact, their families are somewhat supportive of them being here. What if they do strike it lucky and become wizards, after all? No matter how powerful a family is, no one can predict the day it might suddenly weaken or perish. If that happens, leaving a bloodline outside gives a slim hope. But… based on my experience, the vast majority here lack the Talent.”

Hearing Prince Gro’s words, Richard nodded again, knowing this to be very normal. According to the “Monroe Chapter,” the people with a suitable Talent for being a wizard were truly not many, even extremely few, just less than one in ten thousand. Generally, people with wizardry Talent should appear more among civilians rather than nobles, since civilians have a much larger base number.

Richard and Prince Gro continued to talk in low voices. The people sitting in front heard them and looked over reflexively, promptly recognizing Prince Gro. A shout went up, and suddenly, a large group of people in the room swarmed around, as if flies drawn to blood, buzzing enthusiastically greeting Prince Gro.

“You… You’re Prince Gelo? I’m Doxs Momba from the Mongpa Family; hello to you, Prince!”

“Prince Gelo, I’m so thrilled; do you remember me? I saw you once before at the auction, um, I’m Lank Tuhart from the Tuha family!”

“Prince Gelo…”

“Prince…”

It took quite some effort for Prince Gro to send the crowd away, and turning to Richard, he said, “See, Lord Richard, they are actually just a bunch of opportunists who won’t miss any chance to jockey for position. In their view, fawning over me, the Prince, is no different from striving to be a wizard. Yet, they and I are not the same. It’s just a pity that I don’t have the Talent to become a wizard, damn it! But I will still try hard!”

“Heh.” Richard laughed lightly, looked at Prince Gro, and asked aloud, “Then how are you different from them? And why do you want to become a wizard? To ensure your own safety? You are already safe. For so-called meaning in life? Hasn’t your teacher taught you that life inherently has no meaning?”

“I…” Prince Gro stammered, and after a long time finally spoke up, “Honestly, I too don’t know why I want to become a wizard but… becoming a wizard surely can’t be wrong, and I am absolutely, absolutely different from those people, even if I can’t articulate the difference at the moment.”

“Well, alright.”

Just then, someone shouted “Lord Hua’er is here,” and the entire private room, or rather, the small hall quickly quieted down.

“Tap, tap, tap,” clear footsteps approached from the corridor outside, growing louder as they neared the doorway.