Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Hill walked around a few commercial streets near the ”Golden Oak”.

He acquired several hundred books more, but unfortunately, most of them were biographical novels, and there were only a dozen real Magic Books.

Silvermoon City truly prides itself on its pursuit of knowledge, with several bookstores on a single street and many Magic Supplies shops. Hill also collected some Magic Scrolls that he was not very skilled at.

Interestingly, in Teraxil where laws were not very well-established, Magic Scrolls could have many messy side effects, and every Mage could insert a bit of personal touch into the scrolls they wrote.

However, in the Toril World, where magical power is extremely strong, these Magic Scrolls were all standardized and uniformly manufactured.

It seems that once something is produced on a large scale, it tends to become more standardized.

The reason why Silvermoon City has so many books is that many Silvermoon People have copied them from the Great Library of the Summit of Sages, and they do not represent the latest Magic research from Silvermoon City; the most recent ones are from 20 years ago.

And many books have also circulated from the Hall of Inspiration of Oghma.

But the same is true; even the Great Priest of Oghma, the God of Knowledge, could not gain the latest information from the academy.

The most current Magic Books and various reports are only available in the Magic Academy for ladies.

The most up-to-date publications Hill could acquire externally were the various newspapers and biographical novels from Silvermoon City, along with some artistic books.

For those who engage in the arts, or gods, spreading songs and smiles across the world is what matters most; they will not let any piece of music, a captivating poem, or even a drawing novel go unheard or unseen.

Hill glanced at the newspapers, and aside from the official newspaper of Silvermoon City, the bardic mark was quite evident in others.

He happily bought several newspaper compilations, planning to read them for gossip.

In the North, tales of a single person, Elaströ, supported many bards. Though Silvermoon People greatly respected this great Mage, her colorful romantic life sparked much curiosity.

Actually, Elaströ didn’t mind these rumors circulating—as long as they weren’t malicious insults, she didn’t care whether these bards depicted her romantic encounter with a pretty young man as a soap opera.

As the night fell, the lights of Silvermoon City began to illuminate gradually.

Hill looked up at the distant lights of many homes; the wealth of Silvermoon City could be seen from the lights burning in each household.

On the commercial street he was on, each store front used Alchemical Lamps, making the lights even brighter. Reflected by various glass walls, it seemed like daylight.

Hill strolled back to his hotel, happily immersing himself in the dramatic legendary novels.

After reading gossip through the night, Hill was still a bit dazed when he sat in the lobby of the ”Golden Oak” waiting for Lynn the following noon.

The newspapers of Silvermoon City were somewhat wary of being raided, so they didn’t talk much about their own city’s affairs. However, the other cities in the North, even the countries in Southern Ferun, relished reporting the ins and outs of their conflicts.

The feuds of Teraxil faded in comparison to the intrigues and covert conflicts in Ferun Great Land.

”Good afternoon, Hill,” Lynn descended from upstairs, greeting him cheerfully, ”Have you been waiting long?”

”Good afternoon, I also just arrived not long ago,” Hill replied with a smile.

”Let’s go directly to the auction,” Lynn called out to Hill, ”It’s not far from here, just next to the Grand Marketplace.”

Hill followed Lynn for ten minutes, then they turned into an alley, leading to a very spacious area ahead.

The bustling Grand Marketplace appeared before him, with the white palace-like auction house standing in the middle. The large building, with arch-shaped doors on all sides, allowed guests to enter directly from any direction without having to circle around.

Lynn stopped at the front of the alley, pulled out two invitations, and handed one to Hill: ”I thought we could use just one for both of us. But seeing your style, I think staying together might attract too much attention.

I still want to be a sheriff, after all!

So I went to my college teacher’s house yesterday and got a Superior Private Box ticket. Go enjoy yourself!”

Hill sheepishly smiled, accepting the invitation Lynn handed him. Indeed, he wanted to buy a large manor within the Puzzle Lock rather than a smaller farm a bit further away.

Hill previously wanted to buy a small farm because he wasn’t sure about the impact of the barriers of Silvermoon City on him, but now he was clearly aware that he could easily utilize the power of the Puzzle Lock, while others couldn’t use it to harm him.

Even surveillance was not an option.

Although it might bring a bit of confusion and trouble to Elaströ and the current City Lord Thern Hornblade, Hill was not about to give up his interests for the sake of others’ feelings.

He wasn’t planning to compete with the Silvermoon City folk for the control of the Puzzle Lock, and Hill certainly couldn’t afford to offend the Goddess of Magic.

If they were really concerned, the masters of Silvermoon City could simply have the Silver-Armored Knights patrol his estate more frequently!

Hill didn’t mind that bit of external surveillance; he felt that even if he bought a farm outside the city, Elaströ wouldn’t be at ease about him.

Yesterday, Hill sold some Gold Bars in several Magic Shops, exchanging them for enough Platinum Coins, feeling that he had sufficient money.

Moreover, it’s general practice for auction houses to allow using other items to offset the costs, isn’t it?

Hill wouldn’t lack Red Gold; it was just a snap of the fingers for him.

No wonder Lynn didn’t mention going out earlier, and even said he’d take Hill to see well-known taverns in Silvermoon City but suddenly had something to do.

Hill gratefully smiled at him, ”Dear Lynn, you really are a good man! Thank you for the trouble.”

He didn’t really like using that kind of phrasing, even though there was no such thing as a ”good guy card” in this world, he still found it awkward to say.

But there were times when it was unavoidable, like expressing gratitude among friends, one couldn’t keep using the cold manners typical of nobility.

Lynn waved his hand: ”Don’t thank me. If you really appreciate it, remember to head back to the inn if you run out of money! I’m not going to wait for you to leave together,” he said.

Hill smiled helplessly and nodded in agreement: ”No problem.”

”Keep your symbol on the outside of your clothing,” Lynn said as he assessed Hill, who was dressed in a dark green Mage Robe, ”There’s a lot of shady stuff in Silvermoon City; otherwise, the lady wouldn’t have organized so many Hidden Guards.”

Hill nodded his head.

Lynn lifted his chin and said primly: ”I’m going in first. The auction starts in 1 hour, decide for yourself when you want to enter!”

Then he turned and headed towards the white auction house.

Hill didn’t care about Lynn’s pretentiousness; he knew full well how precious the invitation he held was.

The type Lynn held was the most common, probably available to anyone with a bit of status.

The one in his hand, however, was clearly the kind that only people of higher status could obtain.

Hill even suspected that Lynn’s teacher, the head of the Bard’s Academy, had something to do with it, otherwise, Lynn wouldn’t have gotten it so easily.

Lynn probably worried that Hill, when buying good items, would be maliciously outbid and thus went to his teacher for an invitation, given Hill’s unfamiliar face.

Although there might still be people who knew Hill was a stranger, anyone capable of getting a Superior Private Box would make most reconsider offending him.

Leisurely, Hill purchased some exquisite artworks in small shops nearby.

Many of the small shops next to the big market were run by artisans themselves and were often visited by merchants for buying goods.

Following a few merchants, Hill bought quite a few treasures.

Particularly some engravings, no matter the material, were all so exquisite and cleverly made, blending features of elves and humans, perfectly suiting the taste of Teraxil people.

Hill thought that he could totally give these items as souvenirs to friends when he returned.

Seeing that it was time, Hill walked towards the auction house under the resentful but silent glares of the merchants.

Mainly because he wasn’t much into bargaining, so he could only tell the shop owners to match the price of these merchants.

Hill, holding the invitation, entered the auction house.

As he stepped through the arch-shaped door, he felt a resonance between the invitation and the great hall, which sparked a specific wave.

Soon, a beautiful girl dressed in a purple silk dress approached him.

Her chestnut-colored hair fell to her calves, her pale skin slightly glowing, and her figure was extremely graceful.

The beautiful girl with swirling eyes said to Hill in a gentle voice, ”Respected guest, my name is Nana, and I am honored to serve you.

Your box is on the third floor, please follow me.”

Hill followed her to the box on the third floor, opting out of her additional services.

He would be insane to keep a High-level Thief around him.

Hill felt this wasn’t one of Elaströ’s subordinates as she would have surely known about Hill’s abilities and wouldn’t have sent such an obviously ill-intentioned woman to accompany him.

He directly activated the box’s soundproofing feature, ignoring the thief outside who was trying hard to listen to Hill’s movements.

This was probably a repercussion of him enjoying the mole-whacking a bit too much last winter.

His timing was just perfect; the auction was about to start soon.

The items auctioned at the front were indeed various jewels, jewelry, and antiques.

The musical instrument Lynn wanted was also categorized under artifacts.

Hill glanced down and saw Lynn sitting in a sofa booth downstairs, bidding on several sets of exquisitely made ordinary musical instruments.

Since no gemstones were involved, even if they were well-crafted, not many competed with him.

Lynn’s pursuit of practicality helped him gain quite a lot.

Other gold and silver studded, flashy musical instruments, on the other hand, were fiercely competed over.

The bards of Silvermoon City seemed to have strayed a bit.

Hill, finding this a bit boring, wondered why the auction didn’t maintain any rhythm. They could use some stimulating pieces!