Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1458: Chapter 36: Mr. Belfran Who Loves Shopping

The most valuable items in Basia City hold no worth for Hill.

He wouldn’t even consider exchanging them for money.

First, the treasured marine collections popular in Basia City... be it pearls or coral, there’s absolutely no way Hill would buy them.

No matter how much the shop owner, who boasted loudly to Hill about the rarity of his treasures, claimed they were unique in the world, to Hill, they’re akin to the kind old sea turtle used to pad a box in the past.

If Hill wanted them, he could just scoop them out of the stream by the pendant.

Originally, those pearls were stored in a warehouse, but during the time Agleya stayed, she was somewhat dissatisfied with Hill keeping such trash in his storage.

Agleya replaced all the pearls she had on hand... and these small pearls were thrown into the stream as purification sources, and then, for looks, she seemed to have added more.

Therefore, Hill really couldn’t bring himself to buy them, always feeling it was a betrayal to his own Agleya.

Then, another specialty of Basia is the modern alchemy items from Aesces... to Hill, it was like buying a pile of glassware with gold, and they were the coarsest, least collectible kind.

Even though his gold was also made of mud, it still consumed a bit of his mana, making him reluctant to waste it so much.

The alchemy products he really wanted were actually the transportation and kitchen tools sold in stores like carriage lines or magic homeware... besides carriages, cooking stoves and refrigerators have also become everyday items in this world.

Even the poorest can buy a simple alloy stove to use, then by inserting a transparent crystal card can use it to cook.

The trouble for the poor is the cost of this card... for ordinary families, these crystalline energy home appliances need one new card a year, but the poor strive to make it last two or three years.

The first time Hill heard the housewives gathering, discussing how many turns of the dial when cooking and how long to keep things on to save on crystal cards, he almost thought he had time-traveled back... once again passing by the street-side chess tables.

Unfortunately, it was just a fleeting moment.

These civilian products aren’t expensive; the apprentices recruited by the Alchemist Association each year were enough to complete the making of these tools.

And the method of making crystal cards has long been made public, with each country’s secret being how to produce them industrially.

Hill was still thinking about how to act naturally, to go in as an alchemist master who didn’t want to look at these things!

Yet he was quite lucky to stumble upon Galan’s notes.

The last period of this Archmage’s life happened to be when Great Sage Ismael was in full bloom, promoting his alchemy achievements to gain a higher status in the Alchemist Association of Danboro.

There was no choice, although the Ismael family was also a mage family, they were not the strongest top family... the Finch Family was.

The father of Chairman Finch was once Ismael’s teacher and has now gone to the Outer Realm... so although the two families were not friendly at heart, they still presented a united front.

In the end, to prevent outright plundering... losing things was a small matter, but what if the whole family lost their lives... Great Sage Ismael embraced the Danboro Royal Family’s support, showing Old Finch was up to no good back then as well.

And with the protection of the wise King, pushed Danboro’s army to an unmatched level.

The King of Danboro only asking for the method of making the items, rather than all of Ismael’s making philosophies, was the basis for their cooperation.

It’s a pity, having had three wise kings, Danboro probably spent all its luck, and now this one... has driven Great Sage Ismael into hiding.

As someone who managed to make it under Draculus, the keen president of Teraxil, Galan practically dragged his frail health... hid in the Alchemist Association for a year, just long enough to listen to the youthful, naive Ismael instructing his Finch junior brother throughout the process.

Hill couldn’t help pressing his forehead and laughing when he bragged there about his stealth ability being so good that even Draculus couldn’t find him.

Galan, only lacks the combat ability to play like a Legendary Mage!

Support type spells were no problem.

The alchemical development of this world is of a very detailed kind... even if guarding against external enemies, they wouldn’t put their ceiling above Legendary.

They thought about how to guard against strong energy attacks... like energy cannons.

The complex and variable Legendary spells were completely out of their reach and thus could not be specifically guarded against.

Now, Hill didn’t have to think about how to get the information on these things; he just needed to slowly deduce from Galan’s notes.

What he needed originally was only ideas.

So, compared to all these jumbled things, Hill could only choose those inexpensive elven products.

Humans also have many valuable artisanal pieces that are actually fine, but... they really like using silk.

Hill just wanted to find some fun for others and didn’t intend to make it difficult for himself.

He believes that anyone, after experiencing what he did, would shy away from spider silk products.

So, he preferred buying things at stalls, where at least the packaging material used, at the best, was just cotton cloth.

However, he was quite willing to buy some shell carvings... after all, a silver coin could get him a bunch.

This shell is not very delicate, but it has been preserved for a long time and is quite large. Coastal residents love to use it to carve scenes of life. Hill finds it quite interesting.

There are also some stone carvings and wood carvings that are quite decent.

Anyway, Hill only considers whether he likes them or not, completely ignoring any deeper meaning they might have.

Let everything be decided by fate... When luck comes, what is meant to happen will happen naturally.

Besides, his teaching is going smoothly enough. However, Ellie for some reason always brings her brother, who isn’t very interested in Alchemy, along.

Even though he listens with an expressionless face, he only lights up when Hill talks about destructive power.

This time, for some reason, Lind didn’t come inside.

Hill sat in the large study on the ground floor, arranging Ellie’s lessons, and glanced at Lind standing by his fountain... the young man was gently scooping water with his fingers, his pure little face wearing an innocent smile.

”Mr. Belfran.” Ellie said nervously upon seeing Hill’s actions, ”What do you think of Lind? Is he suitable to be a Mage?”

”Hmm?” Hill tilted his head, ”If someone has a Mage’s talent, they can learn. After all, a Mage needs intelligence, diligence, and sufficient resources.

Your brother shouldn’t be lacking in these, right?”

”Danboro... does not accept male members from military families to join the Mage faction... You...”

”That only proves his talent is not outstanding enough to make an Archmage willing to break the norm.” Hill smiled, ”Mages indeed have their own rules, but Mages are also the ones who love breaking rules the most.”

Ellie blinked and lowered her head gently... She obviously understood the implication behind Hill’s words.

She felt a little regret, but deep down also a bit of relief... Ellie was well aware that if Mr. Belfran really accepted Lind, her Alchemy teaching might come to an end.

This Great Sage clearly preferred strolling around market stalls throwing money rather than spending time teaching students.

At that time, she might be the one playing with water outside.

No, she wouldn’t even get the opportunity to be a companion.

After all, her true Alchemy teacher was Yanos, and coming here was just for some expanded knowledge.

The more she learned, the more Ellie understood how rare this opportunity truly was.

Yanos was even envious of her... clinging to some translated notes by Mr. Belfran.

Actually, Ellie knew that when Lind accompanied her here for the second time, Mr. Belfran was already waiting for her to speak.

Mr. Belfran probably didn’t think her Stelter Family would be too demanding... He was willing to teach her some basic knowledge only after observing for a while and finding it satisfactory.

She intended to speak on the third visit... Just a titular position, as long as the appropriate compensation was in place, Mr. Belfran would generally not refuse.

Ellie also knew what Count Stelter prepared... Initially, it was some extremely pure metal ore, no less than those at auctions.

Though the size of Mithril was not as large, adding a few more items of gold, silver, copper, and iron made them even more valuable.

But after discovering the Great Sage’s shopping focus, the gifts turned into some metal paintings and ancient Alchemical tools.

The items were from the same place as those notes.

Although the Magical Items were the most basic, like the Crystal Furnace unable to adjust temperature, or the single-shelf icebox... only freezing, not preserving.

They were made of similar materials as the notes, very special, resistant to water and fire, and didn’t deform under heavy pressure. Most importantly, they were not heavy at all.

The Earl attached great importance to these materials, always believing they would be useful in the future.

But that day, Ellie specifically asked Mr. Belfran whether the method to manufacture this metallic thread was in the notes.

He gave an affirmative answer but also reminded that the production materials for this metal were very expensive.

The Earl didn’t mind spending money; he preferred whole metallic blocks rather than weaving threads.

He never quite understood why the original owner of the Magic Tower was so idle... Weaving threads wasn’t tiring?

Wouldn’t a whole block of metal be more convenient?

Especially with that icebox, which even had a thin layer of Mithril plates inside!

Why not just use a whole block of alloy directly?

Such peculiar hobbies.

Of course, the value of these things remained high... Metallic threads can be removed and repurposed elsewhere!

Those of us who don’t understand can’t manage it, but Mr. Belfran certainly has no problem.