Chapter 11: Mage’s Friendship

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Su Ye stood up, dragged the bags of coins off the table, and nodded slightly toward Kaerton in thanks before he walked toward the main door.

Su Ye stopped at the main door.

“Do you need a Four God Contract for this agreement?”

“The promise in your heart is enough for me.” Kaerton slowly took a glass of wine that had been mixed with water. He took a small sip and squinted his eyes. He looked exceptionally comfortable.

“See you next time.” Su Ye raised his hand, then walked out the room into the darkness of the night.

Hark followed him silently.

Along the way, the servers and frequent customers of the Dolphin River looked at Su Ye and Hark as if they were seeing a pair of ghosts.

Why would “Wooden Block” Hark, who didn’t seem to care about anyone, be following obediently behind this young man? He didn’t seem to be sending the young man off; instead, he moved like was guarding Mr. Kaerton himself.

The busy restaurant manager gritted his teeth when he saw Su Ye leaving through the main door. He ran over quickly and shouted at Su Ye.

“Mr. Su Ye, I am Tarmarnos Gennes, son of Peristera. We look forward to your next visit.”

Su Ye, who was walking forward, smiled. It seemed that this man was smart. He had realized from the start that Su Ye had forgotten his name.

“But what was his name again?” Su Ye thought. “What forest, what pigeon? Goodbye!”

***

Ninth Avenue was much darker at night than during the day. The sparse lamps left the road barely visible.

Now Su Ye understood why the pedestrians were walking so slowly and carefully. They were afraid of tripping over their own feet or stepping in dung.

Su Ye also walked very slowly.

Hark followed closely behind.

Su Ye stopped in his tracks when he reached the end of Ninth Avenue. He had noticed a group of men dressed in shorts and leather armor.

Su Ye knew that the barbarians to the north of Greece wore shorts in this era, but he never expected the guards of the city of Athens to be wearing them as well. This meant that the breadth and depth of the cultural intersection in this world was much deeper than that of the Blue Star’s Ancient Greece. The appearance of tea had also been a stark reminder of this point.

These men had short swords by their waists, and they were chatting comfortably with each other. None of them were very old, and the two youngest couldn’t have been more than seventeen or eighteen years of age.

Su Ye turned around and said, “Mister Hark, these city guards should be extremely willing to help you.”

Hark stared at Su Ye’s face for a few seconds, then nodded.

Su Ye smiled. “Are you willing to help me get two of these men to follow us? They can step forward when the time is right and… Fulfill their duties.”

Su Ye heavily intonated the last portion of the sentence.

Hark stared at Su Ye for a little while, then said slowly, “Are you wrapping me up in some scheme?”

He had a raspy voice. It was as if there were cracks in his throat.

“It’s not a scheme. I’m merely asking you for assistance,” Su Ye said honestly.

“The friendship of a mage?” Hark asked, expressionless.

Su Ye couldn’t help but smile. “I have heard that you aren’t good with words, Mr. Hark. I didn’t expect you to be so skilled at making fun of someone. That’s right. All I can give you in trade is to extend my friendship as a future mage.”

“Remember this night,” Hark rasped. Then he walked toward the city guards.

As Hark had spoken, a complicated series of emotions flickered through the man’s eyes.

Su Ye sighed gently as he looked at Hark’s back.

The moment the soldiers saw Hark, they straightened as if they had just seen their commander. Some of them even had a glow on their faces. It was like they were looking at a hero.

Su Ye watched them. The men started to argue, and after a minute, two men stepped out. The rest had looks of disappointment on their faces.

Hark pointed toward Su Ye as he spoke to the men. Su Ye nodded slightly toward the soldiers, while the soldiers immediately nodded back in approval.

Sometime later, Hark returned and moved behind Su Ye without speaking a word.

“Thank you, Mr. Hark.”

After he spoke, Su Ye handed two bags of coins to Hark without hesitation, leaving only one bag in his hand.

Hark looked at the bags of money, then at Su Ye. He took the bags and hung them from his waist, positioning them so they would be invisible to anyone in front of him.

Su Ye walked forward, and Hark followed closely behind. The two young soldiers followed far behind them with excited expressions.

When Su Ye found an opportunity to glance behind him, he noticed that only one person was left tailing him, while the other had vanished without a trace.

The city of Athens was much quieter at night than during the day. This was especially true once they entered the slums. The people who couldn’t afford to light their candles were either asleep or gossiping with their neighbors outside their houses.

The Mediterranean climate was warm during the winter and cool during the summer. Su Ye didn’t feel cold even though he was walking outside barefoot.

Su Ye listened carefully as he walked forward. Sometime later, a large group of men had appeared behind him.

None of them were dressed in long robes, and there were only a few wearing short robes. Most of them only had a tattered rag wrapped around their waists. In fact, there were even a few wearing nothing at all who were walking brazenly within the crowd.

Thick layers of dirt and filth coated their feet, and on some of the men, the filth reached all the way to their calves.

This was the first time they had ever seen a young man holding a bag of coins brazenly looking for Lawrence.

Lawrence might not have been the person with the most influence in the slums, but he was one of the most notorious.

Some people snickered as they looked at Su Ye’s back, while others glanced greedily at the bags of coins that Su Ye and Hark were carrying. A select few had recognized Hark and were not silently waiting for the show to begin.

The two city guards walked behind the group of people.

After slogging his way through a seemingly endless stretch of mud and broken pebbles, Su Ye finally arrived at the mouth of a particular street. He stopped in front of a bar.

The night was dark.

A blunt, rust-covered bronze knife the width of two palms was hanging over the door of the bar.

There was no signboard because none was needed.

Everyone knew that this was the Blunt Knife Bar.

More than forty people had gathered behind Su Ye. More and more people were drawn toward them, attracted by the crowd and the growing noise.

A few seconds later, cheers rang out from within the bar, along with rhythmic roars.

They were like horns that sailors might blow before battle to boost their morale.

Su Ye’s right thumb and index finger twitched slightly. He was about to engage in his third showdown of the day. He consciously stilled his nervous tic.

Without tapping his two fingers together, Su Ye slowly straightened his back and raised his head high. His shoulders pulled backward slightly, and he relaxed his arms. A confident smile crossed his face.

As the door opened, two muscular blokes who had been in Su Ye’s house walked out with oil lamps in their hands. They glanced at Su Ye with contempt, then invited him in through the door.

The torches in the bar were bright. Lawrence, who was dressed in a crass brown short robe, walked through the bar toward Su Ye. He stopped when he was two meters away from Su Ye, the light of the torches dancing over his features.

A breeze blew past, shaking the moonlight and flames. The centipede on Lawrence’s face twitched slowly.

A few people from within the crowd exclaimed softly and quickly retreated.

Lawrence’s gaze was much colder than it had been when they met during the day.

Multiple pairs of crazed eyes darted up and down Su Ye’s body, but they all deftly avoided Hark.

The friendly-looking Koror hid within the crowd. He secretly observed Su Ye, and a confused expression surfaced on his face.

Lawrence didn’t look at Su Ye. Instead, he stared at Hark.

Hark’s countenance was as wooden as usual when he silently met Lawrence’s gaze.

“In the Blunt Knife Bar, there are only enemies or friends.” Lawrence’s voice was exceptionally calm.

A few of the people in the crowd behind Su Ye turned to run, their bare feet slapping the mud as they fled.

Hark didn’t say a word.

“Give me the loan receipt.” Su Ye shook the bag of gold coins in his hands, calm and collected.

Lawrence looked toward Su Ye. The corner of his lips quivered, and the scar on his face twitched once again.

The people who had seen Su Ye during the day observed him closely. They could still see the wound on his neck, the dried blood, the filth on his body. That’s right, he was still the same young man. But why did he suddenly feel like a completely different person?

Lawrence suddenly let out a soft laugh. His gaze landed on the traces of dried blood on Su Ye’s neck. “The donkey has come?”

“Hahahaha!” The group behind Lawrence erupted in laughter, almost flipping over the roof of the Blunt Knife Bar.